Exploring Peace with Whitney R. Simpson
  • Home
  • About
    • About Whitney
    • Contact
    • Testimonials
  • Whitney's Books
  • Community
  • Podcast
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Blue Coast Retreat
    • Middle TN & Area Retreat Locations
    • Supplements Shop
  • Services
    • Event Request
    • Retreats
    • Spiritual Direction >
      • Client Consent Form
    • Yoga >
      • Waiver

Praying the Labyrinth

9/27/2015

 
Picture
Walking a labyrinth offers a sacred and stable space to focus your attention and listen to your soul.  This ancient walking style of meditation is sometimes referred to as a prayer walk and can serve as a powerful tool for transformation. It's one of my favorite ways to pray (I say that a lot, don't I?!).  If this style of praying is new to you and you live in the Nashville area, why not join me? This Thursday at noon, I'll be leading a labyrinth walk at Donelson Heights UMC. Click here to let me know you'll join me!    
                                                   

What is a Labyrinth?

For Millenia, pilgrimages to holy sites have been part of the Christian tradition. However, when a pilgrimage was not possible, the discipline of this spiritual journey was found on the labyrinth as a symbolic prayer walk.  By walking the labyrinth today, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten tradition found in various traditions and forms around the world.  While labyrinths have a history that can be traced back thousands of years, their beginning origin is unknown. No matter the style of the labyrinth, structurally, it has only one path so there are no tricks and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives, each on a journey. Walk it with an open heart and mind as you allow God to touch your sorrows and release your joy, allowing your soul to sing.

What a Labyrinth is Not?

It is important to keep in mind that a labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is designed to confuse you, a cognitive puzzle (mazes only entered our world’s culture about 600 years ago). A labyrinth has only one path that leads to the center, designed to easily find your way making space for prayer and meditation.

Why Walk the Labyrinth?  

The labyrinth offers a sacred and stable space to focus your attention and listen to your soul. It is a wonderful place to pray. However, the experience is different for everyone because each of us brings different raw material to the labyrinth.  As with any spiritual discipline or prayer practice, we bring our unique beliefs, hopes, dreams, history, and longing of the soul. Leave behind what may not serve you as you journey toward union with God in quiet reflection.

How Do I Walk the Labyrinth?  

Try to not have expectations, simply enter into the journey and use your senses to move your body forward in prayer.  Before you walk, quiet your mind and become aware of your breath. Ground your feet and let go of any expectations. Simply have an open mind and do what feels natural. You may wish to choose a prayer, centering word, or phrase to avoid a wandering mind. Some find simply focusing on their breath helps them remain in the present. Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to move forward (skip, dance, or walk very slowly). Those going in on the path will meet those coming out. You may "pass" people or step to your right and let others step around you. Do what feels natural.  Afterward, you may wish to sit quietly and reflect, journal, create, or simply give thanks. You may find the following three stages helpful for your walk:

  • Releasing (Purgation) – As you enter, release and let go of the details of your life. The circular path inward cleanses and quiets you as it leads you in.
  • Receiving (Illumination) – Once you arrive in the center, stay as long as you like for meditation and prayer abiding in Christ.  Receive whatever it is God has for you and do not be disappointed if that is simply space.
  • Returning (Union) – As you exit, follow the same path out of the center as you join in union with God.  The unwinding path integrates and empowers you as you take whatever you may have received back out into the world.

The above information was compiled from the research of Lauren Artress using her guides, "Walking A Sacred Path” and “A Sacred Path Companion” as well as the Grace Cathedral Website.


If you've stumbled here for the first time, welcome! Since this summer, I've posted a short list of scriptures for weekly reflection as well as a different way to pray each week. Pray one scripture or pray them all, this is simply an invitation to journey deeper as we explore God's peace together through a variety of prayer styles. 

And while this is the last week of this series, you can click here to discover more of the prayer practices we've explored together!

Comments are closed.

      How about a Monthly Dose of Soul Care?

    Subscribe

    Whitney R. Simpson

    Picture

    RSS Feed





    Click to connect:

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Anxiety
    Aromatherapy
    Art
    Beads
    Body
    Book
    Book Launch
    Bookshelf
    Breath
    Breath Prayer
    Centering Prayer
    Christmas
    Community
    Contemplation
    Devotional
    Discernment
    Disciplines
    Downloads
    Dreams
    Embodiment
    Energy Work
    Enneagram
    Equality
    Essential Oils
    Everbloom
    Family
    Favorite Things
    Fear
    Food
    Giveaway
    Giving Back
    Guest Post
    Guided Meditations
    Healing
    Healthy Habits
    Inspiration
    Journaling
    Justice
    Kombucha
    Labyrinth
    Lake Junaluska
    Land Blessing
    Lectio Divina
    Lent
    Life
    Listen
    Love
    Meditation
    Mindfulness
    Ministry
    Mission
    Music
    Mystics
    Neighbors
    Older Adults
    Peace Seekers
    Podcast
    Poem
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Prayer Of Examen
    Quotes
    Reading
    Relaxation
    Rest
    Retreat
    Rule Of Life
    Sabbath
    Sacred Ordinary Days
    Scripture
    Silence
    Simplicity
    Simplify
    Small Groups
    Solitude
    Soul Care
    Spiritual Direction
    Spiritual Formation
    Spiritual Friends
    Trafficking
    Upper Room
    Walking Meditation
    Wild Goose
    With God In Every Breath
    Women
    Wool
    Yoga
    Yoga Nidra



    Content @ 2010-2023 
    Whitney R. Simpson

    Exploring Peace Ministries, LLC

Join the Community
​Listen to the Podcast
Find Whitney's Books 
Practice Yoga with Whitney
​Contact Whitney






​

​© 2025, Exploring Peace Ministries, LLC / Whitney R. Simpson
Picture
Photo from lululemon athletica
  • Home
  • About
    • About Whitney
    • Contact
    • Testimonials
  • Whitney's Books
  • Community
  • Podcast
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Blue Coast Retreat
    • Middle TN & Area Retreat Locations
    • Supplements Shop
  • Services
    • Event Request
    • Retreats
    • Spiritual Direction >
      • Client Consent Form
    • Yoga >
      • Waiver