New Dimensions

In our deep desire to be of help, Sofer provides clarity in how to increase our resilience and engage more effectively with the infinite complexities of the 21st century. He sheds light on how such qualities as integrity, concentration, gratitude, and generosity lead us to become more skillful in positive activism in the world. 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 Teachers Council of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center 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, inner life, aspiration, nonviolent communication, mindfulness, resilient, resilience, privilege, entitlement, empathy, isolation, rescuing hug, Martin Luther King Jr, Harry Dunn, curiosity, resolve, self-discipline, willpower, willingness, attention, Howard Thurman, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

As a stage IV cancer survivor, Nelson knows living with gratefulness is more than just another task to perform, it’s an orientation to life. She counsels us to avoid getting caught in the hamster wheel of life, forgetting again and again that the present moment is truly all we have, and it’s both precious and fleeting. It adds to the stamina we need for our journey. 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. 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, gratitude, gratefulness, Brother David Steindl-Rast, poignancy, poignant, not knowing, curiosity, Personal Transformation, Psychology

The Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet is known as “She Who Comes in Times of Chaos.” She transforms fear and rage into alchemical gold. Whether this is actual or metaphorical, Scully teaches us how to tap into these healing energies and spin them into creative solutions that benefit yourself, your community, and the planet. 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 (Bear & Company 2001), 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) and Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess (Bear & Company 2017)Tags: Nicki Scully, Sekhmet, Egyptian Mythology, Thoth, Ma’at, alchemical healing, neturu, gratitude, divine intervention, Isis, Akashic records, Sphinx, Mythology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Here we explore how we can abide in equanimity with the displays of hatred and polarization in these most challenging times. There is one person who models for us the highest form of radical peace, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In this dialogue we explore how we too may embody peace and nonviolence as we find peacewithin ourselves and with the world. Tags: Robert Thurman, despair, happiness, suffering, love, strong force, Kundan, nonviolence, Tibet, genocide, China, Jesus, Matthew Fox, ethics, karma, generosity, Bucky Fuller, elections, voting, Buddhism, Spirituality, Peace/Nonviolence, Religion, Social Change, Politics

Cats and dogs bring to us many gifts including companionship and unconditional love. Carlyn Montes De Oca points out that “These furry companions are scientifically proven stress-busters in, perhaps, this most stressed-out age that humanity is ever known.” Here we explore how our cats and dogs can be our health and wellness allies. She is the author of Dog as my Doctor, Cat as my Nurse.Tags: Carlyn Montes De Oca, guardian, guardianship, cancer, petting, cholesterol, depression, stress, anxiety, EQ, emotional quotient, empath, Cesar Millan the dog whisperer, pen pals, prison programs and animals, forgiveness, prayer of ho’oponopono, Animals, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Any life-threatening medical diagnosis is a traumatic event and can invoke a complex mix of fear, sorrow, anger and confusion. The capacity to deal with such a trauma both during and after treatment involves a massive amount of energy and courage. Here we explore the emotional healing of survivorship. Cheryl Krauter is the author of Surviving the Storm: A Workbook for Telling Your Cancer StoryTags: Cheryl Krauter, survivor, cancer, deep listening, trauma, Maya Stein, How to Climb a Mountain poem, health advocate, fear, depression, grief, caregivers, tyranny of positive thinking, health support groups, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Emerson’s transformational and prescient wisdom addresses the current and pressing needs of the world today. He encourages us to pay attention to our angle of vision because it is the first step toward self-awareness and will aid us in separating truth from falsehood. He guides us with inclusive thinking rather than the limitations of binary, either/or thinking.Mark Matousek is a teacher, spiritual seeker and award-winning author of many books. He leads transformative workshops, intensives, and guided writing sessions that mentor participants to reach their artistic and personal goals by using writing as a tool for insight, innovation, and clarity of purpose. He’s the founder of the Seekers Forum, an online community for self-inquiry. His books include: Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story (Riverhead 2000), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father (Riverhead 1997), When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living (Bloomsbury 2009), Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life (Anchor Books 2011), Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery (Reveal Press 2017) and Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life (HarperOne 2023)Interview Date: 10/24/2023   Tags: Mark Matousek, transcendentalism, transcendentalist, self-reliance, ecstasy, materialism, rationality, Stoicism, Stoics, implicit bias, Pauline Boss, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Christ, Buddha, Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, Henry David Thoreau, Advaita Vedanta, nondualism, pantheism, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, History, Social Change/Politics

Humanity is straddling unprecedented, threshold times. This situational crisis is more than climate change. It’s a whole system change. Yet, despite the extreme nature of our situation, we’re also living in a moment of immense possibility. We live in an immense sea of a living universe within a domain of aliveness with new kinds of potentials that are going to emerge. Duane Elgin, Ph.D.(hon) is a visionary futurist, educator, and Citizen-Voice Activist who received the Goi Pace Award in Japan in recognition of his contributions to a global vision that fosters a “more sustainable and spiritual culture”. Duane is currently the Co-director of the Choosing Earth Project. He is the author of many books including Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (William Morrow 1993), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Harper 2010), The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? (Barrett Koehler Publishers 2009), Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future the Living Universe (William Morrow 2000) and Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Journey of Initiation through Breakdown and Collapse to Mature Planetary Community (Revised Edition) (Duane Elgin 2022)Interview Date: 10/20/2023.  Tags: Duane Elgin, initiation, Christopher Alexander, mutual symbiosis, pocket neighborhoods, eco-villages, digital authoritarianism, digital dictatorship, electronic meetings, ETMs, electronic Town Meetings, The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Community, Social Change/Politics, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture

Johnson suggests by opening to the possibility of wonder from surprising sources, we recognize that, even in the bleakest of times, beauty is possible. Although that beauty can’t permanently replace our losses, our sorrow, and the dire problems we’re facing, it can break through the walls of powerlessness and melt despair. Trebbe Johnson is the founder and director of the global community Radical Joy for Hard Times, and she’s devoted to finding and making beauty in hurt places. She has camped alone in the Arctic wilderness; studied classical Indian dance; worked as an artist’s model, has been a street sweeper in an English village, and is an award-winning multimedia producer. She’s led wilderness rites of passage and contemplative journeys in clear-cut forests, Ground Zero in New York, in EPA’s toxic Superfund sites, the Sahara Desert, and other places. She participates in Global Earth Exchange—bringing people around the world together to go to places they care about that have been damaged or endangered: share stores, listen to the land, and make a simple gift of beauty for the place out of materials the place itself offers. She is the author of several books including Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places. (North Atlantic Books 2018) and Fierce Consciousness: Surviving the Sorrows of Earth and Self (Calliope Books, 2023).Interview Date: 10/6/2023     Tags: Trebbe Johnson, Michael Meade, The Woman in the Cave, Dylan Thomas, green fuse, grief, beauty, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ministry Of The Future, disbelieving, disbelief, Halaco Plant, hurt places, superfund places, Global Earth Exchange, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Ecology/Nature/Environment

What if despite aging, injuries, health conditions and illnesses you could not only return to a state of health you enjoyed previously, but even improve on it? Greer explores feelings and thoughts both conscious and unconscious that are intertwined and can influence your physical health. He encourages us to explore our own health story. Carl Greer, Ph.D., Psy.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst, and shamanic practitioner. He teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and is on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. He is the author of Change The Story of your Health: Using Shamanic and Jungian Techniques for Healing (Findhorn Press 2017) and Change Your Story, Change Your Life: Using Shamanic and Jungian Tools to Achieve Personal Transformation (Findhorn Press 2014)Tags: Carl Greer, energy work, energy medicine, inner healer, changes habits, overeating, dieting, losing weight, personal power and weight, shamanic journeys, rituals, sacred ceremonies, fire ceremony, sacred listening, deep listening, depression, anxiety. Health & Healing, Psychology, Shamanism