I recently
returned from Spain, where I walked the Camino de Santiago for 12 days. This route across northern Spain has been
walked by pilgrims for over a thousand years and is well-marked and supported
with places to stay, eat, and get water.
Over a quarter million people walk each year, some for religious
reasons, many for personal or spiritual motives. Walking 14 miles a day with a backpack
holding all I needed gave me time to reflect.
1. Whatever path you’re on, you do have to walk it to receive the benefits of awakening spiritually. To only read
others’ accounts or hear their stories of making the pilgrimage is not enough
for lasting change.
2. The route I took, called the Camino
Frances, does not require special mountaineering skills. It went uphill and
downhill but mostly in a gradual fashion. What was required was stamina, which
I had. Honoring stamina and consistency,
watching miles or days unfold slowly, becomes a new skill. A spiritual teacher once said, patience is a
beautiful path.
3. People are willing and even eager to
offer support, but usually I had to ask because no one can read my mind. When I wasn’t sure where to go, I asked the first
person I saw. When I needed help finding the right food, getting lodging for
the night, or understanding something, I asked.
I found everyone to be willing to listen to my rusty Spanish and offer
assistance. People like to be helpful. Being a foreigner made asking for help
easy. Now, can I be a beginner at home too?
4. While being with others along the
pathway was nourishing, fun, and essential, insight occurred when I was alone
with my own thoughts and in connection with my higher power. I’ve got to have enough time alone to reflect
on a regular basis.
5. We have inner guidance flowing through
us constantly. On the Camino, it comes in the form of yellow arrows or a
seashell symbol to indicate where the path is.
Any time there was a possible option, there’d be an arrow to show me the
way. Soon I had radar for these signs
and learned to trust the first arrow rather than need more. Similarly, I
believe our Higher Power helps keep us on the path of our heart’s desire, and
that there are confirming signs all along the way if we have eyes to see
them. I never had an advanced
reservation along the Camino, but I always had a bed. I listened moment by moment to when to rest,
when to stop, where to stay, and it always worked out.
Sometimes inner doubt trumps intuitive knowing, but with practice we can
keep walking until the next fork in the road and then look for help finding our
way. Doubting myself every step of the
way isn’t helpful. Observing a sign and
then walking forward until the next one required some level of trust as well as
created joy in the discovery of a confirming sign. When I didn’t see one, I
backtracked rather than forge ahead on my own.
6. Being connected to something greater
than myself allowed me to feel more alive, which led to gratitude and wanting
to be useful to others. Because I was
outdoors 12 hours a day, walking on gravel paths through olive groves,
vineyards, and forests, I literally felt a connection to Earth I don’t often
experience in northeast Minneapolis. I
could see the horizon and the curves of the earth. Several times each day I stopped to soak in
the beauty, turning slowly in a circle and saying wow. Perhaps because the
vista was so vast, my thoughts turned global and I contemplated people and
places all over the planet. I fell in love with Spain, because it’s easier to
love specifically, but that movement of my heart filling with awe, wonder, and
appreciation led me to feel connected to all that is.
7. Appreciation makes the time fly. I played little games from A to Z, naming
parts of my body I appreciated, remembering teachers, listing places that I
treasure. When I focused on what was
working, I had more energy than when I focused on an ache or the hot sun. I was
blessed to not get any blisters, in part, I believe, because I thanked my shoes
every morning before I put them on, much
as I feel love for my car each time I get behind the wheel. Gratitude can be a
sign of spiritual fitness, and self-pity and resentments don’t thrive in an
environment of appreciation.
8. Do not underestimate the power of
resting. I stopped every two hours to
sit, take my shoes off (sometimes my socks) and drink water. A 20 minute break
completely revived me and I started walking again with fresh energy. The times I postponed resting were not worth
it. When my body told me to rest it was
best to do so as soon as I could. I also
removed social media from my phone and found greater mental spaciousness and
connection than I do when every spare moment is spent consuming information or
images on a screen. I’ll need to find
the cues to rest in something other than tired feet.
9. Honor your heart’s desires. I have
wanted to walk the Camino for almost ten years. I read memoirs, saw The Way,
and talked with people who had done it. At the end of a documentary, the
producers dedicated their film to anyone who “has heard the call” and I burst
into tears. This was a call! Two years ago I planned to walk, but a family
tragedy made me rethink the timing. I put the idea to rest until someone asked “when
are you going on that trip?” and I burst into tears, which told me it was more
important than I realized. So I bought a
ticket to Madrid, hiking shoes, and a guidebook. It’s immensely satisfying to
follow a dream and to accomplish even a small portion of a big goal. I walked 145 miles and hope to return and
complete the route from Burgos, where I stopped due to time
considerations. My body and soul would
have happily walked the rest of the way.
