As soon as we heard about the opportunity of Firewalking in Bali we jumped at it. The Firewalk was organised by Rolf and Asa Beckman from Eight Directions with G Kuna from Heartfields. We were also joined by Martins and Baiba Vecvanags from Firehawk. Quite the international team of Firewalk Instructors and Master Instructors.
The client was Agatsu, a leader in fitness training and education worldwide. Agatsu had been running a retreat in Bali and wanted to end the retreat with a surprise for the participants – Walking on Fire was the surprise of choice.
It was arranged that we would have the event at Ambara Ashram in Ubud, which was established in 1995 by Kadek Suambara aka The Laughing Guru. The Ashram hosts and provides many spiritual events and experiences daily; and has helped thousands of people from all over the world to gain health and happiness.
The International Firewalking Team (Sweden, Latvia, Ireland, Singapore, UK and Indonesia) met with Kadek at Ambara Ashram the day before we were to provide the Firewalk for the Agatsu retreat. We wanted to become more familiar with the venue, burn some of the wood provided so we could test and plan on how this event would be delivered.
We had one thing in our favour, Kadek also provides Firewalks at the Ashram. This wasn’t surprising really, there is a living tradition of Firewalking in Bali and it is a common occurrence on the island. Particularly during the New Year celebrations.
We left the Ashram that evening very clear on how the event would be delivered. To keep it simple, Kadek and Rolf would do the preparations with the participants and the rest of us would look after the fire and keep everything moving as necessary.
The genuine cheering for the 3 people that chose not to walk on the Fire far outweighed that of those who walked.
Firewalking in Bali
The next day all the participants for Agatsu arrived at the Ashram. We greeted them and Rolf made a lot of introductions before talking a little about the history of Firewalking and the importance of “owning your decisions”. Remember, these people had no idea that they were going to be Firewalking! What a surprise.
Kadek was up next and he talked a little about Firewalking in Bali and then proceeded to lead us all in a Laughter Yoga session. This was incredibly fun. Everyone moved from a general position of anxiety to sheer joy! The laughter was incredible for increasing the energy of the group. At this stage, we were joined by locals from the village and they joined in too.
After this energy raising session we went out to the garden where we greeted by some of the kids from the orphanage that the Ashram supports. They were playing drums and smiling from ear-to-ear.
The fire was ready!
Many people walked over the Fire that night, some once and others numerous times. Some of the locals from the village joined in too.
We stood in a circle to bring the Firewalk to a close and two questions were presented to the group. “Hands up who walked on Fire” and “Hands up who chose not to walk on Fire”. The genuine cheering for the 3 people that chose not to walk on the Fire far outweighed that of those who walked on it.
The message had landed, the decision to walk or not walk on the fire is almost irrelevant as long as you own the decision.
It was a real celebration and a fine way to end a retreat in Bali.
Big thank you to all involved and for the opportunity!
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