Brad Johnson, a client of the Brain Management training, is sharing his story about his experience when learning how to walk on fire from a Firewalking Guru. He points out his observations as how the Firewalking training has some of the same similarities that most other motivationally based trainings also have. Firewalking is used to help you gain perspective that you can overcome your limiting beliefs. Brads Post-event observations will give you new insights into the differences between positive motivation and self motivation. Get ready for a “fun” read…
Shannon Panzo, PhD
Firewalking
A while back, I was at a barbeque with some of my buddies. As we were having a good time and few tonics later, one of my buddies suggest, “How about if we all go learn firewalking together?” “Wow, that’s great!”, we all agreed. I thought it would be cool to watch what everyone did, and how they reacted to it. So we began planning for the event.
Before leaving on the trip to learn firewalking, two of the 6 chickened out. Originally, they all thought it would be fun getting together with some Guru to teach us how walking on red hot coals was going to magically change us into human beings. Perhaps it is a way to burn the sins away through the soles of our feet. …and then there were 4.
Road Trip to Walk on Fire
So, off we go to the mountain of the Guru. Along the way, if you are not accustomed to the rigours of road travel, road food as you find in gas stations, is not always the best. These creations are made of indestructible materials that could be three days old and still look fresh; especially that fried thing referred to as “veggie”. No, it was not made by micro-vegans sitting out back waiting to prepare your food. After fuelling up, we trekked onto Guru Mountain, where the joys of living the never care attitude would be burned out of us.
About 30 minutes down the road we had to make a sudden stop. Our panic stricken companion had previously eaten the Fried Vegan Surprise had just found the “surprise” awaiting him was Mr. Ptomaine. He was heaving over the guard rails of the highway, with onlookers tooting and hooting as they drove by. We got off at the nearest town and called up his wife to come and get him. …and then there were 3.
The rest of the trip to Guru Mountain was uneventful because the rest of us feasted on salty bag food – chips and such, and drank soda with enough carbonic acid to clean the road dirt off of the mag wheels. We all had a good laugh about the Vegan food our buddy ate.
Guru Mountain
We finally arrive in Guru Territory – a nice place in the mountains with plenty of trees. We did hear about the stream nearby that flowed with the spring snow-melt. But it was mid summer, and the stream was as dry as a lizard’s back.
As we were greeted, the lady asked where #4 in our group was. We told her about the misadventure with the vegan food encountered on the way. She informed us his Firewalking fee was nonrefundable. As we were signing the waivers for bodily damage, I asked if we could take his portion of the food with us in a doggies bag. She smiled and walked away.
The Journey Begins…
Thus, we begin our journey into the unknown, hoping to come out with our limbs intact. Any further risk of food poisoning was diminished as the fare consisted of fruit, fruit juice, and herbal teas. Not a single cup of coffee to be found.
Most of our day was spent hearing about mind over matter, believing in yourself, and channelling our energy to create a heat resistant shielding to the bottoms of our feet, or our idea of what that would be, as they were subjected blistering temperatures of red hot coals with our body weight pressing down. (They should be teaching levitation instead, so we could just float over the coals instead.) Really, I had heard it all before. The only difference was the ‘why’ behind it.
My thoughts meandered over to the bed of coals. It would seem a shame to have all those good coals go to waste. After everyone gets done with their firewalk, we could have a barbeque! Oh well… probably not. The organisers would say it is akin to heresy.
Back to the lecture on Firewalking…
Apparently, when you feel really good about yourself, your brain releases endorphins that make you high, and dopamine that deals with the pain. After digesting all the information why we can physically and mentally achieve the feat of firewalking, we got a good dose of positive motivation, to make us all feel really good about stepping from the pan into the fire. Many of the attendees like the time honoured “cool moss” approach.
When you attend this type of event, you would expect the Guru to be giving his part of the talk while standing on the coals. Nope. He stood in front of it while the “fire-people minded the fire.
Leading up to the Firewalk, we had a Dinner of more fruit, salads, Juice, and herbal teas, and all the water you can drink, anticipating frying your feet.
Before the Firewalk commenced, everyone was involved in a group meditation meant to calm us down and put us into a state of consciousness conducive with walking over hot coals, and telling our body how it was going to react to the extreme heat you are not used to be experiencing.
When I was a kid, I remember my grandfather always putting his cigarette out in his hand; a trick he learned in World War II. This was so he could have a smoke with his hand hiding the ember, so the ‘enemy’ was not able to detect the ember. He did this feat without even a thought. This gives me the evidence and strength to be able to do something similar – Firewalking. Sure, the size is a bit different, but when the mind works it through, it should not matter.
Ready for the Firewalk…
After the Guru and his helpers make their way across the coals to show us it can actually be done without incurring injury or burns, it was our turn. Some people did it as a fast walk, some took a running start barely touching down over the length, and a couple chose to jump off the side. one of my buddies was in front of me. He came through fine. I did a fast walk and came out okay.
The girl behind me must have been a little dehydrated and seemed overwhelmed by the heat. She stumbled and fell , causing second and third degree burns to her feet and legs. The Helpers quickly got her out of there for treatment. (The odour of burned flesh reminiscent of the barbeque I had pondered about earlier, that we could have been having instead.)
Next in line was my other buddy, that by now was losing his nerve along with his ‘cool moss’ thinking. He ran through and still got some burns and blisters on his feet, which the Helpers quickly dressed. He took a couple of days off of work and lost bragging rights.
After the main event, everyone was invited to stay for an evening of frivolity. The vegetarian feast would continue into the night. It seemed the hot coals were going to go to waste after all. I can imagine what would have happened if we had tossed a steak onto the coals.
My friends and I decided we had had enough and left the mountain party behind. We came, we heard, we saw, and we conquered! Even through some burns and seared skin we did find that we could do it. What a rush! Exhilarating!
The Letdown…
The experience of the Firewalk puts you on a high. It is exhilarating. But the rush went away too quickly. I decided to recreate the firewalking event in my back yard. I built the fire and raked out the coals the same as on Guru Mountain. Did my meditation, then proceeded to walk across the red hot coals. WOW, I actually did it on my own. That was great! So I walked across the coals again. Over the next couple of weeks, I repeated the same thing a few more times. My back yard began to look like scorched earth of a sci-fi flick. It got BORING. It no longer gave me a zing or rush – nothing. I lost interest.
Repeat history…
For some reason I felt I was here before. What was it? What was the common denominator? Previously, I had done many things. All of those things in one way or another had ‘positive motivation’ alongside whatever I was being taught. Positive motivation is great at the time it is used. You feel great and everyone around you feels great too. Even though we are all experiencing that high, most people realise it will not last, and they are just getting their “fix”. It reminds me of going to a positive motivational seminar, and they give you a list of statements you are to stick up copies all over everything and recite these to yourself many times each day. After several days nothing has changed, and you just give up because you feel worst than before your ‘dose’ of positive motivation.
The Exception…
Out of all of the seminars I have attended, there is only one that taught me information I never even knew existed. They also showed me by using their techniques, I could repeatedly improve my life and motivate myself along the way. (You don’t need positive motivation when you can motivate yourself, self motivation is worth tons more.) They showed me how to continuously build my own brain on my own terms. They told me to be my own boss and take charge of my life. I could be independent and make my own decisions, and they have always been there for me if I have any questions on how to use the techniques.
That one seminar has done more for me than all of the other seminars combined. My only regret is I spent my money, time, and effort to go to all of those other seminars, when I actually only needed this 1 seminar. Best of all, it is a complete system. They don’t leave you hanging for more. No surprise… I am talking about Brain Management, and it comes with Mental Photography – first started by Richard Welch and carried over by Shannon Panzo, his long time confidant and protegee. They even have an Internet based training called ZOX Pro Training.
At the center of these training is the technique that uses your photographic memory to read anything at incredible speed. They show you how to do it, and give you tests to help you understand that you are actually doing it. The types of results talked about in the seminar seem outlandish at first. Over time, I have seen them all come through – more than I could ever have imagined back then.
Sure, I went to school like everyone else. But I would have rather been doing other things. School was boring. So, when Brain Management showed me showed me how I could learn at speeds I could barely comprehend, suddenly the light bulb came on. There is no way any school would teach this. People might actually like going to school if they were taught to learn at these speeds. It sure beats out Firewalking on red hot coals at Guru Mountain.
If you want training that you can use to enhance any part of your life, then you need to take me seriously, when I say, “This is the ONE seminar that will make your life great!”. When they say “Great Things Happen Here!” They sure do, and it never stops happening.
Brad Johnson, Hollywood
Click Here for more info: Walking on Fire – Firewalking on Hot Coals at Guru Mountain
