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). Philip 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 today’s new episode, Philip shares his personal journey 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.”

— Philip Shepherd

Tune in on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7bZHrtjAzbksbLWNaak1NM

Tune in on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-inspiring-joy/id1510488632

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

Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.