Priya Kumar’s workshops are not all one-way motivational talks. Here, if you want to prove to yourself that you can, you have to go through an agni pariksha — literally.
Priya Kumar, 37, a motivational speaker and corporate trainer, is also a certified firewalker who conducts firewalking workshops for corporates, celebrities and informal groups. She has travelled widely, lived with the Shamans of the Netherlands and the tribes of Belgium, encountered yogis in the Himalayas and met many medicine men on the way. Her firewalking workshops intend to use the ancient, spiritual wisdom collected to help people self-explore in modern times.
There is ample motivational talk too, but no feel-good banter for the sake of it. “I tell people that if you think you will burn your feet on coal then you will definitely burn them,” says Kumar. “While walking on embers, people essentially fight with their fear above anything else.”
While Kumar’s first tryst with firewalking in Malaysia was not extremely pleasant, it was anything but a deterrent. “In fact, it made me more curious about it,” she says, adding, “I had burned my foot severely then, while many others came away unscathed.” It was essentially this random encounter with firewalking that got her initiated. What followed were years of tending fire for firewalks around the world and a keen desire to learn the mystery and technique of firewalking.
The thought of walking on a pathway of gleaming red-hot coals, with flames running parallel to the hot bed, may sound insane and self-punishing. But those who’ve tried think differently. “Walking through fire gives a phenomenal boost to confidence. When I first crossed the coal bed, it was with a sense of achievement,” says Manoj Lekhrajani, who runs a pharmaceutical business.
Firewalking is also believed to help release “stuck” energy, which is caught in part of the sole, believed to correspond to a body part that needs healing. It is important, she says, to come to a firewalk with an open mind. “You don’t choose your burn spot, it chooses you. It’s vital to not look at it as just an act of physical healing alone; it’s about personal breakthrough and spiritual cleansing as well,” she says.
No one is forced to walk on the bed. Though, the pep talk prior to the walk makes it easier. But it’s a challenge that few resist. “Since you are not forced, it becomes all the more challenging,” says Anand Indulkar, senior manager, human resources, Emerson Process Management. “You feel the heat and the first thing that comes to your mind is that it’s impossible to walk through this. Then, the adventurous folks take the initiative, and you follow,” he adds. The cheering and hooting that accompanies only raises the participants’ morale.
Kumar claims that she has not had severe injuries at her workshops. “There may be a few stings in an elementary firewalk, but they heal quickly,” she says.
How does firewalking help a private company? Anshuma Shukla Chaturvedi, human resources executive, Godrej Industries Ltd, puts it simply. “It’s about infusing the ‘I can do it’ attitude in the employees. I was scared to set my foot on the hot coal, but with every step my confidence level went up. I was fighting my fear and my assumptions about my own self,” she says.
Comments
