EPISODE 313: The Camino Recap 2025 — Why Your Internal State Creates Your Reality and Life Won’t Get Better Until You Change

00;00;01;23 - 00;00;27;13

Lisa

Welcome to the Full Frontal Living Podcast. I'm Lisa Carpenter, Master Life Coach, two driven, ambitious humans who want more out of life without having to sacrifice themselves to achieve it. I'll share how it's possible to slow down, take better care of yourself, find more peace and ease, try to sustainable energy, stop procrastination and overwhelm and fall in love with your life, your business, and your body.

00;00;27;16 - 00;00;45;27

Lisa

This podcast is for you. If you're ready to learn what it takes to thrive as a high performer, do less but achieve more. Make you and your well-being a top priority and create your extraordinaire free life. I'm so glad you're here.

00;00;46;00 - 00;01;10;12

Lisa

Well, hey, hey, listeners, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Full Frontal Living Podcast. And if you're not watching on video, it's not actually sure if we still post the videos of these, but you're here listening. I'm hoping that you are enjoying the upgraded sound that should be coming at you. I just got a brand new podcast Mike set up.

00;01;10;14 - 00;01;33;27

Lisa

One of my girlfriends reached out to me after listening to an episode and was like, Friend, you need to upgrade. It was kind of the equivalent of somebody telling you you had broccoli in your teeth. She's like, You need some better sound. So I splurged. Got myself a new podcast, Mike. And here we are today. So if you are tuning in, if you're new to the show.

00;01;33;27 - 00;02;00;04

Lisa

Welcome. My name is Lisa, and I riff on all things that high achievers, ambitious, driven humans out there in the world bump up against, but often in ways that maybe you haven't heard them before. So I'm here to give you some perspective, some insight. And I also go down the rabbit hole of my own world because I find that we learn so much better through storytelling.

00;02;00;04 - 00;02;32;09

Lisa

And I think one of the things that I am very masterful at is pulling out the lessons from my own life and sharing them with my audience, sharing them with my clients in a way of allowing them to see themselves. Because so often as leaders and as the responsible ones in our work life, in our families, what ends up happening is it can be this very lonely place where we feel like we're the only ones who are feeling the way we're feeling and nobody else can get it, or we can't open up to anybody.

00;02;32;11 - 00;02;51;17

Lisa

And what I like to do is normalize the things that we're going through in life and also give you some insight and perspective, as I said, into kind of what causes some of these things. So today is just a very personal episode. I'm going to share a little bit about my takeaways from walking the Camino for a second time.

00;02;51;18 - 00;03;21;27

Lisa

So this was my I walked the French route last year. Route route, depending on where you live. I walked from Syria to Santiago de de Compostela. My Spanish is not Spanish. That's because I don't speak Spanish. That's why I always travel with Spanish speaking friends. And this year I walked from Barcelona. I'm probably butchering that name to which was the coastal route back to Santiago and Holy Hannah.

00;03;21;29 - 00;03;51;20

Lisa

What a completely different experience this year to last year. So I'm going to take us back in time a little bit last year, in 2024 or 2025 now. I was really going through it and I had decided that 2024 was really going to be a year that I traveled, that I was away more than I was here. And my trip to do the Camino last year was the start of a month long trip that I took away from my family.

00;03;51;20 - 00;04;16;23

Lisa

It's the longest I'd ever traveled. It's the longest I'd ever been away from my family. And I was going multiple places. So I started in Spain, and then I flew to Mallorca, which is still in Spain. But I left. I left mainland Spain. Flew to Mallorca, which is a beautiful island. Spent a week there with a previous client touring all the most beautiful beaches.

00;04;16;24 - 00;04;47;17

Lisa

I toured like best beaches and Mallorca, was it? And then I flew from there to Morocco and explored Morocco with another client. We had some amazing, amazing adventures. And then I flew back to San Sebastian in Spain, and I spent a week by myself before coming home. And let me tell you, being a being by myself for a week in San Sebastian last year, not speaking Spanish was probably the most isolating experience I've ever had in my life.

00;04;47;19 - 00;05;13;13

Lisa

I stayed in an Airbnb, so I didn't even have the interaction of it like a doorman or a front desk person. And they don't care if you don't speak Spanish, they don't care. So it was such a wake up call for me because I've always been in English speaking countries. So to be in a place where I really didn't know the language, I was using my Google translate like a mad woman at the grocery store and kind of my my.

00;05;13;13 - 00;05;40;16

Lisa

The only thing that I really knew how to say was no espanol. And then they would kind of give me this like head nod. I did learn how to order coffee. Coffee on such a war. I was also that was probably my most used phrase other than no espanol. Anyways, it was such a transformational journey last year and if you go back you can hear an episode.

00;05;40;17 - 00;06;02;10

Lisa

I think we actually rereleased it again about Iraq that I carried around Spain and how that trip last year was so transformative for me in terms of redefining my pain, really taking a look at what I was carrying around with me. I was going through a lot in my personal life and I was really working through how to let go, how to surrender, how to how to move past it.

00;06;02;13 - 00;06;23;02

Lisa

And, you know, we talk about letting go as being this like you should just be able to let it go, that it's not that's not my experience of letting go. It actually takes a tremendous amount of work over to let go. So I will post the link in the show notes so you can go back and listen to that episode about the rocks and about that journey, because it was really, really powerful.

00;06;23;05 - 00;07;00;27

Lisa

So this year I had the opportunity to go back and walk the Camino again, and it was doing a different route. So as I mentioned, we did the coastal route this time. Now, last year one of my biggest takeaways was our external environment. Often most times is a direct reflection of our internal environment. So when I think about walking from Syria to Santiago last year, we walked in torrential downpours like we walked in rain that was coming down so hard it almost hurt as it hit our rain ponchos.

00;07;00;27 - 00;07;26;00

Lisa

We were absolutely drenched and it was really about putting your head down, putting one foot in front of the other and just getting from point A to point B, There wasn't a lot of enjoying the jury because it was really just hard and miserable. The walking wasn't hard, but the weather was so miserable. And some of the lessons I took away from that was, you know, choose your walking partners wisely in life.

00;07;26;00 - 00;07;49;13

Lisa

Like choose your wingman wisely. Because when things are really hard and they're very dark, you want to know that you can trust the people that you're walking with because they will bring light into your life. So that was kind of the weather conditions last year as well. Like by the time we got to Santiago, it was so wet, it was so cold, it was so windy.

00;07;49;13 - 00;08;09;03

Lisa

I remember walking over the overpass and having the wind literally shred my rain poncho. I mean, granted, we bought them at the like the dollar store, but still, like, that's how powerful the rain was. It just absolutely shredded my rain poncho. We kind of did our high fives in front of the cathedral and then it was like, let's go get warm.

00;08;09;04 - 00;08;29;04

Lisa

There was not a lot of celebrating. I remember being in like my touk or beanie. If you're in the U.S. and in my sweater and my coat. And I was just I was so miserable. I was so done. And of course, you know, I'd wanted to put my rock down and I couldn't even put my rock down. So I was like, I'm just not winning.

00;08;29;06 - 00;08;58;21

Lisa

I am not winning here. So this year, the weather we went a little bit later, the weather was so much more mild, which was really fascinating because I am in such a different emotional space this year. So much has changed for me. I have grown and evolved so much, I have released so much. I have surrendered into this new life that I've created for myself, which required me leaving the old versions of me behind and that's what this last year of transformational work has done for me with my own coaches and therapists.

00;08;58;23 - 00;09;19;11

Lisa

It's been about peeling back my layers, going into the dark corners of myself that I didn't want to look at where I was still getting attached to things that weren't actually providing me with any safety and security and, you know, healing those parts of myself and and healing it. Like somebody said to me, like, well, how do you define healing?

00;09;19;12 - 00;09;42;29

Lisa

Like, what does that even mean? And my answer was it's it's a it's a journey into knowing yourself better. It's being curious about what makes you tick and being willing to look at those parts and question, Well, what if I didn't believe this anymore? What if I didn't feel this way? How might my life be different? So that's really what it's about.

00;09;42;29 - 00;10;14;26

Lisa

And most of us have these moments in our lives that cause us to question who we are, what we're doing, if life is even making any sense. And that's really where I was from 2023 and all through 2024. And it's not to say that everything is coming up roses for me now, but man, did I ever clear a lot of old held beliefs, especially around relationships and primarily the relationship with myself.

00;10;14;27 - 00;10;42;19

Lisa

So this year it was just so lovely too, to really realize like, Oh, the the weather is much more mild. We did have rain, but I like to call it noncommittal rain. It was like Misty. He where you just kind of felt wet, but you weren't wet and cold and it wasn't beating down on us. So it was like this non-committal rain versus the rain of last year, which was very it was very committed to raining.

00;10;42;22 - 00;11;03;08

Lisa

So. And that's life, right? Some days we have blue sky days and it's bright and sunny and warm. And some days it's, you know, it's kind of a little wet and miserable. And the weather once again was really reflecting to me. This is my life right now. It's certainly not perfect, but look at how much brighter it is.

00;11;03;08 - 00;11;27;24

Lisa

Look at how much better it is. Look at how far you've come. So if you're listening to this and a year ago, you feel the same as you do today, what more needs to happen for you to get the support that you need in order to create the transformation that you want to see in your life? Because everything your internal state of being is 100% your responsibility.

00;11;27;24 - 00;11;48;21

Lisa

Nobody else can create change. So if you're sitting back waiting for everybody else around you to change so you can feel better, you've be waiting a long time and that really puts you in this victim energy of like, I have no authority over my own life and you do. If you're willing to do the work, you can change so much.

00;11;48;23 - 00;12;11;15

Lisa

So it was really beautiful to see on this year's walk and just to be able to reflect on where I was feeling. So I looked at my best friend Sarah, and I was like, My God, I was not okay last year. And when I say that, it's not that I was falling apart, although sometimes I was falling apart.

00;12;11;15 - 00;12;31;17

Lisa

If I'm being honest and I've been pretty honest and sharing that, you know, last year was really hard, but I was really allowing myself to feel and be in all the different emotions that were coming up for me. I wasn't bypassing anything. I wasn't running away from anything, but man, everything was heavy. I just I felt so heavy.

00;12;31;17 - 00;12;54;23

Lisa

My soul felt heavy. I felt like the life force energy had been drained out of me. I was looking for things to be fun and lighter, and we definitely tapped into fun last year on the Camino. But overall, my energy was very heavy and dense. Like. Like I was carrying the weight of the world. So I looked at Sarah and I'm like, My God, I was so I was so not okay.

00;12;54;23 - 00;13;25;13

Lisa

And she said, No, you weren't okay, but you were okay. So to be evolved this year, to really acknowledge and see the difference in my energy, in my vitality, in my life force, like just as a person recognizing like I was hard to be around last year and I shared on one of my Camino briefs from last year, like, oh, I shared what it was like for me when I came off the Camino, how I really didn't have the emotional capacity to speak to anybody.

00;13;25;13 - 00;13;46;11

Lisa

Like I would all I could only speak to the people that I knew and already had established relationships with because I had nothing else to give. And as somebody who loves to have deep conversation, as somebody who loves to support people on their journeys through conversation, I just I didn't have it in me. I only had to be present.

00;13;46;14 - 00;14;13;22

Lisa

I only had the energy to be in my own stuff. So this year, because I'm in such a different place, it was such a joy to connect with the other people in our group that we were walking with and have really potent conversations. Might have only been a ten minute or 30 minute conversation, but I really pride myself on if I'm in conversation with you that you're going to get something that's going to have an impact on your life.

00;14;13;25 - 00;14;36;14

Lisa

If you're in conversation with me and you walk away with nothing, I am not at my best self because I want to. And it is my mission to always impact people with my words, whether they see something differently, hear something differently, or just, you know, walk away feeling better about who they are, their lives. Then I feel like I've fulfilled my purpose.

00;14;36;15 - 00;15;00;05

Lisa

So this year, to be able to go on the walk with this these this amazing group of people, and we had a lot of couples, which was a really cool energy to see these couples that have been together for years and years and years. Sarah and I are both you know, we were there as our, you know, friendship couple, but it was just so amazing to watch these this group of people and to really connect with them.

00;15;00;05 - 00;15;23;22

Lisa

We had people who were there recovering from cancer. We had one woman who was celebrating, you know, she had she had lost her sister and everybody, you know, found their pace and found their groove. But to be able to have deep conversations and get to know all of these people and kind of what made them tick was really beautiful for me to have that energetic capacity for that was amazing.

00;15;23;24 - 00;15;48;13

Lisa

And to see like what is possible for everybody when they get committed to doing the work on themselves. And for some of us that is going to the Camino and just allowing ourselves to be in a state of hearing our own thoughts. Because think about when was the last time you gave yourself five or six days to just be alone with your thoughts?

00;15;48;15 - 00;16;10;23

Lisa

Most of us as the thing that we're we're trying so hard to get away from, that's where we get into achievement and productivity and being busy and being responsible for all the things. Part of what is underneath that is we really struggle. Most of you really struggle to be in relationship with yourself, to hear your own thoughts, to hear your own voices, to hear the stories that you're telling yourself.

00;16;10;23 - 00;16;32;21

Lisa

And when you're on the Camino, it's you versus you. That's that's what you're there for. So as much as we walk together, we also walked alone. Sarah and I spent a lot of time in deep conversation, as we always do, and we spend a lot of time walking where we didn't say anything, and that was really beautiful as well, so that we could just be in our own thoughts.

00;16;32;21 - 00;17;00;20

Lisa

But it was just so it was so cool for me to reflect on how much more vital I'm feeling these days. So again, if you're looking back on your life as you're listening to me and you're thinking, Damn, I feel as crappy as I did a year ago and nothing has changed again. Like you can make a change in your life, but it often requires doing the work to create the change.

00;17;00;20 - 00;17;29;19

Lisa

And nobody else can do that for you. So now I'm. I'm back home. I'm off the Camino. You know, when we got to the cathedral this year. So that was our longest day. I think we walked 25 kilometers or so on that day. So in total, this route of the Camino was 128 kilometers. We did it over six days and when we got to the cathedral this year, I really didn't think it was going to have that big of an impact on me, but it did.

00;17;29;20 - 00;17;59;04

Lisa

Both Sarah and I, we walked into the Cathedral Square and got quite overwhelmed with emotion. And for me, the emotion was really about how far I've come from 12 months ago. And to really recognize that. And of course, as the universe does, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and we were actually able to celebrate and stay in the square for a little while and wait for the other people in our group to arrive to celebrate their arrival as well.

00;17;59;07 - 00;18;20;12

Lisa

It was it was just such a beautiful experience. So that's pretty much all I have to say on that is just I love when we have these opportunities to go back and do things again and recognize how far we've come, how much you've grown as an individual. I think it's so important. So I don't want anybody to live in the past.

00;18;20;14 - 00;18;40;09

Lisa

But man, when we can measure where we are versus where we were, it can be so powerful for us to see our wins and how much has changed, because I know with a lot of my clients, they really struggle often to see how much change they've had in their lives. And so these moments of powerful reflection can can bring so much value to them.

00;18;40;11 - 00;19;02;02

Lisa

So as I said, now I'm home. I'm back at my desk. I got off the Camino flew home, which that was just such a fun and I say fun experience, but it's the first time ever in all my travel and I did a lot of travel last year where I was like racing for planes and barely making things and way more stress.

00;19;02;02 - 00;19;19;11

Lisa

And I like when I travel, I like to give, I like everything to feel very spacious. So there was a lot of that. But I came home. I got home on a Tuesday night unpacked repacked it, went to sleep and then got back on a plane and headed up to an event in the Okanagan that some friends and colleagues of mine were throwing.

00;19;19;11 - 00;19;46;26

Lisa

So it was one of those events that I didn't want to miss. Not ideal to come off a long haul flight like that and then travel again and to be my best. And the truth is the event was phenomenal. I was not phenomenal. So it was just such a reminder of how when I'm making decisions and this applies to you as well, what is it that you need to show up as your best self?

00;19;46;26 - 00;20;09;03

Lisa

Because it really ended up being such a missed opportunity for me in terms of creating some connections with new people. Because again, it was like being back on the first. The first time I walked the Camino, I just didn't have the emotional capacity because I was tired. And for many of you, that is something that is getting in the way of you showing up as your best.

00;20;09;03 - 00;20;27;29

Lisa

You're just not rested. So, you know, how do I how do I walk the Camino every year? Because I go in fully rested and my body is ready. How do I do what I do day in and day out? Because I am so committed to rest as being a success strategy. So being in Colonia, it was great to be there.

00;20;28;01 - 00;20;52;09

Lisa

I stayed pretty close to the people that I knew didn't make a lot of new connections because again, like I just I didn't have the energy to make those those deep connections and to have that powerful impact that I want to make. So lesson learned. Lesson learned. Lisa got her butt back on a plane after spending some soul nourishing days with some people that I really adore and love up there, which was it was totally worth it.

00;20;52;11 - 00;21;27;15

Lisa

And I'm happy now to be home and I'm going to be at home for the foreseeable future. I'm not traveling again until the fall. This is the longest I've been at home now in over a year. And that in itself is feels powerful. So on one of my next episodes, I'm going to talk about what it's been like to be committed to being uncommitted and living in radical uncertainty and how powerful that has been, but that will be on a future episode.

00;21;27;15 - 00;21;47;22

Lisa

So there's my Camino recap. Take from it what you will, and I hope you I hope you enjoyed it. And if the Camino is something that you are interested in doing, it may be something that we're looking at taking a group for next year. So continue to listen or get on my newsletter list, will put the link in the show notes.

00;21;47;22 - 00;22;11;10

Lisa

I think it's Lisa Carpenter Dossier forward slash newsletter and then you'll hear all about it. But in the meantime, I have a very powerful retreat coming up into Bloom in February. Now, this isn't for everybody. This is for a very select few women. We've got three more spaces available. This is for a powerful coaching experience. It's not just a retreat.

00;22;11;12 - 00;22;37;26

Lisa

It's wrapped up in 1 to 1 coaching. So it's it's exclusive. And if this is something that you're interested in exploring, I want you to head over to the retreat page. I will drop the link in the show notes because I did not write it in my notes here. And you can pick up your application. I believe I'm not even going to pretend like I know what the link is.

00;22;37;29 - 00;23;04;10

Lisa

Let me see if I can grab it quickly here. Let's see if my team has put it on. Let me see if my team has put it somewhere where I can grab it quickly. Maybe. Maybe not. Let's see. Nope. Should have looked it up before I recorded the podcast. So anyways, we will drop that in the show notes for you as well.

00;23;04;12 - 00;23;26;05

Lisa

Oh, I'm still just getting into the swing of things again. So anyways, thanks for tuning in to this episode. I hope you enjoy the episodes we have coming out. We've got a lot of things planned, including what I learned from a year of being committed to being uncommitted and navigating uncertainty. So wait for that one and I will catch you on the next episode.

00;23;26;08 - 00;23;52;05

Lisa

Hey, before you go, I'd like to ask you something. How much longer are you willing to put yourself last to keep pushing through, hoping things will magically change while feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and disconnected from the life you truly want? Tell me if this sounds like you from the outside. Most people think you have it all figured out, but the truth is that on most days you feel like you're barely holding it together.

00;23;52;07 - 00;24;19;10

Lisa

Your life is full of responsibilities and there's a high demand on your time and energy. You know you can't drop the ball yet. You're terrified it's going to happen. And worst of all, you're already taking the hit because you often end up at the bottom of your to do list. You've achieved so much, yet deep down, what you want most is more ease, more fulfillment, more joy, more you.

00;24;19;12 - 00;24;41;12

Lisa

And that is exactly what reclamation is all about. This isn't just another program. It's your opportunity to finally break free from the patterns that are keeping you stuck and step into a life that feels aligned, intentional and fulfilling. It's a safe space to have conversations that matter with women who get you and share your complicated relationship with vulnerability.

00;24;41;15 - 00;25;08;03

Lisa

Imagine having the support, the tools and the accountability to create real, lasting change where you're no longer just surviving, but thriving. So if you're done with feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and constantly running on empty, it's time to take that first step. Head to Lisa Carpenter, dot k forward slash reclamation and say yes to yourself, yes to the life you know you're meant for.

00;25;08;03 - 00;25;14;18

Lisa

Because if nothing changes, nothing changes. I'll see you on the inside.

00;00;01;23 - 00;00;27;13
Lisa
Welcome to the Full Frontal Living Podcast. I'm Lisa Carpenter, Master Life Coach, two driven, ambitious humans who want more out of life without having to sacrifice themselves to achieve it. I'll share how it's possible to slow down, take better care of yourself, find more peace and ease, try to sustainable energy, stop procrastination and overwhelm and fall in love with your life, your business, and your body.

00;00;27;16 - 00;00;45;27
Lisa
This podcast is for you. If you're ready to learn what it takes to thrive as a high performer, do less but achieve more. Make you and your well-being a top priority and create your extraordinaire free life. I'm so glad you're here.

00;00;46;00 - 00;01;10;12
Lisa
Well, hey, hey, listeners, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Full Frontal Living Podcast. And if you're not watching on video, it's not actually sure if we still post the videos of these, but you're here listening. I'm hoping that you are enjoying the upgraded sound that should be coming at you. I just got a brand new podcast Mike set up.

00;01;10;14 - 00;01;33;27
Lisa
One of my girlfriends reached out to me after listening to an episode and was like, Friend, you need to upgrade. It was kind of the equivalent of somebody telling you you had broccoli in your teeth. She's like, You need some better sound. So I splurged. Got myself a new podcast, Mike. And here we are today. So if you are tuning in, if you're new to the show.

00;01;33;27 - 00;02;00;04
Lisa
Welcome. My name is Lisa, and I riff on all things that high achievers, ambitious, driven humans out there in the world bump up against, but often in ways that maybe you haven't heard them before. So I'm here to give you some perspective, some insight. And I also go down the rabbit hole of my own world because I find that we learn so much better through storytelling.

00;02;00;04 - 00;02;32;09
Lisa
And I think one of the things that I am very masterful at is pulling out the lessons from my own life and sharing them with my audience, sharing them with my clients in a way of allowing them to see themselves. Because so often as leaders and as the responsible ones in our work life, in our families, what ends up happening is it can be this very lonely place where we feel like we're the only ones who are feeling the way we're feeling and nobody else can get it, or we can't open up to anybody.

00;02;32;11 - 00;02;51;17
Lisa
And what I like to do is normalize the things that we're going through in life and also give you some insight and perspective, as I said, into kind of what causes some of these things. So today is just a very personal episode. I'm going to share a little bit about my takeaways from walking the Camino for a second time.

00;02;51;18 - 00;03;21;27
Lisa
So this was my I walked the French route last year. Route route, depending on where you live. I walked from Syria to Santiago de de Compostela. My Spanish is not Spanish. That's because I don't speak Spanish. That's why I always travel with Spanish speaking friends. And this year I walked from Barcelona. I'm probably butchering that name to which was the coastal route back to Santiago and Holy Hannah.

00;03;21;29 - 00;03;51;20
Lisa
What a completely different experience this year to last year. So I'm going to take us back in time a little bit last year, in 2024 or 2025 now. I was really going through it and I had decided that 2024 was really going to be a year that I traveled, that I was away more than I was here. And my trip to do the Camino last year was the start of a month long trip that I took away from my family.

00;03;51;20 - 00;04;16;23
Lisa
It's the longest I'd ever traveled. It's the longest I'd ever been away from my family. And I was going multiple places. So I started in Spain, and then I flew to Mallorca, which is still in Spain. But I left. I left mainland Spain. Flew to Mallorca, which is a beautiful island. Spent a week there with a previous client touring all the most beautiful beaches.

00;04;16;24 - 00;04;47;17
Lisa
I toured like best beaches and Mallorca, was it? And then I flew from there to Morocco and explored Morocco with another client. We had some amazing, amazing adventures. And then I flew back to San Sebastian in Spain, and I spent a week by myself before coming home. And let me tell you, being a being by myself for a week in San Sebastian last year, not speaking Spanish was probably the most isolating experience I've ever had in my life.

00;04;47;19 - 00;05;13;13
Lisa
I stayed in an Airbnb, so I didn't even have the interaction of it like a doorman or a front desk person. And they don't care if you don't speak Spanish, they don't care. So it was such a wake up call for me because I've always been in English speaking countries. So to be in a place where I really didn't know the language, I was using my Google translate like a mad woman at the grocery store and kind of my my.

00;05;13;13 - 00;05;40;16
Lisa
The only thing that I really knew how to say was no espanol. And then they would kind of give me this like head nod. I did learn how to order coffee. Coffee on such a war. I was also that was probably my most used phrase other than no espanol. Anyways, it was such a transformational journey last year and if you go back you can hear an episode.

00;05;40;17 - 00;06;02;10
Lisa
I think we actually rereleased it again about Iraq that I carried around Spain and how that trip last year was so transformative for me in terms of redefining my pain, really taking a look at what I was carrying around with me. I was going through a lot in my personal life and I was really working through how to let go, how to surrender, how to how to move past it.

00;06;02;13 - 00;06;23;02
Lisa
And, you know, we talk about letting go as being this like you should just be able to let it go, that it's not that's not my experience of letting go. It actually takes a tremendous amount of work over to let go. So I will post the link in the show notes so you can go back and listen to that episode about the rocks and about that journey, because it was really, really powerful.

00;06;23;05 - 00;07;00;27
Lisa
So this year I had the opportunity to go back and walk the Camino again, and it was doing a different route. So as I mentioned, we did the coastal route this time. Now, last year one of my biggest takeaways was our external environment. Often most times is a direct reflection of our internal environment. So when I think about walking from Syria to Santiago last year, we walked in torrential downpours like we walked in rain that was coming down so hard it almost hurt as it hit our rain ponchos.

00;07;00;27 - 00;07;26;00
Lisa
We were absolutely drenched and it was really about putting your head down, putting one foot in front of the other and just getting from point A to point B, There wasn't a lot of enjoying the jury because it was really just hard and miserable. The walking wasn't hard, but the weather was so miserable. And some of the lessons I took away from that was, you know, choose your walking partners wisely in life.

00;07;26;00 - 00;07;49;13
Lisa
Like choose your wingman wisely. Because when things are really hard and they're very dark, you want to know that you can trust the people that you're walking with because they will bring light into your life. So that was kind of the weather conditions last year as well. Like by the time we got to Santiago, it was so wet, it was so cold, it was so windy.

00;07;49;13 - 00;08;09;03
Lisa
I remember walking over the overpass and having the wind literally shred my rain poncho. I mean, granted, we bought them at the like the dollar store, but still, like, that's how powerful the rain was. It just absolutely shredded my rain poncho. We kind of did our high fives in front of the cathedral and then it was like, let's go get warm.

00;08;09;04 - 00;08;29;04
Lisa
There was not a lot of celebrating. I remember being in like my touk or beanie. If you're in the U.S. and in my sweater and my coat. And I was just I was so miserable. I was so done. And of course, you know, I'd wanted to put my rock down and I couldn't even put my rock down. So I was like, I'm just not winning.

00;08;29;06 - 00;08;58;21
Lisa
I am not winning here. So this year, the weather we went a little bit later, the weather was so much more mild, which was really fascinating because I am in such a different emotional space this year. So much has changed for me. I have grown and evolved so much, I have released so much. I have surrendered into this new life that I've created for myself, which required me leaving the old versions of me behind and that's what this last year of transformational work has done for me with my own coaches and therapists.

00;08;58;23 - 00;09;19;11
Lisa
It's been about peeling back my layers, going into the dark corners of myself that I didn't want to look at where I was still getting attached to things that weren't actually providing me with any safety and security and, you know, healing those parts of myself and and healing it. Like somebody said to me, like, well, how do you define healing?

00;09;19;12 - 00;09;42;29
Lisa
Like, what does that even mean? And my answer was it's it's a it's a journey into knowing yourself better. It's being curious about what makes you tick and being willing to look at those parts and question, Well, what if I didn't believe this anymore? What if I didn't feel this way? How might my life be different? So that's really what it's about.

00;09;42;29 - 00;10;14;26
Lisa
And most of us have these moments in our lives that cause us to question who we are, what we're doing, if life is even making any sense. And that's really where I was from 2023 and all through 2024. And it's not to say that everything is coming up roses for me now, but man, did I ever clear a lot of old held beliefs, especially around relationships and primarily the relationship with myself.

00;10;14;27 - 00;10;42;19
Lisa
So this year it was just so lovely too, to really realize like, Oh, the the weather is much more mild. We did have rain, but I like to call it noncommittal rain. It was like Misty. He where you just kind of felt wet, but you weren't wet and cold and it wasn't beating down on us. So it was like this non-committal rain versus the rain of last year, which was very it was very committed to raining.

00;10;42;22 - 00;11;03;08
Lisa
So. And that's life, right? Some days we have blue sky days and it's bright and sunny and warm. And some days it's, you know, it's kind of a little wet and miserable. And the weather once again was really reflecting to me. This is my life right now. It's certainly not perfect, but look at how much brighter it is.

00;11;03;08 - 00;11;27;24
Lisa
Look at how much better it is. Look at how far you've come. So if you're listening to this and a year ago, you feel the same as you do today, what more needs to happen for you to get the support that you need in order to create the transformation that you want to see in your life? Because everything your internal state of being is 100% your responsibility.

00;11;27;24 - 00;11;48;21
Lisa
Nobody else can create change. So if you're sitting back waiting for everybody else around you to change so you can feel better, you've be waiting a long time and that really puts you in this victim energy of like, I have no authority over my own life and you do. If you're willing to do the work, you can change so much.

00;11;48;23 - 00;12;11;15
Lisa
So it was really beautiful to see on this year's walk and just to be able to reflect on where I was feeling. So I looked at my best friend Sarah, and I was like, My God, I was not okay last year. And when I say that, it's not that I was falling apart, although sometimes I was falling apart.

00;12;11;15 - 00;12;31;17
Lisa
If I'm being honest and I've been pretty honest and sharing that, you know, last year was really hard, but I was really allowing myself to feel and be in all the different emotions that were coming up for me. I wasn't bypassing anything. I wasn't running away from anything, but man, everything was heavy. I just I felt so heavy.

00;12;31;17 - 00;12;54;23
Lisa
My soul felt heavy. I felt like the life force energy had been drained out of me. I was looking for things to be fun and lighter, and we definitely tapped into fun last year on the Camino. But overall, my energy was very heavy and dense. Like. Like I was carrying the weight of the world. So I looked at Sarah and I'm like, My God, I was so I was so not okay.

00;12;54;23 - 00;13;25;13
Lisa
And she said, No, you weren't okay, but you were okay. So to be evolved this year, to really acknowledge and see the difference in my energy, in my vitality, in my life force, like just as a person recognizing like I was hard to be around last year and I shared on one of my Camino briefs from last year, like, oh, I shared what it was like for me when I came off the Camino, how I really didn't have the emotional capacity to speak to anybody.

00;13;25;13 - 00;13;46;11
Lisa
Like I would all I could only speak to the people that I knew and already had established relationships with because I had nothing else to give. And as somebody who loves to have deep conversation, as somebody who loves to support people on their journeys through conversation, I just I didn't have it in me. I only had to be present.

00;13;46;14 - 00;14;13;22
Lisa
I only had the energy to be in my own stuff. So this year, because I'm in such a different place, it was such a joy to connect with the other people in our group that we were walking with and have really potent conversations. Might have only been a ten minute or 30 minute conversation, but I really pride myself on if I'm in conversation with you that you're going to get something that's going to have an impact on your life.

00;14;13;25 - 00;14;36;14
Lisa
If you're in conversation with me and you walk away with nothing, I am not at my best self because I want to. And it is my mission to always impact people with my words, whether they see something differently, hear something differently, or just, you know, walk away feeling better about who they are, their lives. Then I feel like I've fulfilled my purpose.

00;14;36;15 - 00;15;00;05
Lisa
So this year, to be able to go on the walk with this these this amazing group of people, and we had a lot of couples, which was a really cool energy to see these couples that have been together for years and years and years. Sarah and I are both you know, we were there as our, you know, friendship couple, but it was just so amazing to watch these this group of people and to really connect with them.

00;15;00;05 - 00;15;23;22
Lisa
We had people who were there recovering from cancer. We had one woman who was celebrating, you know, she had she had lost her sister and everybody, you know, found their pace and found their groove. But to be able to have deep conversations and get to know all of these people and kind of what made them tick was really beautiful for me to have that energetic capacity for that was amazing.

00;15;23;24 - 00;15;48;13
Lisa
And to see like what is possible for everybody when they get committed to doing the work on themselves. And for some of us that is going to the Camino and just allowing ourselves to be in a state of hearing our own thoughts. Because think about when was the last time you gave yourself five or six days to just be alone with your thoughts?

00;15;48;15 - 00;16;10;23
Lisa
Most of us as the thing that we're we're trying so hard to get away from, that's where we get into achievement and productivity and being busy and being responsible for all the things. Part of what is underneath that is we really struggle. Most of you really struggle to be in relationship with yourself, to hear your own thoughts, to hear your own voices, to hear the stories that you're telling yourself.

00;16;10;23 - 00;16;32;21
Lisa
And when you're on the Camino, it's you versus you. That's that's what you're there for. So as much as we walk together, we also walked alone. Sarah and I spent a lot of time in deep conversation, as we always do, and we spend a lot of time walking where we didn't say anything, and that was really beautiful as well, so that we could just be in our own thoughts.

00;16;32;21 - 00;17;00;20
Lisa
But it was just so it was so cool for me to reflect on how much more vital I'm feeling these days. So again, if you're looking back on your life as you're listening to me and you're thinking, Damn, I feel as crappy as I did a year ago and nothing has changed again. Like you can make a change in your life, but it often requires doing the work to create the change.

00;17;00;20 - 00;17;29;19
Lisa
And nobody else can do that for you. So now I'm. I'm back home. I'm off the Camino. You know, when we got to the cathedral this year. So that was our longest day. I think we walked 25 kilometers or so on that day. So in total, this route of the Camino was 128 kilometers. We did it over six days and when we got to the cathedral this year, I really didn't think it was going to have that big of an impact on me, but it did.

00;17;29;20 - 00;17;59;04
Lisa
Both Sarah and I, we walked into the Cathedral Square and got quite overwhelmed with emotion. And for me, the emotion was really about how far I've come from 12 months ago. And to really recognize that. And of course, as the universe does, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and we were actually able to celebrate and stay in the square for a little while and wait for the other people in our group to arrive to celebrate their arrival as well.

00;17;59;07 - 00;18;20;12
Lisa
It was it was just such a beautiful experience. So that's pretty much all I have to say on that is just I love when we have these opportunities to go back and do things again and recognize how far we've come, how much you've grown as an individual. I think it's so important. So I don't want anybody to live in the past.

00;18;20;14 - 00;18;40;09
Lisa
But man, when we can measure where we are versus where we were, it can be so powerful for us to see our wins and how much has changed, because I know with a lot of my clients, they really struggle often to see how much change they've had in their lives. And so these moments of powerful reflection can can bring so much value to them.

00;18;40;11 - 00;19;02;02
Lisa
So as I said, now I'm home. I'm back at my desk. I got off the Camino flew home, which that was just such a fun and I say fun experience, but it's the first time ever in all my travel and I did a lot of travel last year where I was like racing for planes and barely making things and way more stress.

00;19;02;02 - 00;19;19;11
Lisa
And I like when I travel, I like to give, I like everything to feel very spacious. So there was a lot of that. But I came home. I got home on a Tuesday night unpacked repacked it, went to sleep and then got back on a plane and headed up to an event in the Okanagan that some friends and colleagues of mine were throwing.

00;19;19;11 - 00;19;46;26
Lisa
So it was one of those events that I didn't want to miss. Not ideal to come off a long haul flight like that and then travel again and to be my best. And the truth is the event was phenomenal. I was not phenomenal. So it was just such a reminder of how when I'm making decisions and this applies to you as well, what is it that you need to show up as your best self?

00;19;46;26 - 00;20;09;03
Lisa
Because it really ended up being such a missed opportunity for me in terms of creating some connections with new people. Because again, it was like being back on the first. The first time I walked the Camino, I just didn't have the emotional capacity because I was tired. And for many of you, that is something that is getting in the way of you showing up as your best.

00;20;09;03 - 00;20;27;29
Lisa
You're just not rested. So, you know, how do I how do I walk the Camino every year? Because I go in fully rested and my body is ready. How do I do what I do day in and day out? Because I am so committed to rest as being a success strategy. So being in Colonia, it was great to be there.

00;20;28;01 - 00;20;52;09
Lisa
I stayed pretty close to the people that I knew didn't make a lot of new connections because again, like I just I didn't have the energy to make those those deep connections and to have that powerful impact that I want to make. So lesson learned. Lesson learned. Lisa got her butt back on a plane after spending some soul nourishing days with some people that I really adore and love up there, which was it was totally worth it.

00;20;52;11 - 00;21;27;15
Lisa
And I'm happy now to be home and I'm going to be at home for the foreseeable future. I'm not traveling again until the fall. This is the longest I've been at home now in over a year. And that in itself is feels powerful. So on one of my next episodes, I'm going to talk about what it's been like to be committed to being uncommitted and living in radical uncertainty and how powerful that has been, but that will be on a future episode.

00;21;27;15 - 00;21;47;22
Lisa
So there's my Camino recap. Take from it what you will, and I hope you I hope you enjoyed it. And if the Camino is something that you are interested in doing, it may be something that we're looking at taking a group for next year. So continue to listen or get on my newsletter list, will put the link in the show notes.

00;21;47;22 - 00;22;11;10
Lisa
I think it's Lisa Carpenter Dossier forward slash newsletter and then you'll hear all about it. But in the meantime, I have a very powerful retreat coming up into Bloom in February. Now, this isn't for everybody. This is for a very select few women. We've got three more spaces available. This is for a powerful coaching experience. It's not just a retreat.

00;22;11;12 - 00;22;37;26
Lisa
It's wrapped up in 1 to 1 coaching. So it's it's exclusive. And if this is something that you're interested in exploring, I want you to head over to the retreat page. I will drop the link in the show notes because I did not write it in my notes here. And you can pick up your application. I believe I'm not even going to pretend like I know what the link is.

00;22;37;29 - 00;23;04;10
Lisa
Let me see if I can grab it quickly here. Let's see if my team has put it on. Let me see if my team has put it somewhere where I can grab it quickly. Maybe. Maybe not. Let's see. Nope. Should have looked it up before I recorded the podcast. So anyways, we will drop that in the show notes for you as well.

00;23;04;12 - 00;23;26;05
Lisa
Oh, I'm still just getting into the swing of things again. So anyways, thanks for tuning in to this episode. I hope you enjoy the episodes we have coming out. We've got a lot of things planned, including what I learned from a year of being committed to being uncommitted and navigating uncertainty. So wait for that one and I will catch you on the next episode.

00;23;26;08 - 00;23;52;05
Lisa
Hey, before you go, I'd like to ask you something. How much longer are you willing to put yourself last to keep pushing through, hoping things will magically change while feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and disconnected from the life you truly want? Tell me if this sounds like you from the outside. Most people think you have it all figured out, but the truth is that on most days you feel like you're barely holding it together.

00;23;52;07 - 00;24;19;10
Lisa
Your life is full of responsibilities and there's a high demand on your time and energy. You know you can't drop the ball yet. You're terrified it's going to happen. And worst of all, you're already taking the hit because you often end up at the bottom of your to do list. You've achieved so much, yet deep down, what you want most is more ease, more fulfillment, more joy, more you.

00;24;19;12 - 00;24;41;12
Lisa
And that is exactly what reclamation is all about. This isn't just another program. It's your opportunity to finally break free from the patterns that are keeping you stuck and step into a life that feels aligned, intentional and fulfilling. It's a safe space to have conversations that matter with women who get you and share your complicated relationship with vulnerability.

00;24;41;15 - 00;25;08;03
Lisa
Imagine having the support, the tools and the accountability to create real, lasting change where you're no longer just surviving, but thriving. So if you're done with feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and constantly running on empty, it's time to take that first step. Head to Lisa Carpenter, dot k forward slash reclamation and say yes to yourself, yes to the life you know you're meant for.

00;25;08;03 - 00;25;14;18
Lisa
Because if nothing changes, nothing changes. I'll see you on the inside.