August, 2004, was a special month at Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens (PAL&G), bringing the official launch of two programs at the heart of PAL&G’s offerings: a monthly Service & Rejuvenation Day, and a monthly Spiritual Day Spa experience.
Click here to view the photo slideshow from the first Spiritual Day Spa experience at Prana.
The idea of a spiritual day spa first emerged a couple of years ago, as the Presidency for the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) began exploring ways to make the beauty and blessings of the house, labyrinth and gardens more available to the public and the MSIA community at large. MSIA President Paul Kaye first coined the phrase, and has humorously noted that he didn’t intend for it to stick. While nobody knew exactly what a spiritual day spa was or how to create one, the phrase remained and has helped shape the ongoing development of the service & rejuvenation and spiritual day spa programs.
With the completion of the elegant new dining hall this summer (a project lovingly overseen by MSIA President Mark Lurie and his team), PAL&G piloted both programs, launching the Service & Rejuvenation Day in July and the Spiritual Spa Day in August. Both are now regularly scheduled monthly events.
Service & Rejuvenation Days at PAL&G emerged as a way to offer people the opportunity to share their love, rejuvenate, and experience the joys of service. The Labyrinth & Gardens are located on the grounds of what is known as Prana, a beautiful early twentieth century mansion that serves as the headquarters for MSIA and Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy (PTS). Prana is also home to some thirty-five residents studying with the seminary and participating with its programs. Given all the activities that take place here, folks coming for a service day have a wide variety of options—from office work to gardening to food service and more.
A service & rejuvenation day typically involves coming together for some meditation time in the morning, and then choosing a service activity. The house & gardens bustle with activity until lunchtime, when everyone convenes in the beautiful new dining facility for lunch. After lunch, people may stay to walk the labyrinth, visit the meditation gardens, meditate in the solarium, or spend time with family and friends in the dining hall. They may also participate in an afternoon program. For August, a Soul Dance class followed lunch, giving people an opportunity to boogey down with Spirit. In months to come, there may be various other afternoon events available for people.
The August service & rejuvenation day brought 60 people to PAL&G. The day ended with tea and desserts, and the house and grounds glowed with smiles, laughter, and spirited service from morning to late afternoon.
A week after the Service & Rejuvenation day, more than 100 people gathered for the PAL&G Spiritual Day Spa experience. MSIA President Paul Kaye served as amiable host, welcoming everyone and introducing gratitude as a theme for the day. The Spiritual Spa day begins with MSIA Saturday meditation time in the morning, and Paul invited everyone to relax and let go, and enjoy the day as it unfolded.
After meditation (food for the Spirit), participants moved into the dining hall for a scrumptious brunch of eggs, chicken sausages, pancakes, and fruit. The food was lovingly prepared by the staff chefs for MSIA and PAL&G, Claudie & Guillaume Botte, along with a team of high-energy volunteers. The new coffee & tea bar was also open, serving specialty coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos and exquisite teas, all organic and of the highest quality from Urth Caffe in Los Angeles.
A Labyrinth Workshop followed brunch. Paul Kaye facilitated the workshop, noting that labyrinths are different from mazes—while a person can get a lost in a maze, there is no way to get lost in a labyrinth; the path to the center is the same path to return. The labyrinth on the grounds of PAL&G is patterned after the famous labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France.
Labyrinths have a rich historical legacy, and have been used since ancient times as a form of meditation. People walk labyrinths with a variety of intentions—to let go of stress or concerns, to receive blessings, to find answers to questions—the possibilities are endless.
To prepare for walking the labyrinth, participants listened to a labyrinth meditation. Afterward, people filed out to walk the labyrinth. A palpable silence came over the house and grounds as everyone moved into their walk with Spirit. As people completed their time on the labyrinth, they strolled down to the gardens, or simply sat on benches outside, communing with their hearts and the beauty present.
The labyrinth workshop completed with participants sharing about their experiences walking the labyrinth, with themes of gratitude, healing, and connection surfacing repeatedly. Paul concluded the workshop with a Zen-like insight: Maybe life is like a labyrinth, and we look at it like a maze.
The workshop was the final event for the day, and Paul invited everyone to stay for desserts and more coffee or tea beverages. The happy hiss and chortle of the espresso machine and sounds of laughter filled the dining hall as the sun’s rays shifted to their late afternoon softness. It was a great day, and there are plenty more to come.
What lies ahead for this Spiritual Day Spa? Carol Jones, Program Director for Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, spoke to the abundance of options already available to people and what is soon to come. Each week there are a variety of programs available here, beginning with Sacred Tones workshops every Monday. There are workshops in Spanish every Wednesday, and an MSIA videotaped seminar every Friday evening. Monthly, there are service & rejuvenation and spiritual day spa events (both held one Saturday each month), and also dance and yoga classes (held one Thursday each month).
What else is in the works? A guest program, where people can come and stay for a weekend or a week to experience more of what is available at PAL&G; open hours on Saturdays, with docents available to show the house, gardens, and grounds, share information about their uses, and give guidance for walking the labyrinth. Carol also anticipates lectures from health experts, and before long the coffee-tea-juice bar will also be in full service and open on a regular basis, with tea events as a coming attraction. There is plenty available now, and plenty more to come—and there are plenty of reasons to come for a visit any time. If any of this appeals to you while you are reading this, you don’t need to wait for an official event. All you need to do is call to make an appointment and let the staff know you’d like to come. By all means, invite family and friends as well.
To come full circle, the question remains: What is a Spiritual Day Spa? Participants from the August Spiritual Spa day had the following to share:
“It’s a place to connect spiritually, to connect with my True Self and bring Spirit to the care of my body, to my daily activities & sharing with community.”
“A peaceness—it’s hard to explain. A presence. The first time I came to Prana, I felt it so strongly it stayed with me the whole day. I felt the presence again today, though a little differently. It’s overwhelming.”
“Nurturing, healing, pampering, rejuvenation, connection with Spirit, Soul, grace, gratitude. A spiritual spa, bathed in the Light of the Holy Spirit. The garden is simply gorgeous.”
“Very relaxing, calming. God is the ultimate mud pack! This is Club Mud for the Soul.”
“Even if you don’t know how, something—even subtle—comes to you, to nourish and nurture you. You know there’s been more than the everyday mundane going on, even if you can’t say what or how. I always liked the idea (of a spa), though I didn’t know what it meant.”
“I can’t see myself anywhere else today.”
“This is a place that is set up to experience spiritual practices that will enhance your understanding and awareness. It’s great that it is located in this neighborhood. I live in this neighborhood, and passed by many times, and didn’t know what was here. I plan to volunteer.”
“I am so fortunate to have come in contact with this place. I love the people—everyone is friendly and loving, from the inside out. It’s like coming home to God. I know it will enhance my spiritual practices.”
We would love have you come for a visit, and hear about your experience of what a spiritual day spa is.
The next Service & Rejuvenation Day is on:
Saturday, September 11th
9:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.
Free of charge. Open to everyone, bring your family & friends.
At Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens (Prana)
3500 West Adams Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA
90018
Please call (or email) to reserve your space (so we will know how many to prepare for).
Contact: Kim Guisinger: 323-737-4055, email: kim@msia.org.
The next Spiritual Day Spa experience will be on:
Saturday, September 18
10:00 am Meditation Seminar
11:30 am Brunch
1:00-4:00 Labyrinth Workshop
Open to everyone.
Cost for Brunch: $10.00, $5.00 children 12 and under.
Donations accepted for the meditation service & labyrinth workshop.
RSVP Carol Jones 323-737-4055 ext. 124 or Email: programs@peacelabyrinth.org.
We hope you enjoy all of the articles and photos about the many good things happening here at 3500 West Adams Boulevard. God bless you!
Baruch Bashan — which means, The Blessings Already Are
