The Power of Storytelling - Episode 22
Welcome back to The Power of Storytelling!
Philip, Kelly and Mari - thank you for sharing your stories, your words, and your journey with all of us.
This month’s episode reminded me that when we allow ourselves to push beyond what we’re told is possible, when we push beyond who society has told us to be, and when we allow ourselves to believe in who we are and in who we want to be, life opens up. Life becomes this beautiful adventure filled with laughter, joy, and possibility. Yes, there will be moments of difficulty. Yes, we will struggle. But, it is within those moments that challenge us that we can really begin to see, feel, and know what’s possible - and how incredible is that?
It’s truly my honor to share the stories and provide the space here to share a little bit more about the change makers behind these words. I encourage you to check out Philip, Kelly and Mari after you listen to this week’s new episode.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Seek The Joy Podcast.
Philip Shepherd is recognized as an international authority on embodiment. His unique techniques have been developed to transform our disconnected experience of self and world, and are based on the vision articulated in his celebrated books, New Self, New World (2010) and Radical Wholeness (Nov 2017).
Richard developed the practices of TEPP to help people reunite the thinking of the head with the deep, present and calm intelligence of the body. Unlike the prevailing view of embodiment – which involves sitting in the head and ‘listening to your body’ – Philip’s approach helps you listen to the world through the body. What the body most deeply understands is that it belongs to the world. Ultimately, TEPP is about coming home to yourself.
In this week’s new episode, Philip shares his personal path to understanding his path, purpose, and embodiment - and it all started with a bicycle. This journey allowed him to be wide open to the world - to nature, to people, to connection, and adventure. It allowed him to connect with himself in a new and profound way, too. On that bike he went through so many waves of understanding what it means to be human, and each one of them was luminous. As Philip shares, if you get on the bike and keep peddling, and you're headed in the right direction, and you don't stop peddling, you'll get there - and that’s exactly what he’s done.
Philip’s adventures are incredible, unlike any I’ve ever heard before, and he is a powerful storyteller. His adventures he had as a teenager, cycling alone through Europe, the Middle East, India and Japan; his deep commitment to and studies of bodywork; his experiences as an actor, playing lead roles on stages in London, New York, Chicago and Toronto; and by the burning desire for freedom that has illuminated his entire life - all shaped who he is today, how he developed TEPP, and the impact he continues to have on the world.
Today, Philip spends his time divided between teaching international workshops, running Facilitators Trainings, and participating in a documentary about his work. Philip currently lives with his wife in a home they designed and built in a little car-free community on an island south of Toronto. And he still travels by bicycle whenever he can.
“The most difficult thing in the world is to question what is normal, what you’ve grown up with since infancy. I began to question the very limitations, constrictions, and constraints that lived within my body, and I asked those questions and pursued them for the next three decades. Those questions led to the writing of my two books, to the workshops that I teach around the world, and it all was made possible by that life or death bike trip, where if I leave I might never come home, but if I stay I might lose myself all together.”
Kelly Lynch is the founder of The Unapology Project. Through her private therapy practice and life coaching practice, Kelly empowers purpose driven women to take their power back. Kelly has been a therapist for over a decade, and turned to life coaching after completely transforming her life.
In this week’s new episode Kelly shares her journey walking out of a marriage filled with domestic violence in 2014, with her year and a half old daughter under her arm, to picking up her life and rewriting her story. After leaving her marriage, she spent the next three years slowly taking control back. She started a private psychotherapy practice, and transitioned out of her community mental health position and into her practice full time. She built it into a thriving one woman show, and nurtured a professional reputation she finally felt proud of. In her personal life, she literally and figuratively cleaned house. She ended the toxic relationships (including her marriage) which had become so exhausting. She bought a home – her home – and got rid of all the possessions which no longer served a purpose in the life she was trying to build. She lost 30+ pounds, became a life coach, personal trainer, and certified nutrition coach. Kelly found ways to nurture a healthy relationship with her body, once and for all. She realized she could be a thriving business owner as long as she put her mind to it. She stopped apologizing for failing at trying to live up to a story which was never meant for her.
Kelly’s story is not about surviving, but rather learning how to thrive in spite of challenge. It’s about recovery, hope, successes and sometimes hard lessons, and living a life of joy in the face of the unexpected. I am so blown away by Kelly - her willingness to step fully into her vulnerability, courage, joy, hope and possibility. Today, Kelly specializes in working with women who share similar stories as hers, and it’s Kelly’s life mission to shout from the mountaintops to these women just how much hope and happiness is actually waiting for them on the other side of their healing. If you are ready to live your best life, #unapologize, and be epic, come join The Unapologetic Collective!
“It’s a dream to be able to do the work I’m doing now. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt my experience with trauma pushed me to become the woman I am today because I was unwilling to back down and surrender to it. I dream of being able to support thousands of women for the rest of my career to find that same source of strength and resiliency inside of themselves, to use their voice, and take joy in taking up space. We all have stories worth telling.”
Mari L. McCarthy is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Create Write Now, and the bestselling author behind Heal Yourself with Journaling Power - the follow-up to her multi award winning book, Journaling Power.
In this week’s new episode, Mari shares her journey from diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), to crafting a life filled with joy, purpose, and passion. About 20 years ago, Mari had an MS exacerbation where she lost most of her feeling and function on the right side of her body. She needed to teach herself how to write with her left hand. A hypnotherapist introduced her to Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, and her Morning Pages practice. Each morning, Mari would handwrite 3 stream-of-consciousness page, and she learned how to write left-handed in a matter of weeks.
Mari’s reflections of her first-hand experience with the therapeutic power of journaling will inspire you to pick up your pen and start journaling too. After starting and sticking with a therapeutic journaling routine of her own, Mari was able to reverse her debilitating MS symptoms and ditch her prescription drug routine forever - and if that isn't inspiring, I don’t know what is.
When Mari realized that journaling/expressive writing was way more than just physical therapy, she knew she needed to set up a company and share Journaling for the Health of It with the world. The name of her company and brand were contributions from her journal as were the titles of the 2 books and 22 e-workbooks she’s written. Mari’s Journal is always providing her with guidance, focus and universal messages. Through her story, her work, and her books, Mari shares valuable lessons with readers that are communicated through moving personal stories and heartfelt pearls of wisdom. In everything that she does, Mari guides, inspires, and empowers you to use your journal to access your intelligence, talents and creativity, and to transform your life daily.
“My passion and mission is to share journaling for the health of it with everyone I possibly can. So that they can do the heavy lifting, the discovery of coming to terms with and understanding their past, and putting the past where it belongs, to then have the time, space, and love for themselves to go out and create the world, the life, and the person that they truly are and truly want to be.”
To connect with Philip and learn more visit his website www.reconnecttoself.life and on Instagram @philipshepherd and @tepp.life and on Facebook @tepp.life
To connect with Kelly and learn more visit her website www.theunapologyproject.com and on Instagram @unapologetically.authenic and Facebook @theunapologyproject and @kelly.lynch.227
To connect with Mari and learn more visit her website www.createwritenow.com and on Facebook @createwritenow and on Twitter @createwritenow
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