Summary: BSL Insider Exclusive: Philip Shepherd, author of "New Self, New World" joins us on the show today. It's time we ask ourselves, what do we really want? But is that the appropriate question? If we are simply after the quest to fulfill our needs and desires, what happens to the world we're burning up in the process? Can we afford to separate ourselves from ourselves by living in our heads, then further separating ourselves from the life we are connected to, aka other people and the earth that supports us? What's at stake when we do not support the life force that's supporting us? Can we afford to continue burning up the planet as a resource without giving back to it? What happens if we don't? Really, what happens if we don't? This is NOT about an environmental issue. This is not about some far out talk about what could happen. This is reality. This is a total human consciousness crisis. Somebody's got to wake up. No. We all have to wake up; wake up a new self so that we can see a new world. Enter Philip Shepherd who's vision allows for exactly that. Our BSL Insider: Philip has been called a Renaissance Man. The course of his life has been pulled and stretched along a crazily meandering path – but in retrospect it all makes sense. Best known as the author of New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the 21st Century, Philip has worked as a writer, actor, workshop leader, director, editor, personal coach, house builder, dance dramaturge, teacher and lecturer. As a teenager Philip cycled alone through Europe, the Middle East and Iran to arrive in India, where he studied Kathakali – an ancient form of dance drama that tells stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He then went on to Japan to study classical Noh theatre. Since then has co-founded and written for an arts magazine, Onion; co-founded and directed an interdisciplinary theatre company; taught numerous workshops to help people seeking increased presence, creativity and freedom; written two internationally-produced plays and a documentary for CBC television; trained in Denmark with Eugenio Barba’s company; trained in Butoh dance and toured Canada with a show; edited a book of art criticism, The Compleat Art Critic; acted in several feature films opposite such talents as Mandy Patinkin and Delroy Lindo (Strange Justice) and Jon Voight (Jasper Texas); studied for five years with energy healer Denis Chagnon; earned a reputation as a corporate coach, helping business leaders hone their presentation skills; and played lead roles in theatre productions in Toronto, New York, Chicago, London and Hong Kong. He has also designed and built several houses. Since the publication of his book, he has earned an international reputation as a workshop leader, lecturer and coach. Philip is currently a faculty member of The Institute for Sacred Activism, which is based in Chicago. Eve Ensler, in her famous TED talk, even mentioned the powerful truth revealed by Philip Shepherd in his book, New Self, New World. She mentions how the transformation of her suffering and the world's suffering happens all at once, when we recognize what its like to truly inhabit our bodies. In BSL terms, inhabiting the body means Being It. Andrew Harvey, founder of the Institute of Sacred Activism, said that New Self, New World was one of the most important books ever written over the last 50 years. When something so truly transcendent comes along, people start to pay attention. Philip Shepherd is giving the world an incredible gift of awareness. This awareness has the power to reverse the fortunes of the crises facing the planet and all of us inhabiting it. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Why living in your head is holding back your life How to live in alignment with the present Philip's True Consciousness paradigm to expand your perspective of what's possible for your life The difference between being vs. doing
