Take Time for Yourself

This picture was taken as I was leaving the World Healing Institute at Cobb Island Light Station on the Eastern Shore of Virginia last October.  I had just spent 4 days at a retreat there with a group of awesome and amazing women.  The experience was enlightening, empowering, spiritual and healing on so many levels.  The joy and peace I found in those 4 days have remained with me and taken me in directions I would not otherwise have gone.

The Labyrinth at Cobb Island Light Station

One of the most powerful experiences of the retreat for me was walking the grass labyrinth behind the retreat center.  I walked it barefoot at sunrise as a doe and her twins watched me from a small distance.  The breeze off the ocean was energizing, and I turned my face to the sun as it broke through the clouds and whispered, "Thank you."

I urge everyone who has not experienced a labyrinth walk to go online and find one near you.  Many hospitals and churches now have permanent labyrinths, and there are labyrinths that roll out like carpets that are available to churches and community groups for rental.  You can also find handheld and other small portable labyrinths online, some so small you can slip them into pocket or purse to carry with you.  Each time you "walk" the labyrinth - whether with your feet or the little stylus that comes with the pocket ones - you will have a different experience.  A good place to locate a labyrinth near you is The Labyrinth Society, and Relax4Life has some beautiful personal labyrinths.

Take time for yourself today.  Find a peaceful place, center yourself and breathe consciously.  Consider going on retreat - alone or with a friend, your family or other group.  I promise you will return to the "real world" energized and joyful.