There’s a labyrinth outside my window at work. Not a maze of hallways or buildings but, a meditation path. It sits there unused and observed like a work of art.
My friend and I walked it a year or so ago on an especially stressful afternoon. “Let’s take a break, get out of here and go walk around that labyrinth thing” We did walk it – fast. We stomped around the intertwined gravel path complaining about our day at work all the way in and all the way out.
Turns out that’s not the best way to walk a labyrinth. I found a better way at a different labyrinth far away from work on the edge of a desert.
Left my phone on a bench nearby.
Stepped in, breathing timed with each slow step.
Lay my worries, stress, fears behind me in the gravel as I stepped.
Foot, step, crunch, breathe, let go, shift, place a foot, step, crunch, breathe, shift, let go.
Lost by the changing direction of the maze.
Just stepping and breathing, stepping and breathing.
In the middle with a lighter burden, I paused and felt tears (surprised at myself) as I looked over the desert beauty; felt the breeze and sun.
Then I turned to walk out by measured degree.
Foot, step, crunch, breathe, hope, shift, foot, step, crunch, breathe, promise.
Slowly, turning, winding.
At the end one last step out.
Buoyant.
mdmommusings 