- Time of past OR future Camino
- August-September 2024
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I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
One of my favourite books is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, so it is rather odd that I did not read his book The Pilgrimage until after my camino. In it he describes various exercises, which you may find of interest. Here are the exercises, which out of the context of the book may seem rather odd, but possibly you may find something in themI leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
I focused every day on reaching Santiago. I saw a few drop out due to injury and time constraints.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
That’s been my experience. I’m currently on the Camino Portuguese and I’m continually bringing myself to what is present. It has been remarkable. And I also agree with another poster to just keeping “one foot in front of the other”.It varies.
I'm sure we are all different.
I tend to not plan or structure the emotional / spiritual aspect of my Camino.
If anything.......I just treat it as a journey of discovery and renewal.
I intentionally walk alone most of the time to avoid distraction and be alone with my thoughts and to increase awareness of my surroundings.
Things just seem to naturally unfold.
Perhaps triggered by the landscape (often) animals I meet, things I see.
No mantra, no specific focus.
No expectations.
In fact, maybe the opposite.
A relaxed walk, with that oft used term, "an open heart and an open mind"
With a blank canvas, perhaps it's easier to notice, to learn and to appreciate things as they occur.
‘Climb every Mountain’ went through my mind time and time again. The song of course. That’s life isn’t it! Buen Camino.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
I adored that book as I have adored all of the books by Coelho that I have had the pleasure of reading. Thank you for the reminder. My question was partially prompted by a friend who just returned and she had three very distinct brains of mind that she focused upon during her pilgrimage dividing it into thirds. It was amazing for her.One of my favourite books is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, so it is rather odd that I did not read his book The Pilgrimage until after my camino. In it he describes various exercises, which you may find of interest. Here are the exercises, which out of the context of the book may seem rather odd, but possibly you may find something in them
If you are looking for the mental and spiritual, definitely stop at some donativos, particularly the smaller ones and Albergues, run by religious organisations.
You, sweet friend, are one of the inspirations for this question. Yesterday I hiked I hiked in Brevard and DuPont Forest with a woman that just completed her first Camino. She also used specific mantras, one for the start one for the middle and a different one for the end. It was extremely impactful for her. I will most definitely be devoting days to my most special friends, of course, including you!I have adopted a practice someone else on this forum introduced me to: each day I walk in memory of or in honor of people in my life. I begin with my parents, my siblings, my wider family, my spouse, and my many friends past and present. Each day I remember and think about my relationship with whoever is my focus that day. By focusing on one person or small numbers each day this usually lasts for two to three weeks. This is one aspect of my Camino introspection.
This is a practice I can also do at home on long walks.
Buen Camino to you Breathalyzer
I found following my first silent retreat at a meditation center the same to be true.In my career I have had to go on quite complex and lengthy "adventures" for work.
In these situations I have learned one thing: that even if you prepare very carefully for these adventures, you rarely think about what will happen immediately afterwards.
That is why it is more the day after the end than the day of the adventure, the return to your normal life, that requires attention...
I like to start just as the sun starts to rise (or even earlier if it is real hot. I found walking, as the sun rose, to be magical. The first hour (or 1 1/2 hours) I gave thanks for another beautiful day--and was a great time to be spiritual or contemplative.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
Please, please please: don't ever say thatI had no expectation of great revelation or personal insights (I'm 62 and to a large degree I think I am what I am)
I imagined all those walk before like in the middle ages in search of hope, guidance forgiveness and all they went through to do this. I would tell myself they had no albergues, just the clothes on their back. They found strength emotional, spiritual and physical and were able to do it and I could too.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
True indeed. But one of the benefits of age is the ability to accept ourselves for who we are. That doesn't mean we can't and don't change. Accepting those changes is part of accepting ourselves for who we are.Please, please please: don't ever say thatWe can change, and change, and change, until the last breath of our life. But to do so, it is essential that we never think that we are no longer capable of doing so.
Thank you David. That's exactly what I meant. You put is clearer and more succinctly than I didResponding to "I'm 62 and to a large extent I think I am what I am":
True indeed. But one of the benefits of age is the ability to accept ourselves for who we are. That doesn't mean we can't and don't change. Accepting those changes is part of accepting ourselves for who we are.
For me, "I am what I am" doesn't mean I can't or won't change. It just means I don't have a huge drive to, unless that change is a natural extension of who I am and what my values are.
I found following my first silent retreat at a meditation center the same to be trueIn my career I have had to go on quite complex and lengthy "adventures" for work.
In these situations I have learned one thing: that even if you prepare very carefully for these adventures, you rarely think about what will happen immediately afterwards.
That is why it is more the day after the end than the day of the adventure, the return to your normal life, that requires attention...
Well said. I'm 60 and in some ways can relate. At the same time, I'm not fully enlightened and perhaps take myself and the pain I've been through too seriously. I see the Camino (for me) as something that sort of pulls at me -- maybe to heal from trauma, maybe to chill out, maybe to .....Good question, and something I thought about prior to my first Camino in May 2024 (Norte)
My experience was that I was most often consumed by the physicality of the walk on a daily basis - the literal process of putting one foot in front of another for hours on end in all sorts of weather on all sorts of geography. I'm not saying this was a bad thing (it was an important reason for me doing the Camino). Only when I actually physically stopped did I have the mental capability to contemplate and appreciate the world around me, whether for one minute or one hour. I typically walked alone and prefered it that way
I had no expectation of great revelation or personal insights (I'm 62 and to a large degree I think I am what I am) but I did come away with a greater awareness of who I am and how I react in different circumstances - for better or worse. I like to think that the Camino eroded some of the sharper more prickly sides of my character over the course of the walk. And I intend to go back and continue that process on the basis that it's a marathon not a sprint
This really touched my heart. Thank you <3I imagined all those walk before like in the middle ages in search of hope, guidance forgiveness and all they went through to do this. I would tell myself they had no albergues, just the clothes on their back. They found strength emotional, spiritual and physical and were able to do it and I could too.
That’s what inspired me to take this photograph yesterday. Lovely dawn.I like to start just as the sun starts to rise (or even earlier if it is real hot. I found walking, as the sun rose, to be magical. The first hour (or 1 1/2 hours) I gave thanks for another beautiful day--and was a great time to be spiritual or contemplative.
Even if I'm walking with someone, I try to walk behind about 10-20 meters, in order to have that alone time to start my day.
Early on I would stop in churches to get off my feet and rest. I started to notice that I felt a sense of peace and quietude in these churches - particularly the small ones. Soon I began stopping in all the small ones I could find. I would breathe slowly, say a small gratitude prayer, then focus on just being. I would only stay a few minutes but it recharged my soul. Note: when it was hot, the churches were cool, at O Cebreiro it was rainy and cold outside but the church was warm - the Camino provides.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
Really, I just walked. Put one foot in front of the other. Staying present and grounded. "Mental focus" just kinda happened naturally. I didn't use matras of planned what/how to thing or what to focus on. I just walked and whatever awarenesses came to me did so. Buen Camino!I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
I completed CF, my first, in May. A powerful expericence that I will always feel blessed.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
I totally understand what you are asking. I am currently on Camino Norte which is notoriously very difficult (true in every way) but beautiful. Only last night I asked my fellow peregrinos that very same question - what is your mantra or approach in getting through the toughest sections? Answers varied from reciting poetry, making up new versus in poems, counting, playlists (sparingly) and rehearsing phrases for the evening diary or blogs. You will work out what works for you. Handling a 5km ascent of a hill requires more than just “one foot in front of the next” - that is the outcome not the mantra or approach. Good luck and beun Camino.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
Yes agree with this. Thats what works for me. All different of course so maybe start walking and see if you need any specific tools to focus. You may not do.Really, I just walked. Put one foot in front of the other. Staying present and grounded. "Mental focus" just kinda happened naturally. I didn't use matras of planned what/how to thing or what to focus on. I just walked and whatever awarenesses came to me did so. Buen Camino!
For you, and that is fineHandling a 5km ascent of a hill requires more than just “one foot in front of the next” - that is the outcome not the mantra or approach.
These will emerge as you walk, I think.I leave soon (11 days) for my first Camino that I first heard about over twenty years ago and felt one day I would go. I will have a bit under a month in Spain (starting in Leon and hoping to walk to the ocean). I find my thoughts turning to the spiritual and mental side of things more and more.
If you walked with a focus or altering focus as the pilgrimage time line progressed, I would love to know what mantras or focuses you may have walked with.
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