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Labyrinths Provide Balance & Offer Healing
By Robert Ferre

Effective healthcare design should incorporate features that enhance healing and well-being for patients, staff, visitors, and the community. A labyrinth is one such tool that can help achieve this goal.

Labyrinths were mentioned by several speakers at the HEALTHCARE DESIGN.03 conference in December. Mark Scott, former CEO of Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Oregon, described in detail the construction and operation of its Celilo Cancer Center, a financially successful prototype of holistic care. Outside the facility is a beautiful labyrinth that is used for walking meditation, family support activity (walking together with the patient), and stress reduction (used by many staff members).

When asked about the scientific proof regarding labyrinths, Scott responded that he didn't wait for such data. He was personally familiar with labyrinths and felt that innovation can wait for lengthy mainstream studies. Scott found that cancer patients benefitted by using meditative labyrinth walking to center themselves before treatment, and to relax after receiving treatment. Unlike mazes, labyrinths have only one path, which leads to the center. Mazes are about solving a puzzle and reaching the goal. Labyrinths, on the other hand, are about the journey - a metaphor for life, including the healing journey.

Clare Cooper Marcus, whose book Healing Gardens is a major resource for landscape architects, showed labyrinths as part of natural areas used for relaxation and renewal. Meditation, natural environments, and walking labyrinths are all methods of invoking what Dr. Herbert Benson has called the "relaxation response." Extensive studies have shown the many benefits of eliciting and experiencing the calming effects of meditation.

Laura Gilpin, currently the director of the Planetree Alliance, included a labyrinth in her description of patient-centered care. In fact, the first hospital to adopt the Planetree model, now California Pacific Medical Center, was also the first major hospital to install a permanent labyrinth. Mid-Columbia Medical Center is also highly involved with the Planetree paradigm. The labyrinth is an experiential tool that helps transform medical crisis into personal transformation. Nothing could be more consistent with the patient-friendly approach promoted by Planetree.

Several of the speakers at the conference acknowledged Robin Orr as the person who inspired them to consider the full needs of patients -- physical, emotional, and spiritual. Orr was the first director of Planetree 25 years ago. In delivering her closing keynote talk on the culture of caring, Orr also mentioned labyrinths in the context of addressing patients' spiritual needs and achieving a balance between inner healing and outer healing.

By providing balance, labyrinths offer healing. They lead to inner strength when the body is frail and suffering. Labyrinths are feminine, comforting, and embracing, whereas many hospital environments are masculine, impersonal, and alienating. Labyrinths are simple, whereas life is complicated. Labyrinths are experiential, whereas treatment is often technological and mechanistic. Labyrinths are gentle, whereas life is hard.

As with any tool, labyrinths are most beneficial when utilized effectively. However, they can't make a contribution if they aren't included in the design. Whether indoors as part of a meditative space or outdoors in a natural setting, labyrinths can help lead the way to attaining the goals of improved outcomes and providing a positive healthcare experience.

Robert FerrČ is director of Labyrinth Enterprises (www.labyrinth-enterprises.com), a major resource for information on labyrinths. He can be reached at robert@labyrinth-enterprises.com.