The Twisted Path of the Camino — by Valerie Cordemans

Our eighth TOPS 'Back Stories’ guest blog feature writer is Valerie Cordemans, twisted sister, scoliosis yoga teacher, life coach, and wanderer. Valerie shares her story of walking 309 km from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela (SDC) in Spain in March 2023.

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Never before had walking the famous pilgrimage known as ‘The Camino’ come to mind, in spite of my love of hiking. 

My plans for the 2023 winter season had been to travel to India during the time off from my annual six month summer employment. I craved to feel heat on my body and could imagine spending time in an ashram doing yoga for days on end. But then again, I was feeling apprehensive about the strict schedule followed in that kind of place. I have enjoyed similar experiences many times outside of India, so I was surprised to feel overwhelmed about finally going to the source. Suddenly it felt unappealing to go to a place so crowded, chaotic and potentially risky. I got my visa but did not start planning. Somehow, the spark was missing. 

Then one day, in meditation, The Camino came in front of me. The idea of walking an ancient and sacred pilgrim’s path felt important. In fact, I wanted - needed - longed to do it. It started to feel like a calling. A destiny. And as it turned out, I was already traveling to Portugal at the beginning of March to take care of some business. This allowed me to begin my walk by starting on the section called the “Camino Portuguese” that runs along the Portuguese coast north from Porto and then across the Spanish border before going inland to Santiago de Compostela.

I was happy, excited, and anxious…

And I was worried. Would me and my sore and crooked back be able to walk about 270 km, with a backpack, sleeping on dubious beds in dorms with guaranteed snorers? For the last couple of years, I had lost some body confidence. I had started to decline invitations to go on multi-day hiking trips for the fear of being in awful pain. The heavy backpacks, thin mattresses and humidity triggered my back pain, making me chronically uncomfortable and unable to enjoy the experience.

Why was I suddenly confident now? I knew my scoliosis had continued to worsen over the last three years. Even with my regular yoga practice, it had progressed to be a +45 degree right thoracic primary curve with a +25 degree left lumbar compensating curve. And of course, I can’t forget about my beautiful, twisty rotation around T8 that wakes me up every night. In fact, my osteopath who gave me a treatment a few days before I left for the walk told me that he had never seen me so twisted. What the heck was I thinking going for a long walk? He did what he could and wished me luck.

Nevertheless, something was driving me forward. I felt calm as I planned my journey alone. I had no idea what would happen, but I knew I had to start with one step at a time. Nobody was in charge of my schedule except me. I could rest when I needed, continue when I felt good, and not only focus on the final destination but enjoy every step of the journey.

Of course I needed to have some equipment. I knew that proper hiking boots and the perfect backpack were essential. I thought I had good boots, but they were not waterproof anymore, so I used Keen boots. They did the job, but for sure not the best! (proof: I gave them away at the end of my trip). 

For the backpack I was lucky to find a very patient sales guy named Milo at MEC Montreal who stuck with me for three hours while I tried every backpack in the store. He kept on telling me that he was not a doctor, so I gave him a 101 lesson in scoliosis and he finally started to better understand my needs. I learned that although Osprey bags are said to be the best, they do not have a “wing compartment” - a space that I need to accommodate my right bulging shoulder blade. After endless trying and adjusting, I finally settled on a Gregory 45l pack, which somehow had plenty of space for my wing to fly :). Another bonus of this pack is how it rests on your hip crest, which takes the load away from the shoulders. Nevertheless, I still had some pain a few days into the walk and realized that the hip belt was getting stuck between my left hip crest and left floating ribs, causing irritation. But I soon figured out that tucking a sweater in between solved the problem.        

And thankfully, before I left Porto, one of the volunteers at the Albergue - a basic and cheap hostel for pilgrims only - gave me a set of hiking poles, saying I needed them. This was a blessing as, indeed, they were the thing that I didn’t know I needed! They gave me a consistent rhythm in my walk and kept my upper body coordinated. They kept me from rolling down hills (but not from stepping in a deep mud puddle - oops!), and eased the weight of every step on my knees and other joints. 

I learned that the weight of the pack should not be more than 10% of your body weight. That meant that before I left Porto, I had to get rid of 4 kg of my things and then, after a few days of walking, I sent another 2.5 kg by mail to SDC! Seriously, every gram counts.

And so off I went, step by step. 

On Day 1, I walked 25 km which turned out to be too much as I suffered with heavy pain in my groin and upper quads. But lucky me,  a massage angel appeared and gave me a treatment which really helped. I also had blisters, but wait a second… no back pain!? On the contrary. My back felt happy, and there was no waking up in the middle of the night!

I continued walking. Some days I covered 16 km, and others 25 km. The blisters disappeared, my legs became happy, and my mind was calm with thoughts moving like the waves. And still no back pain!

I was mesmerized and confused all at once. How is this possible? I asked many pilgrims and nobody seemed to have back pain. Was it the act of walking that developed enough strength to eradicate pain? Or perhaps wearing the backpack on the hip crest creates traction that continually elongates the spine?

Or, most likely, it’s the spirit of the Camino!

Of course, I did a little bit of warming up and maintenance along the way. I didn’t always stretch, but when I did it was focused. One night, I taught a yoga class to a group of nine pilgrims at an Albergue. It was fun and loud from all the screams of stretching muscles haha! 

My Camino experience was feeling so good that I decided to detour to explore another part of the path that is considered a spiritual variant. This route takes you on a sharp ascent to 400 m over 9 km followed by a long descent of 800 m over 25 km. That detour ended with a memorable rainstorm that reminded me that I had  walked too many kilometres for my poor, tired feet.

But remarkably, after 13 days and 309 km (of which 28 km was by boat), I walked up to the Santiago de Compostela cathedral. I felt happy, light, completely PAIN FREE.

This journey showed me that my back and body - in all its crookedness - is still ok. 

Regardless of my scoliosis, I can still do activities that I love, and push myself physically. 

I also realize that if I do what brings me joy, and if I practice patience by never forcing the moment, my life is - and will be - an ongoing and beautiful Camino.

One step at a time.

Questions for Valerie about her life-changing experience? She can be contacted here.