Longboater aims to create labyrinth awareness

Gail Condrick once found herself stuck behind someone walking slowly.

She found herself getting annoyed, and then remembered where she was: a labyrinth.

She slowed down, went the other person’s pace and thought to herself, “How often do I want to jump ahead when it isn’t the right time? Maybe that slowness is something I really need to think about. Is it time to move ahead?”

It’s these “everyday” thoughts that Condrick ponders while walking labyrinths. Her thoughts might be different each time, as each walk is unique to that day, but it’s something she knows other people can experience as well.

“I wish people knew how effective and empowering it can be to slow down, to walk with other people who you may not even know or have common interests with and how you can still find your own center in all of the chaos in the world,” she said.

Condrick walked her first labyrinth in 2006 at the Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. It was a powerful experience for her, and she wanted to learn more, so she did. She took the training to be a labyrinth facilitator and has been back to France five times. On her last trip there, the executive director of Veriditas asked Condrick, who was the director of cable television and consumer protection in Fairfax, Va., for 23 years, if she wanted to get more involved with the nonprofit.

“It’s a tool that is unique to the individual, and symbolically we are all walking on the same path."

Condrick is now a member of the board of directors for Veriditas, which aims to inspire personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience, its website said. Veriditas, which means “the greening power of life,” was founded in 1995 by Lauren Artress.

Along with the other board members, Condrick will give advice to the executive director on fundraising, program development, financial issues and any other issues that need advising. Overall, the board aims to enhance the growth of the organization so the vision of creating awareness of labyrinths and paths for everyone to walk is met, Condrick said.

A common misconception people have of labyrinths is that they are mazes, Condrick said, but that isn’t true. Mazes have multiple paths that can lead to dead-ends and cause you to make choices.

“A labyrinth is not a maze,” she said. “A maze is meant to confuse you. It’s all like a puzzle to figure out. A labyrinth is made to relax you. You cannot get lost in the labyrinth. You’re on a path and you’re going to keep walking it. You just can’t get lost. When you reach the middle, you come out the same way you came in.”

When she thinks of mazes, Condrick thinks of hedges, and the maze in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Labyrinths, though, tend to be made of paver stones or river stones on the ground, maybe mulch, or in some cases, Condrick draws the pattern in sand. She thinks some of the confusion comes from the fact that in France, maze and labyrinth are the same word.

Condrick hopes to bring more labyrinth awareness to the area. Locally, Condrick said there are labyrinths at various churches in Venice, Siesta Key and in downtown Sarasota. She said she wishes one could be put on Longboat Key. She does women’s retreats, and she previously did labyrinth walks at the Center for Building Hope before it closed.

While being a facilitator at Center for Building Hope, Condrick met a woman who said that she had cancer treatment 15 years ago, but she hadn’t been able to release her anger about it. Following a labyrinth walk, the woman said she was at peace.

“How does that happen? It’s a tool that is unique to the individual, and symbolically we are all walking on the same path,” Condrick said. “You can take that as some people are in front of me, some people are behind me, some people want to go faster than I do. All of that is OK. You can make it as symbolic [as you want]. We’re all on the same path, we’re all living at the same time, or we’re all on Earth.”

What happens, Condrick said, is that as one follows the circular path, it becomes a meditative experience that allows him or her to let go of logical thinking and go into a sense of peace and quiet reflection.

“The idea is that on the way in, you are releasing,” Condrick said. “When you get to the middle, you’re receiving. You might be receiving information or inspiration or healing, and then on the way out, you experience renewing and refreshing.”

Condrick said labyrinths are for people of all faiths. During a women’s retreat, Condrick watched two different women — one religious and one not— go from being cold toward each other to being close friends.

“If you’re a religious person, it shapes a path into connecting with your soul,” she said. “If you’re not a religious person, it can be a path into connecting with your personal growth or your personal spirituality or your healing, and that’s a big aspect of it.”