Step lively, there

If you thought only prophets and the possessed walked on fire, think again.

Walking barefoot on glowing, red-hot coals without physical harm seems like perilous risk-taking to even the brave among us. Which makes British national Scott Bell, who set the record for the longest firewalk last year by walking across 328 feet of burning embers, a very brave man indeed. So also the 3,500-odd trance-induced devotees who walk at the annual firewalking event at Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore. But actually, say practitioners, firewalking is not as sensational as it is made out to be. It's the transformation it leaves you with, they say, that is.

Now most of us know of firewalking as a ritualistic proof of faith or devotion. But how many could claim to know that walking on a 10-foot-long bed of coal at 500 degrees Celsius could also help to build teamwork skills, resourcefulness and determination and cure you of physical ills? Pious firewalkers have existed for hundreds of years, but it was only in the 1970s that certain practitioners in the USA began to demystify the practice that was sidelined by many as either paranormal or gimmicky and draw attention to its effects on body and mind.

Priya Kumar, a motivational speaker based in Mumbai, first tried firewalking in Indonesia for a lark in 2001. She burnt the soles of her feet badly enough to not be able to walk back to her hotel, but it cured her of her chronic sinusitis and migraines (she matched the location of her burns to a reflexology foot chart and discovered that only the areas pertaining to her illnesses got burned). She now conducts firewalking sessions for "lakhs" of individuals each year. "Most people know that firewalking lets you take control over your mind, but few know its physical benefits," she says. "After all, heat and fire therapy have always been used in physical healing." Native American shamans, she says, always insisted on physical healing by fire as a path to eventual spiritual enlightenment.

More apparently though, firewalking is used as a tool of personal change "" to meet your fears headlong and emerge victorious. "It's a way to liberate yourself from fears in order to motivate yourself to go for distant goals or challenges". And that's what attracts globally competitive corporations to engage with it. "They want their troops to have the 'nothing is impossible' attitude", says Kumar, who regularly conducts workshops with Kingfisher and Vodafone employees. "One is conditioned from birth to learn fears, like the fear of fire and the fear of trying after the first failure, but firewalking shows you that you can de-programme some of your more limiting thought patterns," says Manoaj Lekhrajaani, who attended one of Kumar's sessions this year.

Sceptics say there is no such thing as mind over matter, that it's simply certain laws of physics in operation, like the fact that the wood chips used are poor conductors, that the dead skin on one's soles is a good insulator, and that the short timespan decreases exposure to heat. Kumar disagrees. She believes that if the mind is harnessed thinkingly and intelligently it can be a powerful aide to the body. "The mind decides it's possible and your physical mechanism readies itself to protect, so you're not tense and you walk comfortably and with confidence."

Though firewalking emphasises a high degree of mental concentration, whether it can be called a meditative technique is a point of contention. Kumar believes it is actually the opposite of a meditative state because it promotes a deep awareness of your physical reality. Malad resident Pushpa Eswar, though, says it is similar to meditation in that it brings about a sense of serenity and calmness in you. Serenity or exhilaration, Kumar will tell you that the transformation cannot be denied. "The person who comes off the bed of coal is a vastly different person from the one who stood facing it," she says.

Of course, for some that might also mean burnt soles. Daniel Simmons, an American management consultant working in India, ended up with one burned foot. "Perhaps because that was the foot to last get off the bed, and I lost concentration towards the end," he explains. There isn't really a "How to" guide to a burn-free walk, simply because when push comes to shove, few can even recall the rules. Everybody will tell you, though, that dawdling won't help; it's best to make a dash for it.

Eswar would be happy to make a second attempt and so would Lekhrajaani, even if just to corroborate his learning from it. Some might think this is extreme spirituality, and it certainly isn't an instant route to nirvana, but as Kumar says, "the oldest recorded firewalking was over 4,000 years ago. If the practice has lasted so long, there must be something to it, no?"