2012 Workshop Descriptions

The 2012 Annual Gathering offered a variety of fabulous concurrent lecture-style presentations, experiential workshops, and poster presentations by TLS members. Read below about what we experienced...

FRIDAY EVENING 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm
 
Labyrinths Lost and Found: A Swedish Treasure Trove on the Isle of Gotland
Lars Howlett
Voyage across the Baltic Sea in search of ancient labyrinths. Through photographs and stories, explore the estimated 2,000-year-old stone ‘Trojaborg,’ search windowless church towers for medieval labyrinth graffiti, and circumnavigate the island in search of known and forgotten sacred sites. Sweden offers more surviving historic labyrinths than any other country with valuable insight into their ceremonial, spiritual, and educational uses. [60 minutes]

Lars Howlett  builds, walks, and photographs labyrinths as a mindfulness practice. In 2011 he traveled to France, Scotland, and Sweden to study the history and spiritual resonance of sacred sites. He has attended workshops with Robert Ferre and Jeff Saward, trained as a labyrinth facilitator at Chartres with Lauren Artress, and traced his roots exploring labyrinths on Iona and GotlandLars recently published “Steps Along an Unfolding Path”  a book of photographs and footpaths he created over five years. He specializes in the design and installation of outdoor labyrinths, leading workshops and meditative walks in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond. Lars Howlett's website.

Returning the Labyrinth to the Contemporary Corporate World: WHY? WHAT FOR? HOW? SO WHAT?
Jerrilou Johnson
This learning experience explores why? what for? how? and early results of the first labyrinth to be built on the North American continent within a corporate setting. Answers to these questions were positioned within the true story of building an exact replica of the Chartres Labyrinth within the principal corporate GNP campus, Grupo Nacional Provincial, Mexico City, Mexico. [60 minutes]

Dr. Jerrilou Johnson has worked for 25 years within the corporate world in Latin and North America, growing people to transform organizations. Her visionary eye and tenacious spirit joined together to promote the use of labyrinths in both a highly respected bank as well as the largest and oldest insurance company in Latin America. Each company now has its own labyrinth: one hand-painted replica of the Chartres labyrinth on canvas; another Chartres replica built by Marty Kermeen in the garden of the company´s corporate headquarters.

Chi and the Labyrinth Experience; Integrating Chinese Medicine for Health & Healing
Deah Kinion
This lecture introduced Chinese medicine concepts such as Chi (pronounced chee, meaning energy), Yin, and Yang. Chinese medicine is based on understanding nature and the timeless flow of cycles and seasons. Walking the labyrinth opens one to this great journey of life, of exploration, and discovery. Participants learned practices to enhance vitality with mindfulness, acupressure, and simple movement. [60 minutes]

Deah Kinion is a licensed acupuncturist (MN Board of Medical Practice) and director/provider at Abundant-Chi Community Acupuncture Center in Rochester, MN. A graduate of the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine (Chicago 1988), she is national-board certified in acupuncture. Deah is a regular speaker at Mayo Clinic’s Creative Renewal; Workshops for Wellness. Her topics include Labyrinths – history, benefits, & creating your own desk-top labyrinth; and a variety of self-care classes on Chinese medicine. She also teaches Tai Chi and Qigong. In 2005, Deah and her husband mowed a 60-foot, 7-circuit labyrinth in a field adjacent to their home.

The Labyrinth as a Tool for Spiritual Direction
Nickie Lynn
Labyrinths, offering both contemplative and active prayer, are conducive to the processes of discernment and decision-making, both necessary for creating a sense of wellbeing and peace through transforming conflicting desires and attitudes. Labyrinths are transformative tools to aid discernment, conflict resolution, and interfaith work toward peace with personal interior struggles, as well as interpersonal dynamics between fellow pilgrims along life’s journey. [60 minutes]

Nickie Lynn is currently a Youth Minister for her parish in Tyrone, GA. She holds her Master’s of Theology in Pastoral Studies from Spring Hill College,  Mobile, AL; is a Certified Spiritual Director; a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator trained by Robert Ferré, Lisa Gidlow Moriarty, and Rev. Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion, PhD; and a Certified Ecclesial Minister. She designs labyrinths, and directs and facilitates retreats and days of reflection, and has been on pilgrimage to Italy and France. She is most proud of being the mom of three amazing young adults and grandmother to one adorable grandson.


SATURDAY MORNING 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Being SBNR (Spiritual but not Religious): The Emerging Spiritual Paradigm
Lauren Artress
As the labyrinth works its way into Western Culture it has not only helped us embody our spirituality, but also led us to a new way of thinking about being spiritual beings on a human path. The designation of “Spiritual But Not Religious” has been gaining recognition recently. Some people oppose it over and against Christianity, but this is not necessary to identify ones’ spirituality. In this workshop we discussed the difference between SBNR and the Christian Path as well as the overlap between the two. Concepts such as Original Sin, the implications of owning our own Shadow, Collective Shadow, the true meaning of psycho-spiritual and redefining “salvation” were highlighted. How the labyrinth helps support SBNR such as through defining a process (rather than a belief system), holding the tension of the opposites and encouraging self-relatedness were discussed. [90 minutes]

Lauren Artress is a Canon of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and author of three books on the labyrinth. Her work includes speaking on the contemporary spiritual issues we are confronted with in our daily lives and leading transformative experiences around the world and regularly at the cathedral in Chartres, France. Lauren founded a non-profit organization Veriditas, the World-Wide Labyrinth Project in 1996 to “pepper the planet with labyrinths.” Lauren is an Episcopal priest, spiritual director, and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California.

Step into the River of Life – Ancestral Strength & the Labyrinth
Dorit  Brauer
Walking labyrinths combined with the systemic approach connects you to your roots and heals the hidden dynamics in your family of origin. Difficult fates and traumatic experiences in previous generations may continue to create havoc as a hidden pattern in the present generation. This workshop showed how to release all negative entanglements to the past and let the love flow. [90 minutes]

Dorit Brauer is a graduate of the Mahut School for Complementary Medicine and Holism in Tel Aviv, Israel. She has practiced Reflexology and Meditation & Guided Imagery at the Center for Complementary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dorit Brauer also taught for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and at other corporate sites. In 2005 she received her Certification in Systemic Family Constellations from the Hellinger Institute in Washington DC and in the fall of 2005 she became certified as a Labyrinth Facilitator with Dr. Lauren Artress. Dorit Brauer is the author of the newly-released book “Girls Don’t Ride Motorbikes – A Spiritual Adventure Into Life’s Labyrinth,” a nonfiction narrative of her modern day pilgrimage in which she embarks onto a 7430 mile solo motorcycle adventure across the US to walk labyrinths. View Dorit Brauer's labyrinth road-trip photos here.


Forgive Me: A Buried Longing - Labyrinths and Reconciliation
Zara Renander and Kerry Holder Joffrion
This leading edge workshop explored forgiveness through labyrinth work. Storytelling and direct experience in the ʻStones Process of Reconciliation,ʼ moves practioners to a cultivated wholeness. Personal transformation leads to engaged community action. To live abundantly, we must clarify our perceptions. This workshop offered tools to avoid past abstracts which detract from happiness, and delivers to us into the sacred ʻnow.ʼ  [90 minutes] 

Zara Renander, M.A. (Theology) is an Episcopalian laywoman whose focus is Pastoral Ministry. She has worked with  many groups of labyrinth facilitators and has developed a training for labyrinth facilitators that intentionally engages the wide community. She has used the labyrinth extensively over many years and has deep experience in pilgrimage and reconciliation work which she brings to labyrinth training, showing how a labyrinth can provide a sacred container for experiences of pain, allowing for movement, transformation and healing.

The Rev'd Kerry Holder Joffrion is an interfaith voice in the Deep South who has worked with her family for generations in the Civil Rights movement. She is an Episcopal priest who has served both in the parish and extensively in the broader community. After graduating from Princeton Seminary, she worked in Montana with the Blackfeet Nation developing healing paradigms through indigenous processes for addiction in youth and young adults resulting in the Thunder Child Treatment and Mountain Shield Centers. She was recently collaborator in a multidisciplinary healing team at the University of Alabama Huntsville following in the wake of the violence which claimed the lives of the majority of the Biology faculty this past winter.  Kerry facilitates labyrinth work in all these media and more with an eye toward the community and structural healing applications of the labyrinths' gifts.  She has been gladly claimed by the labyrinth for over twenty years.

        
Entering the Flow: Labyrinth Research
C. Diane Rudebock,  M. Kay Sandor, Marian Dabney, Katja Marquart
A diverse group of researchers explored ideas for labyrinth research.  Participants brought questions, stories, and experiences as we gathered in this casual setting to experience the flow of ideas, emerge, and encounter the labyrinth with new eyes.  Each of the speakers shared different modalities from quantitative to qualitative. [90 minutes]

C. Diane Rudebock, is a Registered Nurse, a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, and TLS Research Committee Chair. She created the Labyrinth Research Team at UCO. She is involved in qualitative labyrinth research projects and uses the labyrinth in health-related courses that she teaches as well as for campus events. She conducts labyrinth workshops on national, state, and local levels, is a founding member of the Central Oklahoma Labyrinth Facilitators, and a member of the Edmond Labyrinth Guild which offers monthly community labyrinth walks.

Marion Dabney holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Indiana University and University of Alabama, and an MA in counseling and clinical psychology from Bradley University, Peoria, IL.  Her professional experiences include:  chief psychometrician for the Testing Division of the Georgia Department of Education, Assistant Professor (Tulane University) who was responsible for testing and research classes, psychometrician and researcher for Seattle Public Schools, clinical psychologist at Bradley University. Her most recent publication was on test equating (joint research with Riverside Publishing Company).

Lea Goode-Harris, Ph.D. is the founder of the Santa Rosa Labyrinth Foundation and artist-creator of the Santa Rosa Labyrinth. In 2002, she designed the Snoopy Labyrinth for the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, and in 2005, the Ladybug Labyrinth. Her research on psychological applications of the labyrinth forms the foundation of an innovative method of personal development using the Santa Rosa, as well as traditional, labyrinth designs. Lea lectures and directs workshops focused on labyrinths, her goal being to facilitate human potential by supporting integration of opposites, and releasing personal creativity through diverse mediums.

Katja Marquart holds an MFA in Design Studies from UW – Madison, and is an NCIDQ-certified design educator. Her work combines interior design with other creative pursuits. She currently serves as Associate Dean and Division Head, with the Division of Interior Architecture, at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Through her work, she explores the transformative character of built and natural environments, where labyrinths play a significant role, serving as tool, object, and symbol. Katja has been engaged in labyrinth-related activities for over twelve years. She is a Veriditas-trained Labyrinth Facilitator and has been trained at the Reiki Master level. 

M. Kay Sandor is a Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing. Dr. Sandor actively promotes interprofessional education in the Spirituality and Clinical Course funded by the Templeton Foundation Grant through the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish). She has been co-director of the nationally recognized course for medical, nursing, and health professions students for 13 years. Dr. Sandor is nationally known for her research on the spiritual development of students and for her research on the biobehavioral and spiritual responses to a program of meditative walking (labyrinth).

Family Faith Reflections and Labyrinths in the Home
Christy Olson
Lifelong faith exploration begins in the family. This workshop combined knowledge about children and families with possibilities for using labyrinths in the home. Family experiences include reflection on shared memories, blessing one another, prayer, forgiveness/healing, and celebrations of the natural rhythm of creation. [90 minutes]

Christy Olson Christy Olson is an educator who is blessed to have spent 35 years working with children/families as they explore the mystery of faith. Her theory is: If you give a family a faith practice, their faith growth never ends. For the past 15 years, labyrinths have been part of her faith practice teaching. Through theological studies and her knowledge of family faith formation she developed the Seasons of Faith labyrinth to use with families. Christy studies, writes and teaches as the Faith Gardener at www.TheFaithGardener.com


SATURDAY AFTERNOON 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

The Pilgrimage Flow on Labyrinth Pathways
Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion
Pilgrimage can be described as an outer journey with an inner purpose. Images, poetry, song and silence were offered as doorways through which to explore how labyrinths and pilgrimage relate. Participants were invited to reflect on their own life journeys as they engaged in a series of “mini-pilgrimage” experiences using paper and visual labyrinths. [60 minutes]

The Rev. Jill K. H. Geoffrion, PhD, is the author of seven labyrinth-related books. She is a frequent pilgrim to sacred sites around the globe. Her labyrinth work in places of extreme suffering brings together concepts of pilgrimage and healing. Jill is a Veriditas-certified labyrinth facilitator, a lifetime member of The Labyrinth Society, and a founding co-organizer of the Minnesota Labyrinth Network.
 
     
Pilgrimage to Build a Labyrinth at Chartres
Bonnie Carter, Chris Farrow-Noble, Barrie Gibby, Laura McArtor, Loran White
Thirteen individuals from Canada, USA, England and Scotland heeded the call from Veriditas and came to Chartres, France, in May 2011 to build a Chartres-design labyrinth. Members of the team shared their experiences through anecdotes, diagrams, photographs, video, and music.  Attendees witnessed the day-by-day physical and spiritual challenges, problem solving, and sense the joy of commitment and completion. [90 minutes]

Bonnie Carter B.Ed. was first exposed to the Labyrinth and Chartres Cathedral as the image of the divine feminine  through her Waldorf Teacher Training over 25 years ago. Her passion is creating labyrinths and sharing the experience with others. She is the Labyrinth Guardian for the Centre for Spiritual Living in Edmonton, Alberta, where they have monthly candlelit walks in their full-sized Chartres labyrinth.  She has facilitated the creation of canvas, temporary, and permanent labyrinths in the Edmonton area. Maison St. Yves in Chartres was the most memorable labyrinth build she has participated in. Bonnie Carter's Website, Labyrinth Pilgrim... Walking a Labyrinth Daily.

Chris Farrow-Noble walked her first labyrinth at New Harmony in December 1999. She completed advanced faciliatator certification with Veriditas in 2008. Chris offers community walks on the field-mown labyrinth near her house in Brooksville Maine. Her first novel about labyrinths is in progress. In 2011 she responded immediately to the call by Veriditas to build a labyrinth in Chartres. In December 2011 Chris presented an illustrated account of the Chartres construction pilgrimage to the women’s spiritual group at Christ Church, Bronxville, NY. She will introduce a labyrinth walk in June 2012 at Wisdom Retreat at Ojai Foundation, CA.

Barrie Carter Gibby, recently of northern Illinois, works on that creative edge that promotes movement prayer as a connection to inner spiritual castle. As an educator, she integrates her extensive background in theater, dance, writing, education & design to build community through the universal tool of embodied meditation. Barrie has conducted workshop gatherings nationally and in Canada on movement prayer and the labyrinth for over three decades, facilitating Equinox and Solstice gatherings with Womanspace in Rockford, concert production work for the international Sacred Dance Guild Festivals, labyrinth builds in the Atlantic states and the Midwest. Owner/producer of Barrett Design Events, coordinating events on the East Coast and Midwest. Barrie has a BA English/Literature & Education, graduate studies in Theater and design, extended studies in religion in the arts.

Laura McArtor lives in San Francisco where she runs Widow’s Peak Web Solutions, a web design and development firm offering custom website services to small businesses and independent professionals. One of Laura’s first labyrinth experiences was the May 2011 pilgrimage to Chartres, France, where she joined a group led by Dr. Lauren Artress and Jeff Saward to build an 11-circuit path from granite cobblestones. That experience touched her deeply; since then she’s enjoyed walking labyrinths in California, Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, and on her iPad.  Laura completed the Veriditas facilitator training in August 2011 and is currently developing a labyrinth-themed app.

Loran White, of Rapid City, SD, walked the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco while participating in a Women's Dream Quest many years ago.  It was during that event that she was exposed to the idea of going to Chartres with Lauren Artress, but the time never presented itself to her until last year.  In Chartres, she was the keeper of stones and deeply humbled to participate.  Over the past 15 years, she has walked labyrinths in many cities as she travels for her left brain job. Loran heads the Labyrinth Committee at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, SD.

Creating Ceremonies and Rituals on the Labyrinth
Genevieve Munoz
The Labyrinth can be a powerful tool for recognizing, appreciating, and gathering strength to go forward from our many rites of passage, life transitions, and milestones.  Participants learned about the role a Celebrant plays in the creation of ceremonies for all of life transitions, and experienced how the Labyrinth can be used in conjunction with ceremonies such as Coming of Age, Mother Blessings, Divorce Ceremonies, and others. [90 minutes]

Genevieve Munoz is a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® and graduate of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute™. As the founder of Genevieve Munoz Ceremonies, LLC, she creates and officiates life-cycle ceremonies for individuals, couples, families, and communities.  She is also a Wedding Officiant and Non-Denominational Minister who facilitates weddings, commitment ceremonies, vow renewals, and rituals of love on Minnesota's North Shore.    Please visit her websites – Labyrinth Ceremonies Website  and Minnesota North Shore Weddings Website.

Laughter and Labyrinths-Timeless Healing Modalities Combined!
Holly Carnegie Letcher
Whether looking for fun and innovative ways to stay healthy and active or to manage stress and health concerns, participants responded to this unique interactive workshop combining therapeutic laughter exercises, yogic breathing, child-like playfulness and labyrinth walking.  No sense of humour or yoga experience was required…welcoming curiosity and labyrinth enthusiasts! [90 minutes]

Holly Carnegie Letcher, OT, is an Occupational Therapist & Reiki Practitioner. Holly is sole owner of Sacred Circles, Healing Hands, Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada.  Holly has been providing Health and Wellness workshops for all ages, using the Labyrinth for over 10 years. Holly is a Veriditas Certified Labyrinth Facilitator  and recently completed her Laughter Yoga Leader Certification.  Please check out her Oceanside Pathways 2 Wellness- Holistic Health Services website for further qualifications.

Robin B. Dilley, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Arizona and the author of In A Moment’s Notice: A Psychologist’s Journey with Breast Cancer.   Dr. Dilley used the labyrinth and the powerful imagery of her ally Tiger as part of her self-care as a cancer patient. Her presentations are powerful, engaging, and very helpful to those who attend workshops, self-care classes, and groups.  Her mission is to empower the client mobilize his/her inner resources for positive change.  You can read more about her on her Psychotherapy Unlimited website.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Integrating Labyrinth Reflections
Joan/G Guilfoyle
An opportunity to reflect upon and integrate what the Gathering offers, sparks and awakens, workshop participants used a combination of guided imagery, simple carefree movement, deep relaxation, personal reflection and fellowship to get into their bodies and let their brains relax, and left  feeling refreshed, grounded, open, and ready for more! [90 minutes]

Joan/G Guilfoyle has led “Morning Movement”, “FIRST STEP,” and other workshops at Gatherings since 2003, and for church and staff retreats, professional conferences and a support center for the critically-ill. She is the creator of “Touching Body and Soul: A Grace-Full Labyrinth Walk.” All of her interests and passions come together in this practice of creating joyful, heartfelt and sacred experiences with others on labyrinths, dance floors, and yoga mats. In addition to her love of labyrinths, Joan is a Kripalu YogaDance™ teacher, dancer, and yoga practitioner; Laughter Yoga instructor; and certified labyrinth facilitator. Gorgeous Spirit Website

Reflections of who you are: The Enneagram and the Labyrinth
Janice Lewis
The melding of two modalities: the Enneagram and the Labyrinth was experienced in this workshop. The Enneagram can help us better understand our patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, and this can bring more success, fulfillment and meaning into our lives. Following the Enneagram exploration, the participants were guided through a self reflection on the labyrinth. [90 minutes]

Janice Lewis, after nearly a decade of working in the Christian church community in the U.S. and Canada, formed her own business, JaniceTime, dedicated to helping people reach their full potential and realize their dreams. Janice has a passion for truly listening, affirming feelings and experiences, and gently guiding. She is a leader who has facilitated meditation, stress management, grief support groups, personal growth retreats, spiritual guidance seminars, and much more.  Her certifications include: Certified Individual and Group Dream Life Coach, Veriditas Certified Labyrinth Facilitator,
 Enneagram Personality Style Facilitator, Reiki Practitioner and Master Teacher, Certified Usui Lineage, Art of Hosting Practitioner
, Meditation Leader-Essential Leadership Training,
 Pastoral Care Specialist, Pastoral Visitor, Spiritual Director, Commissioned and Trained by Manresa, 
Stephen Leader and Minister, Stephen Ministry
Grief Training,
 Complicated Mourning, Sudden Death, and Trauma Loss Training.


Cosmic Triage™- Flowing Through Crisis
Sarah Nash
The ability to do an emotional-mental spot check while in the midst of a difficult situation is crucial for surviving consciously in the world today. What defines a crisis moment is as varied as there are personalities. Utilizing the labyrinth as the foundation for healing, participants learned how to "Relax, Reflect and Renew" through moments that may seem overwhelming. [90 minutes]

Reverend Sarah Nash is a Reiki Master Teacher and Advanced Spiritual Response Practitioner. Several years of working as an intuitive grief counselor specializing in crisis management led to Sarah's Ministerial Ordination and subsequent certification as a Life Coach. This was further developed by studies with the Spiritual Response Association leading to certification as an advanced practitioner. Since her first walk through the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral ten years ago, Sarah encourages all of her clients to use this remarkable tool and implements it in many of her workshops.You can read more about Sarah on her website.

Jodi Lorimer’s lifelong fascination with ancient history and anthropology found focus as she began to explore the origins of the symbol of the labyrinth. None of the sources she consulted answered her questions. After years of research and discovery, she published the results of her journey in “Dancing At The Edge of Death: The Origins of the Labyrinth in the Paleolithic.” Now she turns her attention to the Minotaur. In exploring these interconnected archetypes, she bridges the gap between science and spirit, nature and myth. Lorimer is married with two children and lives in Portland, Oregon where she works as a professional voice talent.