Throughout history mankind has been fascinated, warmed, comforted and terrified by fire. Firewalking is considered a wonderful example of the mind-body connection at work and as a means of demonstrating that we do have control over the process.

To live life we cannot separate physical body and breath (air). They are like two well-oiled parts that synchronise to intake the perfect amount of oxygen (air) that is required to sustain life. At the same time what we think is what we feel, or is it what we feel creates the thought? Regardless which one comes first, both have a huge part to play in maintaining the equilibrium within our mind. One thing is sure; it is impossible for human beings to separate life, breath, mind and physical body.

In Firewalking we recognise our thoughts and emotions have a great impact on our physical processes. If we think heat we will feel heat. This mind connection has also been demonstrated through hypnosis by inducing blisters to appear on the physical body without any real fire being close. Another example: I myself have experienced extreme cold temperatures and being unable to sleep after exhausting days trekking through snow blizzards, twelve thousand feet high in the Himalayas. My body had taken a real pounding that day. Friends helped me into my sleeping bag as I was shaking with the cold. I knew I had to stop thinking of the cold as it was making me worse. Suddenly, my thoughts went to a Buddhist group I had attended a number of years before. (As the Buddhist group had been given the hire of the hall free of charge, the crafty caretaker would turn the heating off even although the temperature was at 5 degrees outside.) Then I remembered the Buddhist monk had taught us a visualisation technique that cold night on how to warm ourselves from the inside, out So, with all the energy I had left, I started to visualise myself in front of a warm glowing fire. I kept my mind focused on the fire and I began to feel the heat from the glowing fire enter my body. I told myself the heat was going into the centre of my body and radiating outwards. I soon started to feel warm and stopped shaking. I fell asleep doing this Buddhist monk's warming technique and awakened the next morning feeling better after my warm night's sleep. There were others in the group who said over breakfast that they had very little sleep that night due to the extreme cold temperatures.

Therefore, if we can influence a heat-induced burn, or internal heat to keep us warm when we need it with the power of our mind, we can certainly influence of mind to create the opposite - coolness when we need it too.

My own experience creating coolness, or changing the molecular structure with thought was put to the test on the evening of my 50th Birthday. I was having family and friends over for drinks and some food; so every room in the house was jam packed with people chattering away, with music playing in the background. All the cold foods were laid out, now only the hot foods were to be taken out of the ovens and put into the dining room for the buffet to commence.

I was in the kitchen with some friends getting everything organised. I opened one of the oven doors and as I reached in to take one of the trays out someone spoke to me. Without thinking, I turned to answer and my forearm stuck to the extremely hot shelf of the oven, which had been on for over 2hrs at 220 degrees. The pain was agonising, I could feel the skin on my arm shrivel, and the nerve endings in my body crawled. A typical reaction I yelped, "Oh ya!" loudly. Suddenly everything in the kitchen went quiet, then someone shouted, "Look at your arm! O my goodness, you've burned your arm!" Someone started to run cold water, calling to me to put my arm under the running water. I did not want anything to spoil my guests experience at my party. So, I paused and looked at my arm, I could clearly were there was once skin now, only open flesh where the rail from the oven had stuck to my arm. All I could hear was concerned calls from friends and family. The pain was incredible, I knew I had done some real damage and my thoughts were running rampant. All I could say was, "No, no, no, no." Then in a split second decision, I immediately called upon all my experience of visualisation and fire walking techniques. I turned my attention from my burning flesh and started to think that my arm was perfect, there was nothing wrong with it. In fact it was ice cold. I called out to everyone in the kitchen, "I'm fine, there is nothing wrong with my arm. It's ice cold." I do think at that moment everyone thought I was mad. They were insisting I put my arm under the cold water and by this time someone had gotten the first aid kit down and was looking for burn cream. I repeated myself out loud adding, " I'm fine, can't you see it's ok. There is nothing wrong, my arm it's perfectly normal and ice cold. I am fine".

I turned back to the oven reached in and took out the tray with the food on it and proceeded to take the food to the dinning room, ignoring all the comments that were still going on in the kitchen.

Throughout the rest of the evening when anyone would ask, "Did you burn your arm?" I would say "NO" or if they said, "Look at your arm!" I would reply, " What? I can't see anything, there is nothing there." I would give the same answer to everyone throughout the evening. Eventually, they got the message and stopped asking but I am sure they thought I had gone mad.

I know everyone was only thinking of me and trying to help, but with my firewalking experience, I also knew if I gave way to the thought that my arm had indeed been burned, then I also gave my body permission to react to all the effects of a burn.

I can assure you that mind over matter really did take place. Although there was a clearly visible gouge in the flesh of my arm, from the moment I decided I had not been burned I never had any pain, nor experienced any feelings that would normally be associated with being burned in this way. Believe me, I know them well having had a few oven and iron burns in my time. I did not run cold water over my arm or put anything on it, but the burn healed up quickly with almost no visible scaring.

My motto is, "If we can think it, we can create it." These experiences were valuable lesson and a reminder about the power of our mind.

Each day we choose whether to sit back and accept what life throws at us, or create our own destiny. Whatever way we choose will determine the amount of joy or suffering we create in our daily life.

Firewalking is liberating, people are exhilarated when they actually walk across hot coals. They recognise immediately that hey have broken through not only their fears, but also their apparent limitations.

Firewalking is a dynamic experience where people can learn, practice and apply the principles of empowerment. Breakthroughs translate into more effective internal communication: self belief becomes a daily occurrence, increased self worth, the voicing of one's inner thoughts and feelings like never before. There is a willingness to participate, keenness to interact with others, improved relationships and an increased willingness to co-operate, plus a heightened sense of team spirit. All from simply applying the power of your mind and daring to walk across hot coals. Firewalking teaches us how to stay centered and calm in times of trouble.

Fire is energy; together we can walk with passion in our life.