Hello Dear Labyrinth Community,
The 2022 theme for The Global Healing Response is Heart. So many poets write about the heart. If you take the time to do a deep dive into the theme of “heart” you will be entertained. A wonderful Shakespeare quote is, “Go to your bosom, knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.” It is helpful because it requires action and acknowledges the wonder and wisdom of our hearts.
I have noticed we spend a lot of time referring to our hearts when we speak; our hearts are full, our hearts overflow, they break and ache, they’re warm and they can be cold, too. It’s interesting how much time many of us spend scrunching our chests and keeping our physical hearts closed off (especially on our electronic devices). A very visual metaphor! Heart opening yoga poses are becoming my new favorite thing.
To open up our chests, we start this year by BREATHING through our hearts and visualizing them expanding to break up the scars and shields around them. In the next quarter we will OPEN our hearts to receive…and give. The third quarter will help us CONNECT our hearts with others and their magnetic fields. And finally, in quarter four, we will RADIATE the waves of our hearts to create amplified healing from our coherent energy. It’s a busy year and we have a lot to accomplish!
During each quarter I would like to share a little data about the energy of our hearts and the electromagnetic waves we emanate. I am connecting a link to a video titled “Brain Heart Coherence” that I wrote and was produced through The Legacy Labyrinth Project in preparation for the World Labyrinth Day Big Connection science experiment in 2021. It explains how breathing through your heart can create a stronger coherent response in your body. This, of course, can be useful before a labyrinth walk.
After taking a deep breath, please take William Shakespeare’s advice and ask your heart “…what it doth know” perhaps before you walk a labyrinth with a group or alone, with your feet or your finger.
Also, remember that YOU are a leader and teacher in this global project of Peace and Healing. Please feel free to share these materials with anyone who might enjoy them. I am so grateful to be a part of this community and happy we have each other to ignite ideas and support our projects. As always, please feel free to contact me with your ideas and thoughts.
From the bottom of my heart,
Ellen Bintz Meuch
Founder, Global Healing Response
Coordinator, World Labyrinth Day (May 7, 2022)
Global Healing Quarterly Intention
2022 Theme: Heart
“I looked in temples, churches, and mosques.
But I found the Divine within my heart.” ― Rumi
January-February-March
Focus: Breathe
Quote: “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Picture/symbol: The waves of the ocean rhythmically coming in and out, like the breath.
Prayer/Meditation:
Breath of your Heart
(a great practice before or during a labyrinth walk)
Deeply inhale and visualize your breath traveling through your heart as your lungs expand.
Imagine this flow expanding your heart, loosening scar tissue from any brokenness and pain.
Feel the new movement this allows.
As you exhale, let the pain leave your body.
Sense the flow of life the breath and blood pump through your body to every cell.
Find calmness and security knowing that your heart and breath,
involuntarily, sustain your life force.
Thank your heart for its strength and resilience.
Ask it for the Wisdom you need.
Repeat.
Ideas for benefiting organization: In the US, The American Heart Association, https://www.heart.org/. In other parts of the world, is there an organization that focuses on the heart?
Ideas for ambiance around the labyrinth: We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day during this quarter, so finding hearts should not be difficult. Even a rock with a heart painted on it or many placed along the path and in the center would be beautiful.
Music: Relaxing Music with Gentle Ocean Sounds, Soothing Waves and Peaceful Music (8 hours):
In this culture and in this time, we are very intellecually focused and dependent on interacting with the world through our cerebral cortex.
People have forgotten how rich our perception of the world becomes when we experience life through the lens of the heart.
Here is a simpe Haiku for you:
Let your mind drop down,
Breath the world in through your heart.
You won’t miss a beat.