New Dimensions

In this time of global uncertainty good poems can soften the heart and help us face another day with curiosity, wonder and hope. It gives us another lens to view the world and helps bring what is often unseen into view. Poetry opens us to feel our connection to one another and to nature. It gives us the opportunity to recalibrate our perspective on our place in the world.Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine 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 Hal-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. She 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) and Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020)Interview Date: 4/16/2020       Tags: MP3, Jane Hirshfield, despair, praise, ghazal, resilience, coronavirus, humility, self-quarantine, poetry, Shikantaza meditation, activism, Badlands, beekeepers, interdependence, Kent State Wick Poetry Center, memory, reminiscing, Arts & Creativity, Meditation, social change/politics, science

After collapsing from exhaustion, Huffington began to question what true success really means in this age of hyperconnectivity. In her terms, success is more than the accumulation of money or power. It’s about the quality of our well-being. It’s about the wisdom and wonder that manifests in our lives as well as the contribution we make to others. Arianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of many books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. Her books include Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder (Crown 2014); Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream (Broadway Books 2011) and On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life (Little, Brown and Company 2007)Interview Date: 2/14/2014   Tags: MP3, Arianna Huffington, techno stress, hyperconnectivity, The Third Metric, well-being, wisdom, wonder, giving, volunteering, email, apnea, sleep, keystone habits, meditation, inner critic, Iain Thomas, techno stress, gratitude, social entrepreneur, mindfulness, coincidence, death, eulogies, stretching time, kindness, generosity, death and dying, burnout, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Technology, Business

Prager shares many stories and practical examples of words that heal. She empowers us to be more effective in helping others in need as she explores the power of Verbal First Aidtm. She shares particular words and phrases that are most effective in assisting the healing process when someone is in fear, shock, stress, or trauma. Judith Prager, Ph.D., CHt, is a clinical hypnotherapist with a PHD in psychology and a practices in the Los Angeles area. As a consultant to Cedars-Sinai Medical center, she developed a “Guided Imagery for Surgery” series of pre-intra-and post-operative and ICU creative imagery CDs that has been used with significant results in a pilot program in the Cardio-thoracic Surgery Unit. She’s trained physicians, nurses, and first responders across the U.S. in hypnotic language for pain and stress relief in emergencies and interactions with children. She presents keynotes and talks at conferences and medical centers. She is the author of Journey to Alternity: Transformational Healing through Stories and Metaphors (iUniverse 2000), What the Dolphin Said (Self published 2017), and The Worst Is Over: Verbal First Aid to Calm, Relieve Pain, Promote Healing and Save Lives (revised edition) (Judith Acosta) (Self Published 2014)Interview Date: 4/3/2020       Tags: MP3, Judith Prager, Judith Acosta, nightmares, Deepak Chopra, imagination, listening, sheltering in place, energy fields, energy medicine, isolation, talking with kids, grief, earthquake in Szechuan, PTSD, Verbal First Aidtm, suggestions in altered states, Brenda Peterson, Stephen King, Gabrielle Giffords, dolphins, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Parenting, Health & Healing, Death & Dying

Many gems of wisdom unfold here such as, “Being spiritual is inhabiting our humanness so thoroughly that the part of the universe that lives in me comes out and connects with the part of the universe that lives with you.” Other topics discussed are: being present and being absent as well as considering the difference between what we stand for and what we stand on. Mark Nepo is a poet, 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. He 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), The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016), 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)Interview Date: 1/14/2020     Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, wholehearted, halfhearted, integral, integrity, values, Wizard of Oz, presence, absence, listening, illusion, maya, circles, Friedrich Nietzsche, Japanese dog named Hachikō, belief, immersion, excellence, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Chinese philosopher, Mencius, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology

She was a talker, he, the silent type. How did they bridge their differences in temperaments and skills as they thirsted through deserts, forded icy rapids, stumbled through snow, and met up with a mountain lion? Hear the amazing highs and intense lows as every part of their physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual bodies were challenged.Interview Date: 10/2/2013      Tags: mp3, Gail Storey, Porter Storey, trekking, Pacific Crest Trail, nature, wilderness, Sierra, camping, bicycling, monkey mind, resupplying on the trail, trekking in snow, hiking, hike, emotions, encounter with a mountain lion, bicycling tandem, Appalachian Trail, desert, water, mountains, Ecology/Nature/Environment, relationship, Community, Personal Transformation 

We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift in worldviews. It is as if two tectonic plates are rubbing up against one another. One is called “Datastan” – the paradigm that quantifies, counts, measures, and commoditizes everything. The other is “The Republic of Stories” where diversity, the artist, individual stories, and every contribution matters. Arlene Goldbard is a writer, speaker, consultant, workshop leader, and cultural activist whose focus is the intersection of culture, politics, spirituality, the arts and artists. She is a fierce advocate for the power of human creative expression. Her books include Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development (New Village Press 2006), The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & the Future (Waterlight Press 2013) and The Wave (Waterlight Press 2013) Interview Date: 6/11/2013    Tags: MP3, Arlene Goldbard, datastan, Republic of Story, Corporate Nation, No Child Left Behind, prisons, unemployment, Move to Amend, hope, Story Teller Corp, Trash Dance, graffiti, billboards, customer service, storytelling, Katherine Boo, poverty, confirmation bias, art, artist, music, occupy movement, Roadside Theater, Augusto Boal, Social Change/Politics, Art & Creativity, Business, Community

Cousineau tantalizes us with his understanding of how night is a powerful companion for creativity. The quiet rhythm of the night is a holy experience of soul. He describes how language and culture arose around the fires of our ancestors talking into the night. By sharing stories and poems he takes us from the contemplative, starry night to the enlightenment of early dawn. Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, filmmaker, photographer, art and literary tour leader, teacher of creativity, a lifelong lover of the night, and an all-around Renaissance man. He’s published over 30 books and has over 25 documentary film writing credits. He is also host and co-writer of "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast television series. He's a guest host for New Dimensions Radio. His books include Wordcatcher (Viva Editions, Cleis Press 2010), Beyond Forgiveness: Reflections On Atonement (Jossey-Bass 2011), Stoking The Creative Fires (Red (Wheel/Wiser 2008), Burning the Midnight Oil: Illuminating Words For the Long Night’s Journey Into Day (Viva Editions 2014) and The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech (Viva Editions 2015).Interview Date: 12/20/2013   Tags: MP3, Phil Cousineau, Zorba the Greek, storytelling, Nikos Kazantzakis, creative fire, Detroit, Van Gogh, Miles Davis, R.B. Morris, Poem Night Train Home, Richard E. Byrd, Alexander Eliot, Edward Hopper’s painting, Nighthawks, P. J. Curtis’ The Last Prince of Thormond, noctuaries, Driving Jack at Midnight, tea, tea houses, tea court, tea bag, creativity, art & painting, poetry, Art & Creativity,mythology, philosophy

Page advises us to tend the soil of our body and says, “Your soil is made up of your belief systems, your perceptions.” She believes illness isn’t just a physiological episode and tells us to listen to the intuitive messages from our soul telling us it is time to change. When we keep ignoring these messages, our bodies will stop us in our tracks by getting sick. Christine Page, M.D. received her medical degree from the University of London in 1978. She’s an international seminar leader on healing and empowerment. In 1984, she founded one of the first integrative health centers within the British National Health Service, followed by a highly successful holistic private practice which included homeopathy, counseling and energy-related medicine. She also began a 10-year educational career, teaching doctors, nurses and other medical personnel about complementary therapies including mind/body and energy medicine. She became a well-known bridge builder and played an important role in the acceptance of alternative therapies in the British Health System. She is the author of Frontiers of Health (Rider 2010) and The Healing Power of the Sacred Woman: Health, Creativity, and Fertility for the Soul (Bear & Company 2013) Interview Date: 11/13/2013       Tags: MP3, Christine Page, breast cancer, reading energies, cancer, illness, beliefs, belief, guilt over being ill, divine feminine, menstrual cycles, moon time, princess Diana, Queen Bee metaphor, Mother Cow metaphor, Dragon Queen metaphor, Goddess, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Women’s Studies, Community, death & dying

Don Oscar tells us that ritual begets relationship, nature begets purpose, and Love begets life. This gentle shaman has captured the essence of how we can sustain our sacred earth walk by practicing the ritual of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. This powerful practice can serve to help us build a life-long relationship with the sacred dimensions of life and all our relations. Oscar Miro-Quesada is a respected kamasqa curandero and shamanic adept from Peru, and has been guiding cross-cultural, ethnospiritual apprenticeship expeditions to sacred sites of the world since 1986, with special emphasis on Peru and Bolivia.  He’s been a popular faculty member at numerous U.S. colleges and universities.  He originated the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of cross-cultural shamanism, and is the founder of the Heart of the Healer Foundation.  His works and programs have been featured on CNN, Univision, A&E and the Discovery Channel.  He is the author of Lessons in Courage, Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life (co-author Bonnie Glass-Coffin) (Rainbow Ridge Publishing 2013) and Healing Light: An Apprenticeship in Peruvian Shamanism, A 6-CD Audio Set (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 8/26/2013       Tags: MP3, Oscar Miro-Quesada, sacred reciprocity, shamanism, Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, ritual, dark matter, Wednesday night link, Sixto Paz Wells, dogma, Heart of the Healer Foundation, Indigenous Wisdom,Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Shamanism

You will be inspired by Malden’s candor and clarity as she speaks about her experience of living through the debilitating disease and death of her husband and work partner. She likens this time in her life to being strapped in a roller coaster that you never bought a ticket for. Carla Malden has been a screenwriter and published author. She began her career as the assistant to renowned director Elia Kazan. With her husband and screen writing partner, Laurence Starkman, she co-wrote many screenplays and produced and wrote several award winning short films. She is author of When Do I Start? (coauthor, her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden) (Limelight Editions 2004), Afterimage, A Broken Hearted Memoir of a Charmed Life (Skirt! 2011)Interview Date: 9/6/2012  Tags: MP3, Carla Malden, grief, soulmate, soul mate, cancer, grieving, widowhood, Death & Dying, Health & Healing, Writing, Personal Transformation, Self Help