A Whole New World

Finding balance and presence with Philip Shepherd.

[This article has a 3/10 woo rating and is a ~4 minute read]

This piece is short, because I’d rather you get the full experience of a special conversation, rather than just read an article about it.

Philip Shepherd is a teacher and author on the topic of embodiment. He’s written one of my favourite books (Radical Wholeness), written one of my favourite articles (Why you are not living in the Present) and given one of my favourite written interviews (The World’s Hidden Harmony).

We’re both big fans of Dr. Iain McGilchrist, and Philip’s work has always felt like a deeply practical guide to becoming more right-hemispheric. His recent white paper is a fantastic read that explores the direct link between McGilchrist’s work and his own project, The Embodied Present Process (TEPP).

I credit Philip’s book Radical Wholeness with really helping me understand how our perception of the head (or the left hemisphere) as the center of intelligence is both incredibly restrictive and quite culturally specific. Even capitalism translates as “head-ism.” This robs us of two critical things. Firstly it prevents us from being truly present in the moment. As Philip puts it so wonderfully: “the reason you aren’t living in the present, when all is said and done, is because you don’t feel the present living in you.” The most surprising insight from last year’s work at The Leading Edge is that presence may be the most valuable reward in the pursuit of wisdom.

Secondly, this prioritization of the head’s intelligence also diminishes our connection to the subtle “attractor” intelligence that can beneficially guide us through life. As a result, Philip’s approach teaches us how to listen not just to the body, but to the world, through the body. As a result, he prefers to use the term “bodyworld” rather than “mind-body.”

This inverts the common tendency to view embodiment practices as a list of tools for the head to achieve further control over the body. As

River Kenna

also noted in our conversation on wisdom practices, some people can approach embodiment by taking the spotlight of their mental attention and focusing on an isolated body part like their toe. This means the head is still “in charge” and controlling the body. River inverts that by letting the awareness that is already in the toe "bloom” a little larger.

Philip’s own TEPP incorporates five qualities of “being”: fluidity, groundedness, spaciousness, centeredness and attunement. We went into these more deeply in our conversation. Indeed, as it unfolded Philip took me into spontaneous 8 minute “goldfish bowl” meditation that illustrates his approach beautifully.

I recommend you sit down, kick off your shoes and let his new approach to wholeness open up a whole new world. [Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. There’s also a spontaneous 8 minute guided meditation starting at 13.40].

You can learn more about Philip’s work and his offerings here. There are 250 practices in TEPP, and 7 of them are available for free here. Over 100 of the practices are available through his membership, which sends out one practice a week. It includes two monthly zoom calls – and it’s only $25 a month, and comes with a 14-day free trial (Disclosure: Leading Edge has no financial relationship with Philip).