New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-First Century. Philip Shepherd. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California. August 2010. 512 pp. ISBN #: 9781556439117Imagine for a moment living in a completely “balanced” world where mind, heart, and body are synchronized and no dominance is present to distort life as we know it. The premise of New Self, New World moves even beyond that idea, laying out the possibility that life as we know it will take on an even greater experience, a fifth dimension as it is explained.
Philip Shepherd takes the reader through mythology, various ideas about consciousness, what occurs when we place too much focus on the mind without consciousness, of just what encompasses an idea, of a lack of connection to the core of our heart and “pelvic” intelligence, several suggestions to reacquire our innate sensitivity that is meant to operate in balance with thinking and other parts of our existence, such as through the process of restoring consciousness of the body to awaken that pelvic intelligence.
It also challenges previous understandings of male and female activity and passivity, a misunderstanding of true logic, the importance of perspective (also redefined) on experience, and the power behind “being present” in the moment within this new type of balanced living.
Exercises are provided for the body, mind and being to begin this process. This is not a light-weight book and scientific, literary, mythological explanations galore fill these pages. This reader would have liked to see more examples of how this new self and new world operate; in spite of its premise, the book is quite heavy on a logical, “head” presentation. Still, for those seeking wholeness of living, this is a new presentation of old and new ideas that offer a map leading to an altogether different way of living, one that seems to this reviewer to be healthier, happier, and more productive than what most find in day-to-day living. Fascinating!
