Walking across hot coals at Casselman's Fang Shen Do retreat

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Fang Shen Do Pagoda[/caption] _ “It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.” - Andre Gide _ It was just a typical day for me - researching a bunch of different resources for the latest fun, ridiculous, crazy, and inspiring things to do. Google makes it pretty easy these days, so it didn’t take much time to stumble upon the website of Firewalk Canada . And it must have been fate, because it turned out they were holding an upcoming walk at the beautiful 16-acre Fang Shen Do retreat in Casselman (about 45 minutes east of downtown Ottawa).

Arriving at the 1.5 hour special pre-firewalk ritual, I learned that the whole point to this crazy adventure isn’t burnt feet or bragging rights, but is really to dissolve fear and other emotional blocks that are keeping you from living your life to the fullest. Actually, many cultures undergo this ritual as a rite of passage and initiation, or a test of courage. With an inspiring group atmosphere, including chanting and plain old encouragement, I took my turn (dragging my begrudged mother along with me), and felt the power within the ritual.

Afterwards, the group gathered in the Pagoda to share our very own subjective emotions and reactions to the experience we had all just shared. It was pretty clear that the consensus was that the entire experience was powerful, transformative, and even life-changing. I mean, if you can walk through fire, what CAN’T you do?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-meKICSvKs