Pilgrim Heart Retreat
Enjoy a day of Reflection, Completion and New Beginnings
Reflect more deeply on your Camino journey: the discoveries, challenges, questions, and wisdom unfolding; while anchoring new dreams and vision, in preparation for your journey home.
Celebrating the Camino and Preparing the Journey Home
You’re invited to a day of:
- Creative Journaling: Dream journaling the discoveries found on the camino
- Sharing in Sacred Circle: Weaving stories of insight, challenges, and wisdom along the way
- Preparing for the Journey Home: Anchoring vision, new questions, and aspirations for the future
- A Blessing Ceremony: Honoring your sacred walk, each another, earth, and community
- Celebration Dinner: Celebrate accomplishments on the camino before “walking the journey home”!
Details to be announced in 2025
Facilitated by Caitlin Elena – coach, counselor, artist, fellow traveler – who has chosen to live close to the historically rich, Camino de Santiago, and be of service to the pilgrims journey of self discovery. “I have a passion to share with those that choose to walk these sacred and ancient paths. I also remembered how hard it was to transition back into every day living. It’s an privilege to help others anchor the lessons, questions, and new vision before walking the camino home. “
The Camino de Santiago
The Camino is a sacred walk. The history of the camino holds each traveler in mysterious ways. It takes us back in time yet holds us with each step in the present moment, while unfolding into the future. It is a powerful and deep experience deserving reflection, integration, and sacred closure.
The Pilgrim Path
The pilgrim path is not only a destination, but a way of living – in greater simplicity, humility, and reverence for life. It’s a path of letting go, shedding comforts of the known, and inviting the unknown with courage and curiosity. It’s a humble way to open heart and mind; to discover new thresholds in the body; and find deeper connection with others and the natural world.
There is transformative power in pilgrimage. The greatest gift is the infusion of spirit found in the sacredness, beauty and challenge of each moment, and each encounter, and to become transformed by the journey, one step at a time.
Preparing for the journey home is also part of the camino way. Often there’s a reluctance to leave; or a struggle to reintegrate the experience with family and friends when returning home. New ideas, dreams and visions may emerge. There is no reason to push those visions into a box or be tempted to close the lid. This is why I’ve created this offering at the end of the camino journey for you.
More About Caitlin
Years ago I took a life transforming journey, a vigorous pilgrimage in the extremes of nature, with snow peaked mountains, rushing rivers; sleeping under a ceiling of stars, no beds, walls, or roofs for 40 days. Our group pushed beyond the threshold of what we believed to be possible, moving through fear, physical pain, discomfort, and finding a deeply mystical experience with the natural world, sacred places, and comradeship shared.
It was also bewildering when I returned home. I was in my mid 20’s, and found it hard to transition from such an expansive, primordial experience back into a domesticated and fast paced life. It opened up a strong longing to live more closely with nature and community, and find more lasting reciprocity and generosity with people around me. For a long time I struggled with the push/pull of how to create a better world for myself and others. Over time, it motivated me to seek new ways to keep my ideals alive, and find others who felt the same.
Fifty years later, little did I know that crisscrossing villages along the Camino de Santiago would set my heart on fire, re-remembering the lessons and challenges of my first journey many years ago. It catapulted me into a dream to live closer to the ancient, historically rich, Camino de Santiago and be of service to others on their journey of self discovery. I saw that the skills I had developed over the years, were well suited for pilgrims at the end of their journey.
The end of the Camino in Galicia is also where my Celtic ancestry is still alive in the memory of the people and land. It’s a place where the past and present, and spiritual and physical worlds converge. It’s so fitting to now be among those that walk this ancient path, where ancestral connections run deep.
I have a deep respect for the transformative power of pilgrimage. It’s an honor to be with other fellow travelers, break bread together, and share ideas for a better world, as we continue the journey forward.
