The New Dimensions Café

Patrice Vecchione is a poet, author, and artist. She teaches creative writing retreats, and collage and poetry workshops. She has also worked with children, leading classes in poetry and the imagination in elementary, middle, and high schools. She is the author of several books including Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within (McGraw Hill 2001) and Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Beyond Words Publishing 2015)Interview Date: 5/12/2015    Tags: Patrice Vecchione, backpacking, nature, woods, starlight, owl, trees, holding mass in nature, the natural world, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ph.D (1929-2019) shares with us ways we can be conscious evolutionaries. She was a visionary futurist and evolutionary educator. She was the cofounder and chair of the board of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution and was a guide and teacher for The Shift Network's Agents of Conscious Evolution training. She was the author of : Birth 2012 and Beyond: Humanity's Great Shift to the Age of Conscious Evolution (Shift Books 2012)Interview Date: 6/29/2012  Tags: Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious evolution, Philosophy

Laura Basha, Ph.D. holds a combined doctorate in clinical and organizational psychology. She’s an international consultant in leadership development and a personal coach. And she is a fine artist whose paintings reside in many private collections. She is the author of The Inward Outlook (Xlibris 2014)Interview Date: 4/9/2015   Tags: Laura Basha, creating your response to your experience, choice point, victim, creating our experience, creating our reality, value system, your personal purpose, silence, a quiet mind, Muir Woods, Philosophy, Personal Transformation

Bodhipaksa was born Graeme Stephen in Scotland and currently lives and teaches in New Hampshire. He is a Buddhist teacher and author who has been practicing within the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order since 1982 and has been a member of this order since 1993. Bodhipaksa runs the online meditation center, Wildmind, to increase awareness of the positive effects of meditation. His published works include The Wisdom of the Breath (CD) (Sounds True 2009), Wildmind (Windhorse 2010) and Living As a River: Finding Fearlessness in the Face of Change (Sounds True 2010)Interview Date: 10/22/2010  Tags: Bodhipaksa, retreats, mindfulness, happiness, consciousness, Spirituality, Buddhism, Science, Meditation

Priscilla Stuckey is a writer, book editor, scholar, and Earth-advocate. She teaches humanities at Prescott College and holds a Ph.D. in religious studies and feminist theory from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of Kissed by a Fox: And Other Stories of Friendship in Nature (Counterpoint 2012) Interview Date: 1/21/2013   Tags: Priscilla Stuckey, Ph.D., Fox, wild animals, reading trees, natural world, biodegradable, plastic, trash, techno-nutrients, eating close to home, zero waste, Peralta Creek, gratitude, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Community

Dr. Jed Diamond, Ph.D., is a licensed psychotherapist, a founding member of the American Society of Men’s Health, and an internationally respected leader in the men's health movement. He’s the Founder and Director of MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Though focused on men’s health, MenAlive is also for women who care about the health of the men in their lives. Jed Diamond is the author of many books including: The Irritable Male Syndrome (Rodale Press 2004), Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome (Numina Press 2010). MenAlive: Stop Killer Stress with Simple Energy Healing Tools (Fifth Wave Press 2012), My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound (Lasting Impact Press 2018) and 12 Rules for Good Men (Waterside Productions 2020).Interview Date: 5/27/2021  Tags: MP3, Jed Diamond, Man Box, isolation, loneliness, Men’s groups, Robert Bly, male cells sing, rite of passage, Men’s Studies, Personal Transformation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

Rabbi Paul J. Citrin has served various congregations as a rabbi for over 40 years. He is retired from the pulpit, but continues to teach in synagogues and community centers. He is the author of several books including Gates of Repentance for Young People (Paul Abrams, Judith) (CCAR Press 2009), Ten Sheaves: A Collection of Sermons and Articles (2014), Lights In The Forest: Rabbis Respond To 12 Essential Jewish Questions (editor) (CCAR Press 2016) and I Am My Prayer: A Memoir and Guide for Jews and Seekers (Resource Publications 2021)Interview Date: 5/20/2021  Tags: MP3, Rabbi Paul J Citrin, prayer, Sabbath, Torah, metaphor, Avi HaRachamim, Father of Mercies, Mother Father God, metaphor as springboard, shekinah, Jewish tradition, Judaism, Hindu Kālidāsa, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Religion, Spirituality, Meditation, Community

Belleruth Naparstek is a psychotherapist, author, and guided imagery pioneer, She, along with George Klein, launched the Health Journeys guided imagery audio series in 1991. Since then, this audio library has expanded to include over 250 carefully curated, science-based meditations that target a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. Many major medical institutions, departments of corporate human resources, and wellness centers provide this content to their members. Some of these organizations include Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins, the US Veterans Health Administration, the Mayo Clinic, Blue Shield of California, Progressive Insurance, the US Armed Services and many more. Belleruth Naparstek is the author of Staying Well With Guided Imagery (Warner Books 1995), Your Sixth Sense (HarperSanFrancisco 1998) and Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal (Bantam 2004). Interview Date: 5/14/2021 Tags: MP3, Bellruth Naparstek, guided imagery, surgery, inflammation, sensation, repurposed muscle, body betrayal, body as closest friend, gratitude, Emmett Miller, Marty Rossmann, Bodhipaksa, OCD, panic attacks, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Gregg Levoy is a former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, and former columnist and reporter for USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquirer. He’s written for the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Omni, and Psychology Today. He has presented lectures and seminars for the Smithsonian Institution, Environmental Protection Agency, Microsoft, National Conference on Positive Aging, American Counseling Association, National Career Development Association, and others. He is the author of Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion (Penguin 2014) and Callings: Finding and Following An Authentic Life (Random House 1998)Interview Date: 4/16/2015 Tags: MP3, Gregg Levoy, retirement, passion, entropy, dispassion, vitality, reigniting our spark, tenure, acknowledge what is missing, negative thoughts, mission statement, Chartres Cathedral, saying yes, improv, making lists, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Gabrielle Glancy is an award-winning poet and translator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and The Paris Review among other publications. She’s also a top expert in getting high school students into the college. She is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of The Art of the College Essay (Oneiric Press 2014), Best College Essays 2014 (editor) (Oneiric Press 2014), I’m Already Disturbed Please Come In: Parasites, Social Media and Other Planetary Disturbances (A Memoir, of Sorts) (Oneiric Press 2014)Interview Date: 3/26/2015   Tags: Gabrielle Glancy, illness, diagnosis, Facebook, haunting, parasites, Health & Healing