Neolabyrinthium - Blog #labyrinthcreationNeolabyrinthium - Blog #labyrinthcreationhttps://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/tag/labyrinthcreationWed, 29 Apr 2026 02:51:30 +0200http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Labyrinth as a Blue zone solution]]>https://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/post/labyrinth-as-a-blue-zone-solutionIn this blog I share my recent experience where I made the link between blue zones and labyrinths on the Blue zone festival in Amersfoort.]]>

Presenting the labyrinth at the Blue zone festival in Amersfoort 2026

Yesterday I had the honor of presenting the concept of the labyrinth as a practical example of a Blue Zone solution. First let me elaborate on what are Blue Zones.

Blue Zones

 Blue Zones are regions around the world where people live longer than 100 years, enjoying happiness and good health. Questions naturally emerge: "What is the secret to this phenomenon, and what can we learn from these places?" The concept of Blue Zones was developed by Michel Poulin, a Belgian, who founded the Living Blue Zone organization. The core principles of a Blue Zone include:

1. Moving naturally
2. Eating mindfully
3. Managing stress effectively
4. Maintaining strong family bonds
5. Building robust community connections
6. Respecting the environment


Labyrinths are blue zones of their own

 In my inspiration session, I explained what labyrinths are, how they are used, and where they have been used in the past. But I also shared the present reality of labyrinths in the Netherlands, where you can find labyrinths in some of the big cities, such as Amsterdam, Utrecht, and many others. Did you know that the Netherlands has around 65–70 labyrinths? They are built in schools, parks, healthcare institutes, recreation parks, and many more. The link between labyrinths and blue zones is very close.

1. They are places of stress relief and emotional balance.
2. They are places of connection and community.
3. They are places of meaning.
4. They are places of natural movement.

On our way to Amerfoort, we stopped at a very special labyrinth in IJsselstein, made of willows and in the form of a Man in the Maze, Indian Labyrinth. Personally, this was a form I have never walked before—only in the finger labyrinth form. It was very special, beautiful, and a hidden labyrinth with a very nice creation story. This is what I love about labyrinths: they all have their story. Do you have a labyrinth story? I really want to know it. 

May the labyrinth energy be with you  
​Cathy

I hava a labyrinth story to tell
Empty space BZF26

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Starting building BZF26

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WalkingthebleulabyrinthBZF26

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LabyrinthasbleuzoneinspirationBZF26

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]]>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:44:47 +0100<![CDATA[Let’s Bring Labyrinths Back into Public Life]]>https://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/post/let-s-bring-labyrinths-back-into-public-lifeLabyrinths are a wonderfull product to create in a restorative city. Do you want to know why?]]>

Visiting the Public Spaces Salon in Brussels 

On May 7th, I attended the Public Spaces Salon in Brussels — a gathering of designers, landscape architects, and innovators exploring how we shape our shared environments. I was especially drawn to one particular talk: for the first time, a speaker was addressing the impact of public spaces on mental health.

As I listened, something deeply resonated. Throughout history, labyrinths have always held a place in the public realm — from cathedral floors to village greens. They were spaces for reflection, healing and community.

It’s time to bring them back into view. Labyrinths are more than design elements — they offer rich emotional, sensory and psychological experiences that nurture wellbeing in ways our cities urgently need today.



Labyrinths are a solution within restorative cities.

🌿 A silence area in your city

Imagine on your way back from work: a quiet, beautiful path winding gently under your feet. You follow it, not in a rush, not to reach a goal — but simply to slow down, breathe,and reconnect. No screens, no traffic, no pressure. Just you, the earth, and your next step, leaving behind the stress of the day before entering your home and be with your family?


Imagine a city where the people have no stress, are feeling mentally well and connected to eachother?


That’s the power of a labyrinth.


In the heart of today’s cities — buzzing, overstimulated and often fragmented — people are longing for space to just be. 

We don’t just need more benches or bike lanes. 


We need meaningful public places that restore us.


That’s where public labyrinths come in.


🌿 A natural remedy for modern stress

Our minds are tired. Our nervous systems are constantly on alert. A public labyrinth offers something rare and needed: 

a place to pause. 

Based on the principles of restorative urban design (J. Roe & L McCay), labyrinths invite us to slow down, reflect, and recharge — right where we are. This refers to the model Restorative Cities for mental health and human flourishing.


🧭 A quiet way to connect

There’s something magical about walking a labyrinth next to a stranger, both silently following the same path. It creates a shared moment without words — a soft sense of togetherness. So needed in times of isolation, loss or burnout. 


Cities should make room for that kind of places to connect.


🌱 A green touch, anywhere

Whether planted with flowers, carved into stone, or marked in soft grass — labyrinths bring nature, ritual and rhythm to even the most urban corners.


 They’re beautiful, calming and surprisingly easy to maintain. And yes — they count as green mental health infrastructure, too!


Interested in a public labyrinth?

🔸 Do you want your city or town to support the mental wellbeing of its people?
🔸 Do you dream of public spaces that invite silence, reflection and healing?

🔸 Do you believe in urban design that touches hearts, not just hurries feet?


Then now is the moment.


💌 Let’s bring labyrinths into your parks, squares, cemeteries, schools or hospitals.
Let’s turn your public space into a space that gives back.


👉 I recorded a video where I explain the opportunities of labyrinths in public spaces. The video is in Dutch.


View my video
]]>Mon, 19 May 2025 12:50:23 +0100<![CDATA[Labyrinths at festivals]]>https://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/post/labyrinths-at-festivalsIn this blog I share my recent experience of creating and faclilitating a labyrinth at a wisdom festival.]]>

Having a labyrinth at a festival is a sacred space for healing

Recently, I had the honor to create a temporary labyrinth at the Wisdom Festival in Belgium (Diepenbeek). I was given a spot in the middle of the center of the festival space. After carefully choosing the right entrance, I started building a 7-arm Classical labyrinth. I chose this model because it had a strong link to the chakras, which fits the topic of the festival: healing and spirituality.

The creation of a 7-arm Classical labyrinth was a deliberate choice, as this design represents the seven main chakras of the body. By walking this sacred path, attendees could engage in a meditative experience that promoted balance and alignment of their energetic centers. This symbolic journey through the labyrinth mirrored the festival's overarching themes of personal growth, self-discovery, and holistic wellness.

Constructing a temporary labyrinth at the heart of the Wisdom Festival allowed me to share this powerful tool for introspection and transformation with the event's attendees. The centralized location ensured maximum visibility and accessibility, inviting visitors to pause, reflect, and embark on a mindful walking meditation amidst the festivities.
I began the opening ceremony by performing a walk around the labyrinth and placing the central stone at the heart of the design. In doing so, I imbued the labyrinth with the energy of "geborgenheit" - a sense of safety, security, and comfort. This feminine, nurturing quality was intended to provide soft, supportive energy to the intentions and transitions the participants would experience as they walked the sacred path.

Participants were welcomed one by one to embark on their individual journeys through the labyrinth. By entrusting their intentions to the labyrinth, they allowed it to become a vessel that would support their personal growth and transformation. As they navigated the winding circuits, the labyrinth held space for their process, offering a gentle, reassuring presence.

Upon completing the walk, the participants were blessed with a new soundscape, further enhancing the transformative experience. Some shared their observations and reflections:
- While walking across the grass, some participants suddenly recognized the form of the labyrinth, while others did not yet perceive it.
- The children delighted in running through the labyrinth, with one young boy even sitting on the central stone like a shaman.
- Participants expressed feelings of relief, a sense of reduced burden, and the problem they carried feeling less heavy to bear.
- Others were deeply moved, expressing a sense of "ontroerd" - a Dutch word conveying a profound emotional stirring.
- Many participants felt a renewed sense of hope after their labyrinth walk.

By creating this temporary labyrinth and giving it the energy of "feeling caried," I was able to facilitate a transformative experience for the festival attendees. The labyrinth became a sacred space that supported their intentions, journeys, and personal growth, leaving a lasting impact on all who walked its circuits.
This summer, I am also going to create a temporary labyrinth at the Healing Festival from August 16-18. At this event, I will facilitate the walks and introduce participants to the concept of finger labyrinths.

The temporary labyrinth I construct will serve as a focal point for meditation and introspection at the Healing Garden Festival. By guiding attendees through the winding path, I will provide them with an opportunity for personal transformation and spiritual growth, aligning with the festival's themes of healing and wellness.

In addition to the walking labyrinth, I intend to introduce participants to finger labyrinths - small, portable versions that can be traced with the fingers. This hands-on experience allows individuals to engage with the labyrinth's symbolism and meditative qualities in a more intimate, accessible way, even outside of the festival grounds.

My role as a facilitator, labyrinth keeper will be crucial in helping attendees maximize the benefits of their labyrinth experience. Through my guidance and expertise, I will enable them to fully immerse themselves in the journey, release their intentions into the labyrinth, and emerge with a renewed sense of clarity, balance, and inner peace.

Here are some key advantages of working with temporary labyrinths:

-You can make a temporary labyrinth when organizing short activities: from a couple of hours to multiple days.
-You just need an open space to create it. 
-You can choose your own form from 3 arms until... but take into account that it takes time and some skills to create it. So for a temporary labyrinth, it is better to not go so big, e.g. 11 arms.
-The nice part is you can decorate it however you want with materials you bring with you, materials from the space itself, or materials the participants bring into the labyrinth.
-It's very nice to draw a labyrinth on the beach, in the snow, with leaves...
-Creating and for sure decorating is a shared activity. So a lot of people feel connected with the labyrinth.

One remark: A labyrinth is a sacred geometry form. To fully be in its strength, the form should be created geometrically correct.
Be welcome or if you organise also a festival and like the idea of putting a labyrinth? Please contact me

May the Labyrinth Energy be with you!
​
Cathy

Get Started Now
]]>Thu, 18 Jul 2024 20:19:29 +0100<![CDATA[Labyrinths in universities and schools]]>https://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/post/labyrinths-in-universities-and-schools

Did you know the university of Edingburgh had three labyrinths?

All over the world you can find ground labyrinths in universities and schools. At this moment there are 150 and 200 labyrinths, going from permanent labyrinths outside and inside, to temporary at the playground or in the school garden. 


Using labyrinths in educational surroundings is very useful for several challenges that students face e.g. stress during exams, mental fatigue when learning, learning blockages, emotional transformations and so on.

Having a labyrinth at your school has many advantages:

          • having a safe space to wonder about life
          • supporting choices during transition phases
          • developping professional identities and values
          • having an area for well-being and silence-experiencing
          • stimulating creativity
          • deepening self-knowledge and self-acceptance a profound level
          • and many more


Most of the time universities and schools have public spaces for students to go to. Finding the right spot for a labyrinth is an important step in the process. Creating a labyrinth is a community event.


The different effects of labyrinths have been researched for some time now, although they have been in use by humanity for more then 4000 years (see blog about the history of labyrinths). A lot of research on the effects of labyrinths has been done by the Labyrinth Society and different authors and experts and has been written down in several books on labyrinths.


In educational surroundings specifically all types of labyrinths (permanent, temporary and fingerlabyrinths) can be used for different schooling ages and different kind of institutes.

In elementary schools for example we can use it for just having fun and sensory development and in dealing with transition to go to secondary school

In secondary schools we can use labyrinths for personal development, emotional release and reflection on life and individuality

In high schools or universities we can put these labyrinths for preparation into the professional life,  dealing with learning stress and cognitive performance.





To finish let me share a personal story about my visit to Edinburgh and her university in August 2023. In the spring of 2023 I was called to go to Edinburgh. A message was there for me to receive. Not knowing what it was, my best friend and I planned our trip. Walking around the mystical and magical city, my friend discovered there was a labyrinth at the University of Edinburgh. This beautifull labyrinth was sacredly hidden in the University park, at a place surrounded by high bushes. It is a very beautifull Chartres model  labyrinth. We walked it several times. At the entrance there was a beautiful fingerlabyrinth to walk as well. Apparently the labyrinth project was in cooperation with a local Church community. 

The third labyrinth was inside he University but was not to visit at that moment.

Returning home, I had a dream: "How would it be if also our universities and schools had labyrinths?" How would it be experienced by the teachers, professors and the students?" What would be the effects?


Do you have the same curiosity for your university or school? Let's get in touch.

Get in touch
]]>Tue, 21 May 2024 19:54:59 +0100<![CDATA[Do you experience life as a maze or a labyrinth?]]>https://www.neolabyrinthium.com/blogs/post/do-you-experience-live-as-a-maze-or-a-labyirnth

Learning the difference will change your experience of life itself


In 2019, I travelled around Europe for 4.5 months to discover the power of silence. I came back with the answer. For me, the answer are labyrinths. During the 2nd half of my trip and by following the messages from my daughter, I was shown something I had never seen before: a labyrinth. Knowing me, I dive into the subject. Gathered knowledge like a sponge, followed training, read books, get into it myself, meet top people in the world of labyrinths, .... After walking at least 30 labyrinths, I can say that I have felt the power and its effects.

In this article, I want to zoom in on an insight and that is: "your life story is 100% linked to your own worldview." That worldview is coloured and often linked to experiences from your childhood and young adulthood. Certain positive or negative experiences begin to shape that picture. The labyrinths story is the perfect representation of that. Labyrinths are often confused with mazes. Better known in our context. A maze is a mental guessing game. You constantly have to make choices and dead ends. You can make wrong choices, there are challenges on your path, you have stress and anxiety, want to find the centre like a contest you want to win. You live in duality where you constantly have to choose between a winning choice and a losing choice. The feeling is not really relaxing in a maze but it does give you a thrill when you have found the centre. Unfortunately, you have to go back out and the stress starts all over again.  How do you step outside the maze? Does anyone  recognise our rat race in this?

However, you can look at life differently. Namely what if life is like a labyrinth? 

You life intentionally. You walk life one step at a time. You know that each step or stumble, brings you closer to your centre and anything that doesn't belong to you falls away for the sequel. You focus on yourself, your feelings, your intention and others who are also walking their lives. Sometimes together then apart again. You walk and keep walking.
Sometimes you get close to your core or move further away from it. But finally you reach your core and want to dwell there in silence for a while. You deepen and feel an intense recognition and gratitude. you discover yourself like you never have before. You are excited and now want to start showing, feeling and living the new ‘I’ and you walk out. The same way in a different energy and in a different state. You meet people and you arrive at the exit liberated and recharged!

More on the technical fysical level these are the following differences between a maze and a labyrinth:
 MazeLabyrinth
 entrance # exit entrance = exit
 dead ends in the pathwaysno dead ends
sequence of choicestrust and follow
 goal: to confuse goal: to get insight and focus
 essence: puzzle to solve essence: contemplation, medidation or ceremonial
  
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