Fire walking- I've done it!! and the science behind it.

Have you ever seen fire walking and wondered how its done?

I must say, I have done it as a group team building exercise and it ends up being a really unique experience.

First up... generally you have a facilitator for team building.

They prepare a fire...

You sit around the fire and they talk you though all the motivational stuff to eventually get everyone to the point where they are prepared to walk over the coals that have been recently racked and leveled right in front of you.

Some even get the group chanting to help distract the next victim that is about to do something every cell in their body is screaming they shouldn't....

Actually its a lot about peer pressure at this stage.... will I look bad in front of others type stuff... of course the brain-dead dare devils jump up first to do it and then all the pressure is on everybody else after that...

If they could do it, why cant I... etc.

...and then eventually you pluck up the courage and take that first step and before you know it its all over
miraculously you and the soles of your feet survive...

...and now you have an awesome story to tell

and actually your self esteem takes a huge boost like it does whenever you face your fears, look death in the face and laugh.

As a team building exercise its no bad either... there is a sense of unity that comes from helping each other to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task...the rooting for each other and the knowledge that if you as a team could overcome this...what could be worse.

Compared to walking through fire every thing else seems like a cake walk (pun intended)

You could always do it this way, but that would defeat the purpose.

The science behind it is simple....

If you have the right wood, only a thin outer layer is burning and giving off the red glow.

you don't want to use a hard-coal wood or charcoal that burns much deeper, or wood that has fat on it from a barbecue.

The sole of the foot placed firmly on the hot coals extinguishes this thin outer burning layer rapidly by depriving it of oxygen.

Water is able to absorb vast amounts of heat and because your cells have a very high percentage of water the heat is quickly absorbed and dissipated to the other surrounding cells.

It is a neat trick that looks really impressive but in the end it's just a trick.

The key to not being burned is to have enough confidence to step firmly onto the coals.

If you hesitate, step too lightly or have high arches the chances are that you will burn blisters.

I have high arches, the soles of my feet were fine but I did get a blister or two between my toes and under my arches.