The fire walk
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
In the 80’s
I was a member of Tony Robbins’ ‘Yes’
group in London. I knew that the fire-walk was
the main happening in the UPW event standing for
‘Unleash the Power within.’ I had
always been afraid of the sound of the whoosh of
the flames ever since my accident in Manchester.
The organisers in London were recruiting
volunteers for UPW in Brussels in about a month’s
time. I hadn’t done the expensive training
but I spoke French. Bingo I was accepted. to meet
and greet the enrolled participants .The venue
was outside the capital at Heysel, the exhibition
ground. I was on my way. I knew a couple of
dealers in Brussels and got to the flea market
too which paid for the trip when I got back to
Portobello market.
My job was to register participants and welcome
them speaking French bien sur. I was surprised to
observe three Belgium Hassidic Jews checking in
especially on the eve of the Sabbath!
After the check in was completed all the
volunteers had to go upstairs to receive a snack
and instructions.
I was horrified when the fire supervisor
announced that everyone had to walk on hot coals
to get in the mood! I was the only person who had
not experienced UPW and frankly I was terrified.
One of the male volunteers came up and putting
his arms around me to inspire me saying ‘You
can do it’ then the magic word ‘Yes’.
My legs were trembling but he insisted repeatedly
saying in a low hypnotic voice Yes, Yes, Yes.
Next we went outside. It was quite dark. The fire
team had been busy building four paths for all
the participants to walk and prove their strength.
Again my strength failed me and my colleague BIP
noticed my legs were trembling. He came over and
advised to say ‘cool moss’ repeating
the words until I was calm.
Suddenly I saw the three Hassidics rolling up
their trousers and getting ready to walk. They
had obviously got special permission to do the
walk. ‘If they can do it, so can I’ I
said to myself. A surge of energy came over me
and without thinking further, I was experiencing
the walk. It was over in a flash and I remember
thinking ‘That’s it?’ Volunteers
sprayed water on my feet to get rid of any
particles of coal between my toes. Colleagues
embraced me while I cried tears of relief.
My ordeal was over. I felt proud of myself and
felt I could do anything and everything!
Written
8/12/24 at Nightingale.
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