One day I’d like to carve out 5 weeks of my life just to go for a long walk. A long slow walk, or pilgrimage, to immerse myself again in the present, to be refreshed body and soul, to remember who I am.

Who is with me?

Us mamas are smack dab in the middle of the wildest journey of our life, motherhood. And on that long journey it’s easy to lose perspective, sanity, and connection with our heart. The good news is, we are resourceful and creative women and we can totally DIY our own stay-at-home pilgrimage to refresh our souls.

Here is some advice on how….

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of spiritual significance.

One of the captivating elements of pilgrimage for me is how it refreshes the spirit by leading the pilgrim along various terrains and conditions, in order to arrive a sacred center where the pilgrim finds herself lighter in body, mind, and spirit than when she took off.

The Camino di Santiago di Compestela  has been on my Romance & Adventure List since 2006, when I was a single mother to-be, pregnant with my son. My kids are now 8 and three years. Most likely it will still be many years before I head to Spain with only my backpack.

However, I’ve decided I don’t have to wait to go on a pilgrimage of the heart. The journey, after all,  is as much about intention and prayer as it is about passport and boots.

If you are like me, a woman who desire to invest in something this winter that will leave her heart forever changed; if you are a mom or a wife, who wants to learn how to marvel again, not to escape her daily life, but to enrich it, then consider taking yourself on an adventure with journal and pen.

If you would like to go on a pilgrimage of the heart this year, right from your home, here are some ideas to help you craft your journey:

• First, accept that right now the most important journey is a vertical one, a journey that will take you deeper into your own life, rather than across oceans. There is enough foreign country and wild lands within your own heart to keep you adventuring for a long time.
• Set the intention for one area of your life that you would like to pay particular attention to (marriage, parenting, health, career, etc). An intention helps you seek the fruit of going deep rather than wide.
• Use your mala to help you keep that intention and wear your necklace as a tangible reminder of the sacred space within that you are cultivating.
• Put a specific start date and end date on this journey. We are always growing– but specific parameters can help us focus.
• Humbly lay down everything you think you know, need to know/figure out, and invite God/the Universe to direct your steps and surprise you on your path day to day.
• Mark out “pilgrimage”  time on your calendar and honor these appointments.
• Choose a book or a devotional or study program to help you structure your journey.

Last January, I bared my soul and shared these words, “I want to learn how to love more, but in my own strength I cannot; I’ve hit a wall…Will I have to wait for the Camino to learn how to love with more of me?”

Thankfully I did not have to wait for the Camino, and neither do you. One of the most powerful things about pilgrimage is the way the journey invites us into intimacy– intimacy with the world, intimacy with God, intimacy with each moment, intimacy with others, and intimacy with our own guarded heart. That invitation for intimacy isn’t waiting for me, or for you, only in Spain. That invitation is being sent out to all of us each and every moment of our day.  All we need to do is open the envelope and say yes.

Wishing you a meaningful pilgrimage, however you desire to go about it.

Morgan Day Cecil is a pilgrim currently living in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two kids. She is on pursuit of romance and adventure, grace and peace, one breath at a time. She is a yoga instructor, offering free classes on her YouTube channel  (new episodes every Thursday) and the creator of the Romance & Adventure Pilgrimage. The 7-Day Mini Pilgrimage to Refresh the Soul starts this week and is free for all to join. You can invite your friends and sign up here. Say Hi to Morgan on Instagram @morgandaycecil and @romanceandadventure. She loves meeting fellow pilgrims.