Anna Yang, on the labyrinth as a meditative tool

By Bree LeMaire, MS, RN
July 8, 2002

How did you get into labyrinth work?

When I finished my master's thesis, I was at a roadblock and didn't know what direction to take next. I had worked as a nurse and became burned out, so that was not a choice. Yet I wanted to utilize my education in a meaningful way.

I was not a labyrinth person, but I went to the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral [in San Francisco] and decided to walk it while asking what could be my next step. It was only the second time I had walked the labyrinth, and I felt uncertain about the whole thing.

Then I thought I was getting to the center, but was flung off onto another side and really got mixed up.
When finally I did get to the center of the configuration, it came to me that I needed to become a labyrinth facilitator. I attended a four-day weekend seminar at Grace Cathedral and that was the beginning.

What does a labyrinth facilitator do?

I sometimes feel like a labyrinth gypsy because I travel around with my portable one. I offer a short history about labyrinths and tell people about the best-known one on the island of Crete that was constructed 4,000 years ago.

There also are guidelines for the meditative walk, such as finding one's own pace and spending all the time necessary in the middle that one needs.

When facilitating, I'm a variation on a traffic cop, who has the responsibility of "holding the space" outside the maze so those meditating inside don't have to worry about what's going on beyond their private journey.

What's special about a labyrinth?

There are 180-degree angles within the design that mimic curves in our bodies, such as intestines, brain tissue and our ears. The labyrinth is based on spirals, as is our DNA.

It is also an archetype pattern that is big enough to hold all of a person: all their joy, pain and questioning of life. There are-like life-many unexpected turns.

What has been your most interesting experience?

I took my labyrinth to the University of California, San Francisco after the Sept. 11 disaster for students and faculty to utilize. It was an offering for people's use. Walking the labyrinth can be a way to connect with one's spirit or inner guidance.

The Rev. Lauren Artress, Ph.D., of Grace Cathedral has studied the Chartres pattern. She said the center circles represent earth, plants, animals, humans, angels and the universe.

Wherever I take my labyrinth, everyone listens and finds what they need from the experience. It's a metaphor for life because what happens in the labyrinth is indicative of one's path.

I also went to the San Francisco Recreation Center for the Handicapped, where participants used wheelchairs or crutches.

One person had two assistants, one on each side, to help navigate. That was a tremendously rewarding experience.

Have you experienced any resistance to your offerings?

The labyrinth is an unfamiliar tool, a walking meditation, and people aren't acquainted with it. They may see it as strange or New Age stuff and may not want to take the 15 or 20 minutes to complete the circuit.

It would be a wonderful tool for those in waiting rooms where people are passing time anyway. Why not quiet the mind and find a focus using the time while one is waiting? It can be such an enriching experience.

Where can one walk through a labyrinth?

There is an indoor and an outdoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral at 1100 California St. in San Francisco. The outdoor one is open year-round. The second Friday of every month the inside design offers music beside the labyrinth from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has a labyrinth at the front entrance. One is also located at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Calif. St. Mary's Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., has a portable labyrinth.
A person also can follow along a labyrinth configuration on a piece of paper and still have a wonderful experience.