The Art of Walking

I stand quietly, bundled against the cold, wind on my face, snow~clad mountains in the distance. The words of Collette Baron~Reid that had jumped off the page earlier in the day come back to me now. "See everything as sacred, all of life as a meditation, and every action a prayer of devotion." To live this truth more consistently is my intention as I take my first steps into the labyrinth. 

I am on solo retreat at Joyful Journey Hot Springs in celebration of the Winter Solstice, a favorite time of my year given its invitation to be still and reflect. Cultures throughout the world and across time have found in this dark season of the year encouragement to turn inward. The labyrinth, of course, is a perfect metaphor for this process, the pressures of daily life receding as our feet find their circuitous route home. The one at Joyful Journey is modeled on the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, created in the 13th Century. These are not mazes designed to trick one up, but formal structures for walking meditation consisting of a single continuous course to center and back out again. 

The path I walk now begins as a straight shot to the stone Angel at the labyrinth's heart, but soon turns to the left. Still, the first few twists and turns of the stone~lined pathway seem to bring me closer to her...until suddenly I find myself carried to the structure's outermost edge. And a truth comes to my inner ear. 

"Don't reach ahead of yourself. Negotiate the segment of path under your feet. Keep your focus on the next right step as you breathe here and now with what is." 

So that is what I do. As I continue step by step and breath by breath, the stone Angel is sometimes directly before me. At other times, I can see her only in my peripheral vision or catch glimpses of her if I turn my head. Often, though, she is behind me and hidden from view. Yet I know she is there. And another truth drops in. 

"Do not mistake what you see with your eyes for what is true. She is there whether you can see her or not. And so, too, with the Divine, which is always and ever present." 

My feet continue to carry me forward, no matter the direction I face. And another piece of wisdom arrives. 

 "The path leads always to center. Do not fret, dear one. Even when it seems you are moving away from your heart's desire, your feet can move nowhere but toward it."

That last insight is quite helpful. Often it feels like I've gone astray. I can feel stalled in my ability to love more purely, to trust fully, to behave kindly. And sometimes, of course, it feels like I'm regressing or learning the same dang lesson over and over again. But I am reminded now that there are no detours. All is part of the path, and putting one foot in front of the other in the best way I can is all that is asked of me. I am invited to leave my mistakes behind and start anew with each step. 

Finally, I arrive at the Angel. Standing within a circle of stones and planted firmly upon the Earth, her gaze is on the blue sky and the vast sweep of the cosmos above. Another lesson.

"Stay grounded in this life, while never forgetting to behold with awe that which lies beyond." 

I stand at the labyrinth's still point for several minutes as I access my own. I come back to my intention for this walk, to see all of life as meditation, a labyrinth whose every twist and turn exists amid a sacred whole. I let the truth wash over me that every thought and each action can be a sacred prayer of devotion within a hallowed fullness. Another message arrives. 

"Just as this center point remained no matter the direction you faced, you too have a center point that endures. It is the spark of the Divine within you, present even as you walk toward it. The Divine is your here~and~now companion AND the endpoint of your journey." 

As I begin my walk from the center back out again, I reflect on all of this. These insights are not new, but the labyrinth has given me an embodied experience of them, one I hope will give them greater staying power. And yet I know I will forget many times. I will not live every moment as meditation. My actions will not always be prayers of devotion. I will forget the sacredness at the core of it all. And yet, as my feet carry me out of the labyrinth, I feel up for the challenge of the attempt. 

In my client work last week, forgiveness arose as a theme for many people, expressed within the unique details of their individual lives. In the new year that has now claim us as its own, may we forgive ourselves and others for the times we stumble upon the path as we learn the art of walking. In the labyrinths of our individual journeys, those sacred pilgrimages of the soul, may we keep our focus on the step before us. May we trust the path, no matter how a given segment might look or feel. And grounded in the here, may we feel the presence of the Infinite, ever and always. 

 Much love, 

 Leia