Improving your mental health in Centennial Park

The links between a healthy environment and a healthy community are seemingly endless – but one of the strongest health benefits of nature is on mental health.
While we could point you to much research on the links between nature and human wellbeing, this old proverb sums up much of what we know:
Fresh air impoverishes the doctor – Danish Proverb
Centennial Parklands is much more than just grass, trees, buildings and wildlife. The Parklands was created initially for the people of Sydney to, as they quaintly put it, “take in the air”. This place was created to improve public health, and over 125 years later, it still plays that role.
We could recommend a nice walk in the park, we could highlight nice park benches, we could even talk about the best times of day to visit for a mind-improving experience, however we now have an alternative to share with you.
The Centennial Park Labyrinth.
A labyrinth is not a maze (nor is it a slightly dodgy mid-1980s fantasy movie starring David Bowie!).
A labyrinth is a simple contemplative pathway. Unlike a maze, which has several different pathways, a labyrinth has only one path and there are no dead ends, so you can’t get lost. A maze is an intellectual exercise but a labyrinth is a spiritual one.
A labyrinth is not exclusively a Christian or pagan concept. It is a universal and non-denominational symbol, used by many different cultures over 4,000 years.
This article from the Sydney Morning Herald gives an insight into labyrinths, but instead of reading about it, we recommend you come visit it!
There’s really no wrong way or right way to walk a labyrinth. Some walk it slow, some fast and some even dance it…- Emily Simpson, Centennial Park Labyrinth founder
According to Emily Simpson, there are three phases to a labyrinth walk:
Emily’s advice:
Head to our Centennial Park Labyrinth webpage for more details and its location in the Parklands.