Hello!
I hope you enjoyed my blog series on Happiness & Heart :-)
I’ve just come back from a fantastic trip to Toronto to lecture at the SWIS 2016 Symposium.
I’m headed to the mountains for a few days this week to get away from electronics and spend some quality time with my family.
I’ll have a chance to do some relaxing reading and some art. I am really looking forward to some nature quiet time.
In my blog today I’ll share:
1. Start Your Day With Love!
2. Show-N-Tell With Paul
Start Your Day With Love! (only 4:00!)
My vlog today demonstrates a simple but very powerful way to start your day that I’ve been teaching and practicing for many years, and one that’s inspired by the work of Virginia Satir, a famous child and family psychologist and a very wise, loving woman.
I highly recommend her books, and the two DVD interviews she did on Jeffery Mishlove’s Thinking Allowed TV program. You can check them out here.
This simple practice I share here can truly change the whole way you feel as you enter your day.
They can help cultivate love, esteem and self-respect within yourself. From that place, we all have something authentic to share with the world each day.
I hope you enjoy this short video today!
Show-N-Tell With Paul
SWIS 2016 Symposium
Ken Kinakin, DC, founder of the Society of Weight-Training Injury Specialists (SWIS) Symposium told me he was really happy with the turnout and quality of the presentations.
I flew in with one day to rest, then rested Saturday until it was time to go give my presentation, so I didn’t get to see any other presentations this year.
I wanted to get home to my little family as quickly as possible. The last time, I was away from Mana for six days and he got really upset. He saw me on FaceTime and held his arms out like he wanted me to hug or pick him up and really got upset when I couldn’t do that.
It was like an arrow going through my heart, so this time I kept the trip as short as possible.
I did get to see some of my friends and students there, which was great.
I had a couple from India in my lecture who waited until after my presentation to inform me that they had flown all the way to Toronto to attend the conference just so they could meet me and see it.
That was pretty cool. I was grateful to have met them.
In my presentation, I showed that there are many important factors beyond the physical that must be addressed if we are to be effective in addressing why so many people have back pain, and why so many of them don’t ever rehabilitate effectively after they do. It’s important to remember that these same issues are relevant to ALL physical pain too!
I shared diagrams outlining how consciousness grows and develops.
When I got to stage 4 (Choice) in Arthur M. Young’s model of the stages of conscious growth in human beings, I pointed out to the audience that one of the key features of achieving this level of development is that we must accept that there are no short cuts in life!
I made this point, and directed the attention of students to the many tables in the hallway selling “pill, powders and props” of various sorts, and pointed out that this is a common feature of all conferences with very few exceptions.
Part of the challenge we face in our conscious growth and development is centering ourselves in a love of what we are doing, and doing the real work of making that a sustainable labor of love.
I covered Ken Wilber’s 4-Quadrant model, showing that to address anyone effectively, be they an individual, athlete or injured person, we must always look into their Personal Interior (their thoughts, feelings, emotions, beliefs, and the values that support them).
Unfortunately, too many are fixated with the Personal Exterior that drives the perpetual sales of gimmicks, magic bullets and quick fixes or, simply, incomplete approaches.
It is the mindset of Personal Exterior-oriented people, however, that assumes consciousness is a byproduct of brain activity.
This orientation is one that overlooks that “matter can’t create something more complex than matter,” as none of us are unlikely to find a watch that can out-think its maker.
I made the point that we are in a Scientific Materialistic culture that worships the Personal Exterior. This is the upper-right quadrant in Ken Wilber’s model that deals with things about a person that can be “weighted or measured,” such as lab tests can address.
The point here is that what we see in the Personal Exterior quadrant is “what has happened” (usually through their symptoms profile) but doesn’t tell us as therapists, coaches, trainers or doctors “why it happened.”
There were MANY people/athletes (male and female) at the conference that had clear indicators of steroid use, and many more who showed countless signs of poor health (fit sick people).
The most common symptom profile I saw among people there was “adrenal exhaustion.”
I watched as people shopped the booths, and could clearly see, as usual, that most of what was being offered by vendors was being considered as a means of accomplishing one’s goals FASTER, but without any awareness of health essentials.
The Collective Interior, the lower left quadrant, includes all the “We” relationships, from family dynamics outward into social circles which are just as important and influencial.
I also highlighted that the Collective Exterior, the lower right quadrant, which is all places or things we use to live our lives, be they computers, electronics, gyms, schools, road systems, etc. also influence each of us.
I encouraged the students in my lecture to look into the strength accomplishments of Eugen Sandow, who was able to set records I doubt could be broken today, even with the use of drugs and magic bullets.
Sandow did many incredible strength feats in the late 1800s and founded the first bodybuilding show around 1901. The kicker here: He had no access to vitamins, protein powers or drugs then.
He did it all through functional training, diet and a supportive lifestyle. He did like to drink and have fun with the ladies, but seemed to be able to manage that well enough to be the strongest man in the world for many years!
I recall seeing a YouTube video of Sandow doing a back flip with a 25 KG (50+ pounds) in each hand. I’d love to see even our best Olympic lifting champions try that one!
His book entitled, “Life Is Movement” is a masterful work, and was a source of inspiration in my own practices and teachings.
I had some very intelligent questions and comments from people at the end of my lecture, so it was nice to see that there were people there who were mature enough to see beyond the surface of the mirror.
I’m grateful to Ken for inviting me to speak. It shows he’s not afraid to question convention, and his educational objectives are to offer people a balance of opinions so they can make an informed choice for themselves.
Thanks to my buddy Rory, who was an excellent host while I was in Toronto, and Johnny Giroux for being there to shuttle me from airport to event.
It was great to see Tomi Toles too!
Excellent Performance From Fitter First
Louis and Margaret Stack, owners of Fitter First in Calgary, Alberta, have been big supporters of the C.H.E.K Institute for many years.
Some of you may recognize Louis Stack from my Scientific Core Conditioning Videos/DVDs as the guy doing the one-legged ski exercise on one of many balance enhancement devices Fitter sells.
Fitter recently won the Health and Wellness Category for EY Entrepreneur of the year for the prairie region in Canada.
Please help Penny and me congratulate Louis, Margaret (his wife), and the Fitter First Team for being such great contributors to functional exercise for all the many years we’ve known and worked with them.
GREAT JOB FITTER!
If you would like to see the amazing array of health and exercise products Fitter has available, feel free to click here: https://www.fitter1.com/
Angie’s 41st Birthday Celebrations
Angie had her 41st birthday the other day. Unfortunately, I was traveling road to Toronto, but celebrated with her before I left.
I’m very proud of her. She’s accomplished in so many ways, and has got herself back into great shape while being a full-time mother.
She takes Mana out and does hill sprints with he and Maggie in their Baby Jogger, wears Mana in the gym and works out with him, and eats like a pro each day.
She’s now within 4 pounds of her pre-pregnancy weight, which is mostly beast milk!
Angie is a great example to many mothers out there, and I’m glad I get to grow through all of these stages with her, Mana and Penny. 
Angie’s mother, Maria, Penny, Mana and Maggie had a lovely night out for Angie’s birthday dinner.
Grandma really LOVES her little Mana, and Penny too.
Angie informed me that Mana was very good at the restaurant.
Angie said he was into everything they were doing with food prep and delivery, and enjoyed seeing people and smiling at them. She said he loved the food too!
Mana was very busy helping Momma and Grandma carve Halloween pumpkins. He absolutely LOVES any opportunity to open, tap, explore, change and figure things out.
The pumpkins look cool at night and I’m glad they all had so much fun while I was away lecturing in Toronto.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog today.
I look forward to sharing the beginning of a new 3-part series next Monday.
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
