8 years ago at the age of 13, the course of my life was changed forever. Back then, I was very lost about who I was and the direction in which my life was headed. I attended a sleepaway camp for the first time, formerly called Omega Teen Camp, now called Odyssey Teen Camp (OTC), up in Holmes, New York. The camp is very open-minded and free-spirited.
This camp had many regular activities like basketball, ultimate frisbee, hula-hooping, dancing, lacrosse, and more. However, this camp also had many alternative activities such as firewalking, tarot cards, yoga, meditation, astrology, qigong, spa days, sweat lodges, tai chi, henna, and others. During the second week of camp, I attended a workshop called "Feel Your Fear, Find Your Power," by a woman by the name of Nancy Chernoff who is the founder of Fearlessflame Empowerment Workshops.
In this week-long workshop, campers break boards with the palm of their hands, snap arrows with their neck, get henna-tattooed affirmations on their arms, bend metal rebar with their neck, and walk on hot coals. Now, you may be thinking: am I crazy? No. These workshops were not actually about the physical aspects of breaking a board with your hand or firewalking, but it was about learning how to use fear as your teacher and healer. Firewalking is a very old tradition in many other cultures, but it just started to become big in the Western culture.
Peggy Dylan is said to be the mother of firewalking as she started the firewalking movement in California in 1984. This workshop is really about learning where fear is coming from and then doing physical tangible acts in order to realize how to move through the fear. Fear is always in our lives, but this workshop and firewalking taught me that anything is possible.
When I walked through the fire for the first time, I then had a sudden realization that it really does not matter what's on the side of anything that I am doing or trying to accomplish, it matters that I went out and I did it. The unknown is something that is so fearful for us and there are so many unknown things are in lives, but the firewalk showed me that I can walk through any fire or challenge in my life and when I do, I will come out on the other side with joy, happiness, and so much new found strength.
After I walked on fire, I did have so much new realization, but what changed my life was the work that I had to do after the firewalk. The work doesn't really begin until a day after the firewalk has ended and doing the work is what makes all the difference. The work that I did in order for my life to change is to remember the experience of the workshop and use that to push me out of my comfort zone.
Also during the workshop I got a henna tattoo on my arm that stated my affirmation for what I needed to change in my life. Before I walked through the coals, I said my affirmation out loud. My first year, my affirmation was "I can prove people wrong." To me, this meant that I could prove the ones who doubted me wrong. I worked on achieving what so many others thought I couldn't, like succeeding beyond anyone's dreams in school. Throughout the years, some of my affirmations have been "I Have A Place," or "I Trust Myself."
A lot of my affirmations took a lot of work, like pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to meet new people and make friends or just believing in myself and my capabilities. Fearlessflame Empowerment Workshops have gotten me to where I am today and that is a strong, powerful and independent soul. I truly believe I wouldn't be here today without this workshop, it was what took me out of the darkness of my soul and showed me the light towards a better future.
As someone who feels so passionate about this type of work, I am planning to get my firewalk instructor certification this summer in Scotland with Peggy Dylan. Everyone can walk on fire as I said before it is not about actually physically walking on hot coals, it is about walking through the unknown, feeling that fear, and moving right through it. Once I firewalked, I realized that there was nothing that I could not do. Soon, I hope to lead my own workshops and show others the limitless possibilities that they in life.
