practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad
Jenny Wade is a Seattle-based therapist and yoga instructor, and today we talk about the significance of the body when it comes to the spiritual journey, as well as how opening ourselves up to the Sacred Feminine—whether we’re male or female—can impact how we relate to our bodies, our faith, and our way of being.
And though it wasn’t a pilgrimage, per se, I brought along a few tools to help make the journey an intentional one, providing opportunities along the way for me to get to know both myself and God more deeply while on foreign soil. One of these tools is the Compass Cues Reflection Deck, available in the Journey Shop.
The Compass Cues Reflection Deck contains 31 Compass Cues to help you align with your True Self, God, and the movement of the Divine on your pilgrimage of faith. Meant to be chosen at random and revisited again and again as each season of your life unfolds, these questions can be used for prayer, journaling, conversation, and more as a compass for the journey and a guidebook for the soul.
Here’s one of the questions I drew on a cool, cloudy morning tucked away in a quiet B&B garden in Winchester: “How do you want to know God?” Even though I made the cards and came up with the questions, it was a surprising question at the time, and even more surprising was the response that followed. I’ve shared my journal entry from the morning below.
In today’s episode I speak with spiritual director, writer, and contemplative activist Ryan Kuja about approaching mission work through the lens of pilgrimage, the practice of contemplative activism, and how to engage some of the difficult conversations arising today with prayer and intention. (Note: The sound was a bit off from time to time on Ryan’s end, but his words speak loud and clear!)
Not long ago we talked about the pilgrim abroad. Perhaps, like many of us here, you’re a seeker at heart and long to be a pilgrim, but one thing is missing—the pilgrimage. It’s not the right season, you don’t have the money, you can’t take the time away. The truth is, though, we are all on journeys—journeys of faith, journeys in relationship, journeys of discovering what we love and who we really are. And when we bring the intention and awareness of the pilgrim to these journeys, our everyday lives are transformed.
While the practice of pilgrimage traditionally involves journeys to far-off Sacred sites, I have a secret to tell you: You don’t have to leave home to begin living like a pilgrim. All you need to do to begin practicing pilgrimage every day is to see your life as a journey and your role as a Seeker of the Sacred. Are you on the path of the pilgrim at home?
(Did you miss the first episode? Listen here.) It’s our first official interview, and today we’re talking with Kayce Hughlett about SoulStrolling. Kayce is an author, soul guide, and self-proclaimed “artist of being alive,” and in our conversation, we explore listening to the call within, going on pilgrimage to unconventional places, practicing SoulStrolling at home, and more.