The Shek Check

Grief is known by many names- sadness, joy, anger, love, fear...just to mention a few. It is experienced & felt in ways that are unique to each of us and our relationship to the people, places or things that we are grieving. While many voices in this world want to help by claiming that they are grief "experts", and while others are pathologizing grief or making up "stages of grief" to follow- at its core they cannot because grief is somewhere only we know- once we know it.Confus...

What if we met our anxiety WITH anxiety? When we struggle with anxious feelings and thoughts we usually look for control and certainty to calm down- but what if we don't need to calm down? What if our anxious feelings and thoughts don't need our calmness but to be rerouted instead? What if we in order to better handle our anxiety- we shifted the focus of our ruminations and intrusive thoughts to something...less personal than ourselves?In this episode Erez explores this and how it has shown u...

There are a lot of messages regarding anger and feeling angry. Being told it is bad, negative, and that it will drain you of your goodness. Hearing messages telling you to “manage" your anger or the importance to "calm down" when you are feeling angry. What if that was bullsh*t? At least some of the time.What if anger was not the dark violent storm you were taught it is? What if anger was actually the clarity to guide you in the storm? It is true that our emotions carry energy within us- so ...

For many people "stability" has been positioned as something we reach. Something we work towards or work for. A place we reach or find. How has that worked for you? While stability is officially defined as a quality, state or degree of being stable- what if we threw a wrench in that broad definition? What if you found a new understanding of stability- one that is entirely yours? Stability....the remix. Stability....YOUR remix. Have you checked in with The Shek Check on social media? Give us a...

If you are human than you have most likely experienced burn out in some form (in your form). So, what conversation are you having with yourself regarding burnout? What does it look like for you? How compassionate are you towards yourself when you are burnt out? How much of a human are you allowing yourself to be? How are you moving beyond? In this episode Erez talks about his recent experiences with burnout, his eventual acceptance of his human-ness and how moving beyond meant leaving a ...

Have we missed the point of understanding what drives us instead of where we are driving to? Goals Vs. ValuesWe live in a very goal and milestone centric society. We teach it in our schools and homes. They show up in our relationships, our work, our friendships, our families. They drive competitions and fuel comparison culture. There is an importance to having goals and milestones- they are destination points. Even though they keep moving and changing they serve us as motivation factors.The q...

What is toxic positivity? Toxic positivity is the belief that no matter how crappy something is, no matter what uncomfortable emotions we are feeling, no matter what the situation is- people need to find the “positive” side things and find a more positive mindset. The phrase “toxic positivity” has been popping up a lot lately, a lot more than it had been. Yet, it has always existed- the thinking has always existed. We are just calling it what it is now. Sometimes it is really obviou...

Body image issues are more common than we think and more than we openly discuss. The fitness and diet culture remind us of this constantly. Rebecca Kennedy has lived through the toxic side of those issues and that culture and now she is changing it by example. Rebecca Kennedy is a ACSM Certified Personal Trainer & NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist based in downtown Orlando, Florida. After struggling with being overweight (borderline obese) the majority of her life, she jumped into ...

The inner critic is what we call that inner voice that judges, criticizes and shames us. The thoughts surrounding actions, interactions, reactions, our choices and our behaviors- which can be harsh. We might hate on the inner critic for screwing with our self-esteem and our confidence, so in our self-awareness journey we might be convinced to get rid of the inner critic and those thoughts. Is that ultimately helpful though? Plot twist: The inner critic is not our enemy. ...

What is the mother wound? Who does it affect? How does it show up? The mother wound is not a specific diagnosis but it is something that affects us all. We are all born of a mother- and there are generations of beliefs and behaviors that get passed down from that. The roles mothers played in the past and in different cultures, how they survived to protect themselves and their children, how that affects the children they raise, and how it continues to get passed down in sons and daughter....