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Burnt by Scepticism

September 2016

Over the weekend, I attended a Tony Robbins seminar which includes a fire walk on the first night. This was my third time doing the fire walk, and the different experiences I've had each time have really highlighted for me how important our beliefs are, and how they can make us more powerful or literally cause us to get burnt.

Burnt by Scepticism

So what happened the first time I did a fire walk? I had doubts about whether or not it was possible for thousands of people to walk on burning hot coals and not hurt themselves in that process. Surely the organisers of the event wouldn’t risk having people get injured or burnt, would they? Perhaps it was just a great opportunity for people to break through their comfort zones and use the fire walk as a symbolic action to overcome their fears.

We were told that we all have an energy field around us, that this energy field can be seen through using Kirlian photography, that it changes colour according to our emotions (e.g. it might go red if we are feeling angry or passionate), and that when we are in a strong enough emotional state, even intense heat cannot penetrate it.

Although I have always believed that we have an energy field, I was sceptical about the possibility that it could be impenetrable to heat. I was also curious about what it would feel like to walk on hot coals.

Our instructions were to turn our focus away from the hot coals and to get ourselves into a positive emotional state before concentrating on the words “cool moss”.

When I got close enough to the several paths that we were to walk upon, I saw that they were lit up with bright red coals. I tested my theory that the coals weren’t really hot by doing the opposite of what we were told (not very smart, I now realise in hindsight).

As I stepped onto one of the paths and started walking, I yelled out “cool moss” like everyone else but my focus shifted to my feet. Ouch! The coals were indeed hot and it hurt to walk on them. I got to the end of the path and celebrated with everyone else by jumping and clapping. My feet were sore, but I assumed that was normal after just completing the fire walk. Then someone nearby said, “It's amazing that you can't even feel anything, isn't it?” Everyone seemed to agree with her. Uh-oh.

As I left the event that night I noticed it was painful to walk, and after taking off my shoes I saw that my feet were burnt. All day long the message had been repeated to the audience that what we focus on has a huge impact on our lives. For example, believing “life is hard” vs. “life happens for me not to me” vs. “life is a gift” will lead us to interpret the same events in different ways. Looking at the marks on my feet, I realised that I had gone through the same process as everyone else except direct my focus away from the hot coals. Years later I heard someone say that if you get burnt during a fire walk, it means there must have been some level of doubt or a lack of focus while walking, otherwise the heat would not have caused any harm.

The following year I did the fire walk again. I was a little anxious about it due to my previous experience, but I decided to hold a new belief – that the coals were hot enough to hurt us, but also that our energy field would be strong enough to prevent the heat from penetrating it, as long as we maintained a certain state and directed our focus. I walked the same way as before, except this time when I shouted out “cool moss” I actually focussed on the idea of cool moss, not red hot coals! To my relief, my feet did not burn the second time around.

So during the most recent fire walk, I had a choice: to believe that my focus did not really matter, or to believe that my focus was really important and that the heat wouldn't hurt me if I stayed in a strong state. I chose the latter belief, and I didn't burn again, phew!

Choosing Our Beliefs Consciously

The definition of 'sceptical' from OxfordDictionaries.com is: 'Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations'.

When I started out doing intuitive readings, sometimes scepticism got the better of me and I had a hard time believing that I was actually tuning in to other people's guides. Maybe I was just feeling energy and making up the rest? It was pointed out to me during my professional intuitive training that I wasn't acknowledging anyone's guides when I received information from them. I would say “this is what I feel” rather than “this is what your guides are showing/telling me”. Sometimes I did feel certain things during a reading, but more often I was getting images clairvoyantly or having words come through that resonated with the clients I was reading for.

I realised that a scientist will always test a theory rather than make assumptions. Rather than dismiss the existence of guides, it made more sense to test the theory or belief that they're real. Erin, the intuitive who trained me, also mentioned that she could sense that my guides were communicating with other people's guides, and then passing that information back to me. She said it would be a lot quicker and more effective for me to communicate directly with other people's guides. So I tried this, and boom! I was surprised at how much more information came through and how much clearer the images were when I held that belief and intention to connect to someone's guides. The guides even seemed to have different personalities. For example, before doing one reading, I had an image of the person's guides coming through like they were partying, and exclaiming “this one [the man I was about to read for] is full of life!” When I started speaking to the client, I noticed that his enthusiasm matched that of the guides throughout the whole call, starting off with, “I am sooo excited to be having this reading!”

The belief that I wasn't capable of doing great readings and that guides don't exist often led to vague readings. That belief didn't serve me or anyone else very well. I concluded that in order to consistently deliver clear and accurate readings for people, my belief in guides and ability to receive messages from them was crucial.

Something to keep in mind though, is that everyone is different and it might make sense for some people not to believe in guides or a higher power – this can potentially be a more empowering way to live. I don't think it's as important to prove whether or not something exists, as much as it is to choose our beliefs consciously so that we live the best life possible.

The second time I did a fire walk (which was the first time I didn't get hurt by it), I wanted it to be a symbolic action – although I was already doing intuitive work at the time, I wanted to strengthen my belief that it was okay to believe in guides despite my previous scepticism and scientific background, and that I could start talking to people about readings without feeling embarrassed or worried about what they would think. Not long afterwards, I was invited to join a team of intuitives and aura readers at the Mind Body Spirit festival. I was tempted to say no – I didn't want to be on 'display' at a stall at a crowded festival where I wouldn't be able to hide! But I was encouraged to do it and ended up really enjoying the experience. Interestingly, I was told that it was the first time the festival was being held away from its usual location where it had been for years at Sydney Darling Harbour, and that it had moved to a new venue … which happened to be the same place where I did the fire walk.

Until next time, choose your beliefs consciously!


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