SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA – Our ‘nothing-time’ is increasingly consumed by all our pursuits. Despite all the time-saving inventions, it just seems as if time is speeding up and we have less left of it. Furthermore, that means we don’t have any peace of mind, or time left for reflection.
Dishwashers, ready meals, food processors, speed cameras, and dog walking services have not helped us in this sense: we remain too busy. We even spend time on the toilet checking notifications on our cell phones. According to experts, this absence of nothing-time takes its toll on our mental well-being. At least, that of many. This results in short tempers. Therefore, the longer we go on like this, the more our physical well-being can suffer.
Feeling of unease
The lack of space in our heads means that there is less creativity left for coming up with solutions, we act more on autopilot and we live less in the moment. This can lead to an increasing feeling of unease. A feeling that you are no longer on the right path. Because where has that sparkle in your eyes gone? Where is the enthusiasm you still see in children? Where has that unbridled curiosity and will to discover new things disappeared to?
It is not without reason that more and more self-help books with a focus on rest and reflection are being sold. Back to yourself, slowing down, tips to live more mindfully, meditation courses, retreats, and all kinds of coaching sessions to get you back on your path. However, there is something that works well for everyone.
The healing effect of walking
Since the pandemic, many people have (re)discovered walking. Walking and exercising regularly is not only good for your physical health. Your mind also benefits. While walking, your mind automatically shifts to a different position. You take in the environment, you are outside in the fresh air, there are fewer stimuli and you have a little time out from your daily rat race.
Walking retreat with yourself as the final destination
Do you also feel that you need a time out or do you feel an urgent need to disconnect yourself completely from your daily routine? Then a walking retreat with yourself as your final destination might be the best gift you can give to yourself. And not just any walking tour, but a spiritual journey of reflection in Spain!
The Camino de Santiago in Spain
You have probably heard of the ancient and famous pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. There are already millions of footsteps of pilgrims from all over the world who hoped to find insights and answers on their individual journeys to Santiago. The only question is whether they found it. Of course, you always take yourself, your patterns, and pitfalls with you. And sometimes you find yourself standing in the way of the right answers about your own path. Then help from an experienced expert can be the solution!
The Camino as a metaphor for your life path
Many see the Camino as a metaphor for their life path. You go on an adventure with everything you think you need in your backpack. So what happens when you leave your comfort zone behind, where your daily routine offers you stability? What do you encounter with yourself or about yourself during that inner journey? How do you deal with discomfort and what do you learn about yourself?
The Hero’s Path
Those are tough questions to answer on your own. To get the most out of the Camino de Santiago, you can therefore be guided by walking coach Mirjam Hoefman from The Hero’s Path. Her own experience and that of many fellow pilgrims show that it is sometimes complicated to gain insights. We do not see them or we are not open to them. After all, an insight usually also means that something has to change and that can be exciting. Often such a change also affects our environment.
Mirjam will help you with the organisation of your walking trip in Spain even before you leave. In this way, you go on an adventurous and promising journey back to yourself. Whether you go for a day, a few days, or a few weeks. This is in combination with workshops and all in the setting of the rugged, green, and breathtaking landscape of northern Spain.
Through the use of nature and play, The Hero’s Path connects you with who you are and what you can do. This then enables you to walk your own path as a hero, with pleasure, a positive attitude, and deep confidence in yourself and in the process of life. In small feasible, practical steps to insights and your goal.
Added-value of coaching on the Camino
Coach Mirjam experienced it herself and found answers on the Camino. Since then, coaching on the Camino has become her mission. Because it works! She loves nothing more than to give the ‘lost’ directions and clues back to where they should be. Back to feeling what really matters to them. And not only that, but her ‘heroes’ also have practical tools afterward to take further steps and to do things differently. The Camino with The Hero’s Path is not just a walking tour!
Put on your naughty walking shoes and contact The Hero’s Path without obligation. Mirjam coaches in English, Spanish, and Dutch.
