This episode of The Sacred Everywhere podcast and video series features Philip Shepherd,  someone whose work I’ve come to greatly appreciate. The full episode is available for paid subscribers to The Sacred Everywhere.

Both Philip and I question the dominant worldview of Western culture. Process thinkers have been doing the same as well for a very long time. What Philip calls “The Story” asserts that “humans stand as independent of nature as our skyscrapers do; that the head should be in charge of the body, just as a CEO is in charge of a corporation; that we can own trees, land, and animals; that self-mastery is the means to success; that what we feel as ‘the self’ lies within the boundary of the skin; that the pursuit of happiness is the primary goal of our lives; and that money buys security.”

What led him to question this story in the first place? That’s part of our conversation, as is the whole notion of wholeness and our immersion within it, and how Philip’s thinking intersects with the process thought of Alfred North Whitehead and my own work on the whole-making sacred.

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Philip Shepherd is recognized as a leader in the global embodiment movement. He created The Embodied Present Process™ (TEPP) in partnership with Allyson Woodrooffe, and as co-directors they provide practices and new perspectives on our culture to help people come home to the body’s deep presence and wisdom. They share the work of TEPP online, in one-on-one coaching sessions, and worldwide in workshops, retreats and Facilitators Trainings.

TEPP is also supported by Philip’s two books – Radical Wholeness and New Self, New World – which articulate the causes, perils and personal challenges of our culture’s disembodiment. Philip’s own journey to embodiment includes cycling alone as a teenager through Europe, the Middle East, Iran, India and Japan; studying classical Japanese Noh Theater; co-founding an interdisciplinary theatre company; writing two internationally produced plays and a television documentary; and playing lead roles on stages in London, New York, Chicago and Toronto. 

The TEPP website and online courses are found at EmbodiedPresent.com. Philip’s most recent book, Deep Fitness, was co-authored with Andrei Yakovenko and offers a revolutionary and highly effective approach to fitness. He is currently working on a new book, Remembering Ourselves: A Guide to Our Lost Intelligence.

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