Last Thursday, Balance Life and Religious Life Council sponsored a labyrinth in Hopper Gymnasium.

A labyrinth is not a maze and has no dead ends or tricks. It’s actually a winding, circuitous path laid out on the floor. Labyrinths have been used as patterns to walk during prayer and meditation for thousands of years.

Junior Justin Davis had the opportunity to walk the Labyrinth in Hopper.

“It is an extraordinary experience that one will only get once in awhile,” Davis said. “It is a good time to collect your thoughts and to tap into your spiritual side in a safe and welcoming place.”

There was a wide range of labyrinth patterns, but in most of them a person enters through the mouth and walks the paths, or circuits, to the center. But that’s only half the walk – part of the labyrinth experience is retracing the path to the exit. The original labyrinth design was adopted from the Romans and placed on cathedral floors.

The labyrinth in Hopper was open to the public from 1 to 7 p.m., followed by a workshop on the history of the labyrinth and its uses. The workshop was intended to help people gain focus in their spiritual lives, and was led by Cindy Chicoine and Morgan Rivers from the Des Moines College of Massage and Healing Arts.

Angela Gafford, chaplain and director of RLC, helped organize the event.

“The program went well,” Gafford said. “The people that tried it had a wonderful experience of finding peace, feeling relaxed and even receiving clarity on questions they had.”