The New Dimensions Café

Terry Real is a family therapist and author. He’s the founder of the Relational Life Institute, which offers Relational Life Therapy (RLT) courses online and in-person workshops for couples, individuals, parents, and professionals. He is the author of I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression (Scribner 1998), How Can I Get Through to You? Closing the Gap Between Men and Women (Simon & Schuster 2002), The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Know to Make Love Work (Ballantine Books 2008) and Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship (Rodale Books 2022) Interview Date: 2/14/2024 Tags: Terry Real, marriage, relationship, James Framo, couples therapy, adaptive child, maladapted child, wise adult, Pia Mellody, self esteem, Relational Life Therapy, RLT, provocative distance taking, responsible distance taking, patriarchy, serenity prayer, personal biosphere, Relationship, Psychology, Personal Transformation

Orloff suggests that empathy is a bedrock of healing in difficult situations and needs to be a daily priority to become a habit. Beyond transforming difficult Interactions studies have shown that an act of empathy can have a positive effect on our immune response. Empathy is imperative for our happiness, our intimacy, and our connection with others and the earth. Judith Orloff, M.D. is a member of the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Staff and specializes in treating empaths and sensitive people in her private practice. She offers Empathy Training Programs to businesses and organizations and teaches empathic tools to doctors, corporate teams, leaders, managers, customer service and trainers, as well as individuals. She’s been called the “godmother of the empath movement” and has written several books about intuition, life strategies for sensitive people, and empathy. Interview Date: 2/19/2024 Tags: Judith Orloff, narcissist, compassion, suffering, heart meditation, caregiving, caregivers, caretaking, Kristi Nelson, gratefulness, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Kristi Nelson is an ambassador for the nonprofit organization, Grateful Living which is founded by the internationally beloved “Grandfather of Gratitude," and former guest of New Dimensions, Brother David Steindl-Rast. And, from 2014 to 2022 Nelson served as its Executive Director. Kristi Nelson has spent more than 30 years in nonprofit leadership, development, and consulting, working at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and the Soul of Money Institute. Nelson is a stage IV cancer survivor. She is the author of Wake up Grateful: The Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted. (Storey Publishing 2020) Interview Date: 1/31/2024 Tags: Kristi Nelson, Grateful, Gratefulness, Gratitude, Stage IV cancer survivor, grateful in challenges times, living gratefully, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Elie Weisel, Van Jones, say hallelujah anyhow, isolation, loving connections, impermanence of life, living on autopilot, aliveness has agency, starfish story, making a difference, Personal Transformation

Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. is the creator of the therapeutic model known as Internal Family Systems [IFS] and founder of the IFS Institute which offers training for professionals and the general public. Formerly an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago and later at Northwestern University, he is currently on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He is the author of many books including No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma, and Restoring Wholeness with The Internal Family Systems Model (Sounds True 2021) Interview Date: 1/26/2024 Tags: Richard C. Schwartz, Internal Family Systems, IFS, alternative therapy sessions, family therapy, multiple personality disorder, legacy burdens, inner protector, psychotherapy, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Omkari L. Williams has devoted her life to change-making. She leads activism workshops and trainings and is the host of the podcast Stepping into Truth, where she interviews activists from all walks of life. She is the author of Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (without a Bullhorn): Small Actions Equal Big Results. (Storey publishing 2023) Interview Date: 12/15/2023 Tags: Omkari L Williams, narrow our attention, perseverance, collaboration, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics, Community

Marguerite Callaway is the founder and CEO of the Callaway Leadership Institute, an international leadership development and strategy company whose mission is to help current and aspiring leaders reach their full potential. She is the author of The Energetics of Business: A Practical Guide for Bringing Your Business to Life (Lincoln Park Productions 2006) Interview Date: 12/20/2023 Tags: Marguerite Callaway, grandmother, ancestor, leadership, emotional intelligence, polarization, usefulness, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Richard J. Leider is the founder of Inventure -The Purpose Company, whose mission is to help people “unlock the power of purpose.” He is the author of many books including: The Power of Purpose: Find Meaning, Live Longer, Better (Berrett-Koehler Publishing 2016). David A Shapiro is a philosopher, educator, and tenured philosophy professor at Cascadia College in Seattle. Leider and Shapiro are the co-authors of many books considered classics in the personal growth field. They include: Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose (Mjf Books 1996) and Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging. (Berrett-Koehler Publishing 2021) Interview Date: 12/8/2023 Tags: Richard Leider, David Shapiro, life purpose, aging, youthfulness, obsession, purpose fundamental to health, healing, happiness, longevity, grow old not get old, life-long learning, creating community, career, Dan Kildee, retiring, Walter Mondale, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Aging

Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation, mindfulness, and nonviolent communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. He received his degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication as well as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. He serves as a member of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Teacher’s Council in Northern California. He is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication (Shambala Publications 2018) and Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practice for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love (Shambala Publications 2023) Interview Date: 10/24/2023 Tags: Oren Jay Sofer, engaged Buddhism, suffering, Four Noble Truths, happiness, freedom, activism, despair, beloved community, patience, visualization, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Mark Matousek is a teacher, spiritual seeker and award-winning author of many books. He leads transformative workshops, intensives, and guided writing sessions that mentor participants to reach their artistic and personal goals by using writing as a tool for insight, innovation, and clarity of purpose. He’s the founder of the Seekers Forum, an online community for self-inquiry. His books include: Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story (Riverhead 2000), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father (Riverhead 1997), When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living (Bloomsbury 2009), Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life (Anchor Books 2011), Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery (Reveal Press 2017) and Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life (HarperOne 2023) Interview Date: 10/24/2023. Tags: Mark Matousek, personal bias, cultural conditioning, angle of vision, journaling, writing to awaken, religious dogma, power of being in nature, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics

Duane Elgin, Ph.D.(hon) is a visionary futurist, educator, and Citizen-Voice Activist who received the Goi Pace Award in Japan in recognition of his contributions to a global vision that fosters a “more sustainable and spiritual culture”. Duane is currently the Co-director of the Choosing Earth Project. He is the author of many books including Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (William Morrow 1993), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Harper 2010), The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? (Barrett Koehler Publishers 2009), Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future the Living Universe (William Morrow 2000) and Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Journey of Initiation through Breakdown and Collapse to Mature Planetary Community (Revised Edition) (Duane Elgin 2022) Interview Date: 10/20/2023. Tags: Duane Elgin, collective adolescence, maturing adult collective, population overload, collectively growing up, aliveness, collective initiation, community, Ubuntu, communication, widening our lens of perception, mass media encourages separation and division, no safe havens, Earth is our collective greenhouse, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Community, Social Change/Politics, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture

Trebbe Johnson is the founder and director of the global community Radical Joy for Hard Times, and she’s devoted to finding and making beauty in hurt places. She has camped alone in the Arctic wilderness; studied classical Indian dance; worked as an artist’s model, has been a street sweeper in an English village, and is an award-winning multimedia producer. She’s led wilderness rites of passage and contemplative journeys in clear-cut forests, Ground Zero in New York, in EPA’s toxic Superfund sites, the Sahara Desert, and other places. She participates in Global Earth Exchange—bringing people around the world together to go to places they care about that have been damaged or endangered: share stores, listen to the land, and make a simple gift of beauty for the place out of materials the place itself offers. She is the author of several books including Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places. (North Atlantic Books 2018) and Fierce Consciousness: Surviving the Sorrows of Earth and Self (Calliope Books, 2023). Interview Date: 10/6/2023 Tags: Trebbe Johnson, grief, beauty, facing what is difficult, despair, beauty is a life-saver, funeral directors, Sedonia Cahill, transcending downwards, mindfulness, skilled hunter of consciousness, cunning trackers of beauty, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Lauren J Oliver, Ph.D. received her baccalaureate degree from Harvard University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UCLA. She currently provides coaching and organization development consultations for leaders, businesses, organizations, families, and individuals. She was co-founder with Dr. Robert Harrison Simmons of the California nonprofit Support Group Network. She is the author of Circle Culture: Tools for Cooperative Work (Bonnie Burstein) (Circle Culture 2023) Interview Date: 9/21/2023 Tags: Lauren J Oliver, circles, opening a circle, centering a circle, inclusivity in a circle, leadership, timekeeping in circles, empowerment in circles, courage to be in circle, giving appreciation in circle, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics, Circles

Hersch Wilson is an organizational consultant, pilot, former professional dancer, newspaper columnist, and volunteer firefighter. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Laurie, a daughter, and two ga, and two dogs, a great Pyrenees and a Chihuahua terrier mix. He is a former ballet dancer (along with his wife Laurie) and is now a 30-year veteran volunteer firefighter–EMT with the Hondo Fire Department in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. He is also a writer, speaker, and consultant who has worked extensively with leadership teams from a variety of organizations including IBM Japan, the US Postal Service, and the CIA, to name a few. He also writes a monthly column on dogs for the Santa Fe New Mexican. He is the author of: Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work And Life (coauthor with his late father, Larry Wilson)(Bard Press; Revised Edition 2004), Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide To Thriving In Tough Times (New World Library 2020) and Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends (New World Library 2023) Interview Date: 9/11/2023 Tags: Hersch Wilson, dogs, humans evolved with dogs, dogs change our lives, don’t leave dogs alone for too long, rewards of dogs in household, walking dogs is profound experience, dogs and cats of Ukraine. Animals

Jane Hirshfield is an award-winning poet, essayist and translator. She's the author of ten books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. In 2017, in conjunction with the March for Science in Washington DC, she founded Poets for Science, an interactive exhibit of science poems and writing invitation housed at Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center, which has traveled to venues across the country. Jane Hirshfield has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020) and The Asking: New and Selected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2023) Interview Date: 9/1/2023 Tags: Jane Hirshfield, Poetry, being present, pockets in a vest, writing poetry, appreciating every moment, kindness, kinship, Poetry, travel, Art & Creativity

Willis Barnstone is a poet, translator, biblical scholar, memoirist, anthologist, teacher, and painter. He is a former O’Connor Professor of Greek at Colgate University, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and winner of numerous literary awards, including the Emily Dickinson, Lannon, and W. H. Auden awards. In 2015 he was recipient of the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award. He is translator of the Greek Lyric Poets, a literary historical version of the New Testament, and poets as diverse as Sappho, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jorge Luis Borges, Antonio Machado, Wang Wei, and St. John of the Cross. Barnstone’s life’s work includes over 75 books including With Borges on an Ordinary Evening in Buenos Aires (University of Illinois Press 1999), The Poems of Jesus Christ (W.W. Norton & Company 2012), The Poetics of Ecstasy: Varieties of Ekstasis from Sappho to Borges (Holmes & Meier Pub 1983), The Poetics of Translation: History, Theory, Practice (Yale University Press 1995), Sappho and the Greek Lyric Poets (Pantheon 1988), The Other Bible (HarperOne 2005), The Apocalypse (editor, translator) (New Directions 2000), The Gnostic Bible (Shambhala 2009), The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas (W.W. Norton and Company 2009) and A Book of Women Poets from Antiquity to Now (editor with Aiki Barnstone) (Schocken1992) Interview Date: 3/9/2015 Tags: Willis Barnstone, cafes, conversation, poetic word, poetry, The Good Beasts, prose, Jesus as poet, Arts & Creativity

Rizwan Virk (known as Riz) is a successful entrepreneur, video game pioneer, venture capitalist, and founder of the start-up accelerator Play Labs @ MIT. His interest and expertise ranges from video games, the metaverse, simulation theory, meditation, consciousness, and the intersection of science, science fiction, religion, and philosophy. He’s a graduate of MIT and Stanford and is currently a faculty associate at Arizona State University. He is the author of Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior (BayView Labs 2013), Startup Myths and Models: What You Won't Learn in Business School (Columbia Business School Publishing 2020), Treasure Hunt: Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success (Watkins Publishing 2017), The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics Agree We Are in a Video Game. (Bayview books 2019), Wisdom of a Yogi: Lessons for Modern Seekers from Autobiography of a Yogi (Bayview Books 2023), The Zen Entrepreneur & the Dream: An MIT Grad’s Quest for Success & Enlightenment in Silicon Valley (2023) Interview Date: 7/14/2023. Tags: Rizwan Virk, video games, virtual reality ping pong, Nick Brostrom, virtual simulations, Second Life computer platform, quantum physics, The Matrix movie, AI Technology, ChatGPt, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, hard problem of consciousness, brain-computer interface, stroke victims, Elon Musk, Neuralink, simulation point, supercomputing, mysticism, Sanskrit Maya, Science, Philosophy, Technology, spirituality

Vasavi Kumar a first generation Indian American and is a life coach and licensed therapist who holds degrees in social work and special education from Hofstra and Columbia Universities.. She runs the Say It out Loud Safe Haven community for coaches, creatives, and entrepreneurs. She is the author of Say It out Loud: Using the Power of Your Voice to Listen to Your Deepest Thoughts and Courageously Pursue Your Dreams. (New World Library 2023) Interview Date: 7/7/2023 Tags: Vasavi Kumar, walk our talk, integrity, internalized conflict, disembodied, fragmented self, using others as our saviors, internal resources, motivation, energy inventory, personal inventory, joy is a renewable energy, play, weekly voice notes, Personal Transformation

Margaret Renkl is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear weekly. She has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards for her writing. She is the founding editor of Chapter 16, a daily literary publication of Humanities Tennessee. A graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, she now lives in Nashville. She is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss (Milkweed Editions 2019), Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South (Milkweed Editions 2021) and The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year (Spiegel and Grau 2023) Interview Date: 6/19/2023 Tags: Margaret Renkl, untidy gardens, soil, serotonin, gardening, bumblebees, grasshoppers, bird watching, sheltering in place, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, coyote in the bathroom, spiders, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. Mark Nepo is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020), Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity (St. Martins’ Essentials 2022) and Falling Down and Getting Up: Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength (St. Martins’ Essentials 2023). His many audio learning courses include Staying Awake (Sounds True 2012) and Holding Nothing Back (Sounds True 2012 Interview Date: 6/30/2023 Tags: Mark Nepo, inner truth, integrity, Rabbi Omer-Man, noise, guiding center point, inner voice, enlivening, friendship, disheartening, discernment, Kalevala, isolation, Joseph Bruchac, original instructions, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Relationship

Hank Wesselman, Ph.D. (1941-2021) is a respected paleoanthropologist who has worked with noted anthropologists around the world including in Ethiopia investigating the mystery of human origins in the Great Rift Valley. Besides his training and scientific work, he is a shamanic student, practitioner, and teacher, now in the 30th year of his apprenticeship. He lived with his wife Jill in Hawaii. In addition to his scientific publications, his seven books on shamanism include: The Spiritwalker trilogy (Bantam 1996), Awakening to the Spirit World (co-authored with Sandra Ingerman) (Sounds True 2010), he Bowl of Light: Ancestral Wisdom from a Hawaiian Shaman (Sounds True 2011) and The Re-Enchantment: A Shamanic Path to a Life of Wonder (Sounds True 2016). Interview Date: 10/1/2016 Tags: Hank Wesselman, angels, spirits, evil, master of deception, Hale Makuna, e'epa, psychic vampires, achons, wetiko, goodness, truth, beauty, holodeck, Star Trek, age of the healer, compassion, positive polarity, Religion, Shamanism, Spirituality, Indigenous Wisdom