My name is Emma Taylor, and I'm a Romance language major with French and Italian and an Art History minor, and I'm a graduating senior. So Rudy is important because it's where I've taken my language classes since my first year. I would say I've grown in my time of Mount Holyoke through language learning. I decided to study abroad in Italy for a whole year, having never set foot in the country before. And I think that sense of feeling confident and powerful came from language learning. I kind of decided on a way in my second semester to start learning Italian just for fun and then had such a good experience with my professor that I decided to take another semester and then another semester. I definitely think language learning has changed me. I've met people that I never thought I would have met, whether that's here at Mount Holyoke or abroad. I don't think that would have happened had I not just had that kind of swear of the moment decision at Mount Holyoke to start taking it to Italian.


Ang karunungan ay kapangyarihan. Let's put that power to the test here on K-Check. To everyone, I'm Jules Guyang and this is K-Check. Muli namin kayong inibitahan for another season of teaching and learning. Patuloy pa rin ang pagahanap natin ng mga gustong sanayin at palawakin ang brain power nila through competition. Alamin natin kung kaya nila ang brain workout na inihanda natin for them this season. Samahan nyo kami until the final week of competition when we reveal a new K-Check champion. Apatakontestans ang dadaan sa ating karunungan check sa araw na ito.  She loves physical activities and sports, but also loves sleeping. Her top artist on Spotify for 2023 is Keshi.  He also enjoys watching movies and doing arts and crafts during his free time. Although he is an introvert, he still makes time to go out. Up next, we have Ansel. Ansel is a senior in UP, but remains afreshi at heart. He studies sports science and his hobbies include reading trash manga or manwa and playing games. If he had to list one thing he's good at, he'd say arm wrestling. And finally, we have Ayan. Ayan is a second-year student in UP Dileman studying Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. She loves to travel and she is hoping to travel the wonders of the world before she reaches the age of 35. These four will be competing under the watchful eyes of today's K-Check panel of experts. Firstly, we have Professor Neil Santillian, former chairperson of the UP Dileman Department of History. Next, we have Professor Glesy Atienza of the College of Arts and Letters from UP Dileman. And finally, we have Professor Ben Valiejo of the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology. At ngayon, contestant, na rito na ang first round, which is also your first opportunity to earn points. Buzz in, but wait till you're acknowledged before you answer para disayang ang effort. Each correct answer is worth 10 points. Let's begin. Let's begin. Question number one. Opening in 1995. What 25-hectare theme park can you find in the city of Santa Rosa Laguna? Enchanted Kingdom. Enchanted Kingdom is correct. K-Check. Ano ang favorite ride mo dun? Yung Space Shuttle. Space Shuttle. Kaya rin lahat nangpunta na dun. Okay. Sige, po kung tatayo dun ulit. Next question number two. In what Olympic sport are there events, butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke? Ayin. Swimming. Swimming is correct. K-Check. Question number three. What three-letter word refers to water below zero degree Celsius? In. Ice. Ice is correct. K-Check. Question number four. What princess turned into an ogre at the animated movie Shrek? Ayin. Princess Fiona. Princess Fiona or Fiona is correct. K-Check. Question number five. In what country can you find remnants of more than 20,000 kilometer long great wall? Yeshua. China. China is correct. K-Check. Question number six. What Spanish term that may be translated refers to the Christmas Eve feast that begins at midnight? Nochabuenas. In. Buenos noches. Nochabuenas. Unfortunately, Ayin, I couldn't accept your answer because you answered before I acknowledged your name. So I need to read the question again. Question number six is what Spanish term Ayin? Nochabuenas. Okay, let me proceed with the question. What Spanish term may be translated refers to the Christmas Eve feast that begins at midnight? Your answer is no. She already buzzed in. The answer of Ayin is Nochabuenas that is correct. K-Check. Question number seven. Budapest is the capital city of what European country? In. Amsterdam. Amsterdam is Malay. Anyone can steal? The correct answer is Hungary. Question number eight. Who was elected vice president during the 2016 Philippine presidential elections? Yeshua. Vice president Lenny Robredo. Lenny Robredo or Leonor Lenny Robredo is correct. K-Check. Question number nine. In elementary math. What is half of the product of 12 and 10 and sell? 60. 60 is correct. K-Check. So lahat po sila ay may points na at this moment. Question number ten. Which capital of the UK hosted the 2012 Summer Olympic? Ansel. England. England is Malay. Anyone can steal? The correct answer is London. London. Yes, London. Dun tumugtog ang spice girls. Na-abutan nyo ba sila? Hindi. Hindi. Okay. Dun sila nag-reunion. Question number 11. What is the official currency of Japan? Ayan. Yen. Yen is correct. K-Check. Ayan for Yen. Okay. Last question for this round. Number 12. What television game show was hosted by Richard Dawson during the 1970s and 1980s and now has Ding Dong Dante as our local game master? Ayan. Family Feud is correct. K-Check. And that ends round number one. Let's have a quick recap of their scores. Leading at this point is Ayan with 60 points followed by Yeshua with 20 points, Ayan and Ansel tied with 10 points. Congratulations. So, bago tayo magpatuloy, ang ginagawa natin usually dito sa K-Check ay kinikilalan natin yung mga contestant. Sisi mo lang natin sayo. Yeshua. Yeshua, your Miss Universe question for today is alin ang mas matimbang sayo? Ang sports or ang sleeping and why? Kailang po ba one answer? Kailangan po one answer lang. Sige, ito pabago mo sa rote. Ano ang statistics mo sa dalawang bagay? Siguro po for me it'll be 70% sleep and 30% physical activities or sports I think that rest is very important and dun ko talaga na huwaya energi ko for my physical activities. Tama nga naman. Paano ka magkakapag physical activity kong pag-wrote? Thank you so much, Yeshua. Ngayon naman tanungin naman natin si Ayan. So, si Ayan ay isang self-confessed introvert na lumalapas naman the ones in a while. Ano ba ang maaaring hindi alam na mata o sa mga introverts? Kiko kasi po yung for introverts, akala nila hindi naghasalita yun po, very shy. I think po naman pag-comfortable ka na sa tao magigay madal-dal ka nila. So, kung sa close friends mo even though introverts ako madal-dal nila nga sa kanila. Thank you so much, Ayan, for sharing that. So, kumimafrends tayo ng introvert. Tapaglagi kang kinaka-usag, ibig sabi head, may closeness na kayo. Thank you so much. Harami silamat sa inyo. Tapendin natin yung ibang contestants. So, we are now midway in the competition at susunod na ang round two. Lahat ng iyan, sa pagbabalik ng K-check. And welcome back to K-check. Point three ka po na tayo ng ating ma-contestants. Leading sa atin, ay si Ayan with 60 points, followed by Yeshua with 20 points at tide naman with 10 points each, si Ayan at Ansel. Okay, tuloy natin kwentuhan natin si Ansel naman. What do you mean you are a fourth year student but still remain afreshi at heart? Fourth year ako, physically, but mentally, I'm afreshi. It starts with, you know how there has been a pandemic in 2020. I'm actually the batch that the pandemic started with. So, I'm a batch 2020 student now needing my fourth year in this university. So, wala kayong campus life for about two years. More? Yes. Okay, so I guess the whole batch, parang ganyan yung feeling na go-wander din kayo. Akala nyo lugar yung ETA? Hindi naman. Okay, maraming salamat sa'y Ansel. Si Ayan naman, bakit may tanning on travels mo at dapat makita mo na ang buong mundo before the age of 35. Ano pang meron after that? Para fresh putig nang sa future. Para young at pictures parin po tayo na ipapos sa Instagram naba. Ilang taong labang ngayon ayan? Ah, 20 po. Ah, 20. Pero pa doon po 18. So, meron ka pang 15 years pa para magliwaliw sa buong mundo. Okay, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat sa pag-share na inyong mga storya. And now it's time for round two. So, concentrate, strategize and go for those points. Correct answers are 20 points each but you lose 10 points if you answer incorrectly. Let's begin. Question number one. Which English playwright wrote the comedy, The Merchant of Venice? Ancel. Shakespeare? Shakespeare or William Shakespeare is correct. K-check. Question number two. Which Ilongo reform is founded the newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona, Spain? Jesua. Jose Rizal? Jose Rizal is Malik. Anyone can steal. The correct answer is Graciano Lopez Haina. Question number three. What plant of the nightshade family is widely cultivated in the Ilocos region and whose leaves are dried and processed to make cigars and cigarettes? Tobacco. Tobacco is correct. K-check. Question number four. Which gray or green-skinned superhero out of Marvel Comics? Jesua. Hulk? Hulk? Let me proceed with a question. Marvel Comics was originally Robert Bruce Banner overdosing on gamma radiation. Hulk or Hulk or the Incredible Hulk is correct. K-check. Question number five. What is the measure of the quality of gold expressed as a number up to 24? In... Karat? Karat is correct. K-check. Question number six. In music. Of the four standard voices, what is the highest pitched male voice? Ansel. Falsetto? Falsetto is Malik. Jesua. Tenor? Tenor is correct. K-check. Question number seven. What large South American country is the largest producer of coffee in the world? More than 2 million tons a year. The correct answer is Brazil. Now you know. Question number eight. In math. What do you call the figure formed when two race meet at a common point called a vertex? Ansel. Point? Point is Malik. Anyone can steal? Okay, ayon. Intersection? Intersection is Malik. Anyone can still steal? Okay, the correct answer is Angal. One of the most common fears is of idiophobia, which is the morbid fear of what reptile? Ansel. Spiders? Spiders is Malik. Anyone? Pwede ba mag-steal? The correct answer is Snake. Question number ten. What term for a top official in the Imperial Chinese bureaucracy is also the name of the most widely spoken form of the Chinese language? The correct answer is Mandarin. Question number eleven. Which great French military leader in statesman is the title role that Joaquin Phoenix plays in the 2023 film by Ridley Scott? Ansel. Napoleon. Napoleon is correct. Gate check. Last question for this round. Number twelve. What do you call a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water but is connected? Yes, Joaquin. Archipelago? Archipelago is Malik. Let me continue with the question. Surrounded by water but is connected to the mainland on one side just like Zambuanga or Bataal. Ansel. Peninsula. Peninsula is correct. Gate check. And that ends round number two. Points three kaputayo after the round tied with 50 points each, si Ansel and ayed. And tied at second place with 40 points each, si Yeshua and Ansel. Our ultimate pagalingan round is next. Here on, gate check. Welcome back everyone. Points three kaputayo after that round. We have ayed and ayed tied with 50 points each. And then we have Yeshua tied with Ansel with 40 points each. Congratulations. But of course, the race to finish on top continues with our ultimate pagalingan round. Remember sa ating panel of experts magagaling ang mga katanungan. The end of this round will reveal our daily winner. Here, correct answers are worth 30 points each at my 15-point deduction for wrong answers. Good luck and let's begin. Our first question will come from Surinim. World history. Anong sabili sa siyong nagtaguyod ng ka-isipan immortality o immortalidad sa pagpapatakbo na isang lipuna. A. ihipto. B. gresha. C. mesopotamia. B. roma. E. turcom ottoman. Ansel. C. mesopotamia. Bale. B. gresha. Bale. N. A. ihipto. Pawag sa kanila mga pinuno ay fero. Abang ginawang pyramid para sa kanila mga fero ay ang ganap na patuto para sa ka-isipang ito. Antamang sagot ay letter A. ihipto. K-check. Okay, ang susurod na tanong ano ang anit sa English? Letter A. hair. Letter B. head. Letter C. ears. Letter D. scalp. Letter E. Letter D. scalp. The correct answer is letter D. scalp. K-check. Question is on geography. What is the largest sandy desert on earth? A. goby. B. great australian. C. taklamakan. D. sahara. E. patagonyan. Letter D. sahara. That is correct. The correct answer is sahara. It means big sandy desert. World history ulit. Which treaty marked the end of World War II in Asia? A. Treaty of Kanagawa. B. Treaty of Paris. C. Treaty of San Francisco. D. Treaty of Tokyo. E. Treaty of Vladivostok. B. Treaty of Paris. Bale. Nagbigaydaan ang tratadong ito sa paggina ng Kapangyariang Imperial ng Japan. Ang tamang sagot ay letter C. Treaty of San Francisco. B. Propless ego ahead. Okay, sa usapang dance. What is the popular name of this popular dance which uses coconut shells and skillful body coordination? Letter A. maglalatik. Letter B. maglalaba. Letter C. magtutulak. Letter D. magpuputik. And letter E. Letter A. maglalatik. The correct answer is maglalatik. Letter A. Ito yung ginagawaan yung elementari. Yung demo. Thank you. K. Chex. K. Chex. Okay, Prof Ben. Ito ay kung talagang nakining kayo at binasan nyo ang No Limit Tanghir ni Dr. Jose Rizal. Dr. Jose Rizal was observant of his environment even on the fish of Laguna De Bay. Which fish was not listed by Rizal in the No Limit Tanghir? A. Bia. B. Ayungin. C. Plapla. D. Banak. And E. Wanwan. Nakasagot. So lahat nung nilista ni Dr. Rizal ay nanduon sa Laguna Lake na native. The right answer is C. Plapla. Ito ay tilapya, which was only introduced after World War II. Thank you. Wala pa na BPI 100 sa inyo. Wala pa. Okay. Prof Nili. Nag-guto mo kung sa tanong. Sir. Okay. Ito yung susolo na tanong Southeast Asian History. Ano ang pinakalaganap na riliyon sa Pangkapuloang Timok Silangang Asya o Island or slash Maritime Southeast Asia? A. Animismo. B. Buddhismo. C. Hinduismo. B. Islam. E. Christianismo. B. Islam. Bahagi ng Island Southeast Asia ang mga Bansang Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei karamihan ng mga taurito ay mga Muslim. Ang tamang sagot ay letter D Islam K-check. Thank you. Prof Nili. O usapang bisdak. This marketplace is one of the busiest business areas in Davao City. It has witnessed numerous events such as the infamous bombing in the 80s, which has been memorialized in Joey Ayala's Ethno Rock song. What is the name of this marketplace in Davao City? Letter A, Bang Kerohan. Letter B, Mit Sayap. Letter C, Toril. Letter D, Mintal. Letter E, Alde Vingo. Sir is Bang Kerohan. Dagan, dagan, dagan. Thank you so much. Prof Ben, go ahead. Okay, this is about related to what we experienced in the last three years, right? What was the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease? A, smallpox. B, typhoid. C, tetanus. D, rabies. And E, COVID-19. Ansel. E, COVID-19? Malia, that's not the right answer. Anyone can steal? The answer is A, smallpox. It was Dr. Edward Jenner who first developed it in the 1700s. Okay, so we're now off to our last set of questions for this round. Prof Neil, go ahead.  A, arabo. B, persano. C, ottoman. B, seljok. E, romano. Ansel. C, ottoman. Balik. Yung sagot ni Ansel, silang nanghiram mula sa mga seljok. Para simulan yung tradition ng sultanato. Ang tama ang sagot ay letter D, seljok. Prof Blessie, go ahead. Usapang OOTD. Who was this national artist for fashion design who introduced the use of the zipper and the iconic butterfly sleeves for the terna? Letter A, Ray Valera. Letter B, Ramon Valera. Letter C, Michael San Diego. Letter D, Penny Chan. Letter E, Bitoy Moren. The correct answer is letter B, Ramon Valera. Last question from Prof Ben. Philippine biodiversity question. The Philippine eagle is a member of the blank eagle subfamily. A, harpy. B, snake. C, booted. D, sea eagle. E, imperial eagle. Ansel. E, imperial eagle. Malihay. That's not correct. Snake? B, snake. Ah, you got it right. Okay, that's the right answer. The Philippine eagle is closely related to eagles that eat snakes and these eagles are quite small. The Philippine eagle is the biggest. K-check. Okay, thank you so much and that's it for K-check Ultimate Pagalingan. And congratulations to Yeshua, our K-check daily winner with a final score of 130 points. Congratulations. Thank you. Here you go. So we'll see Yeshua again tomorrow when she competes with our other daily winners for a spot in our semifinals. And of course, thank you to Ayn, to Ansel, and to Ayan for participating. And of course to our panel of experts, Professor Neil, Professor Glesy, and Professor Ben. Once again, I'm Jules Giang. Join us again tomorrow for another K-check.


So, back in 2019, it seemed like Donald Trump was going to cruise to re-election. Even if Bernie were the nominee, I don't think it would have been a foregone conclusion that Bernie Sanders would have defeated Donald Trump. I do think Bernie would have been the strongest candidate against Donald Trump. But the media would have gone along with this narrative that, you know, the economy is doing great, even if the working class is being left out. And ultimately, I think that he would brag and a Democrat wouldn't be able to respond to that. And they'd get caught in that same trap that Hillary Clinton was stuck in in 2016, where they had to respond to every single criticism. And he would just win. However, having said that COVID-19 and the subsequent economic crash has changed the trajectory of the selection, it put Donald Trump's re-election campaign in danger. He now could lose because of the changes that we all saw took place this year. So, I mean, I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to logically deduce that it's probably going to be Biden who pulls off this victory because whenever there's an economic crash or disaster, it's usually the incumbent president who gets blamed. And 538 has already projected that Biden is currently the favorite to win, as he defeated Donald Trump 73 out of 100 times in their simulation. Now, if you are curious how Hillary Clinton fared, well, according to 538's projection in 2016, they also projected her to be the winner, saying she had about a 71 percent chance of beating Donald Trump. We all know how that turned out. Now, currently at this point in time, Joe Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton in one really important area, national polling averages. He's currently two points ahead of her nationally at this same point in time in the 2016 election. So, she had a 5.4 percent lead over Donald Trump in August 24th, 2016. But Biden has a 7.6 percent lead over Donald Trump, which is important because you want to make sure that you have a really large cushion so that way if there's any sort of October surprise or whatever, if you will, you know, you can absorb that blow and still be relatively comfortable going up against him on election day. Now, that is just the national lead. And that gives us an indication that Joe Biden is probably the favorite to win the popular vote. But what we really care about is the electoral vote because we want to make sure that Joe Biden reaches that magical number of 270 because that is the only way you're going to be able to unseat Donald Trump. So you can win the popular vote as Hillary did and still lose the election ultimately. So in crucial swing states that Hillary Clinton lost, well, how is Biden doing in comparison with Hillary Clinton at the same point in time in 2016? Unfortunately, he's doing way worse than Hillary Clinton in some instances in most states. So in Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton had an 11.5 percent lead as of August 24th, 2016. But Joe Biden has a 6.5 percent lead. Now, let me remind you that Hillary Clinton ended up losing Wisconsin by a single percentage point in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton had a 9.2 percent lead while Joe Biden now has a 5.7 percent lead. Hillary Clinton went on to lose that state by 1.2 percent in North Carolina. Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump by 1.7 percent while Biden now leads him by 0.6 percent. Hillary Clinton went on to lose that state as well by 3.8 percentage points. In Florida, Hillary Clinton had a 3.6 percent lead. But in this state, Biden is actually doing better than Hillary Clinton with a 5 percent lead. But let me remind you that Hillary Clinton ended up losing Florida by 1.3 percent. So hopefully Joe can actually pull out a win here since he does have a larger cushion. In the state of Michigan, Hillary had an eight point lead. Biden now has a 6.7 point lead. Hillary ended up losing the state by 0.3 percent. In Ohio, Clinton nearly had a five point lead. Biden only has a 2.3 percent lead. Trump won this state by almost nine points. Now, in case you forgot, this is what the electoral map looked like in 2016. Trump got 306 electoral votes to Hillary's 232. I mean, if Biden is going to win, he has to win back the states that Hillary Clinton narrowly lost. Otherwise, this map is going to look the same in 2020. Now, since Hillary Clinton only lost these states narrowly, I think that there is an area for opportunity here for Joe Biden. And, you know, I don't want to get you too stressed out because a lot can change between now and November 3rd. But seeing these numbers, like it gives me a sick feeling to my stomach because it looks like we are going to see a repeat of 2016 if nothing changes. And when I see the strategy coming out of the DNC and from Joe Biden, like they're doing what Hillary Clinton did, they're trying to win over moderate Republican voters when that is a very fringe element of the electorate. They're not swing voters. You should be trying to win over independence, namely left-leaning independence, excite your own base, get out the vote. That's how Obama won, right? He had the Obama coalition and that contained lots and lots of young voters, non-voters, first time voters. I mean, that is what you have to do to win.  So I don't know what to say about this. I think that, you know, it's reasonable to expect Donald Trump to lose after everything that we've seen. But this is 2020. 2020 has prepared all of us to accept that we are in the worst timeline and the stupidest possible conclusion will most likely be the one that comes to fruition. So if it's a possibility that Trump can still win, he might win. And at this point, I don't know who's the favorite. Like, I think that it's impossible to predict who's going to win because the selection is so volatile. I think that we're going to see a dip in the polls for Joe Biden after the RNC convention. But I mean, we have no idea like the debates could be a game changer. They might not change anything. And maybe just, you know, Joe Biden gradually declines. Maybe Joe Biden shoots back up again, you know, expanse his lead over Donald Trump. Who knows? But all I know is that you have to do something more when you see these troubling signs, when you see these red flags, when you see the iceberg ahead. Now is the time to steer the ship in a different direction. Now is the time to make sure that you change it up so you win. And maybe this just means that Joe Biden has to hide away, you know, stay in his basement more. Maybe he's talking too much, doing too many gaffes, and that's a problem. Maybe it means he should try to excite the base with the policy. I mean, there's a lot of things he can do better that he's not doing currently.  If Joe Biden is underperforming Hillary Clinton in 2016, who lost, that's a really bad sign. So we have time to change it now. So let's change it. Let's take these signs seriously. Not bury our heads in the sand and pretend like everything is copacetic and, you know, Joe Biden is going to win.  It led to Hillary getting defeated. Don't let that happen again, especially when we know what we need to do to make this election go in Joe Biden's favor. I think we all know you've got to introduce some sort of policy. But if you don't change it up, then, you know, using the same strategy again, it could work for you because this election is so different because of COVID-19 and the economic situation that we're currently in, but it might not. And I don't want to risk it. I don't know about you, but I think we should do more, right? So if Democrats see this, they need to take this more seriously because this is a really bad sign. Again, it may not spell complete disaster. Maybe it's not over and Joe Biden will win comfortably. We don't know that. But because we're operating with uncertainty, we should take it very seriously. Understand that this election could still go in Trump's favor.


article that I've been wanting to this is the householder's life I don't know that I would read the whole thing but it's in yoga international and I wanted it spoke to me and I wanted to see if if this had any meaning to where we were going but it's called the householder's life and it's really a very long article but yeah let me see if I can do that just kind of pull it the following discourse was given during Darshan at Mata Amrit Tananda Maiz ashram in Kerala Southern India it was prompted by a question about how a householder can live in the world and still maintain a spiritual life so let me just pull out some things and see if we can work off this a householder who wishes to lead a spiritual life after completing his responsibilities in the world should exercise renunciation from the very beginning renunciation demands constant and long-term practice he may not be able to relinquish everything externally therefore he should try to be detached from within his mind should not get too involved in things in order to keep the spirit of inner detachment Lakshabodha content awareness of the goal is very important whatever happens in the home or outside the home one should always contemplate and pray in this manner my goal is far beyond all these silly and trivial worldly problems oh lord please do not push me into these conflicts and arguments give me the strength and courage to be in the midst of these problems and still remember you and remain detached let me try to work through them as part of my duty but let me be untouched by their vibrations a probably should get into some of those right away because even to be in the midst of problems and yet still be detached and also that whole idea of the inner and outer you know that helped me be inwardly detached even though I still have you know outward constriction what we're coming to is tried trying to dissolve that dichotomy between the inner and the outer because even when we we say that there is an external reality that's apart from my mind we're still back into where did it where did it come from in a sense it still has an underlying assumption that ideas would have to leave their source and then just that last part of there about the vibrations I mean gosh is that the country you hear all kinds of different things about certain microwaves that can get you and this and that you know all kinds of things and certain people that have bad vibes and good vibes and stay away from this and that you can see that underneath all of that is that assumption that ideas have left their source and that there are things that are harmful causative in the world in some way and that's one of the things that we as we keep going into it more and more and more that we want to have that dissolve well to me it's it's kind of like purify my thoughts Holy Spirit take all my thoughts and the thoughts that have elements of truth in them you know keep those elements wash them clean the elements that are not in line with you shine away or let's go help me let go of it everything with the thought level because even when I get to that inner outer thing you know it just just never seems to be a solution you know we've been around around and talked about changing the form without really changing looking at the beliefs doesn't do it and the other thing would be to think that well I won't change the form I should be able to get this in any situation and I'm a person in situation and so I'm going to stick it out and that has to get questioned too because if I believe I'm a person in a situation whether it's a householder in a in a household so to speak or an employer employee in a institution or an employee in an institution or a person in a family or whatever that's still something I have to start to question and just you can hit it whenever you hear that I ought to be able to get this in this situation it's it's saying that there's a reality a perceptual reality to the situation and also to me as a person and I ought to be able to get peace perceiving myself as a person in this situation when in fact the only way that I'm ever going to be able to be at peace is to let go of the way that I constructed my life so to speak my identity otherwise it's it's it just never works because I still have something in mind that I'm going to defend no matter what the situation that whole inner outer thing just the thought that that is the way it is I mean that construct the pain is all of it I mean that's that's it one of the things that's been coming to me as we've been talking is that I'm either at peace in the knowledge of who I am truly or I mean in my conflicted mind and trying to construct this self-image it's like those are the two choices and I still notice the question comes up when I'm in my conflicted mind and I'm feeling this turmoil I know that one option is to talk to put it out on the table and I notice I still would rather do it myself at times which is my self-concept I guess one of the questions that I have is this is a doing question it's like what is there to do to get past some of the fear so that I feel like I would be open and receptive to being that vulnerable and putting the issues on the table but is there to do yeah well that was just so big that there wasn't any choice but to call and talk for a couple days now I've just been like walking around being miserable and thinking that there was something I could do to get through the fear and feeling so fearful like I just I didn't want to give it up I didn't want to I didn't want to deal with the issues just actually just shutting down until last night I just took some forgiveness worksheets and went out and sat in a parking lot and wrote and cried forget back to that original thing you were saying about it either this construction I've made or who I am even to say that who I am that's to bring Christ or identity if you could even just say that idea of construction that I've made where I'm this little figure in the dream or the dreamer of the dream because the dream or the dream it still is perception you see it's not saying there's no dream that seems that seems just too unimaginable not even conceivable of a true reality but the key thing is this thing of dreamer of the dream versus dream figure so are you saying to try to zone in on my true identity is is too big a span it's like too much like going from A to Z whereas if I could you know use the analogy of dreamer of the dream that that's more like hitting somewhere in the middle yeah it's the call to use that analogy or the Holy Spirit I mean he's the mediator between truth and illusions you know he's the one who sees the illusions but knows they're not true and keeps reminding the mind this isn't true or the miracle or right mind like you've used I'm not I'm not in my right mind to me it's wrong mind right mind they're both still perceptual but it's like they're one is like above the battlefield one has a whole week different view and everything and what I want to do is I want to be able to look at the false calmly it does when I start it starts coming into awareness it does not feel comfortable or calm because my mind believes that it these are judgments and these are a real whether I'm judging myself as as an independent strong powerful person which is a judgment on that end or I'm weak I'm crying I'm helpless I'm afraid I'm never gonna get this course of this and that it's like the mind is saying whichever way is coming it's like the mind is giving a reality to the judgment as we as I was leaving today and I left storming away from home getting the car you know I can't deal with you Steve I rolled up the window and left and the only thing he said to me is I can't believe that you're going through this course that's supposed to bring you peace of mind and you're acting like that I can't believe that Dave went through this when he did it and I said well Dave wasn't married and in a relationship with three kids in this trap and now I'm in this and I'm trying to figure out how I need to get out of this it was that whole and then that whole idea of getting out of it Dave that's a scary thing I don't want to be thinking about that right now you know but that's what came up I mean he said I can't believe for me and I know that this is is definitely a defense and definitely an illusion that but I still have it in my mind that it would be a lot easier if I were not I mean I looked at somebody in my yoga class today who said she's not married and doesn't have kids and I thought how lucky I wish I had never started this that's where I'm at so I could just start fresh but I know that in the mind I'm at there'd be something else trapping me it's just like that kind you know but that is what has been going on and it can seem I think that this is also when you can see where it can stir things up or be of some kind of a threat with with Rhonda being such a symbol because there seems to be so many parallels and it's that whole thing of my god if if someone can do it then then I could even do it am I supposed to or conceivably yeah you know that whole thing it's the same thing that I would say of anybody who's clear who's traveled and around and you hear them it's like all of your objections seem to be get swallowed up in the clarity of their ideas all of the things that you put up but but but but or I could never because of that you know if my life was the same as yours or all the different things seem to just get swallowed up into that because it's like it starts to become like an actuality that that I that question of what's stopping you kind of starts to come up to mind if I really sense that if I follow this out all the way through hundred percent all follow this is the end that that I will reach peace and happiness then I can then I can really seriously and with great sincerity and passion entertain that question what is stopping me Holy Spirit what is standing in my way but if I'm too terrified of following all the way out to end then I'm to the point where I don't know if I even want to ask that question because I don't know if I can make it well and in this in the fear I want to be able to hold on to one really legitimate excuse because I think that will save me and and and but like you said you know and Christopher said earlier if it's not this it'll be bad you know who am I kidding to think that it's the form change that somehow you know that would be the answer for me it's it's like you know being willing to to say yeah I I still have some excuses if that's what's going on I mean and because this is very uncompromising and as long as I think I have a legitimate excuse for delaying then I can give myself permission to delay I notice I don't I don't think that I want excuses I'm sure there's the part of my mind that does but what I look at and it's like how will I ever be able to detach myself from all of this and I know that that's an ego question but I I mean I look and I just feel so overwhelmed and so hopeless something that got clear to me when I was listening to one of the tapes was this whole idea that my attachment to form is a projection of my attachment to judgment to my thoughts and so obviously the only way to become detached in form is to become detached from my thoughts


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Okay, first question is from Haley Phillips 34 if my left bicep and shoulder are bigger than my rice Right bicep and shoulder. Does that mean I should do extra reps on the smaller less developed arm? So there's two strategies when trying to bring up symmetry, okay? One is in my experience far better than the other now one is to maintain your current level of training and everything for the more developed side and just Try to make the underdeveloped side develop faster even faster than it has been The other strategy is to use the smaller side and weaker side as a guide So you slow down the development from the dominant side to allow the smaller side to catch up now The first option sounds more Appealing to people because they don't want to slow any gains down right so they know no I want to keep everything growing at the same pace. I just want to make the weaker smaller side grow faster But the truth is that almost never works I've almost never seen that balance someone out the only strategy I've ever really seen Be effective is where you slow down the progress from the bigger side by using the smaller side as a guide So one way to do that would be let's say one shoulder is stronger than the other I do my sets with my weaker side first and however many reps I could do with that I do that with the stronger side even if I can do more even if I could do more with the stronger side Agree with that but there's part of this. There's there's a question that's missing from this question and that's why Right, so and I think that's the mistake that a lot of people make in this situation There's there's normally a really good reason why there's that much discrepancy So and this was a mistake that I think I made as a young trainer early on was just trying to solve the oh This is bigger so and what South said I think is is the answer I think that going unilateral type of movements focus on the weaker side first as soon as your form starts to break down You stop it right there and then you mirror that with the dominant side Even if you can do two or three more sets and eventually it'll catch up but There normally is a reason why you have Have that and this one in particular like when you have the the shoulder and the bicep dominant I had this and I can't help but think that this person What is that's their dominant side is that way and it's rolled forward, right? So if you have like I had where my my left shoulder was rolled forward just and it's like just barely the average I wouldn't be able to tell this but it was just enough rolled forward more than the other side So then every time that I did these curls my my my front dealt and my bicep was or my front dealt Was taking over the load and then it's already a dominant strong side because it's my dominant side that I used to play sports and everything else and so and then you go to do you know barbell exercises where both Arms are working at the same time and the dominant side just takes over the movement You got to address the the breakdown in the mechanics and the posture, right? So and that's that was really the motivation behind maps prime is you have that assessment test That's in there to see how your your mechanics are and how you how your movement is and then if you're it's broken down Anywhere what exercises you should do to prime and address that and so to me you also need to do Whatever is necessary before the workout to fix your posture and a good video to reference is the bicep curl one that I did On our YouTube channel and this is part of the reason why I talked about The pulling the shoulders back and doing this split stance thing is because it is it's very common with people that are learning And this is not talking about advanced people everybody else general population When they do a bicep curl with both arms like doing a camber curl or a straight bar curl They end up cheating one side more than the other and so addressing the breakdown in the form and technique and Using something like the the prime or the prime pro compasses and tests in there that in my opinion has to be done First before any of this and then you take the advice that you just gave sound go that way Yeah, I think it's interesting to think about I definitely agree with with you, you know focusing on You know bringing it up it but also like doing as many reps as you can and then kind of stopping with your dominant arm But what about you know the lifestyle? implications in terms of like then Prioritizing certain movements that aren't super skilled movements But they're just everyday things that you're constantly focused on like Using more of your left arm like just picking things up Constantly opening things like grabbing things just doing just being a lot more mindful of like using your your left arm to then kind of like reconnects and get that a portion of it because you know a lot of it is just a loss of connection a loss of function That may prohibit you from you know using it within a workout No, I think that's good advice, but the truth is nobody fucking nobody's gonna do it Interesting if they did like an experiment it is it's it's good advice It's good advice because if you were to do that I think that in itself would already help and make a difference the reality of it is nobody's gonna do that sure nobody's gonna start brushing Their cheat teeth the opposite hand eating with the opposite hand combing their hair with the opposite hand You know picking groceries up with the op the less dominant Unfortunately, we just we're not that aware You know, we're not we have so many other things that we need to be more aware of Before we even get to that level where we're being that aware of what we're doing So to me a more unilateral work is is in hand but addressing it This is why the those programs were designed was to help people try and troubleshoot and figure out Why am I not moving properly? Why is one side developing more than the other? There's a root cause of this I'm we're speculating right now because we're on a podcast and I can't see the person But they were in front of me that would be my job as a coach is to figure out Why is there an imbalance here? Where is the breakdown and the communication in their body and then help them address that and also highlights? Like how much do you want it to change? Right? So if you're not willing to do that like for me, like I broke my arm twice the same year my right arm I had to learn everything with my left arm and that's something that like totally Transformed like the way that I do things You know in terms of like being able to activate and like like actively use both arms like I just do that all the time Yeah, one of the most imbalanced, you know from right to left because you there's everybody most people are gonna have a little bit of a discrepancy Between the right and left side, but man one I train one kid who was a pitcher for most of his life in baseball Like as a kid growing up and this kid was just and he could throw heat I mean a high school. He was hitting almost 90 miles an hour. I mean just incredible But when I trained him his body was Morphed and twisted into this pitcher his right arm was way more developed his his, you know Strength and his right it was like to it was like you took two separate people and cut them in half And then glued them together and that was all because of what Justin's talking about just using one side over and over and over again It's pretty crazy