By Andrea Lingle

The thing about breathing is that it repeats as long as life endures. Breathing is so intrinsic to life that the cessation of breath is considered to be death. Once you are done with one breath, the build up of carbon dioxide begins to rebuild, and within seconds, the deepest, most primitive part of the brain will begin renewing its demand for another breath. 

Over and over and over.

Day after day. Night after night.

Without stopping. 

Pilgrimage is a spiritual practice. It isn't a vacation or destination. It is a commitment to a mindset that enhances, informs, and deepens whatever spiritual practice the pilgrim does consistently. Pilgrimage isn't a vaccination against spiritual malaise, it is a breathing treatment designed to make what is done more effective. So, can you, as a pilgrim, return completely and permanently transformed? Can you go to Muir Woods and gather a deep enough lungful of pristine air to last you a lifetime? Only if your intended lifespan is five or so more minutes. 

Don't misread me—pilgrimage has changed my life. My understanding of God has been transformed by my weeks of pilgrimage. Full stop. No asterisk. Pilgrimage is an experience that changes the pilgrim. 

If.

If the pilgrim engages in the work of Re-Entry. Coming home to wrestle with that which is encountered along the way. Asking deep questions. Writing things out. Finding a compassionate listener. And repeating the practice. Not necessarily going on pilgrimage again, but taking the rhythms and practices learned on pilgrimage and engaging with them again and again and again. Like breathing.

Pilgrimage isn't magic. It is a practice. While it isn't required for a deeply spiritual life, it is an environment that can give the pilgrim a visceral experience of the Animating Love of the Universe. It can give those walking the Dark Night of the Soul a beacon toward which to struggle, it can give those foundered by grief a safe harbor and a firm base for rest, and it can give the lonely a convivial table to gather around. Pilgrimage is a practice which I consider a privilege to have participated in half a dozen times. But half a dozen breaths isn't enough for the breadth of life. Pilgrimage must include re-entry: the incorporation through repetition of spiritual practice into the grocery shopping and quarterly presentations and soccer games. While there is no denying that the Wings of the Spirit ruffle the pilgrim's hair, it is not a foreign spirit. It is the daily bread Spirit. It is the sidewalk chalk and bubbles Spirit. It is the Spirit as close and constant as breath.  

The Practice:

For thought: 

• Where are you home?

• What spiritual practices do you have now?

• What spiritual practices do you want to develop?

For doing:

• Find your pulse

• Breath in for four beats of your heart

• Hold your breath for four beats

• Breathe out for four beats

• Hold your breath for four beats

• Repeat for 3-5 minutes

For reflection:

• What does it feel like to practice for three to five minutes? Does it feel long? Boring? Ineffective? Could you hold your breath for the same? How would that feel?