Labyrinths: Spiritiual Technology for Inner Healing
The labyrinth as a path of healing
Amdist the stressors in life,people are searching for holistic healing. The labyrinth, a path for walking meditation,has been introduced as a way to deal with life stressors.
Labyrinth are being built in hospitals ,school,parks and prisons.What is the impact of walking the labyrinth on participants? This presentation demonstrated ways in which the effect of labyrinth walking are consistent with qualities associated with healing.Although healing is a personal and unique experience ,there are qualities of healing that are consistently described in the literature.In this poster presentation ,the relationship between "labyrinth effects,"as described by labyrinth walkers,and the healing process was shown.Individuals who have walked labyrinths in various setting have shared their response to the experience .Using the Labyrinth walk Questionnaire (Rhodes,2006),over 500 reports of the effects of walking the labyrinth have been completed.
Review of the reports has shown the positive relationship of response with definition of healing presented here - data collected for real-life labyrinth walks rather than control
situation - support the efficiency of the labyrinth as a path of healing.Result show a positive relationship of response with definition of healing in the holistic nursing literature.For a majority of walkers (66%-82%) labyrinth walking increased levels of relaxation ,clarity ,peace ,centeredness,openness,quiet, and reflectiveness , and reduced levels of anxiety ,stress and agitation.The experience of labyrinth walking supports recovery,renewal,integration of the whole person,and facilitating a sense of harmoney.
A Vision of the Future
Within the next decade or two, labyrinths will become standard and valued features of healing environments. Indeed, the process is well under way, with labyrinths at more than 60 healthcare facilities across the country, led in 1997 by California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (photo).
The day will be soon be upon us in which no progressive architect will design a healthcare facility without including a meditation labyrinth. The day is not far off when patients, staff members, and doctors will insist that their existing facility install a labyrinth.
Unicursal Design
"Labyrinth" and "maze" are often used interchangeably, referring to everything from tall hedges to video games, from designs in corn fields to a popular David Bowie movie. Meditation labyrinths are a different genre, however, in that they have a single path (hence, "unicursal") which leads unerringly, though circuitously, to the center, with no intersections or dead ends.
In this monograph, "labyrinth" exclusively pertains to unicursal
meditation labyrinths. The diagram to the right illustrates the unicursal Chartres Cathedral labyrinth design.
Experientially, there is a vast difference between a maze and a labyrinth. A maze confuses, distresses, excites, and terrifies, whereas a labyrinth calms, heals, comforts, and balances.
Inner Healing
Since science deals exclusively with the visible, observable, and quantifiable, scientific medicine, in turn, takes a reductionist approach, seeking to alleviate symptoms by prescribing drugs or surgery.
Labyrinths effectively address that area ignored by the scientific paradigm, namely, inner healing. Only in recent years has the medical community turned its attention to health design, environment, and patient-centered care, recognizing that the subjective and amorphous qualities of inner healing, such as attitude, state of mind, and beliefs, have an enormous effect on the effectiveness of a patient's treatment and recovery. More and more, patients themselves are demanding that inner healing be given equal emphasis to outer healing.
The new more holistic direction of healthcare has been largely passive, dealing with the color of walls, the view from the windows, and the design of home-like architecture. All are meant to calm and to comfort. Labyrinths, too, calm and comfort. Labyrinths represent the next step forward, in that they are active, not passive. They offer something the patient can do. In fact, labyrinths are pro-active, promoting well-being not just for patients, but for staff, health providers, doctors, visitors, and even the local community.
Use in Hospitals
A recent article about the labyrinth at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Oregon quotes CEO Mark Scott as stating that the labyrinth complements the use of chemotherapy and radiation in cancer treatment. In verification, a cancer patient agreed that walking the labyrinth gave her a sense of confidence and control over her treatment. Attitude towards one's treatment process (inner healing) has been shown to be a significant factor in the efficacy of that treatment (outer healing).
Three Rivers Community Hospital, also in Oregon, invites the local community to use their labyrinth. Programs have included a women's cancer support group, hospice butterfly release,
survivors' labyrinth walk, holistic nurses retreat, candlelit memorial service, Spears Cancer Center walk, Day of Renewal walk, domestic violence awareness walk, Rotary Club walk, volunteer chaplaincy program, and more.
The labyrinth at California Pacific Medical Center is just outside the waiting room. Inside, there is a sign and brochures describing how to walk the labyrinth. Surgeons sometimes walk the labyrinth before performing an operation, to calm themselves. Nurses send anxious patients and family members to walk the labyrinth, reporting that they return more relaxed and focused.
Labyrinths can be used by both individuals and groups, either without guidance or as part of a specific program, such as dealing with AIDS, supporting the cancer journey, relieving grief or loss, or examining one's priorities.
Photo, right: Portable canvas labyrinth in use at St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, MO.
Within the next decade or two, labyrinths will become standard and valued features of healing environments. Indeed, the process is well under way, with labyrinths at more than 60 healthcare facilities across the country, led in 1997 by California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (photo).
The day will be soon be upon us in which no progressive architect will design a healthcare facility without including a meditation labyrinth. The day is not far off when patients, staff members, and doctors will insist that their existing facility install a labyrinth.
Unicursal Design
"Labyrinth" and "maze" are often used interchangeably, referring to everything from tall hedges to video games, from designs in corn fields to a popular David Bowie movie. Meditation labyrinths are a different genre, however, in that they have a single path (hence, "unicursal") which leads unerringly, though circuitously, to the center, with no intersections or dead ends.
In this monograph, "labyrinth" exclusively pertains to unicursal
meditation labyrinths. The diagram to the right illustrates the unicursal Chartres Cathedral labyrinth design.Experientially, there is a vast difference between a maze and a labyrinth. A maze confuses, distresses, excites, and terrifies, whereas a labyrinth calms, heals, comforts, and balances.
Inner Healing
Since science deals exclusively with the visible, observable, and quantifiable, scientific medicine, in turn, takes a reductionist approach, seeking to alleviate symptoms by prescribing drugs or surgery.
Labyrinths effectively address that area ignored by the scientific paradigm, namely, inner healing. Only in recent years has the medical community turned its attention to health design, environment, and patient-centered care, recognizing that the subjective and amorphous qualities of inner healing, such as attitude, state of mind, and beliefs, have an enormous effect on the effectiveness of a patient's treatment and recovery. More and more, patients themselves are demanding that inner healing be given equal emphasis to outer healing.
The new more holistic direction of healthcare has been largely passive, dealing with the color of walls, the view from the windows, and the design of home-like architecture. All are meant to calm and to comfort. Labyrinths, too, calm and comfort. Labyrinths represent the next step forward, in that they are active, not passive. They offer something the patient can do. In fact, labyrinths are pro-active, promoting well-being not just for patients, but for staff, health providers, doctors, visitors, and even the local community.
Use in Hospitals
A recent article about the labyrinth at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Oregon quotes CEO Mark Scott as stating that the labyrinth complements the use of chemotherapy and radiation in cancer treatment. In verification, a cancer patient agreed that walking the labyrinth gave her a sense of confidence and control over her treatment. Attitude towards one's treatment process (inner healing) has been shown to be a significant factor in the efficacy of that treatment (outer healing).
Three Rivers Community Hospital, also in Oregon, invites the local community to use their labyrinth. Programs have included a women's cancer support group, hospice butterfly release,
survivors' labyrinth walk, holistic nurses retreat, candlelit memorial service, Spears Cancer Center walk, Day of Renewal walk, domestic violence awareness walk, Rotary Club walk, volunteer chaplaincy program, and more.
The labyrinth at California Pacific Medical Center is just outside the waiting room. Inside, there is a sign and brochures describing how to walk the labyrinth. Surgeons sometimes walk the labyrinth before performing an operation, to calm themselves. Nurses send anxious patients and family members to walk the labyrinth, reporting that they return more relaxed and focused.
Labyrinths can be used by both individuals and groups, either without guidance or as part of a specific program, such as dealing with AIDS, supporting the cancer journey, relieving grief or loss, or examining one's priorities.
Photo, right: Portable canvas labyrinth in use at St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, MO.
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