The New Dimensions Café

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 2012Interview 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

Daniel Pinchbeck has been described as a radical futurist. He’s a philosopher and keen cultural observer. He was featured in the 2010 documentary, 2012: Time for Change and host of the talk show, MindShift, on Gaiam TV. He directed the think tank Center for Planetary Culture. His essays and articles have appeared in a vast range of publications, including the New York Times, Esq., Rolling Stone, ArtForum, Dazed and Confused, The Village Voice and many other publications. In 2007, Daniel launched the web magazine Reality Sandwich and co-foundedEvolver.net. Evolver currently includes Evolver Learning Labs, a webinar platform, and The Evolver Network, a nonprofit initiative. Daniel also edited the publishing imprint, Evolver Editions with North Atlantic Books. He is the author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism(Broadway Books 2003), 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (Tarcher/Perigee 2007), and How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation (Watkins Publishing 2017).Tags: Daniel Pinchbeck, imagination, creativity, Wright Brothers, financial capitalism, Rebecca Solnit, Burning Man, sacrifice, collective intention, technology, ecological constraints, CO2, climate change, cheap energy, regenerative society, consumer society, competition, collaboration, space exploration, inner dimensions, psychedelics, Ayahuasca, LSD, DMT, Community, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Philosophy, Social Change, Politics

Cathy Wild is a creativity expert and has developed creative processes for both private and corporate clients. She’s a pioneer in somatic counseling, the expressive arts, and the field of life coaching. She has founded Body-Centered Healing, an experiential process that supports clients on a personal journey of transformation. Her private practice is located in Northern California. She is the author of Wild Ideas: Creativity from the Inside Out (Standing Place Press 2017)Tags: Cathy Wild, creativity, the creative process, success, intuition, analytical orientation, authenticity, soulful path, Writing, Art, Self Help, Personal Transformation, Writing, Psychology

Judith Orloff, M.D. is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A., and has been a presenter at medical schools, hospitals, universities, and the American Psychiatric Association. For more than two decades she has helped patients achieve physical and emotional healing through the synthesis of traditional medicine with intuition, energy, and spirituality. She is the author of: The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life (Harmony books 2014), Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Harmony Books 2009), Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Extraordinary Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom (Warner Books 2010), The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People (Sounds True 2017)Tags: Judith Orloff, empaths, intuition, intuitives, highly sensitive people, HSP, Heart meditation, water, eating well, self-care, trust, types of empaths, intuitive empaths, animal empaths, earth empaths, intuitive overload, strengthen inner core, Health & Healing, Intuition, Psychic, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Larry Brilliant, M.D. is a pioneering physician, visionary technologist, and global philanthropist. He was the first executive director of Google.org, and he currently serves as chair of the Skoll Global Threats Fund. He cofounded the Seva Foundation, whose programs and partners have restored sight to more than four million blind people in dozens of counties. He cofounded one of the first digital social networks, The WELL. He is the author of the memoir: Sometimes Brilliant: The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History (HarperOne 2016)Tags: Larry Brilliant, eradication of smallpox, India, Doctor America, Girija, WHO, World Health Organization, Nicole Grasset, Bill Foege, hatred, justice, racism, social media, deep listening, Health & Healing, Spirituality, Travel, Community, Global Culture, Peace, Non-Violence, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Social Change, Politics

William Keepin, Ph.D. is a mathematical physicist, environmental scientist, and has been a practitioner on the contemplative path of divine love for over 35 years. He cofounded the Satyana Institute, as well as the Gender Reconciliation International project with his wife, Rev. Cynthia Brix. The Satyana Institute is a nonprofit service and training organization based near Seattle Washington. Together with his wife, Rev. Brix, he conducts trainings, retreats, and workshops nationally and internationally, encouraging individuals, communities and organizations to combine their inner work of the heart with outer service in the world. He is the co-author with his wife, Rev. Cynthia Brix of: Divine Duality: Women Healing Women (Hohm Press 2015). He is the author of: Belonging to God: Spirituality, Science, and a Universal Path of Divine Love (SkyLightPaths Publishing 2016)Tags: Will Keepin, God, Divine Love, suffering, universal love, spiritual practice, keeping the heart open, mantra, name of God practice, Christ, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Bishop Tutu, infinite source, religious orthodoxy, guides on spiritual path

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

Karen Casey Ph.D. received her doctorate in philosophy with an emphasis on Native American studies. She’s an accomplished author with over two dozen books and is the 2007 winner of the Johnson Institute American Honors Recovery Award for her contribution to the field of recovery. Karen’s focus as a writer and spiritual teacher is to strengthen our connection to a Higher Power, which is the invisible source of inspiration, guidance, strength, and wisdom available to each of us. Her books include Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women (40th anniversary edition).(Hazeldon 2022), 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Loved-Filled Life. (Conari Press 2016) and Let Go Now: Embraced Detachment As a Path to Freedom (Conari Press 2022)Interview Date: 5/19/2023   Tags: Karen Casey, Higher Power, AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, recovery, presence of God, Course in Miracles, spirituality, creativity, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Writing