Labyrinth at Ascension Seton Southwest Hospital
Austin, Texas, United States
On the Ascension Seton Southwest hospital campus in southwest Austin, a healing labyrinth is built into the medical campus grounds, part of the hospital-as-sanctuary branch of the practice that puts walking meditation within reach of patients, families, and staff.
On the Ascension Seton Southwest hospital campus in southwest Austin, a healing labyrinth is built into the medical campus grounds, part of the hospital-as-sanctuary branch of the practice that puts walking meditation within reach of patients, families, and staff. The Labyrinth Locator's record lists it as a Medieval 7-circuit path; installed 2009.
Every labyrinth is a walking practice, not a puzzle: a single path winds to a center and back out, and the walk is done slowly, as prayer or meditation. The pattern descends from the medieval pavement labyrinth at Chartres, and the modern urban revival began in the 1990s when Lauren Artress brought replicas of that path to American congregations and public grounds through Veriditas and the Labyrinth Society, whose World-Wide Labyrinth Locator now catalogs thousands. There is no branching and no trick to the path; walkers of every religion and none use it.
Visiting
healthcare.ascension.org carries the site's own information and schedule.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories