Walking maze clears mind

A labyrinth is a type of walking path that some people use as a spiritual tool.

"Most people view it as a walking meditation," said Kay Whipple, chairwoman of public relations for The Labyrinth Society, an international organization that will celebrate its 10th anniversary in November.

When people walk through a labyrinth, they walk through a pattern of concentric circles until they reach the center and then follow the same path out again.

"It's all just a way of clearing the mind and stopping the busy thinking," said Susan Brownstein, a Tucsonan who walked through the Westward Look's labyrinth in December.

Labyrinths are not specific to individual religions, Whipple said. "Although you do find labyrinths in churches, you find them in vastly different types of churches," she said. St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 1431 W. Magee Road, has a prayer labyrinth.

That labyrinth is a "worship aid for finding quiet time in an intentional way," according to the church's Web site, www.umcstmarks.org.

But labyrinths are also found in many secular settings, Whipple said. The Westward Look on the Northwest Side is now one of those settings.

The resort started planning the labyrinth about a year ago. It took its engineering and grounds teams a couple of months to build it, said Debra Henrickson, spa director.

Westward Look is currently undergoing renovations expected to be completed in late spring, but building the labyrinth was not part of those renovations, she said.

The labyrinth is built in the shape of the Man in the Maze, a Tohono O'odham symbol. Danny Lopez, a Tohono O'odham elder and a relative of one of the resort's massage therapists, blessed the labyrinth at a ceremony in October.

Though guided meditations take place at scheduled times and cost $5, the labyrinth is open to the public for free self-guided meditation from sunrise to sunset seven days a week.

Brownstein, Ann Van Alyea and another friend who did not want to be identified walked through the labyrinth in self-guided meditation in December.

They walk through a labyrinth every year for a combined celebration of their birthdays, which all fall in November, December and January.

"It's kind of become a tradition for us now," Brownstein said. She and her friends each wear a labyrinth necklace.

They enter the labyrinth with questions in their minds, and the walk helps them find answers to those questions, Brownstein and Van Alyea said.

Brownstein said walking through a labyrinth once helped her find an answer to a difficult question — how she should help her mom, who was very sick.

The answer to that question came to her immediately, but in other instances answers have not come until later — sometimes even after she has left the labyrinth, she said.

That's one way many people use labyrinths in modern times, Whipple said. If people put a question or intention in mind before walking through a labyrinth, the walk to the center can help them focus on that question or intention.

When they reach the center of the labyrinth, that's a great place for meditation and prayer, she said.

And the walk out of the labyrinth from the center is when people can decide how they will apply what they have perceived so far, she said.

How long it takes to walk a labyrinth is different for everybody, but Brownstein estimated that it typically takes her about 10 to 15 minutes.

However, she doesn't think about that when walking.

"You don't think of how long it's going to take. You do it slowly and consciously," she said. "The whole journey is the experience."

Self-guided walks

To walk

You can go on a self-guided walk at the the labyrinth at the Westward Look Resort, 245 E. Ina Road, from sunrise to sunset seven days a week. There's no charge, and no appointment is necessary, but if you want someone to walk you to the labyrinth, call the resort's spa at 917-2476 to make an appointment.

Guided-meditation labyrinth walks

Guided-meditation walks will be held, starting this week, at 8 a.m. Fridays. Beginning in February, they'll be at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. Fridays. The cost is $5 per person. To sign up, call the resort's spa at 917-2476.

More information

For more information about labyrinths, go online to the Labyrinth Society, www.labyrinthsociety.org.