Happy Tuesday!
I hope you are all enjoying life, while riding the undulations of life, like Laird Hamilton rides the big waves.
In my blog today I will share:
1. A Rabbit With Horns! – Active Imagination
2. CHEK Advanced Training Program Completions
3. Upcoming CHEK 4-Quadrant Coaching Mastery Workshop
4. SHOW-N-TELL With Paul
5. Learn How to Grow your CHEK Business with Duncan Reeve Webinar
A Rabbit With Horns! – Active Imagination
My video blog (vlog) today is an exploration of active imagination. Active imagination is a term popularized by Carl Jung (and there are some technical differences in his rendition of it), but is a principle that has been used for as far back as religious and shamanic traditions go in various forms.
I chose this topic today for two reasons: 1) Because people from industrialized nations (it was those from the West, but no longer just “us”…) have such a hard time understanding, and using meditation and 2) I have a lot of experience using active imagination in my personal, spiritual life, and in my professional life.
Thich Nhat Hanh inspired me with his method also of using active imagination to help his monks and students.
I share an experience from my video about my youth in the presentation today to explain how active imagination can be “put to work” with practical application, so-to-speak. I feel very grounded sharing this with you.
I begin my presentation over-viewing what active imagination is, and how the Buddhists use it.
I share how we can use active imagination as a tool to meditate in a way that is actually more suitable for most people with active minds.
I show you how to put that busy mind to work “meditating” in a way that is probably more natural for many than “trying to get your mind to stop thinking or hoping that it will happen in meditation.”
To help you better understand active imagination, I explain in my own language and experience how the ego functions, and how through understanding the anatomy of the ego (as part of the psyche/soul/individual consciousness) from a broader context.
You can understand the kinds of experience people have, or can have, without specifically pointing it out.
What I share here goes against the dogmas of several religious teachings which are designed to control people, not empower or free them from the bondage of the ego.
I go through the six key points I felt were important to understand with regard to how active imagination works, and how it can be a helpful tool.
I finish with six different tips and resources to help you grow yourself spiritually/consciously.
I hope you enjoy this journey into active imagination!
CHEK Advanced Training Program Completions
HLC1, NYC with Ashley Mazurek
Ashley Mazurek had a lovely class of students who completed 3 days together, and I’m sure they really enjoyed Ashley.
Ashely is a mother and has a long history of elite level athletic competition and completed CHEK Level 4 many years ago. She’s truly a well-experience, skilled teacher of the CHEK Holistic Lifestyle methods.
I am excited to celebrate you all sharing the mission of the CHEK Institute, which is to be living examples of health and well-being for the world.
HLC1, UK with Jennie Delbridge
Jenny Delbridge completed HLC 1 in the UK this past weekend with a lovely big class.
I’m quite confident that the students were more than impressed with Jenny, who like Ashley, is a mother and has a lot of experience living and teaching CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coaching principles.
I’m also confident that each of you students came to share something special with Jennie as a gift to her as I know how much she appreciates each of you.
HLC1, Perth, AU with Jo Rushton
What can I say? Jo Rushton is on a roll teaching! I’ve known Jo for many many years, and I have to say, she is one amazing, knowledgeable woman!
Thank you to ALL of you – I’m excited to have each of you join the CHEK Institute in fulfilling its mission, vision and values as a gift to those you touch, and the world.
By living our core values is to “walk lightly on Mother Nature”.
I am looking forward to meeting you as you advance to HLC2 or HLC3 along the way!
To register for any of our upcoming live conference workshops, monthly educational webinars, e-learning opportunities, and Advanced Training Programs through the C.H.E.K Institute, visit our website.
I’ll be traveling to the UK next month to teach my 6-day course, HLC3 May 10-15, and my latest workshop below.
Upcoming CHEK 4-Quadrant Coaching Mastery Workshop
I’m very excited to be teaching my new CHEK 4-Quadrant Coaching Mastery workshops in the UK, May 19-22, and in the US, September, 15-18, 2016 in San Diego.
This live workshop is designed to give an extensive, powerful tool kit to anyone in the helping professions who coach, mentor or guide people.
I share what holistic coaching really is, and how to offer it to yourself first, and then take your authentic experiences of using the tools on yourself into your practice.
Most coaching focuses on specifics. Coaching a specific sport, accomplishing a specific objective (such as making more money, mastering a skill, such as flying an airplane, or hitting a ball farther) can be helpful, but often ignores the rest of the person being coached.
This shows up as challenges for our clients and the coach frequently when implementing the changes coaches suggest, hitting plateaus and getting stuck there, or as health conditions not improving.
My program was designed to help all CHEK Professionals truly live their dreams, explore, heal, and master themselves so they can easily guide others from a place of authenticity.
I created the program so that anyone from any field of interest where leading others is involved could get the same training without any previous C.H.E.K Institute training.
I use this model myself with my own clients and feel that this is very powerful, and unique, not to mention “needed” program methodology in the world today.
Because the course is comprehensive, I’m offering each workshop participant free access to the on-line course once we go live later this year. This will allow me to focus on the key elements of the training that are more easily facilitated by a skilled instructor in the room so questions can be answered on a personal level as needed.
The course is designed to “use you” as the subject, or first person as you apply the CHEK 4-Quadrant Coaching Mastery methods.
I’m very confident that anyone attending will have a life transforming experience . If you would like to see the learning objectives and learn more of the specifics I offer in this powerful 4-day workshop.
I look forward to meeting you there!
SHOW-N-TELL With Paul
Not long ago, we got an amazing and special gift for Mana from our very amazing and special friends, Mark, Kristina, Jared and Velisa.
It is a very cool, lightweight, high-tech baby jogger with all sorts of cool features.
Angie and Penny assembled it and we got a chance to take Mana out for his first ride in it this weekend. He loved it!
We took him up the steepest hills in our area, across lots of bumps and rugged road and, like his daddy, the faster and bumper the more he liked it!!! Thank you again Mark, Kristina, Jared and Velisa!
We, and Mana really love this amazing gift and will express our gratitude every time we use it.
I’d also like to say a HUGE “THANK YOU” to all of you who sent gifts to Mana from our baby registry.
We were amazed and feel very blessed with all the support. It really is a big event, and an “expensive event” to have a baby these days, so all the support allowed us to have an easier transition. Thank you again!
I can’t remember if I shared this photo on my last blog, but I love this one. My mother is a highly skilled craftswoman, sculptor (you can see her book and works at https://www.humanitariansculpture.com), spinner, weaver, knitter, and in general, very creative woman.
She has made me several amazing sweaters and caps, and has even been hired by a few of my clients to make some sculptures and sweaters for some of my clients.
My mother made this beautiful sweater and cap for Mana, and I just love how nice it looks and fits on him, so couldn’t resist sharing it to celebrate my amazing mother, and my special little guy, Mana. He’s waiting to meet his Grandma, Grandpa and brother on my side of the family and that will be great fun.
Angie wanted to put some muscle back on fast after her pregnancy, so we experimented with some natural testosterone boosters, which must have come through her milk. Within three days of starting them, this is what happened to Mana!
Don’t worry, she’s off them now because we don’t have time to shave Mana’s body every day, and don’t want him mistaken for a chimp.
We had our first rattlesnake visit this spring the other day just after my client Jason arrived.
Vidya caught this beautiful being on camera as she was doing some work outside. An interesting correlation is that this snake showed up exactly where our first rattler showed up a few years ago right when Jason’s mother arrived to visit us here in the Heaven house.
The rattlesnake energy is strong in this family, which is pretty cool if you take the time to look into the Mayan connection to and beliefs about the rattlesnake!
Personally, I love them. I always hope I get to see them when I’m walking around outside.
They can scare you though; last summer I was lifting stones in my stone circle, and went to grab a big stone only to feel something oddly “skin-like” on my fingers. I quickly pulled my hand away…a rattlesnake was sleeping right against the bottom of the stone. It was so well camouflaged that even looking carefully from a few feet away, I couldn’t see it!
Thank God I could feel it and got my hand out before it woke up. I gave the rock a little tap with a stone and it woke up and went away.
Mike Salemi has coached with me for about 2.5 years, and he recently achieved a national record in his Russian Kettlebell event.
Mike and I were excited to see each other to celebrate our progressive climb from the point of him coming to me injured, to reaching the best level of conditioning and performance in his life.
We spent Sunday together and we both painted. Something we both loving doing.
Mike painted his Power Animal, and I continued working on my yearly mandala. Thanks for sharing your love and presence with me Mike; and great job on the art too!
Mike learned enough from me that he can coach himself now, and I’m working as a consultant to him, which is lovely for me to see. He also coaches other athletes, and just ran his first workshop in San Diego this Saturday.
He had a great turnout and really loved sharing his approach to kettlebell mastery. Mike will be working with the CHEK Institute and I to put more of his workshops on in the future while I finish some pending projects.
We plan to put together an amazing on-line kettlebell training program, hopefully in the first half of 2017, but are excited to share Mike’s expertise through live workshops until then.
If you would like to be notified of C.H.E.K Institute Kettbell workshops with Mike Salemi, please put yourself on our mailing list if you are not already on it, or contact Bianca our Customer Service rep: info@chekinstitute.com
Angie’s mother (Maria) came to see Mana and spend the day painting with Angie, Mike and I; yes, it was like a painting workshop here on Sunday, and great fun too!
They both painted beautiful dragonflies, and as you can see, Angie’s mother is quite a talented artist too! Mana has a lot of “art-power” coming from his Grandmothers on either side of the family!
Maria LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Mana and it is always great to see Mana getting so much love from her, and all of us. Mike even enjoyed holding Mana for a while; I’m getting him ready for when his little athlete arrives!
Thank you for sharing your day with us Maria. It was lovely to see where Angie gets her artistic capabilities from.
What are Successful C.H.E.K Practitioners Doing to Earn A 6-Figure Income?
For those of you interested in making a better income, and mastering business management skills, Jennie Delbridge and her partner, Duncan Reeve of Peak of Wellbeing will be conducting an on-line business education series via webinar. To learn more from this very successful couple, click here: https://webinar.peakofwellbeing.com/
Just enter our code: CHEKPOW when you register.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my blog today.
I am positive if you try some active imagination as meditation you’ll have lots of fun with it. The greatest minds among humanity have all been great users of their imagination. We could use some good “out of the box” problem solving to help heal the world right now, so the more of us that practice and contribute, the better!
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
