The Purchase Labyrinth
Embracing Mindfulness
An Open Invitation to Relax, Reflect, and Reset
Purchase College recently unveiled a labyrinth for walking meditation.
We invite community members to visit the labyrinth any time you need a moment to relax, clear your mind, or find inspiration.
You’ll discover the labyrinth behind the Dance Building in the grassy area beyond the Native Pollinator Garden.
We ask only that you respect others you may encounter during the time you spend.
A cross-campus team comprising faculty and staff co-created the labyrinth, with funds provided by the SUNY Chancellor’s office with a grant award intended for mental health initiatives.
What is a Labyrinth?
A labyrinth is not a maze.
You make no choices and reach no dead ends. It’s a continuous circuit that provides a dedicated space for walking meditation. Just follow the single path before you. When you arrive at the center, pause, then reverse to retrace your path out.
Labyrinth designs are found across cultures—Native American, Celtic, and mystical Judaism, for example—from as far back as 5,000 years.
The Purchase Labyrinth reflects the Chartres-style, which dates back to Medieval times, inspired by the Chartres Cathedral in France, which was completed in 1252.
Why a Labyrinth?
To offer space for quiet contemplation.
Walking meditation has been practiced for thousands of years as a mindfulness technique to still the mind, calm the breath, bring awareness, and cultivate insight.
Walking a labyrinth requires no special knowledge or skill to participate. It’s open to anyone at any time—accessible to anyone who wishes to enter.
The benefits provided range from the physical to the mental, emotional, spiritual, and even metaphysical.
The value of accessible mindfulness practice and its availability to a broad swath of community members, both on and off campus, dovetails perfectly with the Purchase mindset of Think Wide Open.
Who Should Use the Labyrinth?
Anyone. Everyone.
With little experience or knowledge necessary to begin a walking mindfulness practice, using a labyrinth is accessible to most people.
Some classes on campus already incorporate walking meditation as a means of creative stimulation.
The labyrinth creates a mental health focal point that students can access outside of the Counseling Center’s business hours.
Students who are Counseling Center clients will be able to use the labyrinth to practice the reflection and self-exploration skills learned in counseling sessions.
It offers students a landing place in the natural world where they can reap the mental health benefits of experiencing oneself as part of the larger whole.
Give it a try.
How to Use a Labyrinth
Simply walk.
Using a labyrinth requires that you respect others who are also using it. There’s no right or wrong way beyond that.
According to veriditas.org …
“Generally, there are three stages to the walk: releasing on the way in, receiving in the center, and returning when you follow the return path back out of the labyrinth.
“Symbolically, and sometimes actually, you are taking back out into the world that which you have received.
“To prepare, you may want to sit quietly to reflect before walking the labyrinth. Some people come with questions, others just to slow down and take time out from a busy life. Some come to find strength to take the next step. Many come during times of grief and loss.
“Use the labyrinth in any way that meets what you need. You may go directly to the center to sit quietly.”
How the Labyrinth Came to Be
A cross-campus team comprising faculty and staff worked together to bring this project to fruition, with funds provided by a grant award for mental health initiatives awarded by the SUNY Chancellor’s office.
Its manifestation began in late spring 2021, when former Counseling and Behavioral Health staff member Robbie Morrell conducted a six-week mindfulness training workshop online for staff; the words “Purchase would be the perfect place for a labyrinth” were first uttered during the session on walking meditation.
Four years later, following numerous proposal modifications, meetings, emails, phone calls, and hours spent researching and planning, we’re grateful to offer this amazing resource to students, faculty, staff, Broadview residents, and the broader community.
Special thanks to Chancellor John B. King, Jr. for providing the grant funds and to Vice President Patty Bice for greenlighting this project.