Dear fellow pilgrims,

I hope you’re all finding the yellow arrows in your life, be you on the ‘Camino’ or the Camino in life.

I wanted to share something that I’ve been working on and my intention behind it. If you haven’t walked the Camino yet and are looking for some extra support, read on. This might be for you.

I first walked the Camino in 2010. Like all of you, it had a profound effect on the direction of my life. I’d even go so far as to say, it saved my life.

Prior to walking, I’d lost my father to suicide. During the struggle to help him, and also in the process of accepting his choice, I fell into a deep depression. For months, I could not get out of bed. If I did so, I’d make it as far as my back room. There I would sit until the daylight hours had passed and my then girlfriend would come home to find me sitting unwashed, vacant. It was a dark time. Oddly, when dad died, the depression shifted into grief, and in that brief window caused by the love he gave me, I saw sunlight in my mind and heart. That’s when a stranger told me about the strange road to Santiago.

As such, I left everything I owned, gave it all away, a burning down the barn to see the moon kind of thing, and set off to France with only a few hundred pounds in my pocket. I knew nothing about the Camino, or what a pilgrimage was. I just knew I had to walk it, and as a friend said, ‘go to Saint Jean, find the pilgrim office, get a pilgrim passport, then follow the yellow arrows to the sea.’

A few weeks later I was out of money, but through determination, and the generosity and kindness of strangers, two months after setting off I reached Santiago, liberated from the prisons of my mind and the shadows of the past. My life changed for good. The journey was, of course, as you all will know, just the beginning. An awakening to a new world. Since then, I have been a path of spiritual enquiry, which has had led me too many strange and enchanting places in the world, some dark ones too. Always, the most profound and integrated experiences have involved long walks. You pilgrim will understand why. For those yet to walk, a brief summarise might be the combination of nature, movement, momentum, and the space to hear your own breath, and the inexplicable, synchronistic, and perhaps guided meeting of strangers on the road – that person who in the sharing of stories, holds a missing piece of the puzzle to bring your heart to wholeness.

One of the things I did when I left the Camino was move to London, where I worked for two years in a high complex needs homeless shelter. During that time, I was awarded ‘Support Worker of the Year’ and led our project to win an award. I believe I won the award because I approached the task differently to most. Rather than seeing myself as a service provider, me in a position of control, and they, in need of help, I saw myself and those I worked with as fellow pilgrims. Each with a story to share and wisdom to be found. I believe this made a big difference to people who have nothing. Eventually I left that profession, burned out, not by the constant abuse, violence and hopelessness, but by the failing of the bureaucracy that perpetuates the victim cycle. I left and after many travels and explorations for something that would help people, I became a breathwork and meditation instructor. A modality that when applied with gentleness, and with God’s (the undefinable divine intelligence) grace, has the potential to empower people to heal themselves.

In the spirit of this, I wish to help as many people as I can to walk a pilgrimage, so that they can receive the ancient salve for the modern soul. As such, I’ve created a package, combining breathwork, ceremony, ritual, community, creative writing and playfulness, which I am going to replicate across the world, leading small groups to places of spiritual significance. I’m calling these Retreats In Motion. The first two are this year, July and August, hiking the first five days of the Camino de Santiago.

Now, this isn’t for everyone. I’m a big advocate (as my story shows) of going it raw. I walked without a guidebook, phone, map, or even money. As such, each day was an adventure. Freed from the constraints of needing to control of feel safe I experienced a level of freedom and transformation which was, almost, out of this world. But I know not everyone can do that, needs to do that, or should do that.

That’s why in part I want to share this Retreat with people. I want to remove the logistical obstacles, accommodation, yep, even snoring pilgrims, fears of safety, and in doing so, allow people to learn the art of walking with an open heart from day one.

Of course this retreat is not designed to compete with or replace the authentic pilgrim experience, rather to compliment it, and give people the confidence to book the trip and then keep walking all the way to Santiago and beyond if they so wish.

We will begin the journey with a breathwork and cacao ceremony, setting intentions, and then finishing in Pamplona with a second ceremony, to celebrate, release and let go of all we’ve been carrying. Each day you’ll be free to walk together, or alone, as you feel called, and each night we’ll end the day with a meal, and circle share to discuss any themes arising for you.

Many churches and religious groups take their congregation on the Camino. But what if you don’t yet belong to a church? What if you’re still finding out what you believe about life, death, your purpose between those two certainties? What if you are still seeking your tribe, still developing your relationship to the divine?

What makes Retreat’s In Motion different is I want to give people of all faiths, or none, the opportunity to come together in community, to support one another, learn from one another, whilst honouring the traditions of the Camino, and the faith in Christ which sustains it, whilst also having the freedom of self-discovery. And hopefully, you’ll have some fun along the way.

If you know anyone that feels called to walk the Camino, or other walks such as the Via Francigena, (I walked that in 2022), but is hesitating, or just desires a community-based experience for a second time around, or only has a week off work, please share this post or the link below.

I’m always up for a conversation with aspiring or fellow pilgrims.

Thank you for reading.

However, whenever you walk your pilgrimage, may it bless you in all the days of your life.

With love and Buen Camino,

Peter