Labyrinth at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort Treats Guests to a Thoughtful, Thousand-Year-Old Practice

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA (October 23, 2007) – Navigating everyday life is much like a maze, often met with a myriad of twists and turns, dead ends and setbacks – even the feeling of being lost. Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort in San Luis Obispo, CA invites visitors to re-center and find themselves once again by walking a different type of path: the simple labyrinth.

            Found on the retreat resort’s 100-acre property, amidst tall trees and bordered by blooming plants and flowers, is a stone labyrinth modeled after one of the world’s most well-known, found in Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.

 Featuring a “unicursal” or single-path design, labyrinths have been used by many cultures for thousands of years for everything from private mediation to sacred group ritual. Today, the labyrinth is typically used as a tool to calm, quiet and relax the mind.  

Although often confused with a maze, a labyrinth’s experience and purpose are quite different. Free of challenging elements such as cul-de-sacs and multiple puzzling routes, the labyrinth has just one path to the center and back out again, allowing its voyager to sustain a clear and peaceful mind.

Although there is no “right” or “wrong” way to walk a labyrinth, it’s often suggested that one pause and take a deep breath prior to entering and then find a comfortable walking pace once inside. Some may choose to completely empty the mind and let all thought go, while others may focus on a question or quandary as they navigate the twisting, turning path.

The labyrinth’s center can serve as a place of meditation or a spot where one might receive answers and affirmation or abandon frustration, pain or sorrow. Retracing the path back out provides yet another opportunity for reflection; different this time, as one now carries what they received in the center.

            Following the labyrinth walk, Sycamore guests can stroll in the nearby peaceful mediation gardens or hiking trails or further reflect on their experience during an integrative spa treatment, a soak in one of the private hillside hot mineral spring tubs or a healing arts class such as yoga or Tai Chi.

            For more information on Sycamore’s labyrinth or to make a reservation at the resort, please visit www.sycamoresprings.com or call (800) 234-5831.

Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort rests atop hot mineral springs and spans more than 100 acres of forest, hills and meadows in San Luis Obispo. It features secluded hillside mineral springs tubs, a labyrinth, meditation gardens, a renowned wellness center, a pool, and a gourmet restaurant. Moments away from the ocean, award-winning wineries, golf courses, Hearst Castle, and many charming Central Coast towns, it offers guests an exceptional opportunity to restore the spirit, nourish the mind and heal the body. The resort is located at 1215 Avila Beach Drive in San Luis Obispo, on the road to Avila Beach.