Are You Stuck in Flatland?

Happy Monday to You!

I hope you are enjoying what you are creating each day, and that your weekend was joyful.

Today in my blog, I will share:
1. Are You Stuck in Flatland?
2. CHEK Course Completions
3. Catching up with Angie as she approaches birthing Mana
4. Matt Sorensen (Chek Mentor) celebrates Holiday gifts.
5. Mike Salemi moves closer to Russian Kettlebell Masters competition.

Are You Stuck in Flatland?

What is Flatland?
A feeling that the soul/consciousness (within you) is caught in the mundane experience of routines/procedures that don’t nourish, or inspire growth of the whole person.

In my vlog today (video blog: about 24:00), I address the all to common experience of being trapped in a flatland experience.

I begin my lesson by sharing my definition of flatland (see above), and then share the many symptoms of being in flatland, (some of) which include:
– Boredom (life, partner, sex, work, body challenges, money, power, control/religion)
– Anxiety (fear of the future)
– Depression (believing that yesterday = tomorrow)
– Apathy; to not care (the functional opposite of love)
– Illnesses
– Gossiping
– Rebellion (cheating systems; leads to entanglement and/or extrication/separation)

To explain how flatland experiences are created, I move to my diagram of the heart superimposed upon my slightly modified (for this lesson) version of Ken Wilber’s 4 quadrants through which CONSCIOUSNESS or Spirit expresses itself.

I explain flatland as a state created by over-identification with the two right-hand boxes that represent the personal exterior (upper right) and collective exterior (lower right).

It is worth noting that the key words I’ve associated with these two quadrants are “I do” (upper right) and “I use” (lower right).

For a variety of reasons (that blog space and time won’t allow me to elaborate on), human beings, particularly in the Western cultures (but fast spreading to all cultures) have oriented their sense of self (who am I?) around with what they do; “I’m John and I’m a school teacher”, and what they use; “I work in the NYC public school system and most of my work is done on computers today.”

After explaining the functional significance of each of Ken Wilber’s 4 quadrant model, I explain the importance of balancing our awareness and engagement with the two Primary Streams of Love:

– EROS: The masculine stream/current or polarity, which like the sun, draws us upward progressively toward non-dual Union.

– AGAPE: The feminine stream/current or polarity, which expresses love for and among all living beings and Mother Nature.

I share that the extreme of Eros is to deny nature, while the extreme of Agape is to loose sight of that which transcends material, biological, and/or personal existence.

I finish my presentation by following my 4 Doctor model, reminding you to:
1. Dream, and I give tips and suggested resources.
2. Balance between the “I-WE and it” of life.
3. Making dream-affirmative choices to cultivate happiness in your life.
4. Living within your own happiness making 4 Doctor core values.

I hope you enjoy my lesson today.

If you want to join me (and the thousands of CHEK Holistic Professionals that are living fully each day so we can enjoy making the world a better place), I’d love to see you at one of our upcoming Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1 Course Advanced Training.

You can find out where they are by visiting www.chekinstitute.com and looking at the schedule of events.

Suggested Resources:
1. CHEK HLC 1
2. The Last 4 Doctors You’ll Ever Need – multimedia ebook
3. Dr. Quiet Audio companion – MP3 Audio
4. How To Eat Move and Be Healthy! – Book
5. You Are What You Eat! – CD Audio Program

CHEK Course Completions

Exercise Coach in San Francisco with Ashely Mazurek

Please help me congratulate our newest Exercise Coaches!

Ashley Mazurek is one of my top Instructors for the C.H.E.K Institute and always wears a smile. She is a dedicated professional teaching, running a business and raising her family. In a word, Ashley is all about “integrity!” She gives 100% and more to her students – I am grateful that she is teaching the art and science of exercise as well as HLC1, and CP1 courses.

Thank you Ashley! It was great to catch up with you when you were here for our Faculty meetings.

To learn more and register for upcoming C.H.E.K Institute Advanced Training courses, please click here.

Catching up with Angie as she approaches birthing Mana

Angie, Penny and I spent a day shifting her room into what was our healing room.

She now has a lovely big room with a nice stone floor, lots of lighting and outside access, swinging chairs, and her own bathroom.

She created a special space for Mana (see photo) and has everything ready for his arrival.

Angie’s mother held a baby shower for her and invited key long-term friends who are all really excited to see Angie living her dream.

Penny and Angie had a lot of fun, and brought home some of the most amazing gluten free cake I’ve ever had! Go ladies go!

Rarely can I eat such things, but my soul gave me the green light on this one, and it was easy to digest and left no discomfort.

My mother has been very busy knitting clothing and related items for Mana too.

Above, you can see one of her amazing creations. I know they will feel great to Mana because my mother makes me sweaters and hats that I cherish as more valuable than gold. THANKS MOM!!

We’ve had a number of friends and students ask us if they could give us something for our baby, and we are very grateful for your offer to contribute.

If you would still like to contribute, Angie has set up a baby registry on Amazon.com, which you can find by searching Paul Chek or Angie Chek, or just click here on Angie’s Amazon Baby registry.

Matt Sorensen (CHEK Mentor) celebrates Holiday gifts.

CHEK Mentor, Matt Sorensen (CP3) celebrates receiving his Holiday gifts from the C.H.E.K Institute.

We were glad to share “The Vortex” by Ester and Jerry Hicks in audiobook format. If you haven’t read or listened to this book, it can do wonders for your mind and relationships!

I hope you enjoy the gifts Matt!

Mike Salemi moves closer to Russian Kettlebell Masters competition.

Mike Salemi and I just had a little Pow Wow to dialogue on his training as his next major competition approaches in Costa Mesa, CA. in a few weeks, where he’ll take another run at getting his Russian Masters in the 40 Kg class.

I asked him if he could share a little update with us all so we know what this stud athlete is doing. This is what Mike shared with me to share with you:

Following my morning training this past Saturday, which consisted of (2) 3 minute sets of KB Long Cycle (clean and jerks) at 38kg, I headed straight over to Richmond, CA to support two good buddies (Master of Sports) compete in the West Coast Classic KB Sport Championships – Chris Doenlen and Brittany van Schravendijk.

Chris recently moved here from the East Coast and is hands-down one of the USA’s top lifters and an all around solid guy. Training with him more often lately has been of great support to my training. Even though we compete in different events, we are about the same age, same weight class, and both 3 weeks out from a large competition in Southern California – The OKC Cali Open.

Both Chris and Brittany were incredible to watch. Chris set an absolute record in the 24kg Biathlon [10 minute (2) KB Jerk, combined with a 10 minute (1) KB Snatch] – 142 Jerks, and 202 snatches. Brittany van Schravendijk hit two PRs, one in the KB snatch, and then a MONSTER World Record in the female (2) KB Long Cycle. She accomplished a continuous 69 reps in 10 minutes with two 20kg bells!

Following the main competition, a USA vs Canada team competition was held, and just a few minutes before starting Chris asked me, “Yo Mike, would you hop in and compete against me in a 5 minute jerk sprint?”  Of course I was excited to see what I could do, test myself next to a lifter like Chris, and also put on a fun little show. I booked it to my car to slap on my lifting shoes, change into the same sweaty clothes I was training in earlier, and in a few minutes I was to be on the platform.

The weight was set at 18kg, so nothing super intense, but more of an all out sprint. We were pretty much neck and neck until the final minute, where Chris being a stud, pulled ahead of me by three reps to give Canada the win. Our jerk reps were 104 to 107 respectively. My triceps are sore today! Great times with great lifters, and also great friends.

Much love,
Mike

Well, that brings you up to date with my life and what I wanted to share today.

I hope you enjoyed my video blog to day.

I look forward to sharing more next week.

Love and chi,
Paul Chek