Aston Bond’s firewalk challenge 2023

Our Staff were given the opportunity to test their mind power last week and walk on fire!

10 people decided to take on the challenge and take the steps over the 1300 degrees hot embers. There was a lot of nerves from the participants throughout the week, but a lot of excitement for what we were about to achieve.

We arrived at the location for our 1.5hour seminar to prepare ourselves for what we were about to do. We learned all about” mind over matter” and there were a few examples on stage with volunteers putting the concept into practice.

First, we saw that by watching someone on stage take a deep bite out of a lemon, the audience mimicking the action could actually taste the same thing!

Then, volunteers from the audience were coached into placing a steel tipped arrow against the soft part of their neck (between the collar bones) and walking into the arrow.  Amazing, they could actually snap the arrow itself and managed not to get hurt. 

Finally, they showed us that it is possible to walk on broken glass and not suffer any cuts or pain.

All of this was part of the process to prepare us mentally for the challenge ahead and make us understand how powerful our minds are.   We all felt confident, so we proceeded to go outside to the event site.

Here is Nicola’s experience:

“Standing at the start of the walk, seeing those blazing embers and the heat coming off them somehow made me forget everything I was just told. My mind was focussed on the voice of my mother saying “Be careful Nicola”.

I tried to focus my mind, but I couldn’t do it. I had frozen and I was just stood there.

Five minutes later, I came back to the front of the line and it was my turn. The words coming out of my mouth were not repeatable. I could feel the heat from the embers on my face and I was jogging on the spot and doing the hokey kokey with my legs!

Then, my mind focused…JUST DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!…

I took the first step and the second, then I realised “Oh S*** I’m doing it!”

I stood there at the end holding the hands of the speaker. I’d done it! I had walked over 1300 degrees hot embers!”

Sulaiman’s experience:

“I let go of all the negative thoughts and I just achieved something that I didn’t think I had it in me to do. I feel very motivated!”

Joe says;

“I was stood there at the start, wondering if this was about to go well, am I going to get burnt, but I just did it. Afterwards, I stood at the end on the cool grass and realised I wasn’t burnt at all and felt so motivated by it.”

Jaspreet says:

“I felt empowered. My mind set has changed and I am more positive. I feel like I can take on more obstacles without overthinking it.”

At Aston Bond, we aim to build a strong, motivated team and we have regular events throughout the year for teambuilding. This time, the team were challenged to overcome fears to realise that they are stronger people than they give themselves credit for.

By building a strong team, the moral increases and the team become a more motivated, close-nit unit that work better together. This in turn creates better results in their work and brings us all closer working towards the same objective!

We want to share with you a few snippets from the night…