Spiritual walk hosted by Campus Ministry promotes mindfulness

Staff Writer

“The idea is to promote mindfulness and a way of helping people to regain control of their emotions and relax,” said Cylon George, director of Campus Ministry.

The Campus Ministry will be hosting “Walk the Labyrinth” on Wednesday. The walk will run from 9 a.m. to noon in CTR 204. “The event is a labyrinth walk and I put a canvas with the labyrinth design on the floor for people to walk on it, it looks like a maze but it’s not,” George said.

This will be the third of four labyrinth walks hosted by the Hudson Valley Campus Ministry this semester. George is optimistic about the upcoming event which has had success in the past four years.

The Labyrinth will be provided for students who want to renew and refresh themselves in a spiritual and relaxing way. There isn’t a specific way students must walk the labyrinth. It all comes down to what the participant feels like walking whether it be the actual path or just walking straight to the middle. Free food and refreshments will also be provided.

Matt Peer, a theatre arts student, has participated in a Labyrinth walk for a church retreat before. He explained that he didn’t know what it was when he first participated but he ended up having fun. He also explained that he would consider going to the labyrinth walk held at Hudson Valley.

According to George, not a lot of planning goes into the event. Sometimes he likes to change things up by adding guests to provide music to aid the participants in their meditation walk.

“People will try it and come out feeling surprisingly better,” said George. He also believes that the walk can help change a student’s outlook on their own stress levels and make things more relaxing. The students choose fro how long they walk. According to George, some come in and walk for five minutes just to get a “quick fix” while others stay for the duration of the event.

George said, “We only have the here and now and the walk helps people live in that zone.”