“And we are really diving into this: What does practicing philosophy look like in our own life? And what’s becoming clear is that it’s this constant questioning, experimenting — never really settling for an answer, maybe leaning into one, but only to open more questions. And those questions open more questions. And for me, this has become such a beautiful way to live.” — Jessica Böhme
Climate Consciousness Summit 2025
I’m delighted to be serving alongside Kosha Joubert and Sonita Mbah as a co-host of the Climate Consciousness Summit 2025, presented by the Pocket Project in partnership with DeSmog. Registration open here. Hope to see you there!
Resonant World #163
Jessica Böhme once scoured the pages of self-help books in search of answers.
Now, she’s running ‘PhilosophyGyms’ to help people ask better questions.
For months now, I’ve been wanting to share Jes’s work with readers of Resonant World, many of whom I suspect already know her wonderful newsletter wild:philosophy, which appears every Monday morning, and never fails to brighten my commute.
I don’t want to anticipate our conversation above too much, because obviously the whole point is that I’m hoping people will experience Jes’s presence and wisdom directly by listening.
With that said, I couldn’t write these notes without emphasizing how much I love the way Jes weaves together her scientific training and deep commitment to engaging with the climate and ecological crisis — what she calls practical ekoPhilosophy — with an openness to playing with ideas that many of those trained in the materialist-reductionist paradigm might scoff at.
I felt even more at ease with Jes when she told me that her initial search for answers to life’s big questions had begun in the self-help shelves (I can relate!) and her recognition that — while not every New Age maxim stands up to scrutiny — there may be value in remaining open to many different ways of conceptualizing how our reality might work.
Our conversation also opened my eyes to the idea that we could think of practicing philosophy as an essential component of our health — what Jes calls “philosophical health-ing.” Though I studied philosophy as an undergraduate, it’s only in more recent years that I’ve more clearly grasped the value of philosophical inquiry as an end in itself — as opposed to a means to achieve something else.
I see Jes’s work running PhilosophyGyms for the public and companies as part of the broader archipelago of liminal spaces where people are discovering how meaningful it can be to grapple with big questions in community. I’m thinking in particular of my friend Daniel Simpson’s immersive courses in yoga philosophy (see our recent dialogue at the end of this post); the Philosophy Portal run by Cadell Last; Steffi Bednarek’s Centre for Climate Psychology; and of course The Resonant Man, the men’s initiative I co-founded with Jacob Kishere, where we also create space for inquiry into what gives life meaning. (You can also explore many similar such communities via the guest interviews in the What Is Collective Healing? podcast I co-present on behalf of the Pocket Project).
It’s exciting to me to witness Jes’s work flourishing, and I hope you’ll pay her Institute for Practical ekoPhilosophy a visit!
This episode aims to:
Share the essence of Jes’s work
Convey the concept of PhilosophyGyms
Explore the meaning of embodied philosophy
Ideas that intrigued me:
Distinction between a fixation on “healing” as a goal in the future, and
“philosophical health-ing” as a way of life
The metacrisis as a catalyst for a collective willingness to ask deeper questions
Philosophy as living in resonance with the whole, rather than a narrow focus on self-optimization
Questions I was left with:
How can the “philosophy economy” become self-sustaining?
What impact will PhilosophyGyms have in the corporate world?
What would it be like to follow Jes’s example — and wear a single, sustainable outfit for the rest of my life?
Transcript:
Further Resources:
Katja Markelova’s concept of the PEMSER body
About Jessica Böhme:
Jessica Böhme (she/her), PhD, is the founder and director of the Institute for Practical ekoPhilosophy. She helps activate wisdom as a way of life for personal and planetary transformation.
In her work and research for the past 10-plus years, she has aimed to grasp the big picture by exploring relational approaches to inner and outer transformation across various disciplines. With a diverse educational background including a PhD in social science, a Master’s in sustainability management, and a Diploma in mechanical engineering, she has acquired deep knowledge about systems change and strategies for transforming complex systems. Her expertise lies in utilizing practical philosophy as a meta-technology for driving such change.
As a writer and author of three books, she is also the creator of a weekly newsletter titled wild:philosophy. She delivers keynotes and workshops on topics related to the philosophical dimensions of personal and planetary transformation.
Additionally, in her role as a university professor and academic director of two study programs, she integrates these subjects into her research and lectures.
Almost all of what I write and the audio I share here is freely available to all. It’s a huge boost when readers become paid subscribers — which confers automatic membership of the Resonance Council of core supporter who form the energetic foundation of this initiative. Thank you!
