WYD- Body,mind and Soul experience Part 1

 WORLD YOUTH DAY SERIES.

WORLD YOUTH DAY CROSS AND ICON: WORLD YOUTH DAY SERIES.

WYD- Body, Mind and Soul experience Part 1 

 My desire over these next twelve months leading up to WYD in Madrid is to contribute  through this weekly WYD series by sharing about the experiences of WYD, highlight  possible difficulties encountered during such a magnificent gathering and most importantly encourage possible pilgrims to prepare, embrace and grow from attending WYD.

In my Introduction to this WYD Series last week, I posed the first of my WYD challenges.  

How did you go in your reflection about your personal reasons for considering going to WYD? 

Having attended two WYD-Rome and Sydney, I consider World Youth Day to be a body, mind and soul experience.  Therefore your preparation for going to WYD must be exactly that.  You need to prepare the body physically, the mind mentally and emotionally and soul spiritually for the journey of your life, if you wish it to be a life changing experience.  Like anything else, the more you put into it, the more you get out of if.

Today's post focuses on the body-Preparing the body-the importance of walking. 

WYD is taxing on the body. It is not only the walk to the vigil, sleep over and final Mass that is taxing.  Remember this comes at the end of the week- not the beginning.

Speaking from the experience of my two previous WYD's in Rome and Sydney I offer you my experience on this point.

In Rome, the walk for the vigil was billed as 12km as I remember-- however the reality was that we actually walked 19kms, since we walked 7kms to get to the start of the walk. In reality, we walked for 5-6 hours and in my case, missed the food handout at the check point.  I had no food for 24 hours.  The weather was 47degrees- seriously hot- even for an Aussie. In Madrid, WYD is being held in the summer- it will mostly likely be hot temperatures. You need to prepare the body.

In Sydney, the walk was billed as 8kms- our accommodation at the university was only 10 minutes away from Randwick Racecourse where the vigil was held.  Our group thought how fortunate we were to be so close.  However, on the morning of the vigil, we had to ensure our luggage was at the station in the city before we actually got to Randwick- so we ended up doing more than the 8km and certainly more than the short 10-minute walk that our group had been expecting. Then after the final Mass was over, we not only had to walk back to our accommodation, but then another 4km to get to the bus to take us back to our home state, since the buses were picking pilgrims up at different points to ease the congestion on the highway.

In the early stages, I did not intend to go to Sydney- I had done one WYD in Rome in 2000 in the Jubilee year.  I had done the trip of a life time because I had combined it with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land beforehand.  However, the Holy Spirit had other plans and nudged me to get into training in body, mind and spirit.  Gradually, my personal circumstances changed to allow me to go to Sydney

Preparing physically is essential whether or not you consider yourself fit.  You must be prepared and physically able to walk for a week because it is not only the walk, which happens at the end of the week, when your reserves are almost empty, but you walked and walked and walked to and from venues for all events. With the sheer number of people attending, public transport or taxis are at a minimum since roads are closed.

This does not mean of course that if you have some disabilities that you are not able to attend.  No, not at all.  People with disabilities are rightly given all the TLC that they require so long as you register your needs at the time of registration.

So how did I prepare physically:

·                     When I prepared for Sydney physically, my mind was still in a quandary as to whether I might attend.  However, I went into training- starting with a half km

·                     Each week I built up by that amount over 20 weeks.  

·                     Initially I walked on flat surfaces and then gradually added in some hills.

·                     By the half way mark of my training, I also added in the backpack and sleeping bag to get more acquainted with the feel and weight.

·                     As I gained fitness, I tested myself during this time with a 5km walk and later with a 10 km walk

·                     During those training walks, I pondered alot and reflected as to whether I might attend, what I wanted to achieve spiritually from attending and what difference it might make to my life afterwards. The pace of the walk and the rhythm seemed to naturally answer some niggling doubts.

My second WYD challenge to you is -go into training physically starting now- even if you think you are not thinking of going to WYD or perhaps only a slim chance of attending- start training now and allow the Holy Spirit guide you on your journey of decision.

You have twelve months to build up your fitness level.  You will find like I did, that you will not regret having put in the work.  It will hold you in good stead during WYD.

Just like the theme of WYD for Madrid- plant and build up in Jesus Christ the faith- in this case, strengthen your desire to attend WYD by planting and building the seed of fitness

Go into training- start walking now.and gain the crown of an enjoyable WYD in Madrid.