Bioneers brings together a very diverse, discerning, engaged and reflective community, and the curated conversations around crucial topics we have been hosting recently (“Conversation Cafes”) have proven highly popular and stimulating. Each session begins with a very brief presentation by one of the conference presenters as a “conversation starter” to frame the topic, followed by structured group discussion. At the end of each session, a “harvester” who has carefully witnessed and “absorbed” what has transpired, offers us a poetic synopsis/recapitulation of the highlights of our time together.

Our conversation starter, Zuleikha, a renowned dance performer and movement awareness teacher, will discuss the practice of “Body Listening,” a technique that permits us to access our inner wisdom through a subtle attunement to what our body is communicating to us. She will share methods we can use to reclaim our embodied wholeness and revivify and heal our body/mind/spirit. The conversations will be facilitated by: David Shaw, Santa Cruz Permaculture and UCSC Right Livelihood Center. “Harvester:” Jason Bayani, author, theater performer, Artistic Director, Kearny Street Workshop.