How did you prepare your mind for the Camino?

[SantiagoCruzB]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[SabsP]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

Of course you do not have to.

For my first Camino I bought decent shoes and a good backpack and started.
I arranged some practical and financial issues at home so I did not have to worry about it while on a Camino. This allowed me peace of mind. But that was my only mental preparation.

Everyone is different. Some pilgrims might have major mental / psychological revelations on a Camino, others might have the same state of mind as at home ( that would be me ) and then there are the pilgrims that experience that the Camino is a mental suffering and they decide to stop. Which is a good thing IMO because there really is no reason to keep walking if you feel miserable.

 

[Bradypus]

I do not do any particular mental preparation. These days I usually walk quieter routes in winter and can sometimes go for many days without meeting another pilgrim. The usual sign that I need to have more human contact and regain my mental equilibrium is when I start to talk to my own feet and knees as if they were separate beings. My longest walk to date was 66 days from Canterbury to Rome. It took quite some time afterwards to adjust to not moving on somewhere every morning.

 

[Turga]

Do you even have to?

I don't think you have to, I didn't and for me it was the other way around: The Camino gradually prepared my mind.

Buen Camino.

 

[woody66]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?

Believe in yourself; put your doubts away and walk!

Woody

 

[Robo]

I don't do any preparation of the mind.
And far too little of the body!

But as soon as I step onto the Camino path, I relax and feel at home......

I assume this is your first?
Maybe make preparations so that your mind can be free?

By that, take care of anything at home that might need your attention.
Make sure people can reach you in emergency etc etc.
So that when you start, you don't need to worry or stress about anything.....
You can just be.

 

[CTLawGal]

I recently completed my first Camino. I love to walk and at home I walk in solitude, sometimes for hours, so I didn't feel I need to prepare my mind for that, but I did make sure that I had taken care of things at home so I wouldn't have to deal with them while I was walking. I felt a little anxious in the days before I started to walk, I wasn't really sure exactly how everything worked, how to find the route markers (although I had seen plenty of pictures), and so to set my mind at ease, two days before I started, I walked the first 5-6 miles of my route, then looped back, which set my mind at ease. I also wasn't completely sure my physical training would be enough to get me through 6 weeks of walking and the elevation gain of the Norte and Primitivo, but there was nothing more I could do about that except hope that my training was enough and try to let go of worrying about it. Just do it.

In retrospect, now that I've been home over a month, the harder thing is how to prepare your mind for the end of your Camino and your re-entry. After six weeks of wake, pack, walk, be kind, find food, find lodgings, repeat, coming home to your normal day-to-day life can be an adjustment. Maybe there's no way to mentally prepare for something you've never really experienced before (both the walking and the re-entry), just know it's out there and deal with it in the moment, like life in general, right?

 

[trecile]

I prepared my mind by preparing my body so that I didn't have so many doubts about completing the Camino. And I also gave myself permission to stop walking if I found that the Camino wasn't for me. Spoiler alert - I loved it and returned 6 times after the first Camino.

 

[Dani7]

For my own peace of mind I kept my mind busy by focusing on some training (not a lot as winter was hard last year and I just finished a spring Camino) and my pack list. Like @trecile I gave myself permission before I left that if I was not enjoying being a pilgrim I could always stop. As my body got stronger so did my spirit.

You got this

 

[TaraWalks]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 daysg will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

I have walked three Caminos. The Frances with my sister in 2016, the Frances with my husband 2018 and just finished the Norte on June 22.

Aside from preparing physically and having my kit in order, my mental preparation consists of having no expectations and expecting the unexpected. I also work on strategies to contain my anxiety over things I can’t control or predict. I would also try to focus on being in the moment, especially when I was in pain. But that’s just me

 

[Derek Booth]

Although I have been married for over 50yrs, I am also an only child.

My preparatons for the Camino consisted of walking ever longer walks in our locality
and it was very rare that I came across anyone to talk to or even to pass a comment.

So, when I started 'my' Camino in Pamplona, it was both, 'same old, same old' and 'What on
Earth am I doing' as I set off.

One thing I remember was, on walking out of the town and into the suburbs, two gentlemen,
who must have been +10yrs my age (I was 69 at the time) gave me a cheery, 'Buen Camino'
and, at that moment, I got it.

Please understand, you may be walking without anyone beside you but you will not be alone.

Stand still in any one spot and, within 10mins someone will be along the Camino, and,
when you get to your first Albergue, I can almost guarantee that in that same 10mins
you will be in conversation with a total stranger, (that is, the friend you didn't know you
had until that moment.) .

 

[Rita Flower]

I didn’t do anything to prepare the mind for my first Camino. I already had a on/off meditation practice.
What the Camino did was showed me how my mind was actually working - and gave me many opportunities to practice healthier and more useful ways of thinking. That was as exciting and adventurous as any physical aspects of the Camino.
Having asked the question, watch what is revealed as you walk.
Buen Camino

 

[Richard Smith]

I would suggest :-
1) Go without too many expectations.
2) Organise your at-home situation so you don't have to worry about what's happening back home.
3) Don't be in a hurry. Allow at least 3 weeks to get "in the groove".
4) Have a Plan B (e.g. if it is too hard or we don't like it we will .....)

 

[natefaith]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

Great thread and you've received some good advice so far.

Sometimes asking some questions before a Camino can help you prepare, too. On our Pilgrim House website we have a Pre-Camino Reflection Guide, but I'll put some of those questions down here in case you find them helpful:

- Do you have goals for your Camino in any of the following areas: physical, spiritual, emotional? (These can be realistic or unrealistic; sometimes it's just good to reflect and know what your heart is desiring.)
- Are there areas in your life that need healing?
- How can you create space for yourself on the Camino to reflect in these areas in order to move toward healing?
- What expectations do you have going into your Camino? (Even "going without expectations," as others have mentioned, can be an expectation.)
- What are you concerned or fearful about, if anything?
- Is there anything in your life right now that you think will distract or keep you from fully embracing your time away on the Camino?
- Have you considered purposefully carrying something as you walk or purposefully leaving something behind? (This could be done physically, prayerfully or symbolically.)
- Do you have any tools or resources you need to prepare beforehand that you hope to use during your Camino? (books, journals, guidebooks or apps, other logistical matters like banking or travel apps, etc)

You may find other good questions to ask yourself elsewhere, too.

Buen Camino and enjoy all the planning!

 

[SantiagoCruzB]

Fantastic. Thanks for all your great replies. Each one contains nuggets of wisdom. Buen Camino!

 

[sid gustafson]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

That happens after you arrive!

 

[andonius]

For each one, the mental preparation is different, so this is my personal impression after many Caminos.

For me there are several "mental stages" along the Camino, which more or less coincide with the different weeks of the journey. Obviously if the Camino that you do is short, these “mental stages” are concentrated and can last days instead of weeks.

The first week is the “physical week”. Your body must acclimatize to walking 20 or 30 kilometers a day every other day. It’s the week of the first blisters, the leg pain after finishing the day and the week in which you discover that you have muscles that you didn’t know existed. Almost your whole mind is focused on your body and its state. But it’s also the week in which you discover that there are some "Elves of the Camino" that every night, while you’re sleeping, work silently in your body to restore the deteriorated muscles and leave you ready to walk the next day. It’s really magic¡¡¡.

The second week is the “Mental Doubt week”. It is the week of uncertainties, of "What the hell am I doing here?" and the "I'm not going to get it." It is the week to look at train and bus timetables and to think about taking taxis. The worst are the afternoons, after finishing the stage and resting; when you realize that tomorrow you have more of the same and your whole body and mind asks for rest. But your body is actually becoming more and more physically adapted to the walk and after a night of rest and the action of the "Elves of the Camino", starting in the morning is becoming easier and easier.

The third week is the “Spiritual Week”. Once doubts have been overcome and physical problems moderated, your body and mind are used to the daily routine. It is the moment when you can let your mind float without worrying at every step about that pain you have or that mountain that comes next. In a complete Camino Frances from SJPP, it coincides with La Meseta, which is the ideal place to let your imagination run wild and focus on the problems you came to solve or meditate on the Camino. This week the Camino can be enjoyed in all its fullness, even when you have to continue taking care of your body like the first day.

From the fourth week onwards is the time when you enjoy the Camino the most, your physical and mental problems are resolved or controlled, and you are already focused on the goal; that you know is close but you hope that it will never arrive. You enjoy the walk, you enjoy the afternoons of rest and your companions, you enjoy the towns you pass and the ones you arrive at; you even get to enjoy the ups and downs. It is the moment when you begin to wish that this would never end and that you begin to think with regret about returning to the daily routine.

Personally, what I find most difficult to get rid of throughout the Camino is what I call "Negative Anticipation", which is very normal during the first few days. "Negative Anticipation" are those recurring and magnified thoughts about how hard tomorrow's stage is going to be, how difficult that mountain I haven't reached yet is going to be, how much that foot that gives me problems is going to hurt... It is really a "killer" of morale on the Camino, especially in the first days/weeks. You anticipate all the bad things that can happen and you magnify them. And then, when tomorrow's stage finally arrives it’s not as bad, the mountain to climb is not that difficult and the sore feet are usually not as bad as you thought; and if they are, you handle it. Knowing that these thoughts are "Negative Anticipation" and that they are normal, helps a lot to combat them. Personally, as soon as I feel that I am having a "Negative Anticipation" I try to turn it into a positive one thinking, for example, about the magnificent place that I will visit and where I will sleep after the stage, in the stops to have a drink that I will make, in how beautiful will be the views after climbing the mountain or that the foot pain is actually bearable and will pass in a few kilometers...

 

[PhilOtt]

Thanks for the question! There are many good responses above, but I'd like to add my own take ...

Among the many mistakes I made on my first Camino in April-May 2019 (the Frances) was not preparing my mind enough. After about twelve days on the Camino I almost gave up. Fortunately, a friend suggested I try one more day ... and I continued on to walk the rest of the way, including on to Finisterre after Santiago, walking 760 kms overall.

For me, I found the first few days, over the Pyrenees, physically hard, and I ended up taking the bus from Zubiri to Pamplona. A day or two later, I got sick (just a cold) but I couldn't walk for a few days, and ended up taking the bus for those days too. Just so you know, I was in a group of four, and the other three continued to walk on the days I wasn't feeling up to it, so I caught the bus to meet them at the end of each day. After several days of this, I had taken the bus as many days as I had walked, and I was beginning to wonder whether the Camino was for me. Fortunately, the friend I telephoned was able to talk me out of it, and everything worked out.

I learned a number of lessons from this. Perhaps the most important was that it's not _how_ you walk the Camino, it's _whether_ you walk the Camino that's important. There are various support options along the Camino - buses (or taxis) being one of them, bag transport being another - which can help you when you need it most. My advice would be to prepare your mind to accept that help when it is needed. In my case, in addition to the buses I mentioned earlier, it turned out that I needed bag transport. My attitude at the time was like some of the people on this forum - I felt somehow diminished by needing bag transport (see any number of threads) - and really diminished by needing to take the bus. I felt like I had failed. But I realized that, if I stopped walking because I couldn't accept that I needed help, that would be a loss - mostly to me, but also there would be one less person walking the Camino.

After walking the Frances, my wife and myself have gone on to walk the Ingles, and we're planning another Camino for 2024. We would have lost all that if I had given up (or, at least, I would have lost all that!).

In reading this forum, and the responses above, it seems that a lot of people did not experience those difficulties - either mental or physical. My response is "good for them!" However, it seems to me that I'm not alone in needing support, and in making use of it. There also seem to be a lot of people in that camp.

So, enjoy your Camino! Take the time you need, accept the help you need, and, hopefully, you'll make it all the way! If not, you can always come back another time and continue from where you stopped.

Good luck!! and Buen Camino!

 

[Rita Flower]

Personally, what I find most difficult to get rid of throughout the Camino is what I call "Negative Anticipation",

Ah …. thanks for that label. Experienced it a lot in Galicia in November. Spent many nights worrying about rain and cold that never turned out to be anywhere near as bad as in my imagination. Took me a while understand it would either rain or it wouldn’t and thinking about it half the night wouldn’t change a thing.
PS The rain was actually quite manageable and not a problem

 

[SantiagoCruzB]

"Negative anticipation"

Thanks for pointing this out Andonius and Rita.

I believe I may be experiencing a bit of this now even before I begin the Camino. But now I know what it is and can begin to deal with it. Thanks again.

 

[SantiagoCruzB]

Thanks for the question! There are many good responses above, but I'd like to add my own take ...

Among the many mistakes I made on my first Camino in April-May 2019 (the Frances) was not preparing my mind enough. After about twelve days on the Camino I almost gave up. Fortunately, a friend suggested I try one more day ... and I continued on to walk the rest of the way, including on to Finisterre after Santiago, walking 760 kms overall.

For me, I found the first few days, over the Pyrenees, physically hard, and I ended up taking the bus from Zubiri to Pamplona. A day or two later, I got sick (just a cold) but I couldn't walk for a few days, and ended up taking the bus for those days too. Just so you know, I was in a group of four, and the other three continued to walk on the days I wasn't feeling up to it, so I caught the bus to meet them at the end of each day. After several days of this, I had taken the bus as many days as I had walked, and I was beginning to wonder whether the Camino was for me. Fortunately, the friend I telephoned was able to talk me out of it, and everything worked out.

I learned a number of lessons from this. Perhaps the most important was that it's not _how_ you walk the Camino, it's _whether_ you walk the Camino that's important. There are various support options along the Camino - buses (or taxis) being one of them, bag transport being another - which can help you when you need it most. My advice would be to prepare your mind to accept that help when it is needed. In my case, in addition to the buses I mentioned earlier, it turned out that I needed bag transport. My attitude at the time was like some of the people on this forum - I felt somehow diminished by needing bag transport (see any number of threads) - and really diminished by needing to take the bus. I felt like I had failed. But I realized that, if I stopped walking because I couldn't accept that I needed help, that would be a loss - mostly to me, but also there would be one less person walking the Camino.

After walking the Frances, my wife and myself have gone on to walk the Ingles, and we're planning another Camino for 2024. We would have lost all that if I had given up (or, at least, I would have lost all that!).

In reading this forum, and the responses above, it seems that a lot of people did not experience those difficulties - either mental or physical. My response is "good for them!" However, it seems to me that I'm not alone in needing support, and in making use of it. There also seem to be a lot of people in that camp.

So, enjoy your Camino! Take the time you need, accept the help you need, and, hopefully, you'll make it all the way! If not, you can always come back another time and continue from where you stopped.

Good luck!! and Buen Camino!

Thanks for sharing your insights Phil. IMHO these are things that can only be learned from experience. I may not have experienced them but I can appreciate and can learn from them.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Hi, @SantiagoCruzB . Just came across this thread, frankly I'm surprised that more people haven't answered.

the harder thing is how to prepare your mind for the end of your Camino and your re-entry

Frankly, for me this was more of an issue. Completely unexpected too. It's been christened the "Camino Blues " ( look for the excellent verse by @andonius . Expresses it far better than I ever could).
I've been back 10 days now, and I really, really want to be on the Camino!!
Instead, I spend ages each day lurking on the forum.....
I see your countdown is on - Buen Camino!

 

[pmusial]

Great question. Before walking a large part of the CF, I followed this forum for over a year, watched countless you tube videos, bought a guidebook, studied maps and websites, ... But nothing was more important than joining a local group of Camino veterans for their monthly walks. They were so welcoming, that I knew the Camino was place where friendships could easily be made. The belief that people on the Camino were good trustworthy people and that most of the physical hardships would likely be manageable made it easy for me to quickly adjust to life on the Camino. When people I met on the Camino asked me why I was walking, I would answer truthfully, "to meet you."

 

[Wheelchairpilgrim]

I do not prepare my mind for the camino but my camino prepare my mind for daily life.

 

[dougfitz]

I more seriously thought about my mental preparation in the lead up to my second pilgrimage walk, the Gudbrandsdalsleden from Oslo to Trondheim. It was clear that very few pilgrims walked this path, and that it was entirely possible that I would spend days without the company of other pilgrims, and it was even possible that there would be some stages without other human company where places I stayed were unattended. This was going to be quite different to my first pilgrimage on the Camino Frances where it was unusual to spend even an hour without the opportunity to engage with another pilgrim.

More, at the time that I did this, it was also clear that there wasn't going to be a guarantee of mobile phone coverage in some places along the route that I was taking, and it wouldn't be possible to maintain the same level of contact with my wife and family. Indeed, at the outset, my wife and I discussed the possibility that I might be out of contact for the duration of my pilgrimage. Fortunately, this did not eventuate.

This led me to consider what mental skills I would need to strengthen or develop to ensure that I could deal with both the potential physical demands that might arise and the mental and emotional demands that might accompany any adverse events along the way. More, I had to contemplate that such adverse events might not only be physical challenges, but emotional ones in their own right.

To help me understand this, I looked at the various scenarios that might arise which would clearly be stressful, dangerous or even life threatening were I to be injured somewhere remote and not be able to get help. I looked at ways that I could prepare, not necessarily for a specific event, but to reduce the risks involved in such events. Many of these turned out to be fairly standard bush-walking practices that I was already familiar with, but which didn't need much attention walking the CF when there are plenty of others around. Others turned into contingency strategies that I could use to quickly implement mental or physical responses depending on on the circumstances.

And all of them were going to be easier to implement if I had thought through what immediate reactions were needed, and following that, to develop a deliberate response to the circumstances. This might sound esoteric, but I felt the key was being able to move quickly from thinking 'this cannot be happening' to 'here's what I am going to do right now' and then 'how will I manage the rest of today and perhaps tomorrow to get back on track'.

Rather than thinking about walking in these circumstances as being a 'toll on the mind', I expected that just the rigour of daily planning and execution of that plan would improve my mental resilience. While some events might have had a short term emotional impact, I also expected that having a deliberate approach to dealing with them would improve my ability to handle confusion and uncertainty.

 

[Jay Es]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

I've done a few big hikes if a few months and bike rides, including 2 Camino's. You sort of get into the mind thing. At first you feel like you're not getting anywhere, maybe you struggle physically too, which is a mental strain.
I always feel a bit driven and striving for the first couple of weeks, then that fades away and you sort of just melt into the walk and it becomes you, you become it.
Prepare your mind, I'm sure we are all different. I never do, things change as you go, just be prepared for all eventualities. Maybe do a bit of visualisation on how you could react to problems that crop up on a very typical day. That might help cope with issues, fears and life on the trail.

 

[Harland2019]

I thought that I didn't prepare my mind, I'm OK! but on reflection, I prepare my mind daily, I don't think about the 800 km ahead of me that would be daunting but just the next hour or so with something positive ahead - to the next refreshment stop, having a break somewhere at lunchtime, and then think about the final few miles before a drink/shower/drink/meal/bed in that order.

 

[dougfitz]

Prepare your mind, I'm sure we are all different. I never do, things change as you go, just be prepared for all eventualities. Maybe do a bit of visualisation on how you could react to problems that crop up on a very typical day. That might help cope with issues, fears and life on the trail.

@Jay Es, I am confused with this. In one sentence you suggest you don't prepare, but then go on the recommend that the OP be prepared for all eventualities, and follow this with some recommendations about how to go about that.

If I have any concern with preparing for all eventualities, it is that the thing that will happen won't be one that you have thought about. I think that there is some advantage to having a small set of simple responses to physical danger or bad news to get out of the dangerous situation or past the funk moment. You will then be in a better position to assess the situation, find out what options there are to proceed, gather any more information you need to make a choice amongst these, and then keep going with a new plan.

My view is that this is very similar to how we make decisions in our life, but at home we have the luxury of many things having established patterns which have allowed us to reduce the need for rapid and repeated decision making. For example, we know how we will get from home to work each day = what route we will take if we drive, when we will leave to get the best balance of traffic but not arrive too early, etc, etc. We still have to respond to the traffic as it emerges, but will be calling on well-honed driving skills while we do so.

The Camino presents unfamiliar territory where, at least initially, we don't have those fallbacks to rely on. You make that point yourself in this observation about not having a routine and having to strive to achieve one:

I always feel a bit driven and striving for the first couple of weeks, then that fades away and you sort of just melt into the walk and it becomes you, you become it.

I think your recommendation to do some visualisations is a good one, and I did, and still do, something similar. What I would add is when doing this, reflect on whether your initial response is going to help get you to a better place, physically if that is required, as well as mentally and emotionally. Even if you think it does, take the next step and think about whether you can change that to get to a better result.

 

[M2ME]

Do you even have to? What has been your experience?
Surely walking for 30-40 days will have a toll on the mind as well. I will be doing my first Camino from October to November 2023. All inputs will be appreciated. Thanks.

I have always enjoyed solo hiking but 3 or 4 day trips are not the same as the Camino. About six months before leaving I was given a copy of
The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred by Phil Cousineau. It helped me in giving my desire to walk the Camino some context. There were things I took from the book that I used on my walk and others that I thought I would use that I ultimately didn’t. “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. The Camino is it’s own learning.