Spiritual Trekking Adventure
Summer 2018
Video Introduction
Do you long to see the world?
Do you want to explore the deeper meditative power of walking?
Do you need to let go of your past?
Do you wish to discover who you really are?
Do you want to explore the deeper meditative power of walking?
Do you need to let go of your past?
Do you wish to discover who you really are?
Meditative Yoga Pilgrimage Experience
The Way: Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago, also known by the Way of St. James, is the name of any of the pilgrimage routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried. Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth.
We will be following the French Way, Camino Francés, which is the most popular of the routes. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees before making its way through to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos and León.
We will be following the French Way, Camino Francés, which is the most popular of the routes. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees before making its way through to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos and León.
Join this once-in-a-lifetime unique experience that will lighten your spirit, deepen your awareness, strengthen, stretch and balance your body, enhance your pranayama (life-force through breathing exercises), develop connections with other fascinating individuals and wildlife, intrigue your mind with interesting cultural traditions (music, food, customs, attire, rituals, etc.), and open your eyes to breathtaking landscapes.
Know Before you go
Watch: The way
This film honors the Camino de Santiago and promotes the traditional pilgrimage. Emilio Estevez called the film "pro-people, pro-life, not anti-anything." While walking the Camino, Tom meets others from around the world, all looking for greater meaning in their lives.
Highlights
- Learn how to see: open your eyes to a variety of breathtaking landscapes
- Meditate through each step as you connect to the earth element
- Restore with your mind and body through Yoga Asanas (Poses)
- Explore Aparigraha, lightness of being, and non-attachment
- Find self-discipline: overcome the discouraging voice of the ego
- See your inner strength shine through
- Meet like-minded spiritual seekers
- Follow well-rounded knowledgeable leaders
- Encounter symbolic reminders
- Discover the oneness in all beings
- Interact with creatures like cats, dogs, cows, horses, goats, cranes, etc.
- Admire churches, cathedrals, and choirs
- Leave your burden and past at the cross
- Inhale the life force through fresh air
- Drink fresh spring water
- Indulge in wine fountains
- Savor local food
- Listen to live music
- Observe local traditions
- Collect unique stamps on your camino passport, from each village
- Relish in cultural Spanish stories
Video: What's a Pilgrimage?
A Typical Day on the Pilgrimage Trekking Experience
The typical Camino day begins very early, as the eager early-risers begin rustling their bags as early as 5am. We brush our teeth, tend to our feet, pack our backpack and put our shoes on. We fill our water bottles and gather outside for a morning guided meditation then start walking.
After a couple of hours (roughly 8am), we will stop for a mini-yoga stretching session and sometimes a small breakfast (typically coffee and a pastry or a granola bar) at a café.
Then, we walk for a few more hours (noonish) until we pause for a long lunch in a village along the way. Sometimes we will dine at restaurants and other times we will have a simple picnic with fresh fruit, vegetables and bread from a local grocery store. At lunch, I will introduce the yoga concept of the day and pose a discussion question. You can listen to the corresponding Audible chapter of Light on Life throughout the hiking day.
After a couple more hours of hiking, we arrive at our destination in the mid-afternoon, and check in to the Albergue to claim a bunk bed. Then we take turns showering, washing dirty hiking clothes and setting them out to dry. Further, we do some restorative yoga poses, including my trekking favorite, legs-up-the-wall.
After that you have free-time to wander around the city or village, visiting churches, museums, stores, farms, or relaxing with a good book, sketching a lovely scene, or taking a nap. After 5pm is a good time to stop by a grocery store or pharmacy if you need extra snacks for the next day or medication because most of them are closed for siesta between 2 and 5pm (Many businesses are closed on Sundays while many museums in Spain are closed on Mondays).
How to Practice Legs-Up-the-Wall
At around 6pm, we head to a local restaurant for a “pilgrim menu,” a three-course meal that typically includes wine and dessert. At the beginning of dinner, we will finish our daily concept discussion and then have free time to be social or read and journal. Some Albergues serve dinner menus family-style, which is a great way to get to know other travelers. Most Albergues set a “lights out” time around 10pm. Claim your dry clothes (weather permitting), and pack your backpack as much as you can the night before to minimize the time you need in the morning.
Spiritual Ritual on the Meditative Yoga Pilgrimage
Spiritual Concepts and Discussion
Light on Life by BKS Iyengar
Some discussion topics include:
- Limbs of Yoga, including the Yamas and Niyamas
- The Seven Chakras
- The Five Elements
- Mindfulness and Awareness
- Overcoming the Ego
- Symbols of Spirituality
I highly recommend listening to this book on the Audible app as we walk.
From AudioFile:
The practice of yoga, not surprisingly, can be pursued at many levels, depending on the understanding, objectives, and dedication of the practitioner. This abridgment can serve as a thought-provoking introduction for newcomers to yoga and a challenge to seasoned practitioners to realize greater emotional, spiritual, and intellectual benefits, as well as physical benefits.
Amazon.com Review:
If this book is to lay any claim to authenticity, it must make one point clear above all others. It is this: By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom. Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus lie in the hearts of all. They are not film stars, mere idols of adulation. They are great inspirational figures whose example is there to be followed. They act as our role models today. Just as they reached Self-Realization, so may we.
Many of you may worry that you are unable to meet the challenges that lie ahead. I want to assure you that you can. I am a man who started from nowhere; I was heavily disadvantaged in many ways. After much time and effort, I began to reach somewhere. I literally emerged from darkness to light, from mortal sickness to health, from crude ignorance to immersion in the ocean of knowledge by one means alone, namely by zealous persistence in the art and science of yoga practice (sadhana). What held good for me will hold good for you too. Today you also have the benefit of many gifted yoga teachers.
When I began yoga, there was, I am sorry to say, no wise, kind teacher to lead me. In fact my own Guru refused to answer any of my innocent inquiries on yoga. He did not instruct me as I do my students, offering them step-by-step guidance in an asana. He would simply demand a posture and leave it to me or his other students to figure out how it could be realized. Perhaps that stimulated some stubborn aspect of my nature, which allied to unshakable faith in the subject of yoga made me burn to go on. I am ardent and passionate, and maybe I needed to show the world that I was not worthless. But far more than that, I wanted to find out who I was. I wanted to understand this mysterious and marvelous "yoga," which could reveal to us our innermost secrets, as equally as it revealed those of the universe around us and our place in it as joyful, suffering, puzzled human beings.
From Publishers Weekly:
Master yogi Iyengar offers what may turn out to be his last written words on the discipline that he helped popularize with Light on Yoga. Published in 1966, that first book became yoga's "bible" and set the standard for yoga books, providing pictures and instructions. The 86-year-old teacher here expounds the philosophy of yoga—its metaphysics, of which yoga poses, or asanas, represent the physical component. Iyengar yoga is vigorous because it involves the body, mind and spirit, and the master explains those interrelationships clearly. Chapters elaborate on aspects of yoga—the physical, energetic, mental, intellectual and divine, showing the architecture of the comprehensive system of spiritual teachings that lead to samadhi, the state of blissful absorption. Yoga is about health and purity, flexibility and divinity. While this book underlines the intellectual aspect of yoga, it is insufficient for a new yoga student, no substitute for yoga sadhana, practice that requires and integrates body and mind. Not the book with which to begin the yoga journey, it is highly recommended for those advanced on the path and interested in learning from a master of flexibility and wisdom. (Oct.)
From AudioFile:
The practice of yoga, not surprisingly, can be pursued at many levels, depending on the understanding, objectives, and dedication of the practitioner. This abridgment can serve as a thought-provoking introduction for newcomers to yoga and a challenge to seasoned practitioners to realize greater emotional, spiritual, and intellectual benefits, as well as physical benefits.
Amazon.com Review:
If this book is to lay any claim to authenticity, it must make one point clear above all others. It is this: By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom. Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus lie in the hearts of all. They are not film stars, mere idols of adulation. They are great inspirational figures whose example is there to be followed. They act as our role models today. Just as they reached Self-Realization, so may we.
Many of you may worry that you are unable to meet the challenges that lie ahead. I want to assure you that you can. I am a man who started from nowhere; I was heavily disadvantaged in many ways. After much time and effort, I began to reach somewhere. I literally emerged from darkness to light, from mortal sickness to health, from crude ignorance to immersion in the ocean of knowledge by one means alone, namely by zealous persistence in the art and science of yoga practice (sadhana). What held good for me will hold good for you too. Today you also have the benefit of many gifted yoga teachers.
When I began yoga, there was, I am sorry to say, no wise, kind teacher to lead me. In fact my own Guru refused to answer any of my innocent inquiries on yoga. He did not instruct me as I do my students, offering them step-by-step guidance in an asana. He would simply demand a posture and leave it to me or his other students to figure out how it could be realized. Perhaps that stimulated some stubborn aspect of my nature, which allied to unshakable faith in the subject of yoga made me burn to go on. I am ardent and passionate, and maybe I needed to show the world that I was not worthless. But far more than that, I wanted to find out who I was. I wanted to understand this mysterious and marvelous "yoga," which could reveal to us our innermost secrets, as equally as it revealed those of the universe around us and our place in it as joyful, suffering, puzzled human beings.
From Publishers Weekly:
Master yogi Iyengar offers what may turn out to be his last written words on the discipline that he helped popularize with Light on Yoga. Published in 1966, that first book became yoga's "bible" and set the standard for yoga books, providing pictures and instructions. The 86-year-old teacher here expounds the philosophy of yoga—its metaphysics, of which yoga poses, or asanas, represent the physical component. Iyengar yoga is vigorous because it involves the body, mind and spirit, and the master explains those interrelationships clearly. Chapters elaborate on aspects of yoga—the physical, energetic, mental, intellectual and divine, showing the architecture of the comprehensive system of spiritual teachings that lead to samadhi, the state of blissful absorption. Yoga is about health and purity, flexibility and divinity. While this book underlines the intellectual aspect of yoga, it is insufficient for a new yoga student, no substitute for yoga sadhana, practice that requires and integrates body and mind. Not the book with which to begin the yoga journey, it is highly recommended for those advanced on the path and interested in learning from a master of flexibility and wisdom. (Oct.)
Frequently asked questions
Spiritual Experience Led by Trekking and Yoga Expert, Hannah Faulkner
As an adventurer, yogi, spiritual seeker, writer, artist, musician, and teacher, Hannah Faulkner has not only trekked around the world, but has also practiced yoga with masters in India, taught at the first International Yoga Convention in Greece, and has led multiple women’s yoga and spiritual retreats in Southern California.
From backpacking to the top of the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. (Mt. Whitney) to completing the Trans-Catalina 50-mile steep trail with wild buffalo, exploring Holy Salkentay Mountain on the 4-day trek to Machu Picchu in Peru, squeezing through the tight Samaria Gorge on Crete, Greece, breathing at above 17,600 feet and negative five degree temperatures on the Everest Base Camp Trail in Nepal, Hannah has experienced a variety of terrain, temperatures, and natural phenomena.
With four years of experience as a flight attendant and 3 years teaching visual arts in the classroom, Hannah has cultivated skills of leadership and safety. She is knowledgeable in first aid and CPR. She has overcome altitude sickness and rescued a fellow trekker from hypothermia. As a former pilgrim on 200 miles of the Camino de Santiago, she will direct you in how to train, take care of your feet, pack, wear your pack, stay safe from the sun, and stretch, restore, and balance your body along the way. She is also completed an addition certification for Restorative Yoga in 2017.
As a spiritual seeker, writer, and retreat leader, Hannah poses discussion questions that open up a world of possibility and potential within you. She helps draw connections between seemingly unlike objects and concepts as her philosophy aligns with that of Leonardo Da Vinci, “Learn how to see…realize that everything connects with everything else.” She is always looking for more ways to find oneness, including drawing walkabouts and painting workshops.
Video: Why Travel with Hannah Half Moon...
“The brave alone enjoy the world.” – Swami Rama
cost and what's included
full payments due by May 31st
Choose how many days you want to trek with us for only $100 per day
I recommend 35 days for the starting point.
Choose 14 days if you want to meet us in Leon.
A popular choice is the final week, 7 days, from Sarria to Santiago de Compostella.
Please view the details of where we will be each day on the FAQs page.
Choose 14 days if you want to meet us in Leon.
A popular choice is the final week, 7 days, from Sarria to Santiago de Compostella.
Please view the details of where we will be each day on the FAQs page.
These are some of the accommodations that I've booked:
What's Included:
Group Leadership
Shared Room Budget Accommodations and bookings in Local Guest Houses or Albergues (Hostels) from starting point Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port, Leon, or Sarria, to Santiago de Compostella
Meals: Daily Breakfast (small pastry or granola bar), Lunch and Dinner Entree or Pilgrim 3 Course Special (when available)*
Pilgrim Passport
CPR and First-Aid Trail Guide and Yoga Instructor
Daily Discussion Concepts and Questions
Daily Guided Meditation
Daily Physical Yoga
What's Not Included:
Transportation from home to and from beginning and end of trail Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port, Leon, or Sarria, and Santiago de Compostella. Use the app Rome2Rio to find trains, busses, flights or email me for assistance.
Backpack, Sleeping Bag, Boots, and other Gear from Pack List
Beverages
Light on Life Book or Audible File
Official Passport
Travel Insurance
Luggage Transport
Medical supplies or costs
*We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions, but some flexibility in this area would be appreciated due to options in the small villages
Group Leadership
Shared Room Budget Accommodations and bookings in Local Guest Houses or Albergues (Hostels) from starting point Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port, Leon, or Sarria, to Santiago de Compostella
Meals: Daily Breakfast (small pastry or granola bar), Lunch and Dinner Entree or Pilgrim 3 Course Special (when available)*
Pilgrim Passport
CPR and First-Aid Trail Guide and Yoga Instructor
Daily Discussion Concepts and Questions
Daily Guided Meditation
Daily Physical Yoga
What's Not Included:
Transportation from home to and from beginning and end of trail Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port, Leon, or Sarria, and Santiago de Compostella. Use the app Rome2Rio to find trains, busses, flights or email me for assistance.
Backpack, Sleeping Bag, Boots, and other Gear from Pack List
Beverages
Light on Life Book or Audible File
Official Passport
Travel Insurance
Luggage Transport
Medical supplies or costs
*We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions, but some flexibility in this area would be appreciated due to options in the small villages
Video: Tips on How to Afford it
Would you like to receive a free flight?
If you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa and purchase this experience with it, you can earn 50,000 bonus points plus 4,000 points for this purchase, which is almost enough to earn you a FREE round trip to Spain!!!
fundraiser opportunities
Is money an issue?
Is this a life-long goal of yours, bur you don't have the extra cash in your budget?
Don't let that stop you from joining us!!!
Start a fundraiser and promote it to your friends and family to support you!
Set a clear goal for whatever you want to overcome or how you want to see change in your life and manifest this experience!
Over the course of a year, you could collect donations toward this trip instead of birthday or holiday gifts!
Don't forget to make a video and promote it regularly on your Social Media!
Is this a life-long goal of yours, bur you don't have the extra cash in your budget?
Don't let that stop you from joining us!!!
Start a fundraiser and promote it to your friends and family to support you!
Set a clear goal for whatever you want to overcome or how you want to see change in your life and manifest this experience!
Over the course of a year, you could collect donations toward this trip instead of birthday or holiday gifts!
Don't forget to make a video and promote it regularly on your Social Media!