By Nicole M Whitney

The instructor went first. Yup. It's real. This is really happening. Oh boy. The first student went then. We watched in horror as he veeerrry slowly strolled across the flames to the other side…unscathed. I nervously watched a few more walk….and live. Then, suddenly, to my surprise, I felt my hands pull free of the circle. My feet - my wonderful unscarred feet - padded easily to the starting spot.

I was going to firewalk now.

--------------------------------------

And that's when the weird conversation with my 'mind' began. It basically went something like this:

Nicole's Higher Self: "Okay, we're ready."

Nicole's 'mind':  "Ready??  Are you nuts??"

Nicole's Higher Self:  "You've just watched others walk.  It's fine.  Just do what you were taught to do."

Nicole's 'mind':  "OH HELL NO."

Nicole's Higher Self:  "Okay - we're preparing now...."

Nicole's "mind":  "I believe I was very clear in my previous response when I said,  'HELL NO.'"

Nicole's Higher Self:  "We're grounding our energy from our core....."

Nicole's Mind:  "Ya know - I'm not feeling very 'heard' here....  Hellooooooo?"

Nicole's Higher Self:   "Now we're visualizing our energy going out as a protective bubble..."

Nicole's Mind:  "Oh crap - we're really going to do this!"

Nicole's Higher Self:  "We're focused on our end goal....."

Nicole's Mind:  "....if our goal is the nearest phone to dial 9-1-1...."

Nicole's Higher Self:  "....deep cleansing breath...."

Nicole's Mind:  "Oh sh-(*%^#@..."

Nicole's Higher Self:  "......"   [Our right foot extends forward to step on the hot coals]

Crunch. Nicole's Mind:  "Okay okay......"  [Focusing our energy as though our life depends upon it....]

Crunch.    Crunch.    Crunch.

Nicole's Higher Self: "...."   (Silent focused determination.....)

Nicole's Mind:  "Okay okay okay okay okay okay okay ......."

Crunch.     Crunch.      Crunch.

By now I was about half way across the flaming walk. I had made it thus far - completely unscathed. I was focused. I was grounded. I was in the zone. And then it was at that point that my "mind" interjected with negativity yet again. It was as though it was in shock for a moment, but my mind now snapped to full attention, looking downward in horror and realizing imminent danger was nigh.

"Oh my god - we're standing in the middle of a fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,"

It screamed the words inside my head loud enough to give my higher self pause. And in that very moment, I was burned.

Of course in firewalking class we learned not to call it 'burning' but something else that had a different meaning which  did not objectify injury.  For example, we could call it 'zapping' instead, our instructor had suggested. Well, in that moment that fire was zapping like hell!

I felt it the instant my 'energy changed' - the very second that thought screamed across the lower realms of my mind. Then the reality of what I was doing truly hit home. I was standing in the middle of fire. And if I did not do this correctly I was going to sustain very serious injury. This was real. It was not a feel-good seminar. And my feet did not feel good at all!!!

And that sobering idea made my mind get on board - and fast! My mind re-focused immediately, joining forces with my higher self in the very next instant. I felt the energy re-ground. The 'zapping' stopped. And I carried on down the burning path.

Now, this is where the story gets ... a little wierd. Upon my return to graciously cool, damp grass I rejoined the circle and carried on as though nothing had gone wrong. I continued breathing and 'pushing my energy field back out' and relaxing into the situation.  I knew that if I looked  at my feet in that moment I would see burns.   So I did not look.   If re-focusing in the middle of the walk had worked, perhaps visualizing wellness after the walk would work as well, I reasoned.

I kept singing. And watching. And relaxing. Then 'my higher self' did something else that was totally unexpected. We walked across again. And again.

Two more times I ventured across the hot coals and each time I walked, I maintained focus throughout with great success. And I returned to the cool, damp grass with a complete knowing that all would be well. Finally the heat on the coals dimmed and it was time to end the walk. Which meant it was nearly time to examine our feet!

The pain had diminished almost entirely. "Perhaps it's just numb from the severity of our injury," my mind muttered.  "Ya know, if you'd listened to me in the first place...." It trailed off and I re-focused again. I maintained that focus while I followed the crowd indoors where tubs of soapy water and towels awaited. And indeed, by the time I towel dried I was remarkably blister-free.

I did go on to walk on fire again many times. And some of those walks did not go NEARLY as well as this one did.  And it was from those adventures that I learned the most miraculous things.  But that's a whole new story.

Happy firewalking!

ED. NOTE: Firewalking is hazardous and should only be performed under the supervision of a professional firewalk trainer.

Journalist, artist, musician, vocalist, writer and single mom, Nicole Whitney is the founder of News for the Soul - life changing talk radio from the uplifting to the unexplained - heard on U.S. radio stations and the web weekly at www.newsforthesoul.com (604) 562 NEWS (6397) or (604) 780 NEWS (6397) or email her at soulnews@shaw.ca