Healing depression, lonliness, grief and anxiety with embodied, contemplative beach labyrinth rituals: a transdisciplinary approach
Jacqueline Kurio
Photography
Labyrinth + place = belonging
Eco-psychology perceives the entangled interconnectivity between person and place while living cosmos panpsychism understands reality as fundamentally alive and responsive at all scales of existence. The beach is a liminal, elemental space of freedom and potential. Earth’s body as our body invites us to come home to ourselves and the Earth.
Ritual as creative practise in collaboration with nature’s design
Humans are essentially creative beings. Drawing labyrinths on the sand is an artistic collaboration between self and the elements. As aspects of sacred geometry, labyrinths express fundamental truths about the nature of reality. As universal patterns labyrinths honour what is sensed but unseen. Rituals provide an opportunity to practise gratitude while embodying purposeful intentions.
Healing through actualising awareness of the whole
Washed by the ocean, water distributes the intentions held in the labyrinth to everyone/all of life; water consciousness is an emergent field of study (Ho, 2012; Nuday, 2014). Healing through participating in the living whole imparts a sense of belonging and sacred responsibility, helping connect us to a story greater than our own.
Jacqueline Kurio PhD, artist and writer
Artist website: www.livinglabyrinths.net
Substack contribitions https://jacquelinekurio.substack.com/
Worldwide labyrinth locator: https://labyrinthlocator.org/ – so folk know if there is a labyrinth they can walk close to where they are or are visiting.
The labyrinth in this photograph looks so inviting, allowing me to imagine the journey on which it might lead me. A beautiful piece.
I think this photograph is beautiful and very emotive. It made me think about what different peoples’ daily rituals are in our society and how they are contributing to our health. How many of these rituals are harmonious with nature? I think we often forget the power of nature in medicine. It is a massive entity that we should be living in harmony with. There is a disconnect…
The labyrinth in the sand being washed away by the large mass of the ocean is a really beautiful concept: ‘Healing through actualising awareness of the whole.’
I love the sentence ‘Healing through participating in the living whole imparts a sense of belonging and sacred responsibility, helping connect us to a story greater than our own.’
How as a society are we surrendering to the flow of the universe and participating with the natural entities we exist in harmony with?
Such a well-written and beautiful capture of the potential for the healing that is so crucial in this time. We have had the privilege and honour of engaging with your work at the UN Elder Abuse Awareness day in Vancouver when 500 seniors created and walked the labyrinth using your handbook for the model. Deeply grateful for the work you offer to our world.