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May 4 Activities Include Walk, Workshop
Boxerwood will be hosting a free event on Saturday, May 4, as part of World Labyrinth Day, an international project coming for the first time to the Rockbridge area.
Each year, thousands of people around the globe gather on the first Saturday in May to participate in World Labyrinth Day, in what organizers describe as “a moving meditation for peace.” Gathering on labyrinths across the world, participants “Walk as One at 1:00,” (local time), thus creating a rolling wave of peaceful energy passing from one time zone to the next.
Organized by the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild, this event features a labyrinth walk at Boxerwood on May 4 beginning at 12:30 p.m., as well as an optional allday workshop.
According to Emily Kohl, Boxerwood executive director, “Boxerwood was delighted when organizers contacted us about this opportunity. Hosting a community labyrinth walk at Boxerwood is a fitting culmination to a series of events we’re planning for this Earth Day season.”
An ancient practice, many contend that walking the winding pathways of a labyrinth can reduce stress, quiet the mind, and open the heart. “This event is in keeping with our interest in connecting people with the healing power of nature and community,” said Kohl.
Boxerwood’s 45-foot circular labyrinth will be situated in the meadow adjacent to the field used for its Music In the Garden events. Volunteers will assemble the pathways the day before from natural materials gathered from the woodland garden.
After the meditative walk, which begins promptly at 1 p.m., participants will rake up all the materials that form the labyrinth’s seven concentric rings, then return those materials to the natural world.
“This is a one-day event,” explained the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild’s founder, Heidi Schweizer. “The event is open to families and people of all ages, and hand-held finger style labyrinths will be available for those who desire a seated experience.”
As a complement to the public event, the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild is also offering an on-site
, page B4 workshop for those interested in learning about the tradition of labyrinth creation and meditation. The 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. workshop will be led by Mary Ann Wamhoff of Crozet, a Veriditas advanced accredited facilitator. Having trained with Lauren Artress in Chartres, France, Warnhoff has been involved with labyrinth work for the past 30 years and delights in introducing others to the joys of exploring and walking the labyrinth.
“The workshop is not part of Boxerwood’s programming,” noted Kohl, “yet we were happy to offer the lodge for its venue.”
The fee for the workshop is $75 per slot, payable to Wamhoff. For more information on enrolling in the labyrinth workshop, email Wamhoff at cslabyrinth@outlook. com.
For more information about joining the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild, email Heidi Schweizer at heid i.laby r [email protected].
Those planning to attend the walk are encouraged to RSVP to Boxerwood. org/events, but an RSVP is not required.
