Episode 03: EMBODIED INTELLIGENCE with PHILIP SHEPHERD: Wholeness, Sensitivity & The Pelvic Bowl
IN THIS EPISODE:
SYNOPSIS: In this episode of The Brilliant Body Podcast, Ali Mezey interviews Philip Shepherd, a luminary in the global embodiment movement. Together, Ali and Philip explore countercultural aspects of embodiment, the importance of challenging societal norms, and the need to advocate for a shift towards present-centered awareness.
Central to the conversation is the profound impact of the pelvic bowl, a core element of Philip's teachings. Drawing inspiration from cultures that value the body differently, Philip highlights the concept of Hara in Japanese Noh theater. He traces the historical shift in Western culture from the belly as the thinking center to the current emphasis on the head, revealing a narrative of mistrust in the body.
Sensitivity emerges as a core theme of the conversation, which Philip positions as the foundation of intelligence. Ali and Philip delve into the subtleties of staying “dropped in” to the pelvic floor, stressing the gentle and patient approach required for restoring sensitivity, especially in individuals who have experienced trauma.
Throughout the episode, the exploration of embodiment, cultural shifts, and the profound connection between the body and the world converges into a call to action. The duo inspires listeners to nurture sensitivity, embrace radical wholeness, and reclaim their true intelligence, fostering the evolution of both individual and collective consciousness.
EXPLORATION POINTS:
Ali and Philip discuss the geography of intelligence and the significance of the pelvic bowl as the base of experiencing our wholeness.
Philip traces the d/evolution of Western culture from valuing the belly as the center to the current emphasis on the head and mistrust of the body.
They discuss sensitivity as the foundation of intelligence and explore the nuances of restoring sensitivity, particularly in trauma survivors.
Philip unpacks the fallacy of independence, and vividly describes the self as being in constant felt-relationship with the world.
The conversation ultimately advocates that we recognize and learn to live from our full intelligence as a key to cultural evolution.
FOR MORE PHILIP SHEPHERD:
BIO: Philip Shepherd is recognized as a leader in the global embodiment movement. He is the creator of The Embodied Present Process™ (TEPP), which provides both potent insights into how our culture desensitizes the body, and a series of over 150 practices to help people renew their sensitivity to the world and reclaim their calm, centred presence in it. He shares TEPP worldwide through in-person workshops and Facilitators Trainings, and has articulated the need for a new, more embodied way of being in two books: Radical Wholeness and New Self, New World. Both books identify the causes, perils and challenges of our culture’s disembodiment. Philip’s personal path to embodiment includes a two-year journey as a teenager, during which he traveled alone by bicycle through Europe, the Middle East, Iran, India and Japan. He has also studied classical Japanese Noh Theater; co-founded an interdisciplinary theatre company; written two internationally produced plays and a television documentary; designed and built several houses; co-founded an arts magazine called Onion; played lead roles on stages in London, New York, Chicago and Toronto; and earned a reputation as a coach, both with individual clients seeking a deeper experience of embodiment, and for corporate clients seeking to improve their presentation skills. He developed TEPP with his co-director and wife Allyson Woodrooffe, who also shares the practices in person. His website and online courses are found at EmbodiedPresent.com. His newest book, Deep Fitness, was co-authored with Andrei Yakovenko and offers a revolutionary and highly effective approach to fitness.
And my website, as you may have gathered from the above, is EmbodiedPresent.com
PHILIP BOOKS: (these links are to Amazon, but all distributed by Random House (yay, Philip!), you can find them in your friendly, neighborhood bookstores)
OTHER RESOURCES, LINKS AND INSPIRATIONS:
ILARION MERCULIEFF – Aleut Nation TedTalks:
The Womb at the Center of the Universe
RICHARD LATTIMORE – his translation of The Odyssey
NOH THEATRE:
A short National Geographic film
BYRON ROBINSON:
The Abdominal and Pelvic Brain PDF selections
The Abdominal and Pelvic Brain book
TANDEM: An introduction to the center of the body
MATT KAHN: Everything is Here to Help You
THE PERINEUM: an anatomy lesson…
*Note to my dear friend, Tom, and anyone who is also up on the cutting edges of scientific research about the brain… in a future episode/s we will be exploring if the right/left brain perspective of the brain and it’s functioning is actually entirely accurate, partially accurate, or whether it is a construct (as a lot of scientific “discoveries” become only once newer science debunks them), a short-lived paradigm, and/or ultimately, merely a very useful metaphor.
[From time to time, a word or phrase goes wonky. Please forgive my wandering wifi.]