Mountain labyrinth in Western North Carolina, USA

Labyrinth walking will amplify the person. Part of the walk is the surroundings. When I am walking a labyrinth in a small room I feel the confines of the environment. It tends to drive me deeper into myself.

When I walk a labyrinth that has expansive views around it, I expand!

Since walking a labyrinth can be taken as a metaphor for our journey through life, a question arises. “How would I like my life to go?”

Shall I be confined, or freed?

I prefer to fly in this life. Walking a labyrinth in an expansive environment expands me. The image of this mountain labyrinth does not do justice to the feelings that arise during the walk. The extraordinary view here lifts my spirit.

And, walking any labyrinth, even one that has not been tended and is overgrown with mosquitos helps me to have a more healthy perspective on my journey.

What metaphor shall I plan into my next labyrinth?

Perhaps I can control where the entrance will be. Thus I can control what the labyrinth walker can see as they enter the center of the labyrinth. By this time in their walk, the pilgrim has achieved a certain calm. When they look up from the path what do they see?

If they are facing east – the direction of the rising sun – they see a new day, a new beginning, a blank slate stretching out before them on which to write their new life plan.

If they are facing west – the direction of the setting sun – perhaps they find an ending, a time to look within, a place of rest and warmth?

What the walker sees while on their walk will influence their mental/emotional state. Labyrinth makers do our best to organize uplifting surroundings for the positive transformation of the walker.