If I’d had a pound for every time I heard that this past week, I’d be off to Barbados for an extended holiday right now. What they’re referring to is the Firewalk Instructor Training I recently completed and specifically, the 108 consecutive firewalks I undertook in order to be ingratiated into the F.I.R.E (Firewalk Institute of Research and Education) ‘Tribe’ of instructors.
The truth is, I’m not mad but I have felt the amazing feeling of overcoming the seemingly impossible or fearful. The feeling of pushing your boundaries and going beyond your comfort zone is one that lasts long after the event. For some people it is empowering and fills them with self-belief. For others, the 8-12 foot burning coal bed is a metaphor for stepping beyond the known and into the unknown. Additionally, many find the act of walking on the hot coals a spiritual one. I personally have experienced all of the above and being that BBB is all about breaking through barriers and embracing possibility, I wanted to be able to offer others the same experiences.
There is much more to firewalking than the act of walking across hot coals. Anyone, within reason, ‘could’ walk a firewalk safely. However, the barriers needing to be overcome to complete the task are self-belief, trust and fear. Even those who ‘know’ they can walk the fire have a moment of doubt or fear when faced with the skin melting temperatures (even if this shows itself as bravado or simple excitement). Breaking through fear, self-limiting beliefs and trust issues is the first step towards creating and leading an impactful, purposeful and successful life. Whilst firewalking is relatively safe, the fire and the coal bed MUST be respected. In my experience if you fail to respect the task at hand, it can ‘bite’ you. As it is with obtaining anything in life, you must know your outcome, have a plan, approach it with the right mindset and purposefully step forward confident in your abilities, knowing that you will succeed and trusting that whatever, you’ll be okay. For this reason, the firewalk is a wonderfully empowering tool, which lends itself as a powerful metaphor for achieving the life of dreams.Other empowering challenges that we can now offer include glasswalking, board breaking, breaking arrows with your throat, bending steel bars with your throat, breaking concrete slabs as well as many simple but very effective tasks such as trust falls and team building exercises. All have their place and have their own powerful and positive impact and effect on the participant.
Contact us if you are interested in hosting, organising or participating in a firewalk or empowerment seminar.
I look forward to meeting some of you at our forthcoming empowerment events and offering you the positive breakthroughs I’ve been privileged in experiencing myself.
George
(Principal Coach and Certified Firewalk Instructor)
FIREWALKING FACTS:
Tolly Burkan is known as the father of the international firewalking movement and is the founder of F.I.R.E with whom I trained.
The coals are usually approx. 1200 degrees.
Walks are typically 8-12 feet.
Great care needs to be taken to provide the most safety whilst maintaining the whole point of a ‘firewalk’.
Different woods have very different burning and walking characteristics and the instructor must ‘know’ their wood.
Scientific opinions vary on how firewalking is possible but nothing, in my and my instructors’ experience, influences the likelihood of receiving blisters or burns more than an incorrect mindset.
The small red marks or blisters sometimes received from firewalking are known in the firewalking fraternity as ‘fire kisses’ or ‘hotspots’.
Safety is always key and takes precedence over any other factor.
A WORD OF CAUTION
Never undertake any of the activities discussed here without proper professional instruction. Firewalking, glasswalking and all of the aforementioned activities have their own inherent risks associated with them. A qualified, highly trained instructor/facilitator will know how to minimise these risks but the participant always assumes full responsibility whether to participate or not and acknowledges the risks of doing so.
Tolly Burkan is known as the father of the international firewalking movement and is the founder of F.I.R.E with whom I trained.
The coals are usually approx. 1200 degrees.
Walks are typically 8-12 feet.
Great care needs to be taken to provide the most safety whilst maintaining the whole point of a ‘firewalk’.
Different woods have very different burning and walking characteristics and the instructor must ‘know’ their wood.
Scientific opinions vary on how firewalking is possible but nothing, in my and my instructors’ experience, influences the likelihood of receiving blisters or burns more than an incorrect mindset.
The small red marks or blisters sometimes received from firewalking are known in the firewalking fraternity as ‘fire kisses’ or ‘hotspots’.
Safety is always key and takes precedence over any other factor.
A WORD OF CAUTION
Never undertake any of the activities discussed here without proper professional instruction. Firewalking, glasswalking and all of the aforementioned activities have their own inherent risks associated with them. A qualified, highly trained instructor/facilitator will know how to minimise these risks but the participant always assumes full responsibility whether to participate or not and acknowledges the risks of doing so.
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