The New Dimensions Café

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 ...

Carissa Carter is the academic director at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school) and a former geologist. Her work focuses on systems thinking, climate innovation, and design futures. Scott Doorley is the creative director at Stanford’s d.school. He has worked at the intersection of storytelling, physical space, and creative education, and has a background in film and media. They are co-aut...

Sky Nelson-Isaacs is a physicist, musician, teacher, parent, and activist. He has many years of experience as a physics and math instructor and has also worked in the software industry. His current work involves research in the field of quantum foundations and has published a growing body of peer-reviewed work developing the foundation of a theory of synchronicity. He has also earned recognition as a singer, songwriter, an...

Kate Gustin, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who received her education from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley. She’s worked in a variety of settings such as a mental health practitioner: Outpatient psychiatry, Community Mental Health Clinics, VA Hospital, College Counseling Services, and currently in private practice in San Rafael in Northern California. She integrates the science of posit...

Ellen Grace O’Brian is a yogacharya (an esteemed yoga teacher) and the founder and spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center and spiritual community in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, based on the teachings Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the U.S. in 1920. The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment is headquartered in San Jose, California. She is the author of many books including The Moon...

Patrice Vecchione is a poet, author, and artist. She teaches creative writing retreats, collage and poetry workshops. She has also worked with children, leading classes in poetry and the imagination in elementary, middle, and high schools. She's the author of several books including Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within (McGraw Hill 2001). Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in...

Mirabai Starr has taught philosophy and world religions at the University of New Mexico, Taos, for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and the interspiritual dialogue. She’s a certified bereavement counselor and travels the world speaking and giving workshops on contemplative practice and the teachings of the mystics. She is the author and editor of many books including Dark Night ...

Tama Kieves graduated with honors from Harvard Law School but chose to leave a prestigious law firm to become a teacher and workshop leader. Her books include This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love (Penguin Publishing 2006), A Course in Miracles for Life Ninjas (Tarcher/Penguin 2014), A Year Without Fear: 365 Days of Magnificence (Tarcher 2015), Thriving Through Uncertainty: Moving Beyond Fear of the Unknown an...

Margaret J Wheatley, Ph.D. is an internationally acclaimed writer, speaker, and teacher. She began caring about the world's peoples in 1966 as a Peace Corps volunteer in postwar Korea. She is cofounder and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute, a charitable foundation that works with people around the world to strengthen their communities using the wisdom and wealth already present in their people, traditions, an...

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, and an internationally known speaker. She is a former board member of the Ms. Foundation, an advocate for a 5th UN World Conference on Women, a convener of the Millionth Circle Initiative, as well as a permanent representative to the UN representing the NGO, Pathways to Peace. She is the author of many books, including Goddesses in Every Woman: Powerful Archetype...

Pam Houston is a prize-winning author and professor of English at the University of California Davis. She cofounded the literary non-profit Writing by Writers and also teaches in the Institute of American Indian Arts, Low Residency MFA Program and at writers conferences around the country and the world. Her books include Cowboys Are My Weakness (W.W. Norton 2011), Deep Creek: Finding Hope in High Country (W.W. Norton 2019)...

Edwin Rutsch is a computer expert, a filmmaker, and the founding director of The Center for Building a Culture of Empathy. This center serves as one of the leading organizations of the global empathy movement and focuses on bridging social and political divides by designing a free online empathy training course and holding face to face and virtual empathy cafés.

Tags: Edwin Rutsch, empathy, cultural divide, deep listen...

James Fadiman, Ph.D. is former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Professor of Psychology. He has been professionally involved with psychedelics for more than 60 years and has been exploring the practice of microdosing psychedelics in depth, drawing on new research and extensive personal accounts from individuals worldwide. He is the author of many books including The Psychedelic Explorers Guide (Park Street...

Shiv Singh advises Fortune 500 companies and startups on strategy, marketing and how to succeed in the digital era as the Founder of Savvy Matters. Prior to starting his consultancy, Shiv was a senior executive driving marketing, innovation and digital strategies at Visa Inc. and PepsiCo. He has previously advised Ford Motor Company, Chanel, Genentech, Citibank, and Verizonand is a member of the Board of Directors at Unite...

Brooke Williams is a naturalist and environmental writer who covers subjects such as evolution, consciousness, and his own ventures exploring both the inner and outer wilderness. He advocates for the preservation of wilderness. His writings also take us with him on his many treks into the deserts of Utah, where he lives with his wife and partner, the writer and New Dimensions guest Terry Tempest Williams. She is the author...

Katy Butler is a journalist and speaker on doctor-patient communication and the choices families face near the end of life. She is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Scribner 2014) and The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life (Scribner 2019)

Tags: Katy Butler, community, quality of life, advance medicine, Western medicine, passivity in our health care, end of life, mortality, palliative care...

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. received her Masters of Theological Studies and Doctorate in History and Critical Theory of Religion from Vanderbilt University with post-graduate work in Spiritual Counseling at the New Seminary in Manhattan. She, specialized in adult development and ritual studies. She has served on the faculties of Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, and Georgetown Universities. She is the author of Older, Wiser, Fiercer:...

Marianne Williamson is the author of many books. Throughout her career she has worked on such issues as poverty, anti-hunger, and racial reconciliation. She’s a leader of spiritually progressive circles. Six of her published books have been New York Times bestsellers, including A Return to Love. She has participated in two Presidential campaigns and is the founder of Project Angel Food, a Meals-on-Wheels program that ...

Christopher Brown is an accomplished lawyer and has worked on two Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He has also been general counsel for several technology companies. His varied experiences span from restoring prairies to reporting from Central American war zones. He’s author of three award-nominated science fiction novels. His current nonfiction book explores the natural world in urban settings. He is the author of Fai...