Held by the Way

Why this retreat?​

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I’m a walking enthusiast. I’ve walked many stretches of the Camino de Santiago—sometimes alone, sometimes with others—and I return to it again and again because walking quiets my mind and opens my heart. The simplicity of the Camino is part of its magic: each day, the task is simply to put one foot in front of the next until you arrive at your resting place. This rhythm makes space for clarity, for the voice within to emerge, for the deeper questions and desires of the heart to be heard.

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But something was missing in those past pilgrimages—something I didn’t realize until after I returned home. I missed the integration. I missed the pause to make meaning of what had shifted in me. That’s the seed this retreat grew from.

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Held by the Way is not only a pilgrimage. It’s a container for transition, for remembering, for allowing what we discover on the trail to take root in our lives. I created this retreat to offer others what I wished I’d had: a way to return—not just home, but to myself.

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Held by the Way: The Experience
 

Grief doesn’t always wear the face of loss. Sometimes it shows up as a quiet ache for something unnamed, a life not lived, a dream that drifted. This retreat is an invitation to walk with all that your heart holds—and to rediscover joy not in spite of grief, but alongside it.

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We begin and end in Porto, Portugal, at Held—a retreat space and sanctuary located on the Camino de Santiago. Through breathwork, yoga, mantra, creative expression, and shared ritual, you’ll be guided inward as we prepare to step onto the ancient path. For six days, we walk the Camino together—through villages and forests, over fields and gentle hills—carrying reflections and daily practices with us. We close with two days of rest, integration, and nourishment back at Held.

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This is not a retreat about fixing or moving on. It is about walking with. With what aches. With what is blooming. With grace, courage, and companionship.

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