Spirit Gym with Paul Chek

Imagine you and your teenager are sitting down for a nice meal and she/he asks, “What do you know about depression?” and you’re stumped for an answer.
Faced with that question, D. (Doug) Earl Johnston set out to find the answer and, along the way, identified 271 additional and distinct emotional states that formed the basis of his latest book, Choosing Emotions: Thinking with Your Head and Acting with Your Heart.
Doug shares what he learned about the amazing array of emotions all of us feel and how they protect us this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Doug and his work at his website and on social media via Instagram. 
Timestamps
4:58 Doug’s daughter asked him a question he couldn’t answer: What do you know about depression?
10:42 Identifying 272 distinct emotional states through famous quotes.
21:41 Our emotions are tools that protect us.
32:15 The fundamental misunderstandings people have about emotions.
43:15 A consilience.
47:35 Name it, blame it and tame it.
56:30 “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
1:06:35 Where do you draw the line between an emotion, mood, condition, pattern or life?
1:23:54 “Can you change a default emotion?”
1:33:38 Doug’s reckoning with ego.
1:39:05 Vocabulary and emotions.
1:48:03 The domains of the head, heart and gut.
1:52:55 One of Paul’s guiding principles he learned from a student.
Resources
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown
The work of Rollo May, J.K. Rowling, Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Antonio Damasio, Jonathan Heidt, Daniel Kahneman, Niels Bohr, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Charles Kettering, Noam Chomsky, Dan Siegel, Stanley Krippner, Edgar Cayce and Sir Winston Churchill
Paul’s podcast conversations with Rollin McCraty and Keith Witt
How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Barrett
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Truman
The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk 
Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell
The Second Book of the Tao by Stephen Mitchell
Find more resources for this episode on our website.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music
Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute
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Once upon a time not so very long ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was a product of speculative science fiction, especially in films from Metropolis to Blade Runner.
Today, AI has so infiltrated our daily lives, the thought of not having access to Google or other AI-driven apps on our mobile phones and computers scares the crap out of a lot of people. 
Paul continues his investigation into AI with able assistance from author, Silicon Valley survivor and depth psychologist Elizabeth Nelson who explores the wide gulf between human and machine this week on Spirit Gym.
Check out Elizabeth’s essays and individual coaching groups, watch her video presentations and read her essays on her website.
Timestamps
7:54 Defining technology and machines.
12:05 Artificial intelligence, large language models (LLMs) or large language machines?
19:12 “Technology is not neutral.”
23:48 Confusing data and information with real knowledge.
29:50 The intrusion of machine language into our humanity.
37:45 The danger of LLMs emulating humans.
51:23 Exploring the gulf between human and cyborg/machine in books and films like Blade Runner.
57:23 When describing what AI does, calling it making crap up or AI slop is better than hallucinating.
1:08:26 Are we turning an it like AI into a being?
1:14:15 The irony of some people celebrating the end times while others turn to transhumanism.
1:38:18 Can you leave your tech toys at home for a week without feeling anxiety?
1:49:48 Why is it so important for humanity to understand very clearly what reality is?
Resources
Depth Psychology, Myth and Artificial Intelligence: Soul and the Machine, edited by Jason Batt and Jonathan Erickson
The Art of Jungian Couples Therapy: An Introduction by Elizabeth Nelson and Anthony Delmedico
The Art of Inquiry: A Depth Psychology Perspective by Elizabeth Nelson and Joseph Coppin
Psyche’s Knife: Archetypal Explorations of Love and Power by Elizabeth Nelson
Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies
Understanding Media: The Extension of Man by Marshall McLuhan and Lewis Lapham 
Elizabeth’s Psyche, Soma, Cyborg course at the Pacifica Graduate Institute
The Ship of Theseus (Theseus’s Paradox)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Exteroception
Elysium
The work of James Hillman and Edward Edinger
Paul’s podcast conversation with B. Earl
DNA: Pirates of the Sacred Spiral by Leonard Horowitz
Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
The Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World’s Religions by Huston Smith
The Social Dilemma on Netflix
Elizabeth’s presentation during the recent Soul and the Machine webinar on the International Society of Mythology website
Find more resources for this episode on our website.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music
Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

Thanks to its recent mainstream popularity, more people are turning to fasting as a means to promote better health and weight loss than ever before, but is it a good one? 
Fasting can be beneficial for some people but not everyone, and only if they really pay attention to what their bodies are telling them and are working with professionals like Sean McCormick, an expert in the realm of dry fasting.
Paul and Sean discuss the real world pros and cons of fasting and how a session of fasting, under the best and safest conditions, can be a life-changing Shamanic journey this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Sean and dry fasting on his website and Dry Fast With Friends where you can access a FREE Dry Fast Guide and masterclass video. Find Sean on social media via Instagram here and here. Listen to Sean’s Optimal Performance podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to them. 
For Spirit Gym listeners: Interested in taking the next step into dry fasting? Join Sean’s next Dry Fast With Friends 4.0 live event starting June 25 at Dry Fast With Friends. Save 50 PERCENT on the event or any other levels of dry fasting by using the promo code CHEK. (Special offers from Spirit Gym guests are time-sensitive and at their discretion to redeem after 30 days.)
Timestamps
4:28 Sean’s journey to performance optimization began when his parents taught him transcendental meditation at age 12.
11:17 Sean’s first dry fast was to impress a young woman who is now his wife during Ramadan.
29:32 Sean’s experiments with various fasting methods that are measurable.
35:13 Why dry fasting works best for Sean.
41:44 Pay attention to how your body reacts badly and well to fasting, then food and water afterward.
53:23 How a fast can be an introspective process.
1:02:07 Down and dirty with enemas.
1:12:11 Can you recognize you don’t know everything and be willing to refer a client to a health professional with more skills?
1:20:32 Dry fasting isn’t good for everyone, with the metabolic disruptions that occur in your body.
1:36:19 Treat fasting like a Shamanic journey, not a quick fix to lose weight.
Resources
The Phoenix Protocol: Dry Fasting For Rapid Healing and Radical Life Extension by Dr. August Dunning
Find more resources for this episode on our website.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music
Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

If someone asked you about your personal cosmology — who are you, why are you here and what is your role on our planet — what would you tell them? Or, more to the point, could you really answer the question?
For best-selling author Mark Gober, it took years for him to understand the huge gap between following a personal cosmology that was nihilistic, random, superficial and meaningless and living an intentional one that embraces Spirit and the divine in all of us. 
A decade passed before Mark was ready for his first plant medicine ceremony, and the healing work he did on developing his personal cosmology made all of the difference in creating a positive, intimate experience that keeps on delivering insights. 
Join Mark and Paul on a journey of discovery and lasting growth with help from plant medicines and learn why a personal cosmology matters this week on Spirit Gym.
Check out Mark and his work on his website and on social media via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Telegram.
Timestamps
3:46 Does our intellect or something in our biology block us being receptive to our natural state, especially as we age?
12:23 How plant medicines reconnect us to the various aspects of ourselves.
15:20 Amnesia is built into the human experience (with a large dose of ignorance thrown in).
22:27 Ibogaine: A medicine that loves through truth, even when it is painful.
31:12 Mark meets ibogaine.
44:00 It took a decade for Mark to be ready for his first plant medicine ceremony.
46:55 Mark’s four intentions going into his first plant medicine ceremony.
1:05:31 Self-betrayal: A form of self-loathing that our society trains us to do.
1:09:35 Ancestral trauma, underlying terror and catastrophic thinking.
1:17:27 “Whenever we heal for ourselves, we’re really healing for our family.”
1:26:54 The purpose of existence and authenticity is the only game in town.
1:32:07 A sign Mark was tapping into his divine guidance before his plant medicine ceremony: Writing a book about it.
Resources
An End to the Upside Down Cosmos by Mark Gober
Find more resources for this episode on our website.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music
Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

If you’re a parent, do you remember one day when you had fun with your kids doing things that weren’t tied down to going on a (rare) yearly vacation or a holiday gathering?
Unfortunately, most parents are living the lives of event planners, carting their kids from home to school, birthday parties, recitals, large family gatherings and too many youth sports and hardly anyone is having any fun (or getting much sleep).
Do you want to parent your kids in a more holistic, connected way that teaches them how to be their best selves and allows you to live your best life too? Robyn and Victor Robledo, the nomads with a purpose who raised their five kids on the road, will show you how this week on Spirit Gym.
Learn more about Robyn, Victor and their family at the Nomads With a Purpose website and Robyn’s website. Check out their adventures on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Contact Victor and Robyn via email for information about their services.
Timestamps
4:39 Building a business as a couple at age 20 on the fly and figuring it out.
8:11 Victor’s extreme adrenal fatigue and subsequent panic attack changed everything.
16:15 Victor’s collision course with trauma.
20:46 Leaving Southern California to explore the world.
29:24 Two parents and five kids living on the road on about 150 euros ($174) a day.
32:37 Paul’s collision course with seasonal affective disorder.
39:08 There's something amazing about waking up and choosing what you want to do today, not what you have to do.
47:53 Are you so afraid of your kids that they will reject you?
55:12 “There’s no self-growth in me sitting on the sidelines of another soccer game.”
1:04:54 What started as homeschooling eventually became unschooling.
1:13:09 Robyn and Victor raised a family of seven on roughly $4,000 per month while living on the road.
1:32:39 The Five Pillars of healthy living Robyn and Victor have used to build their family.
Resources
The Road Less Traveled: Why You Shouldn’t Give Up Your Comfy Couch, Hot Showers and Steady Paycheck by Robyn Robledo
Gabriela Robledo’s TEDx Talk on How to Find Purpose and Personal Power
Find more resources for this episode on our website.
Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music
Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute
We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.