A place to find peace: 'Berg installs labyrinth with help of local donors

Heidelberg’s campus has a new resource to encourage meditation, prayer, and wellness.

Labyrinths – a metaphor for life’s journey – are an ancient tool that have been in use for more than 4,000 years. Heidelberg’s labyrinth is modeled after the one on the floor of the Charters Cathedral in France.

Located in a lush green space behind the Campus Center (near Parking Lot F), the project was conceived by Dr. DoHee Kim-Appel, professor of Graduate Counseling at Heidelberg.

In addition to the Heidelberg community, the public is invited to visit the labyrinth as a means to quiet the mind, renew balance, and encourage meditation and self-reflection. According to DoHee, the idea for the labyrinth was born during the pandemic. She reached out to several local faith-based and community organizations who graciously provided funding for the $55,400 project. Her vision became a reality earlier this semester.

“My vision for Heidelberg University was to have holding space for the community to help them center and ground themselves,” DoHee said. “The pandemic inspired me to take action from vision to reality.”

DoHee hopes the university community and the public use the labyrinth “as a means of meditation, prayer, and health-wellness practice to obtain and maintain mental health needs.” Walking the labyrinth is believed to help individuals quiet their minds, calm anxiety, reduce stress, and “lead the way to the peace they seek.”

Heidelberg’s new labyrinth was a joint venture funded by the Meshech Frost Trust ($25,400), the White Family Charitable Fund of the Tiffin Community Foundation ($10,000), the Donald D. Lynch Family Foundation ($9,500), Heidelberg’s Religious Life Fund ($5,000), the Sisters of St. Francis ($500), Drs. DoHee Kim-Appel & Jonathan Appel ($2,500) and Dr. Dawn Henry and Attorney Dean Henry ($2,500).

The labyrinth has a diameter of 22 feet, 11 inches, constructed of brick pavers in a design that leads walkers on a winding path to the center of the circle and retraces the same path to the beginning.

On campus, classes are planned to promote how to use the labyrinth that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Instructions for use will soon be provided at the entrance. As soon as the final touches are in place, Heidelberg will hold a formal dedication ceremony. The date and time will be announced later.

Let’s Walk Together

To utilize the labyrinth and promote healthy habits, DoHee has organized a weekly walk for students, faculty and staff, family members and friends. Anyone interested should meet at the labyrinth every Thursday at 5:15 p.m., beginning Sept. 19. The group will walk around the campus, do labyrinth walking or both.

The walking path starts at the labyrinth, proceeds to the trail next to the football stadium, turns left onto Main Street, then left onto Prospect Street, left onto Greenfield Street, to Aigler Hall, and ends at the labyrinth.

The walks will continue until Dec. 5 and will take place every Thursday except for holidays and extreme weather conditions.

Special thanks

In addition to the local donors who partnered with Heidelberg to create the labyrinth, DoHee expressed special thanks to Heidelberg’s grants administrator Anne Keefe, Mohawk Nursery, Sister Leanne Kerschner of St. Francis of Tiffin, and colleagues Rod Morrison, Ashley Helmstetter, Cheryl Staib-Lewis, Bryan Smith and Courtney DeMayo Pugno for their support and assistance in bringing the project to fruition.