Many people overlook the deeply metaphorical nature of our language, thought, and action. Metaphor can help us access deeper levels of consciousness, connecting to more universal and creative aspects of what it means to be human and revealing the interrelationships with each other and the world around us.
This creative workshop will guide participants through a series of Clean Language* questions to facilitate an imaginative process that will allow each person to create (by drawing, annotating and speaking in response to the questions) a personal metaphor, grounded in their own physical, cultural and creative experience.
The starting point will be to imagine a vessel, as an invitation to connect to individual and shared meaning and experience of what it means to be in participatory and reciprocal relationship with other humans and the more-than-human world.
*Clean Language is a method of questioning that removes all assumptions and biases from the questioner. Through a set of 12 simple questions, it draws on the power of metaphor to allow people to develop meaning and clarity that can support them to bring about personal or group change.
Jessica is an experienced facilitator with over a decade of expertise in Bohm Dialogue. The principles of a dialogue practice provide a grounding in all aspects of her facilitation work. As founder of Creating Meaning, she works with purpose-led organisations, supporting them to navigate complexity and change and strengthen the human skills that make transformation possible. Alongside her facilitation work she is researching a PhD in ecolinguistics and regenerative language. Enriched by her background in art and design, Jessica weaves theory and practice to create meaningful and creative dialogues and workshops that aim to transform how people communicate and relate to themselves, each other and the world around them.
What to Bring
During this session you will be drawing an image of your personal metaphor. Come prepared with drawing materials of your choice – pens, pencils, and paper. We will work on one sheet of paper so if you are able to have a largish sheet of paper (A3 or flipchart size, although A4 will also work) that will give you more space for your drawing to evolve throughout the process. The workshop will be a combination of individual drawing and small group discussion so please be prepared to participate in breakout sessions. Please ensure your microphone is working ahead of time, and we encourage you to have your cameras on during the breakouts to help the small groups connect and share together.
2026 Consciousness Dialogues Retreat Preregistration
Our past two Consciousness Dialogues Retreats in 2024 and 2025 were incredible successes, and it is time to start planning for 2026! We invite you to use the below form to preregister in order to express your interest and provide input regarding location and time of year.
There are two options: Basic preregistration is free and will allow you to be part of the discussion as to where and when, as well as be first to register. If you are ready to commit, however, a $200 down payment will additionally provide you both ‘front of the line’ priority when registering for your next retreat (whether that is in 2026 or later), and a 15% discount off the cost of the retreat. Of course, that $200 also counts towards the registration cost, and both the discount and downpayment will be valid for the future Consciousness Dialogue Retreat of your choosing should the 2026 event not work with your schedule.
Note: We use a service called Zeffy to handle preregistrations, which has the advantage of not charging any fees but the disadvantage that they default to including a donation to Zeffy at the same time should you choose the Pre-Purchase Discount option. That is not necessary and can be easily excluded or adjusted by simply selecting ‘Other’ in that section.
In-Person Mini-Academy in Roanoke
An essential part of understanding the nature of consciousness is having a supportive community with whom we can share the journey, people with similar interests and unique perspectives. Towards this end, we are hosted an in-person gathering the weekend of August 16-17, 2025 in Roanoke, Virginia where seven people came together for two days of discussion, relaxation, food, and nature.
This was an experiment to explore how we could reimagine the events PEAR and ICRL held many years ago, called “Academies”. Those lasted a week, bringing people together to coordinate different projects and collaborations. This event was different, being focused not on research but on connection. We sought to explore options for how to best structure future activities. Should they center on research, experiments, collaboration, or social interaction? Should they be big or small? Short or long? While there is no definitive answer yet, there is no doubt that the event was well worth the time for all involved!
degree from Hollis University and has accumulated a diverse work experience, spanning multiple disciplines: education, technology, business and law, predominately in support and administrative roles. She currently works for the College of New Jersey in its Office of Disability Support Services. Lynn Ann has been an administrative assistant to ICRL’s President since 2011, and has extensive familiarity with the organization’s structure and activities, along with a deep commitment to its mission.
Vasileios Basios is a physicist, conducting interdisciplinary research on the foundations of complexity science and nonlinear systems, self-organization and complex matter. During his formative years, he was tutored by Ilya Prigogine, at ULB where he received his PhD, and by Emilios Bouratinos on meditation and philosophy. He is currently interested in the complex interface between action and information. Other interests include the history of ideas in science and their role in the transformation of science beyond the prevailing naïve, materialistic, mechanistic-reductionist world-view. With others from PEAR, he initiated the Mind-Matter-Mapping Project and has since published several essays for ICRL. He is also a member of the Board of the Scientific and Medical Network and the Steering Team of the Galileo Commission. Vasileios is inspired by the prospect of introducing self-reflection into the practice and understanding of science, and the emergence of a Self-Reflexive Science of Consciousness.
Ian Cook is a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he directs the UCLA Depression Research and Clinic Program at the Semel Institute and was the inaugural holder of the Joanne and George Miller and Family Endowed Chair in Depression Research at the Brain Research Institute. He has been a part of the PEAR/ICRL family since 1980, when he was among the first undergraduate students to conduct research at the PEAR lab. He graduated from the Yale School of Medicine and pursued his residency training and research fellowship at UCLA. His research has focused on understanding the relationships among the mind, the brain, and the body, and in translating developments in technology into more effective treatments for disorders of mood and cognition.
Bob (Brahmatirtha) was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1949, completed his B.S. in Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1971, and received his M.S. in Geology from Rutgers University in 1975. After a twenty-year career serving as a geologist and vice-president of a large regional environmental company, he currently works as an environmental consultant to state governments. He has been a member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute since the inception in 1976, giving a presentation at their First International Conference on Life Comes from Life in 1977, and working on a multitude of projects with R.L. Thompson (Sadaputa) from 1995 through 2008. He is also a certified court mediator. He now serves as the Director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies.
Carolyn is a writer and dancer, two avenues that support her central purpose as a healer. Through her numerous books she teaches that every moment brings unbidden opportunities from the universe, that every day of is filled with beauty and surprise. Ecstatic experience is the goal of her work, the personal to the cosmic. 
The largest dataset collected at PEAR used Random Event Generators, or REGs. These devices were essentially electronic coin flippers that produced a series of 1’s and 0’s; operators were instructed to influence the machines to produce more 1’s than 0’s or vice versa.
