Tag Archives: Camino Primitivo

by | August 10, 2016 · 8:37 am

Lessons learned on the Camino

Why walk several hundred kilometres on a path in Spain with a back pack? For an outsider it seems difficult to understand why thousands of people from all walks of life are resdiscovering this ancient pilgrimage route as a personal journey of self-discovery.

After walking the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to Finisterre this year I would like to share some of the insights that might motivate you to put the Camino on your bucket list. First and foremost I see a walk on the Camino as a fast-track opportunity of learning many of life’s important lessons:

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  • Walking alone for hours a day in nature is the perfect opportunity for self reflection and to disengage from daily distractions that under normal circumstances prevent you from looking deep inside of you. You will go into sync with your own rhythm at a deeper level. What thoughts, fears, emotions are you dealing with at this moment in time?img_3781
  • Walking with a back pack forces you to slow down. If you go too fast you will lose your way and you will take much longer to get to your destination.You might even have to end your journey because your feet, back and knees have been over-exerted.
  • If you see it as a mere physical exercise of doing so many kilometres each day and reaching a certain destination by a certain time, you won’t see and discover any of the miracles around you. Its the difference between head-mind and heart-mind.
  • Every day is walking into an unknown territory. You don’t know what will come around the next bend and what you will have to deal with. The weather sometimes changes every hour and you just have to deal with the situation that is at hand and that you don’t have any control over.
  • There are Highs- and Lows every day in life. You just have to accept this as a natural order of ebb and flow. Attachment to either is a cause of unhappiness.
  • The more you carry with you the harder your walk. Free yourself of the clutter that you don’t really need. Focus on the essentials.
  • If you get lost don’t hesitate to ask for help. Most people are only too willing to be of assistance.
  • Be humble and the Path will lead you.

Last but not least: Why are you here? What is your soul purpose and what are you doing for the rest of the days in your life that is of service to the bigger WHOLE? You have all the time in the world and yet no time to lose!

Reino Gevers – coach, trainer, author

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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by | July 21, 2016 · 4:11 pm

Camino Primitivo – At the crossroads

Upon leaving Germany for Oviedo the headlines reported another terrorist incident, this time by a 17-year-0ld refugee attacking innocent commuters in a train in southwestern Germany.

   
   
So on my first day walking from Oviedo to the small town of Escamplero, I couldn’t but ponder on the recent events. On a global level Evil is showing itself in the cloak of fanatacism, xenophobia, intolerance and nationalism – the isms we thought we had overcome with the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The natural reaction is to hit back at these fanatic perpetrators with military force. But that cannot be the answer. It is the response they are trying to provoke. And the problem has gotten worse since 9/11.

The wisdom of the martial arts tells us to respond to brutal force by making the body soft thus deflecting the blow. I dont have the answer but the opposite of military force would be going into the opposite energy that is confronting us: compassion, universal humanity, mindfulness and trying to understand the compexity of these global problems. 

So at the dinner table in the Albergue at Escamplero our small group of pilgrims- two Danish students, a teacher from Germany, a young Italian economist and myself had an intense discussion covering everything from terrorism, religion to climate change. After hours of solitude, the evenings over a glass of wine in the Albergues are particularly enjoyable. With the weather forecasting rain in the afternoon, I took to the road in the early hours of the morning, this ancient path meandering through oak forests, streams, lonely villages and then a steep 1300 Meter climb from the rather mundane city of Grado. In Cornellana the 12th century monastery of San Salvador has been converted to a comfortable Albergue with renovations still continuing. So I’m looking forward to spending the night here before the going gets much tougher in the next few days.

Reino Gevers coach, trainer, author

http://www.reinogevers.com

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by | July 18, 2016 · 5:51 pm

On the Way – the Camino Primitivo

Tomorrow I’m leaving for Oviedo on the Spanish west coast to start my walk on the Camino Primitivo – the oldest part of this ancient pilgrimage path. It will take me 320 kilometres through the mountains and to Santiago which I hope to reach during the first week of August.

Camino

People often ask me why its now the eighth time that I’m walking sections of the Camino which I first walked in 2006 at a time in my life when I was at the crossroads of making difficult relationship and career decisions.

From personal experience and the many interesting conversations I’ve had with fellow pilgrims on the Way, the Camino is and will remain a mystery. During the Middle Ages it was mainly a religious pilgrimage. At least one member of the family was expected to walk the Camino to repent on behalf of all the other family members.

Today the motives why people walk the Camino are different with every individual. But there are few people I know. including myself, whose lives have not been deeply affected while walking the Camino.

“This is just a hike and I certainly know nicer places. I don’t even know why I’m doing this,” a grunty man said to me on one of the walks. After many days of walking with blisters, a hurt knee and other physical afflictions, I noticed him retreating more and more into inner solitude. Its what we all learn on the Way. The Camino teaches us to be humble in more ways than one.

Part of the Camino fascination is that you meet people from all walks of life from many different nationalities and age groups. The personal motivation why people decide to walk 20-25 kilometres per day for several weeks are often deeply moving, in many cases after going through traumatic and life-changing events where answers are being sought.

I’ve walked alone, led small groups, did a longer walk with a good friend, walked with my wife. Each of those walks was rich and beautiful in its own right.

Even when you walk with a partner, a family member or a good friend, I would advise to walk sections alone. It is this alone time when the deepest experiences are made. This is about finding that inner rhythm and alignment that gets diluted in the daily rat race of information overload and the challenges of just living life. And what I find most importantly, nurturing ones own inner and authentic spirituality.

Reino Gevers – coach, trainer, author

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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