At some point, we have all felt overwhelmed and have been invaded by these issues. Once these points have been questioned, each one chooses the most appropriate strategy for himself, to return or try to return to his essence and inner balance.

  • When was the last time you had time to do ANYTHING?
  • When was the last time you did something for the first time?
  • At what point did you stop painting, writing, playing the saxophone, walking, being you…?
  • Do you recognize yourself? Do you recognize that self in which you dwell?

Here are a series of tools that we consider, from our own experience, the perfect symbiosis for living in harmony.

The first is to walk, without further ado

Aome researchers argue that the human gait, carrying weight on the front part of the foot, began with the Homo erectus almost two million years ago. Today, we spend too much time sitting and with an over-stimulation of electronic devices that take us away from interacting with each other and reconnecting with ourselves. Usually we even get to move away from ourselves, often unconsciously, and in others, by inability to assume our reality.

The Camino de Santiago allows you to give yourself that interaction, that space, time, silence, listening, permission and truth. In this experience you have the opportunity to be, to reconnect with yourself through mountains, valleys, forests, trails… where the best melody is your steps.

Little by little you will perceive how the senses are awakening. You will look with new eyes, smell forgotten aromas, taste food with pause and awareness, hear the sound of nature and touch water, air and earth.

You will embrace and be embraced in the most sincere way you could ever live. Because if there is one thing the Camino allows, it is to achieve a transformative journey, where you can strip yourself of everything and dress yourself in you.

The second is Yoga

Yoga, is a Sanskrit term that comes from the word yug (yoke in English), which means to unite, to link, and by extension to reconcile and harmonize. This practice, as defined by Patanjali (500 BC), is the cessation of mental agitation.

This discipline is the oldest method of conscious evolution and self-realization, through which mind, body and spirit are united, honoring the “yoke” that is yoga.

Women practicing Yoga

Origins

The origins of Yoga are difficult to pinpoint, and may date back more than five or six thousand years ago according to some researchers. In present-day Pakistan, archaeological remains of ceramic seals, in which yogis appear seated in the classical posture of meditation, place this discipline at least 5000 years old. What can be affirmed is that the evolution of yoga is intimately linked to India.

With its arrival in the western world, yoga has become an increasingly widespread practice. This has sometimes resulted in the practice being focused on a more physical perspective, losing sight of the mind-body connection and becoming more spiritually involved in its realization.

We often assume that the benefits of benefits of yoga are toned arms, a flexible body and the ability to turn our body on its head. But the practice of yoga goes far beyond the physical.

Path-Yoga Synergies

In the same way that the goal of the practice of yoga is not to complete an asana, such as achieving an inverted posture, neither is the goal of the Way to reach the end of the stage, or even to reach the end of the stage Santiago de Compostela.

The step by step through each stage reveals most of the lessons that the Way gives us. The real goal is not the road, but that during which we pretend to arrive. The practice of yoga does not seek enlightenment or connection with divinity, but to learn, understand, observe and remain in the process itself. Only by being very present in these processes, either by walking or on our mat, can we become Being.

The Camino de Santiago is not simply a route. In its origin it emerged as a spiritual route associated with religion, people already went on pilgrimage to ask the Apostle for help to solve a problem, or seeking absolution for a sin.

Today many people walk without a reason of faith, although they all share the same intention: to heal.

Both the practice of Yoga and the Camino de Santiago link the purpose of searching for our essence and therefore, happiness. In our yoga practice, through our postures and breathing (physical plane), we achieve a clear and open mind. This moves to the rhythm of the body in synchrony with the breaths, which will make us move towards the spiritual plane, bringing us balance and clarity.

In the same way, walking per se helps us on physical, mental and emotional levels. It is not only a physical action, but along the way we leave behind those layers of judgments, fears and limiting beliefs that keep us from our true selves. This allows us to open ourselves without expectations to what happens, so that any situation experienced can be received as a learning experience and we can transfer the experiences of the Way to our own life.

Yoga, like the Way, allows you to know yourself and how you show yourself to yourself and to the world.

In both cases they are nothing more than tools for self-knowledge and growth, which together form a perfect tandem to return to our center, so forgotten in our daily lives.

Woman doing yoga

What you will need to practice yoga on the Way

For your yoga practice, you only need comfortable clothes, a mat and those materials that you usually use to facilitate your practice (belt, block, essential oils, scarf or shawl for savasana).

But without a doubt, the most important thing for the practice of yoga is you and what you are in that moment. You should always take into account the state in which you are to carry out the practice, accepting who you are, how you are and recognizing everything that happens inside you. Only in this way, you will be able to bring awareness to your body, allowing it to manifest through practice, all those emotions.

As for the materials, you don’t have to worry about additional cargo, because if you travel with us you will have a luggage transport service between stages. We recommend using a hiking backpack, as almost all of them have straps to carry objects, such as mats or bags, in a comfortable way.

In the practice that we propose during the Camino, we collect:

– Meditations at dawn
– Pranayamas
– Sun Salutation
– Sunset meditations
– Moon Salutation
– Kriyas
– Hatha yoga, Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga practices

There are many branches and schools of Yoga, but we will work with those that help to complete the stages of the Way in an integrative way. So we will do not very demanding practices, after the kilometres walked at the end of each stage. They will be relaxing and restorative practices.

The benefits of yoga on your Way

Benefits in the body

Yoga at the beginning and at the end of the stage: Starting the day practicing yoga, connects us with our body, that instrument that allows us to live magical experiences. This practice acts as a warm-up for walking, which together with meditation helps us to have a purpose in the stage and in the day. On the other hand, the practice at the end of the day will help us to assimilate better everything we have experienced during the day and to relax body and mind for a proper rest.

Physical benefit

The physical exercise of walking will make you feel empowered, motivated and connected. This, combined with a couple of hours a day dedicated to the practice, will double the benefits and also bring much more intensity and insight to your experience.

At a physical level, the practice helps us to tone and flex our muscles, strengthen bones, improve the immune system, regulate metabolism, reduce levels of inflammation, or improve lung capacity through breathing, among other things.

woman stretching

Benefits mind

On the mental and spiritual plane: the practice of this discipline will help you to understand or solve the problems or needs you have in your head. Yoga accelerates the processes of understanding oneself and reality, and thus the processes of inner healing.

The understanding of reality that it brings will allow you to understand yourself in particular and as part of a whole.

Promotes the ability to relax, relieves stress, combats insomnia, helps control anger, panic attacks and other crises. It reduces anxiety and increases creativity and work performance.

Benefits spirit

This practice will help you to focus, have greater concentration and find your balance and place in this society. It provides you with tools to live with greater presence and awareness, helping you to have more lucidity when making decisions. You will learn to act under new healthy behavior patterns, breaking old toxic or limiting habits. All this will make you happier.

The environment

As for the environment, practicing yoga on the Camino de Santiago will allow you to experience the benefits of Yoga in privileged places. It will allow you to understand through nature itself, internal processes that will help to decode messages stuck inside you. Nature, as well as the people you will meet, will be a mirror of what you want to vibrate with, where you want to go and what you need to understand in order to be in harmony and coherence with yourself and your environment.

Woman doing Yoga in front of a lake

The context will help to reconnect with our being and with the whole of which we are a part.

The relationship we will have with other people will be completely different as a result of our practice. The path will put us in a position to give and receive answers to what we cannot understand or what is difficult for us to glimpse. This is why we will enter into the search field of others in order to receive answers to our own search.

Whether you go alone or in a group, Viajes Camino de Santiago will take care of planning your Camino in quiet accommodations, idyllic rural and natural settings that will allow you to to live the unforgettable experience of the Camino de Santiago, from a level of awareness, permission and openness that will help you heal and grow as a person.