Healing with the labyrinth

"Medicine Women in Motion" painting, by Marty Kermeen

For the past twenty years, the labyrinth has led us on a healing path with many unexpected twists and turns. Little did I know back then that I would now be a Medicine Woman!

Check out my henna labyrinth tattoo!

The labyrinth has become such an important symbol of healing and renewal for me that I now wear them as henna tattoos. My dear friend Katie Kuykendall created this beautiful design from a photo that I shared with her. Check out her work and her passion at Henna Designs by Katie. The various patterns make such beautiful body art!

5 Element Drumming and Yoga Class

Making labyrinths has naturally led me to teaching people how to use them, so I am also a labyrinth facilitator. I received my training through Veriditas, the world-wide leader in labyrinth facilitator training. Now, Marty and I travel around the country and the world creating labyrinths, giving presentations, and holding labyrinth walks and workshops. We enjoy meeting so many people and helping them learn how to use the labyrinth for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being. We've witnessed so many miracles on the labyrinth--people healing from the deepest traumas--which inspires us to keep doing this important work in the world.

Yoga Teacher Training workshop

I am also certified in sound healing, shamanism, and Donna Eden Energy Work. I am blessed with a growing list of clients, helping them to shift their energy to remove blockages that cause dis-ease. I often use the labyrinth to help people stimulate stagnant energies, circulate congested chi, and release energetic debris with this powerful healing tool. The results are remarkable!

Energy Medicine Yoga workshop

I also practice Energy Medicine Yoga, and I have created a 5 Element Drumming and Yoga class. This vinyasa flow class combines drumming and yoga to connect body, mind, and spirit. Often, I use the labyrinth to maximize the healing to the innermost parts of our beings while I take participants on a journey of renewal and deep peace.

Belly dancing is my passion!

Yet there's also a lot of fun to be had on the labyrinth, and I can't think of anything more fun than belly dancing on the path. I was introduced to the art form 20 years ago at one of my first Labyrinth Society Gatherings and immediately fell in love with it. I enjoy sharing this beautiful and ancient art form with others.

Belly dancing on the labyrinth

Over the years, I've discovered that the labyrinth is not only a beautiful work of art but also a powerful healing tool. I invite you to discover the many ways in which the labyrinth can improve your life, too.

LIS labyrinth becomes central feature at Louisiana Children's Museum

In my studio in Illinois--actually, a pole barn in a farmer's back forty--I'm busy preparing for the installation of the labyrinth at the Louisiana Children's Museum (LCM) in New Orleans. The labyrinth will be a central landscape feature when LCM moves to a new location in New Orleans City Park in mid-2019. The 7-circuit Essence of Chartres labyrinth will bring "a new level of interactive experiences designed to promote early childhood learning through play," says the LCM website. The labyrinth won't be installed until February, but there's lots for Debi and me to do to prepare for a flawless installation before we ever arrive at the work site.  

Precision cuts are the hallmark of our work.

The project began months ago when we received the contract from the museum, but like the labyrinth itself, there's been quite a few twists and turns in the process, such as construction and weather delays. Making labyrinths for more than 20 years has taught us that every labyrinth we create has its own timeline. We have learned to be patient and trust the process--which is a lot like walking a labyrinth, come to think of it. You think you're heading right for the "goal," but the path suddenly changes direction several times; you seem to be going around in circles and doubling back the way you came, but then find yourself walking straight into the center, and every step along the way has led you there. We have learned how to adapt to sudden changes by staying focused on things we can control, such as making precision cuts with my EDCO high-performance diamond masonry saw. Nearly half of the pavers are being hand sculpted to fit the intricate design before they will be shipped to the installation site next month.

The center rosette takes shape.

It takes a lot of teamwork to prepare for a successful labyrinth installation. While I am hard at work in the studio, Debi is very busy handling everything else: staffing our home office (lots of emails and phone calls!), making our travel arrangements, preparing our home for our extended road trip, managing our household, and most importantly, being a great mom for our daughters, Brittany and Chloe, and grandma for our granddaughter, Lily. Plus, she teaches weekly classes and workshops and has a growing clientele for her alternative healing practice. I don't know how she does it all!

Back in the studio, the rosette is finished, but there are still a lot more pavers to sculpt before we load them on the palettes to be shipped to the Louisiana Children's Museum in New Orleans. Meanwhile, several other projects are in the works, and our calendar is quickly filling up with work that will take us all around the country again this year. Watch this space for the latest developments!