My Camino day 30 June 14 2016 a day in Leon for reflection.

Took the day off in Leon got a nice room in a hostel/hotel. 

Today I reflect on the first half of this amazing journey. I am now over 300 miles afoot in this beautiful country of Spain. The travel so far is about equal to walking from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles along the coastal range and valleys. I am now about 175 miles from the destination of Santiago.the first third of the walk was to get in touch with the physical challenge and the mental that goes with those challenges. The body can’t be ignored, mind over matter does not work. The body screams out for what it needs or it just stops working due to injury or intense pain. Many pilgrims have to end their walk in the first week or two. You place ego aside and get in tune with the body or you fail. You listen and feel the requests of the body, you rapidly learn mostly thru pain what the body wants. It wants moderation, it wants good nutrition, it wants hydration, it demands rest stops and good nighttime sleep. You learn to pace, the muscles ache for more blood and oxygen, the heart responds with increased tempo, to outright pounding, the heart screams for more oxygen from the lungs, the lungs gasp faster and faster to supply the demand of the heart. You learn to control the pace and length of stride to keep all the demands of the body at a comfortable level with no part out of sync. Harmony is the key. Trek poles are a Benifits as you can help propell yourself forward using arms and back muscles to ease the legs , a great aid going up hill. Takes about 20% of the load off of the legs. Going down hill the poles ease the impact on the ankles, knees and hips, downhill I much tougher on the joints, unlike the crying of the lungs and muscles the joints don’t cry out they just get pounded and let you know at the end of the day.

My feet are my horses. They must be treated with love and respect, you break them in slowly, you treat them with a gentile touch, just the right pressure on the laces just as you use light hands on the reins. You use just the right pressure to guide the commands. You walk lightly just as you ride light in the saddle. You pay attention to your feet just as you listen to your steed feeling pulse rate, breath, and lathering. At the stops you offer the horse water and grain, you ease the the tension of the saddle straps or remove the saddle to let the back dry and relieve the stress on the withers, you tend to your horse. Your remove the shoes dry the socks add lotion if needed, tend to hot spots change blister protection.  You establish a relationship with your feet, just as you develope and relationship with your horse . You are partners on the Camino. 

The second third of the Camino is an inner journey, reviewing and exposing your most inner thoughts and desires . You delve deeply into your core beliefs, your shortcomings your strengths. This is the point on the Camino where the interpersonal communication with others along the Camino becomes deeper and deeper, it is also when personal differences become apparent . Social issues arise, egos begin to surface . Patience is tested , tolerance tested, acceptance tested, compassion experienced, how one deals with these inputs help to define your core values and thoughts. Very easy to dwell in the ego. The need to be right ,the need to lead, the need to follow the ego is a complex bedfellow. The need to voice is tested the need to stay in the shadows is tested and exposed. You have a great opertunity to examine the relationship with self. Everyone’s journey is unique unto them self. We all walk for different reasons and for different desired outcomes. Some walk for physical training, some walk to enjoy nature, some are battling cancer some are terminal . Some are in troubled relationships , some have lost family members or a spouse. Some walk for religion or spirituality, for some the walk is social , to meet new people every day to remember names and country of origins. To engage in chats all day along the Camino. For others it is the solitude of the quiet wordless walk of self discovery. For some they spend the time deep in prayer and devotion, for others it might be a blend of all of the above and more. The Camino is a special, unique, highly personal journey , different for every pilgrim, although we walk the same path , our journey’s are as varied as the people walking the path, each of us taking in what the Camino offers. 

Two days ago I spent 5+ hours deep in thought over the word “relationship” what it means to be in relationship , what defines relationship, what are the core values of a relationship. What are needs of a relationship, what are the responsibilities . I took the word relationship  and took each letter starting with the letter R and recorded the first three “R” words that related to the concept of relationship. I.E. Respect , responsibility, romance. I pondered each r word as to how it affects relationship and how it contributes to the relationship. I did this for every letter in the word “relationship” always the first three words that come to mind. The results blew my mind how they all worked to form my understanding of the meaning and feeling of a relationship. For we are in relationship will all that we come in contact with, human, animal, spiritual, physical, cosmic, we are in relationship with all that is , our awareness is the only filter or block. I look forward to the last 174 miles with an openess to receive the true spiritual purpose of the Camino. How many have made this very same walk since the 8 th century, what have they gained? What have they Learned? What have they given others from this experience?

Author: mybuencamino

Finding my truths one step at a time. View all posts by mybuencamino