The New Dimensions Café

Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist with a deep interest in neuroscience and mindfulness. He is a senior fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California Berkeley and creator of the year-long course The Foundations of Well-Being. He is the author of many books including: Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (New Harbinger 2009) , Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (New Harbinger 2011), Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence (Harmony Books 2013), Meditations to Change Your Brain - CD Set (Sounds True 2009), Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness (Harmony Books 2018) and NeuroDharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness (Harmony Books 2020)Interview Date: 2/24/2020     Tags: Rick Hanson, media, despair, compassion, courage, common humanity, take heart, the fruits of practice, changing the structure of brain, neuroscience, neuroplasticity, inner peace, neural circuitry, letting go of results, 7 practices for happiness, empathic imagination, reacting amygdala, less reactive, somatic learning, somatic markers, steady presence of mind, not being attached to outcome, attachment, tenacity, Fern Hill poem by Dylan Thomas, Social Change/Politics, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Science

Claudia L’Amoreaux works at the intersection of new technologies in education. She helps parents and young people nurture the skills needed to make wider, needed to make wise choices about technology that will lead to greater well-being and she’s the founder of Mindful Digital Life. You may subscribe to her blogs on her website. Tags: Claudia L’Amoreaux, digital distractions, choiceful attention, attention, deluge of information, digital world, digital landscape, stress, Sherry Turkle, humans are indoor species, benefits of being in nature, children, young people, Education, Technology, Parenting, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Meditation

Dean Sluyter has taught natural methods of meditation and awakening throughout the United states and beyond since 1970. He’s taught at colleges, yoga studios ,corporate offices, and maximum-security prisons. He’s known for his funny, down-to-earth style, and for making life-transforming teachings accessible and easy. He is the author of many books including: The Zen Commandments (Tarcher/Putnam 2001), Why the Chicken Crossed the Road and Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings (Tarcher/Putnam 1998), Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies (Three Rivers Press 2005), Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin 2015), Less Fear, Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction (TarcherPerigee 2018)Tags: Dean Sluyter, imagination, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, coward, hero, awakening, enlightenment, Gospel of Thomas, psychedelics, beingness, dogs, listening, space between thoughts, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Meditation

Alanis Morissette is a multiple Juno and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter. Her albums have sold over 75 million copies worldwide. Morissette's music explores themes of the feminine movement, leadership, spirituality, and self-empowerment. Her albums include: Jagged Little Pill, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, Flavors of Entanglement, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, The Storm Before the CalmInterview Date: 4/09/2024   Tags: service, listening, relationships, cultivating curiosity, conflict resolution, divinity, consciousness, prefrontal cortex, non-violent communication, empathy, circles, lean in, lean out, holding space, silence, grief, meditation, moon, Arts & Creativity, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Women's Studies, Psychology, Parenting, Meditation

Dean Radin, Ph.D. is senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Associate Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He earned a BSEE degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude with honors in physics, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then an M.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For a decade he worked on advanced telecommunications R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories. For over two decades he has been engaged in frontiers research on the nature of consciousness. Before joining the research staff at IONS in 2001, he held appointments at Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, University of Nevada, Interval Research Corporation, and SRI International. His books include: The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena (HarperCollins 1997), Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality (Paraview Pocket Books 2006), Supernormal (Random House 2013), Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe (Harmony Books 2018)Tags: Dean Radin, supernatural, magnetism, alchemy, consciousness, natural magic, intention, attention, quantum mechanics, mathematics, internal world, objective world, physics, primordial awareness, Thomas Nagel, evolution, brain, robots, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Science, History, Philosophy

Russ Hudson is a world-renowned teacher, author, and scholar who has dedicated over 30 years to studying and sharing the gifts of the Enneagram. He is the author of The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth For The And Nine Personality Types (coauthor with Don Richard Riso) (Bantam Books 1999) and The Enneagram: Nine Gateways to Presence (Sounds True 2021)Interview Date: 3/22/2024     Tags: Russ Hudson, Enneagram, Fourth Way, George Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, Desert Fathers, Egypt, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, awareness, presence, ego, spiritual traditions, inner work, psychology, meditation, prayer, grace, saints, masters, humanity, civilization, teachings, Faqir, monastery, relationships,  Personal Transformation, Psychology, Spirituality, Philosophy

Tedra Hamel (known as Teddi) is a critical care nurse in Washington state and a backyard chicken enthusiast. Through the inspiration of her feathered friends, she has become an artist and her hens have established some fame on Instagram. She is the author and artist illustrator of Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring You Jou (Quarto Publishing Group, 2024)   Interview Date: 3/20/2024  Tags: Tedra Hamel, chickens, flock of hens, community chicken coop, chickens as pets, calming effect of chickens, chicken artwork, pecking order, chicken social order, earthing, chickens are very grounded, meditating with chickens, chickens as skeptical inspectors, local ordinance for having chickens, safe housing for chickens, collecting chicken eggs, Animals, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Personal Transformation

Mark Coleman is a mindfulness meditation teacher who has been teaching Insight meditation and nature retreats worldwide since 1997. He regularly leads wilderness retreats through his organization, Awake in the Wild where he introduces others to nature-based meditation practices. These retreats include a wide variety of contemplative activities like hiking, backpacking, forest bathing, kayaking, river rafting, cross-country skiing, rowing, canoeing, and more. Mark is also the co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute, where he co-leads yearlong mindfulness-teacher trainings in Europe and the U.S. He is also a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, in Northern California. His books include:Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path to Self-Discovery (New World Library 2006), Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Your Inner Critic (New World Library 2016), From Suffering to Peace: The True Promise of Mindfulness (New World Library 2019) and A Field Guide to Nature Meditation: 52 Mindfulness Practices for Joy, Wisdom and Wonder (Awake in the Wild 2022) Interview Date: 3/6/2024.    Tags: Mark Coleman, John Muir, mindfulness awareness, being known by nature, Stress, anxiety, wonder, awe, John Burroughs, nature heals, attention economy, going outside, gratitude, Fear, protecting the earth, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Brenda Peterson is an award-winning nature writer, memoirist, novelist, and writing teacher. She’s been featured on NPR, and in the New York Times, Orion Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, and many other prestigious magazines and newspapers. She’s the author of more than twenty books for adults and children including Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals (W. W. Norton 2001), Duck and Cover (Backinprint.com 2004), I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth (Da Capo Press 2010) and Wild Chorus: Finding Harmony with Whales, Wolves, and Other Animals (Mountaineers Books 2024)Interview Date: 3/5/2024  Tags: Brenda Peterson, Noah’s Ark, Blue Heron, creation story, Orca Lab, Helena Symonds, animal totems, creation story, creation stories, Animals, Ecology/Nature/ Environment, dreams

Jude Currivan is a cosmologist, planetary healer, and futurist. She has a master’s degree in physics from Oxford University and a doctorate in archaeology. She has traveled the world and worked with wisdomkeepers from many traditions and continues to pursue her life-long passion in researching the nature of reality. Currivan resides in England. She is the author of many books including The 13th Step: A Global Journey in Search of Our Cosmic Destiny (Hay House 2009), The Wave: A Life Changing Journey into the Heart and Mind of the Cosmos (O Books 2005) and The Cosmic Hologram: In-formation at the Center of Creation (Bear & Company 2017)Tags: Jude Currivan, mind, matter, materialistic science, consciousness, interconnectedness, fear, love, collective psyche, myth of separation, individuation, separation, The Spiral of Compassion, empathy, Science, Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Philosophy