The New Dimensions Café

Glenn Aparicio Parry, Ph.D. is an educator, international speaker, entrepreneur, and visionary whose life-long passion is to re-form thinking and education into a coherent, cohesive whole. He's the founder and past president of the SEED Institute, and is currently the president of the think tank: The Circle for Original Thinking. Parry organized and participated in the groundbreaking Language of Spirit Conferences from 1999 - 2011 that brought together Indigenous Native Elders and Western scientists in dialogue. This series of conferences was moderated by Leroy Little Bear. Parry is an avid outdoorsman and makes his home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, NM, with his wife, dog, and cat. He is the author of Original Thinking: A Radical ReVisioning of Time, Humanity, and Nature (North Atlantic Books 2015) and Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again (Select Books 2020)Interview Date: 2/19/2021      Tags: Glenn Aparicio Parry, sacred purpose, Native America, natural rights, equality, liberty, America’s shadow, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Andrew Johnson, reconstruction, suffrage, chaos, myth of the old woman and the black dog, insurrection on the capital, Trump, racism, White supremacy, George Floyd, Barack Obama, Derek Black, KKK, respect, love, Cory Booker, sacred politics, the Munich Security Conference, every voice matters, Social Change/Politics, Indigenous Wisdom

J. Ruth Gendler is an artist and a writer, and has been a teacher of writing and art for more than twenty years. She leads workshops in writing and creativity throughout the United States, and has been an artist in residence with California Poets in the Schools and Young Audiences of the Bay Area. She has worked with elementary, middle school and high school students teaching through California Poets in the Schools and writes about the transformative power of art. In October 2007 the Lineage Dance Company presented a theater piece based on her book The Book of Qualities (HarperCollins 1988), now in its 52nd printing. Her books also include Changing Light: The Eternal Cycle of Night and Day (Editor) (Harper Collins 1991) and Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality (Marlowe & Company 2007).Interview Date: 9/17/2014   Tags: MP3, J. Ruth Gendler, beauty, fashion, Lily Yeh, embellishments, Arts & Creativity

Claire B. Willis is a clinical social worker who works in the field of oncology and bereavement. She is a cofounder of the Boston nonprofit Facing Cancer Together and regularly leads bereavement, end of life, support, and therapeutic writing groups. As a lay Buddhist chaplain, she focuses on contemplative practices for end-of-life care. She maintains a private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. She is coauthor with Marnie Crawford Samuelson of Opening to Grief: Finding Your Way from Loss to Peace (Dharma Spring 2020)Interview Date: 2/2/2021  Tags: Claire B. Willis, grief, grieving, loss, Covid-19, mourning rituals, Shiva, grief altar, communal grieving, putting grief into action, suffering, Joe Biden models positive grieving, Death & Dying, Personal Transformation

Bill Plotkin, PhD, has been a psychotherapist, research psychologist, rock musician, river runner, professor of psychology, and mountain-bike racer. As a research psychologist, he studied dreams and nonordinary states of consciousness achieved through meditation, biofeedback, and hypnosis. The founder and president of Animas Valley Institute, he has guided thousands of people through initiatory passages in nature since 1980. Currently an ecotherapist, depth psychologist, and wilderness guide, he leads a variety of experiential, nature-based individuation programs. He is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library 2003), Nature and the Human Soul: Creating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (New World Library 2008), The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries (New World Library 2021)Interview Date: 1/21/2021    Tags: Bill Plotkin, soul initiation, Earth community, true adult, transcendence, cocoon, mythopoetic identity, ego metamorphosis, true purpose, caterpillar and butterfly, dissolution experience, descent to soul, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Cognitive decline is rampant in today’s world. It’s a toxic jungle regarding pollutants in the air, water, and foods we eat, as well as the negative media we take in. Here our guest touches on how to protect ourselves and our brains as we navigate the neuro-toxic forces that are currently pitched against everyone on the planet. Brant Cortright, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. His consulting practice specializes in brain health and neuroscience-informed depth therapy. He is the author of: Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy (Suny Series, Philosophy of Psychology) (State University of New York Press 1997), Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (State University of New York Press 2007), The Neurogenesis Diet & Lifestyle: Upgrade Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life (Psyche Media 2015), Holistic Healing for Anxiety, Depression, & Cognitive Decline (Psyche Media 2020)Interview Date: 1/14/2021    Tags: Brant Cortright, depression, mental illness, Neurotoxins, hormone disruptors, glyphosates, microbiome, inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease, smog, antidepressants, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, gut microbiome, microbial diversity, bacteria in our intestines, conspiracy theories, Science, Self Help, Heath & Healing, psychology, meditation

Devon Price, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, writer, activist, and professor at Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Price's work has appeared in numerous publications such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Slate, and has been featured on the front page of Medium numerous times. Price is the author of Laziness Does Not Exist (Atria Books 2020)Interview Date: 1/7/2021      Tags: Devon Price, overworking, laziness, laziness lie, pandemic, universal income, Rebecca Solnit, R. Buckminster Fuller, Bucky Fuller, students, motivation, overwork, productivity, working from home, setting boundaries, achievement orientation, achievement indoctrination, Stephen Covey, Personal Transformation, Work/Livelihood, Creativity

Celeste Yacoboni is an ordained Minister of Walking Prayer and is a spiritual coach. She is the editor of How Do You Pray? Inspiring Responses from Religious Leaders, Spiritual Guides, Healers, Activists & Other Lovers of Humanity (Monkfish Publishing 2014)Interview Date: 8/27/2014  Tags: Celeste Yacoboni, prayer, Matthew Fox, Ph.D., Michael Meade, Michael Gelb, Ph.D., chanting, Hail Mary full of grace prayer,prayer field, grief, muslim prayer practice, prayer of dedication, Spirituality, Religion

Stuart Brown. M.D. is a pioneer researcher on the effects of play. He’s the founder of the National Institute for Play in Carmel, California. In 1987, he was the producer of the classic documentary film The Hero's Journey, the Life and Work of Joseph Campbell and executive producer and originator of the three part PBS series, The Promise of Play. He is the author of: Play, How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul (co-author Christopher Vaughan) (Avery 2010)Interview Date: 2/3/2014    Tags: Stuart Brown, M.D. Play, playing, violence, Charles Whitman, playlessness, pre-school children and play, bullying, physical playing versus virtual playing, creativity, vitamin play, Personal Transformation, Parenting

Margaret Wheatley is an internationally acclaimed writer, speaker, and teacher. She is co-founder and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute, a charitable foundation that works with people around the world who strengthen their communities using the wisdom and wealth already present in their people, traditions, and environment. Wheatley's books include Leadership and the New Science  (Berrett-Kohler 1998), Perseverance  (Berrett-Kohler 2010) and So Far from Home: Lost and Found In Our Brave New World (Berrett-Kohler 2012)Interview Date: 12/11/2012   Tags: Persevere, relationship, community, General Sherman, Civil War, supporting one another, buddies, Social Change/Politics, Philosophy

Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter and author of many books which often include stories of her encounters with animals. To research her books, films and articles, Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silver back gorilla in Zaire and bitten by a vampire bat in Costa Rica, worked in a pit of 18,000 snakes in Manitoba, and handled a wild tarantula in French Guiana. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University System of New Hampshire. Her many books have garnered numerous awards, and include: Search for the Golden Moon Bear: Science and Adventure in Pursuit of a New Species (Chelsea Green Publishing 2009), The Good, Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood (Ballantine Books 2007), Birdology: Adventures with a Pack of Hens, a Peck of Pigeons, Cantankerous Crows, Fierce Falcons, Hip Hop Parrots, Baby Hummingbirds, and One Murderously Big Living Dinosaur (Atria Books 2011), The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness. (Atria Books 2015)Tags: Sy Montgomery, octopus, suckers of an octopus, evolution, octopus enrichment manual, octopus venom, octopus arms, Nancy King’s octopus Ollie, Octopuses like TV, Animals, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Science