The Camino: A journey towards Mindfulness

Mindfulness…that beautiful state of consciousness everyone is talking about. That states in which you feel the present as the only moment that exists. How many times do you catch yourself daydreaming? Or not listening to the one in front of you?

My mind freezes when I think about how I can reach this state, on how I can be more grounded, more present, and more conscious, in my everyday life. Walking was one way of bringing this state more into my present, into my daily life.

When was the last time that you have counted your steps?

How many times do you pay attention to your environment when you go somewhere?

Are you thinking about all the things you need to do and how to plan them more efficiently?

If the answer is yes, don’t worry. You are not the only one. Me, you, others, all the people are doing this in today’s society. We use our mornings, or free moments of our days to be in the future, to think about things we still need to do, on how we can be more efficient, faster, more, more, more.

Rarely, we stop ourselves from looking around, living in the moment, breathing and enjoying the present, the people around, your thoughts coming and going…full acceptance. How many times have you caught yourself thinking?

“This shouldn’t be happening
I must be like this and like that
I should worry about this
It’s because of my past”

These thoughts are like poison for ourselves. They make us feel anxious, frustrated, confused. It triggers in us feelings of not being enough and makes us not take chances because maybe something better will appear. It makes us not interact with a person that we want to interact with and be dissatisfied with our relationships.

Do you relate? Did it ever happen to you to miss an opportunity because you thought it was “just not the right moment”?

Let’s change the game by bringing more consciousness to our thoughts, to the stories we tell ourselves.

“Reality doesn’t always happen how I want to happen, but I know I can deal with everything. I am doing my best to do the things I want to do. There are things that worry me and things that don’t. It doesn’t make me less of a person if I react how I truly feel. My past forms part of me, but also my present and my future. I have control over myself, my feelings and my actions”

Now read them out loud! How does this influence the way you feel?
Do you feel lighter?
More aware?
More grounded?

Understanding that your thoughts are just a result of certain consequences and are not YOU, they are not your person. Therefore they can change and be adapted so it can best serve you, to be empowering and influence you in a positive way, to bring courage and to make you move towards your decision. To make your fear disappear, or to transform it into a push, into an action towards your goal. Towards your “Cathedral of Santiago”.

I invite you to do a self-reflection exercise with me:

Close your eyes and take three deep breaths …inhale and exhale… feel how your chest is rising by taking the air in…and how your shoulders relax with taking the air out! Now think of a moment where you would have liked to have a different reaction …when fear stopped you in doing something you really wanted. Now open your eyes and identify the spot in your body that “feels” that fear. Now grab a pen and a paper and complete the sentence:

“I feared…”

Have a look at that paper and notice how you feel, observe the tension in your body. Take the paper and break it into small pieces saying to yourself:

“I am not the fear, I am free and powerful…I overcame fears and I will overcome this one too!”

Now take a deep breath and notice how your emotional state changes, how your body relaxes, how everything that you believed can be changed only by changing the perspective.

Conscious Camino is about this. Is about changing the way we perceive reality so we can have a more peaceful, fulfilled life and present. To take a look inside ourselves and to explore that realm of emotions, feelings, states, behaviors. To feel alive along the way and when looking back, to smile and be proud of the story and legacy we leave behind.

Join us in a different type of Camino, where Buen Camino gets a different understanding!