Firewalking or parachuting, stepping out of your comfort zone can be a little daunting. but once you do, it can be exhilarating!

This photo is yours truly walking barefoot over hot coals. Fire walking for charity no less. I had my hopes pinned on a sponsored tea and cake eating event, but alas, hot coals trumped hot tea.

I have to admit I was nervous, after all it flies in the face of common sense right? To walk across burning embers of red hot coal with bare feet and crossed fingers? It defies the laws of physics and everything we’ve ever been lead to believe: fire = burn, burn = pain.

So as someone who is all about the mind and the science behind it, I wondered if I was about to use mind-over-matter, self-belief, bravery, blind faith or plain ignorance.

There is an art to firewalking of course, namely that you mustn’t run across, strut, dawdle, or show off, you walk smoothly and briskly over the burning coals and all will be well. If it all goes horribly wrong, there’s a handy (if slightly ominous) bucket of water waiting for you at the other end.

And so my question was and still is, despite the physics and our innate instinct not to play with fire, if I believed I’d get burned, or that I’d fall face first into the fire, or that it was impossible to walk across hot coals in the first place, would I have arrived safely and relatively unscathed at the other end? I’ll wager that although there is a technique involved, I walked across without so much as a blister due to my mindset.

The case for mind-over-matter

Example 1 – The placebo effect

A good example of the placebo effect is an experiment some time ago in Princeton, where experimenters threw a party. The party goers were unaware that the drinks provided were all alcohol free. As the party progressed the crowd began acting silly, slurring their speech with some even falling asleep on the floor. The placebo affect made them think they were drunk and it was a strong enough belief that it altered their behaviour.

Example 2 – The Nocebo Effect

The nocebo effect is the opposite of the placebo effect. It describes a situation where a negative outcome occurs due to a belief that the intervention will cause harm. The term nocebo comes from the Latin ‘to harm’. So if a doctor tells you that your medicine is likely have undesirable side effect like an upset stomach, a headache, or something more serious, you are likely to be on the look-out for said side effect and consequently likely to experience one or all of them.

Example 3 – Wim Hof

Wim Hof is a Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete famous for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He has set world records for swimming under ice, prolonged full-body contact with ice and holds the record for running a half marathon on ice and snow in bare feet.

Example 4 – Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a perfect example of mind over matter. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool. We can control how our body responds with the power of our mind. Hypnosis (the hypnotic state) is very effective in a range of both psychological and medical areas and has been used to replace anaesthesia in surgery, dentistry and child birth.

If you want to learn more about hypnosis and how you can train and reprogram your mind to overcome most any issues or challenges you face, feel free to get in touch.

Read about the power of your subconscious mind in my book “Health, Wealth & Hypnosis – The Way To A Beautiful Life” Buy it here: https://gailmarrahypnotherapy.com/the-book-health-wealth-hypnosis/

If you can think of any other examples of mind-over-matter, or have experienced it for yourself, I’m all ears!

If you want to Firewalk for charity here’s a link to get you going:  https://www.ukfirewalk.com/charityfirewalking.html