The New Dimensions Café

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

Sam Daley-Harris is the founder of Results and Results Educational Fund. Results is an international grassroots, citizen’s lobby committed to healing the break between people and government and creating the political win, and creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. He is the director of Results Educational Fund’s largest project, the Microcredit Summit, a campaign to reach a hundred million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women in those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services. He is the author of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government, the 20th Anniversary Edition (Camino Books Inc. 2004)Tags: MP3, Sam Daley-Harris, grassroots activism, Francis Moore Lappe, democracy, bi-partisanship, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, U.N. children’s fund, UNICEF, global and domestic poverty, Quaker lobby FCNL.org, citizen activist, George Bernard Shaw, House Climate Solutions Caucus, Representative Tom Moyer, Social change, Politics, Media, Self Help

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

Robert Fuller, Ph.D. is a physicist and former president of Oberlin College. He has consulted with Indira Gandhi, met with Jimmy Carter regarding the President's Commission on World Hunger, and worked to defuse the Cold War in Russia when it was known as the USSR. As Fuller reflected on his career he realized that he had been, at different times in his life, a somebody and a nobody. His periodic sojourns into “Nobodyland” led him to identify rankism - the abuse of the power inherent in rank - and ultimately to write the book Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank. He has become a recognized leader of the dignity movement to overcome rankism and keynoted a Dignity for All conference hosted by the President of Bangladesh.Tags: Robert Fuller, Robots, slavery, dignity, evolution, technological species, dignity movement, Red Queen Syndrome, sexual harassment, rankism, AI, artificial intelligence, intuition, synchronicity. Social Change, Politics, Science, Spirituality, Technology

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

Nicki Scully has been teaching shamanic arts and Egyptian mysteries since 1983 and is the founder of Shamanic Journeys, Ltd., which specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt. She has written many books including Power Animal Meditations, Alchemical Healing, Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt (co-author Linda Star Wolf) (Bear & Company 2008), Planetary Healing: Spirit Medicine for Global Transformation (co-author, her husband Mark Hallert)(Bear & Company 2011), Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess (Bear & Co 2017). She’s the creator of the CD set Becoming an Oracle (Sounds True 2009). Tags: Nicki Scully, Sekhmet, Egyptian Mythology, Ma’at, enough is enough, fierce compassion, goddess, alchemical healing, Mythology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Personal Transformation