A labyrinth of our own

Thanks to Pastor Robin Wells of Tehachapi Valley United Methodist Church Tehachapi has its very own labyrinth. After posting an inquiry on the Labyrinth Society Global Facebook page, Robin hooked up with Jamie Edmonds, an avid labyrinth enthusiast.

"I've kind of become the Johnny Apple Seed of labyrinth's now. I'll put one anywhere anyone will have me," said Jamie.

A retired firefighter and paramedic, Jamie worked for the city of Coronado for 22 years before volunteering his time to the Mankind Project and Boys to Men. This led to him getting into labyrinths.

Jamie's wife, Leslie, joined him in a visit to the Tehachapi Methodist Church on March 15 where he gave a very in-depth presentation on labyrinths.

Leslie, who says she's more the labyrinth locator and creative consultant, is drawn more to the esthetics and the spirit of the labyrinth while Jamie, who builds the labyrinths, approaches it with a left brain. He's more hands on, working in construction for 10 years before he joined the fire department.

During his presentation Jamie covered the labyrinth's history, why they're important, how you can find them, and much more.

According to Jamie, a labyrinth is a pattern found all over the world, even before written history. And it's not just a circle or a spiral, it's a meander. Unlike a maze, that often times has high walls, you can see the whole pattern. So there's no tricks, only one continuous path, so if you don't cross any lines and you start at the entrance eventually you'll wind up in the center.

Your left brain really has nothing to do as you follow the path to the middle and it's in that quiet where some of the insight, connection, and even inspiration can happen. Once at the center, you can spend as much time there as you like for meditation, prayer, or reciting a mantra or whatever your spiritual tradition is.

There's been all kinds of studies on walking labyrinths and how good it is for your brain chemistry as well as your overall stress levels which has a direct impact on your physiology. Walking a labyrinth on a regular basis can be very therapeutic, very healing, and very transformational for a lot of people.

One of the reasons he's so happy to put labyrinths everywhere is because he's had people come up and tell him how their lives have been changed by walking labyrinths on a regular basis.

You can find Jamie on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jamie.edmonds.98

Come visit the Tehachapi Valley United Methodist Church's new labyrinth. These sacred walking paths are open to the public and the community is encouraged to help maintain the labyrinths by placing "potato-sized" stones along the outlines of the paths.

For more information on guided tours contact the church office by email [email protected] or by phone at (661) 822-1440.