I've enjoyed reading about the Camino for some time, and a topic that comes up now and then, variously, is what might a person get out of it.
In the movie "The Way," all 4 of the main characters had a different motivation: One was to lose weight, didn't; another was to quit smoking, didn't; another was to write a book, did; and another was to honor his deceased son, to do something that was important to him, because he loved him, and he did feel satisfaction for that.
I see some people feel deeply religious or spiritual and get a lot out of that.
Some people enjoy the healthy aspect of the long trek, the fresh air, the friendships.
Some people feel it's a great way to enjoy part of Europe for very little funds.
All beautiful. I deeply feel it's all beautiful.
But I think, for me, the reasons are many: I do feel spiritual about it, truly. I do need the exercise as well, love Europe, enjoy the camaraderie as well. But I think there is another aspect that may be helpful as well for someone who has been under a lot of stress for a long time: working with neural plasticity to "re-boot" the brain, as it were.
I think for anyone who has a great many other demands in life or ongoing major stressors, to take six weeks off and walk the Camino, this famous, spiritual walk that's been going on (roughly) for thousands of years (pagan before), can be helpful in getting past some of the stressors.
Plasticity, referring to the way the brain "sets" as we age or also it's decreasing readiness to form new neural pathways........................: when something has been adopted by the brain, it can stay with you. And that goes for a stressing mind-set, as well.
Walking the Camino, with it's import, it's camaraderie, it's history, and it's very-different-from-prior-daily-life, repetitive effort, can through it's experience help the brain form new pathways away from the stressors of that other daily life.
Some may refer to it as, "Get away, take a break, find some peace..." Kinda the same thing.
Waking the Camino for anti-stress: get back to the earth, the basics. Touching your feet to the ground over and over. Different kinds of ground. Seeing new things. Laughing with new friends. Thinking about your feet, where you'll sleep, what you'll drink. Just being there, doing that, instead of whatever you grind at back home.
I'm reminded of the great film, "The Way" and how the characters stood at the end. Who was happy and who was let down.
It seems to me that one of the realistic goals of the Camino can be to ask for its help in using our natural neural plasticity to re-boot into a more peaceful, down-to-earth neural pattern, an anti-stress, as it were, and to use that plasticity to then also retain that new, engrained pattern to take back home with us afterward. With a sense of satisfaction.
"Things you work for the hardest bring the most satisfaction," as it were, is a related concept. Because things you work for the hardest form a pattern that can stay with you.
I hope this isn't too off-the-wall of an issue. Plasticity, the forming and setting of neural pathways, I think, has a lot to do with our mind-sets, what we value and enjoy, and I think this path to anti-stress is also a realistic goal and expectation for the Camino, at least for me.
Sorry for droning on. I am that way at times.
In the movie "The Way," all 4 of the main characters had a different motivation: One was to lose weight, didn't; another was to quit smoking, didn't; another was to write a book, did; and another was to honor his deceased son, to do something that was important to him, because he loved him, and he did feel satisfaction for that.
I see some people feel deeply religious or spiritual and get a lot out of that.
Some people enjoy the healthy aspect of the long trek, the fresh air, the friendships.
Some people feel it's a great way to enjoy part of Europe for very little funds.
All beautiful. I deeply feel it's all beautiful.
But I think, for me, the reasons are many: I do feel spiritual about it, truly. I do need the exercise as well, love Europe, enjoy the camaraderie as well. But I think there is another aspect that may be helpful as well for someone who has been under a lot of stress for a long time: working with neural plasticity to "re-boot" the brain, as it were.
I think for anyone who has a great many other demands in life or ongoing major stressors, to take six weeks off and walk the Camino, this famous, spiritual walk that's been going on (roughly) for thousands of years (pagan before), can be helpful in getting past some of the stressors.
Plasticity, referring to the way the brain "sets" as we age or also it's decreasing readiness to form new neural pathways........................: when something has been adopted by the brain, it can stay with you. And that goes for a stressing mind-set, as well.
Walking the Camino, with it's import, it's camaraderie, it's history, and it's very-different-from-prior-daily-life, repetitive effort, can through it's experience help the brain form new pathways away from the stressors of that other daily life.
Some may refer to it as, "Get away, take a break, find some peace..." Kinda the same thing.
Waking the Camino for anti-stress: get back to the earth, the basics. Touching your feet to the ground over and over. Different kinds of ground. Seeing new things. Laughing with new friends. Thinking about your feet, where you'll sleep, what you'll drink. Just being there, doing that, instead of whatever you grind at back home.
I'm reminded of the great film, "The Way" and how the characters stood at the end. Who was happy and who was let down.
It seems to me that one of the realistic goals of the Camino can be to ask for its help in using our natural neural plasticity to re-boot into a more peaceful, down-to-earth neural pattern, an anti-stress, as it were, and to use that plasticity to then also retain that new, engrained pattern to take back home with us afterward. With a sense of satisfaction.
"Things you work for the hardest bring the most satisfaction," as it were, is a related concept. Because things you work for the hardest form a pattern that can stay with you.
I hope this isn't too off-the-wall of an issue. Plasticity, the forming and setting of neural pathways, I think, has a lot to do with our mind-sets, what we value and enjoy, and I think this path to anti-stress is also a realistic goal and expectation for the Camino, at least for me.
Sorry for droning on. I am that way at times.