By Lorie Conway
I had walked labyrinths for years, drawn by their quiet invitation to move my body, slow down, and listen more deeply. Wanting to learn more about this ancient practice, I signed up for a training program on facilitating labyrinth walks.
Photographer, artist, author, retreat leader, and soul care guide Catherine Anderson was my trainer that weekend. While I was just expecting a little history and some tips for walking the labyrinth with a group, Catherine and Spirit had other plans.
As part of the training, Catherine introduced us to SoulCollage™ as one of many different ways to reflect on a labyrinth walk. I had never heard of SoulCollage™ at that point but immediately fell in love with this simple and profound practice of cutting and pasting images. I never thought of myself as an artist—creative, yes, but not ‘artistic’ in the traditional sense. But…I can cut images from a magazine and paste them onto a piece of cardboard. I was hooked—surprised by how something so simple could be so meaningful.
It took a few years due to the pandemic and other life blips before I could attend Catherine’s training to become a facilitator of SoulCollage™. While I waited, I dabbled in the practice—mostly on my personal retreats. I would pack some magazines, a glue stick, and a pair of scissors in my “retreat” bag. In the unhurried kairos time of retreat, Spirit and I would sink gently into the process, and grace and wisdom were often revealed. If the retreat location also had a labyrinth, it would be even better!
And it was fun! A gentle reminder that contemplative spiritual practices and retreat are not only good for me but can also be playful and life-giving.
Together, walking the labyrinth and SoulCollage™ have become for me two movements of the same inward journey—one walked with the body, the other revealed through images. As a grounding meditation, walking the labyrinth invites me to slow down and step into sacred, kairos time, releasing what no longer serves, and opening space to notice and receive something new. SoulCollage™ then receives those stirrings, intuitively giving them shape and color. Reflecting with my collage cards gives voice to what is stirring within me in a way that my words can’t always touch, and my sacred story continues to unfold.
Over time, I’ve come to trust this quiet dialogue between movement and image, especially in seasons when clarity feels out of reach or in times of uncertainty and upheaval. As my trainer Catherine says, “Walking the labyrinth and SoulCollage™ will make a difference in your life, but used together they will amplify and reinforce each other because they are languages of the soul.”
In this welcome season of spring, when the earth is bursting with new life and our weary souls are yearning for light, what might be stirring in you, just beneath the surface, waiting to be noticed and explored? Perhaps it is already trying to find its way—through your steps, your noticing, or even through images waiting to be gathered.
For more from Lorie consider attending her upcoming retreat Walking the Inner Path May 9, 2026 from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm. To register, use the link below or call 410-442-3120.
Unable to attend? Check in with Lorie Conway on Facebook for more.