Our next door neighbor mentioned one day that she has always wanted a labyrinth to walk. Since we live on a large circular cul-de-sac we have the room to create one in the center of the public drive area, so we started planning.
A little research led us to decide on a 11 circuit Chartres labyrinth. The entire labyrinth will be 54′ in diameter and each path will be 20″ wide with 4″ borders. The installation will involve drilling a hole in the center to accept a pin that will be used to create the circular lines so we can work a little at a time and always return to the same center point. we will also drill holes at the edges of the four quadrant lines. Then we can use a very large compass (circle drawing device) to draw the lines. It should not be difficult, just time consuming 🙂
So we did it.
Research conducted at the Harvard Medical School’s Mind/Body Medical Institute by Dr. Herbert Benson has found that focused walking meditations are highly efficient at reducing anxiety and eliciting what Dr. Benson calls the ‘relaxation response’. This effect has significant long-term health benefits, including lower blood pressure and breathing rates, reduced incidents of chronic pain, reduction of insomnia, improved fertility, and many other benefits. Regular meditative practice leads to greater powers of concentration and a sense of control and efficiency in one’s life. Labyrinth walking is among the simplest forms of focused walking meditation, and the demonstrated health benefits have led hundreds of hospitals, health care facilities, and spas to install labyrinths in recent years.