Self Nurturing: Enjoying the Labyrinth at the Beach

What joy it was to get out to the beach at St. Augustine today.  Of course, we made our usual stop at Zhanra’s for a scrummy breakfast.  If you haven’t yet tried their Sunday Brunch it’s time to treat yourself.  An incredible buffet of cooked-to-order omelet anyway you want it, quiche, scrambled eggs (plain or dressed up), apple wood smoked sausages and bacon, chorizo soup or gumbo or cheese grits.  (I don’t like grits, but these are to die for!!)  Then there are fresh biscuits and sausage gravy, and home-made fries.  And that’s just the cooked section. Turn the corner of the counter and there’s a whole array of bagels, Danish pastries, fresh fruit, muffins and fresh garden green salad.

Your waiter takes your drink order and also asks if you would like pancakes or French Toast to order.  I highly recommend the French Toast.  I’m sure the pancakes are wonderful too but I so enjoy their French Toast that I just can’t not have it.  This has to be the best Sunday Brunch in town and it’s a deal at $9.99 plus your drink.

So with satisfied stomachs we headed to the beach.  It had rained some while we were at breakfast but by the time we headed out it had cleared up and was just a perfect mix of cloud cover and sun.  At the beach it was also wonderfully breezy and my soul sang out as the seagulls screamed.  Lorelei was already there busily drawing a labyrinth in the sand.  After hugs all around I readied my stick and, carefully following Lorelei’s paper design, I drew another labyrinth next to hers.

There is such a focused feeling of peace as I draw a labyrinth.  Perhaps it is because I start the design with the central cross section and lay down my words of intention immediately.  Today’s words were Hope, Love, Balance and Harmony.  Then the gentle circles unwind as I walk and draw the design.  As soon as I had completed it, I walked my first meditation.  Some people walk the labyrinth quickly.  I prefer a slow measured step.

As I walk, I think of what or/and who I want to take into the center and pray about/for.  As these thoughts form, other words of intention surface and I stop and inscribe them inside the pathways I have created.  Today some of those words were, Delight, Laughter, Compassion, Spirit, Creator, Live, Serenity, Light, Energy, and Enchanted.  As I stepped into the center the word Joy came to mind and so, alongside a heart design, I inscribed that word.  To complete the center I inscribed the names of those I wanted to enfold within the blessings of the labyrinth.

Shortly after this we noticed an unusual sun-dog form in the sky.  Normally sun-dogs carry tinges of rose and yellow.  This one was a very luminescent blue-green, and the clouds were swirled around it almost in circles.  There were lots of people on the beach today and  many of them joined us to walk the labyrinths.  Lorelei was very creative today and drew a total of five, which with mine made six.  There was a special energy in the labyrinths today as many children danced and ran their way around the circles, some of them asking accompanying parents what the words said as they passed them on their way.

All too soon it was time to head home.  We embraced Lorelei and thanked her for her time and energy.  Part of me wanted to remain on the beach, that same part that sometimes wants to hop on a plane and just leave.  So within my heart I said a centering prayer and returned to the reality of the present moment.  I thanked God for my time at the ocean and for good friends and headed home.