The Way Within The Way

A Camino Blog from Sara Spinks, Yes to Life Wigwam Groups Co-ordinator, Holistic Cancer Coach and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach.

“As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears” Rumi

As we return from our epic and transformational Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, 240k in 9 days along the wild and winding Invierno route, I realise that ‘The Way’ was not only unexpected, but it was also not just the one we walked.

It started when I accepted this challenge in June, or even set the intention to walk the Camino six years ago, and will continue for the rest of my life.

Not since my breast cancer diagnosis in 2018 have I experienced something so profoundly life-altering and the parallels with this were not lost on me. I walk my own talk (as Functional Medicine and Holistic Cancer Coach) but this journey took me to a new level of understanding of what that really means.

It wasn’t just a walk. I expected a pilgrimage of spirit as well as a deeply physical challenge, but what unfolded brought unexpected insight — for all of us, I think. Personally, it became a mirror of my own cancer experience and healing journey, as well as the journeys I witness in others through Yes to Life and my work. It felt like an echo of life itself — a reminder that our deepest challenges can become our most transformational teachers, if we allow them to be. It also reaffirmed how profoundly powerful connection and kindness are for our health and healing — as if I didn’t know that already!

The Camino and Cancer

After my own breast cancer diagnosis in 2018, I had a romantic notion of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. I was pursuing my own deeper  healing (mind, body & spirit) and in visiting St Jean Pied de Port (the beginning of the 790km Camino Francés to Santiago) and day-hiking a couple of Stages of the walk, I set my intention to one day walk ‘The Way’. Why? Because I felt that as a profound experience, it would offer deeper insights to life and healing.

But it didn’t live up to the romanticism — despite the deepest wisdom I’ve carried since the shock of 2018, which comes from Joseph Campbell:

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take.”

Many life experiences throw us totally off our centre – off the path we thought we were on, even if we think we’re prepared. Cancer diverts us onto a new path in an instant.

It may sound clichéd but both cancer and Camino required me to keep walking even when I couldn’t see the path further ahead.

The Camino too was unexpected – the path showed itself, as does my continuing ‘cancer journey’ seven years on. Both required purpose, a goal, trust, courage and hope and both led me home to myself in ways I could never have predicted.

The Unexpected Journey

Can we ever truly prepare for the unexpected? Expecting the unexpected never prepares us for it!

Before the walk, I did what I do best: I researched, I planned, I prepared. I had every plaster and supplement ready. I wanted to feel safe. I was as ready as I could be, even in accepting the uncertainty — knowing I would have to let go. And let go, I did.

We so often over-prepare for the things that never happen through fear – I came home with three unopened packs of plasters.

The real lessons come from the experiences we don’t expect that can hurt — like the day I marched too hard up a hill (pride before a fall) and hurt my knee, feeling every painful step for the next five days. Or realising that the impact of my partial mastectomy and reconstruction does create pain and issues when I don’t care for it enough. The realisation that you’ve been whipped into a new rhythm and routine — and that you just have to find the discipline to continue.

There were so many moments of laughter too that were so energising. Like the time, so hungry, I ate sheets of paper separating slices of goat’s cheese without noticing until too late! Or when Robin ate yeast thinking it was soft cheese – he was proving a point we think!

Then there are the wonderful messages of support, that we can also receive through a cancer experience — messages that can unexpectedly stir mixed emotions: “It’ll be the making of you.” “You’ve got this.” “You’ll find your answers.” All so kind, and yet they carry an unspoken pressure to be brave, inspiring, and to have it all together.

The real Camino, like cancer, humbles us and strips away all expectation by bringing us back to ourselves and leaving us with our own inner truth in each step. It becomes obvious, it becomes simple!

Lessons from The Way

Through my work, not many days pass without a useful reflection and insight. The Camino shed new light and deeper meaning on some of these and I’d like to share these with you:

Simplicity and Surrender

• While we can’t prepare for what happens, we can prepare ourselves for who we want to be today to support our best possibilities.
• Simplicity is key – don’t overcomplicate, especially when fear is driving it.
• We can continue in pain while reducing our suffering – through acceptance and softening the resistance around it.

Mindset and Perception

• The perception of an experience can change significantly once we are through it.
• Our perception creates our reality (typically based on our beliefs) but can so often be inaccurate or unsupportive – just knowing this can change an experience.
• Low energy – tiredness, exhaustion – can create the symptoms of low motivation, hopelessness and despair – knowing this can help us detach from the weight of these emotions.
• We have to adjust to different terrains but rather than over-thinking them, know how to inherently adjust.

Body and Resilience

• Gut health is everything – the physical, mental and emotional don’t work well without it!
  • Supporting this was absolutely key to my physical resilience.
• A short amount of rest can transform our energy.
• One pain or weakness can easily lead to another (even with adjustments).
• Our bodies are wise – if we listen instead of trying to control.

Spirit and Connection

• The goal or purpose must be strong enough ‘pull’ us forward vs feeling ‘pushed’ with fear. Without the goal it can just feel like an unappealing, heavy
• We can move beyond joy & sorrow.
• Everything can be everything all at once.
• Any ‘negative’ can create more positive.
• Water, nature, music, connection, kindness – and bananas – can get you through almost anything.

The Power of Purpose and Community

This Camino challenge was never just about walking. It was Walking for Life – raising funds and awareness for Yes to Life – the integrative cancer charity that changed my life, and the lives of so many others. Small but mighty, just like every single one of us.

Most of all, each kind donation, each heartfelt message, each moment of shared encouragement reminded us of how deeply we are all in this together. Those I held in my heart and thoughts, and those who walked beside me, got me through.

We became aware of others, touched by Yes to Life, walking their own Caminos — different routes to the same destination at the same time. We managed to overlap with one lady on our arrival in Santiago by 5 minutes. These moments of synchronicity speak louder than words in terms of what Yes to Life stands for – we are never alone on our path, even when it feels that way.

Healing is never solitary, despite our personal responsibility, individual journeys and choices. Whether through cancer or Camino, connection is vital and transformational and it’s why I love my work looking after the Yes to Life Wigwam Support Groups and community.

Is there an end to ‘The Way’?

After nine days, we thought we had finished our Camino — but in truth, it was just beginning to do its work. Only once I had stopped walking, in the peace, did the deeper insights start to surface. I realised that cancer has both strengthened and weakened me — in that my fear of fragility has perhaps made me ‘hide’ a little more than I’d like.

The Camino reminded me of my strength, my humour, my ‘high pain threshold’ (not always a good thing when you have a surgeon who won’t operate as he thinks you are ‘fine’) and capacity for endurance — but also that health and healing requires rest and letting go as much as holding on and taking action. It’s knowing how and when that’s so important.

Before leaving, I was given two beautifully contradictory pieces of advice (aren’t we often?):

• Look up – to see what you may otherwise miss
• Look down – to make the hills easier and navigate the terrain

It is only us who can know when to apply these actions.

“Only the years can tell us what the days never knew.”

We can be fully present in a moment, but only reflection reveals what it really means to us.

Life’s Camino is not about conquering distance (longevity) or illness, it’s about returning home — to the body, mind, spirit, heart, to ourselves – one step, one breath, one day at a time.

My hope in sharing our Camino story is that it reminds anyone walking their own challenging path — whether through cancer, healing, or life itself — that you never have to walk it alone.

Through Yes to Life, we’re able to guide and empower people who are brave enough to take an integrative approach to cancer — those willing to look deeper, seek possibilities, and embrace healing in all its forms. Your donations make this possible – every pound raised helps someone find their footing again on their own ‘Way’.

I am truly in awe of my colleagues, now friends I hope, and how we managed our walk – it was beyond all my expectations. Just as I am in awe of every person I have met through Yes to Life who has had the courage to just take that first step on the path that feels truly aligned with them.

If this story has touched you, please consider helping us reach our Camino Challenge target. Together, we can help more people find hope, options, possibility, and community when they need it most.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, we’re now so close to reaching our £40,000 fundraising target — a milestone that will help Yes to Life continue empowering people living with cancer to make informed, personal choices about their care.

Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to that goal. Hold My Walking Stick Challenge – JustGiving

If the spirit of the Camino has inspired you, please consider adding your step to ours by contributing to the Hold My Walking Stick Challenge campaign. Together, we can cross this final finish line — for hope, for life, and for everyone on their own journey of resilience.