The New Dimensions Café

Bruce Alderman, MA, is an affiliate faculty professor at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformative Studies and Holistic Counseling Psychology departments. He is the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders Certificate Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies [known as CIIS] . His essays and white papers have been published in many prestigious publications and anthologies on consciousness studies, and he is co-creator, producer, and occasional host of the YouTube series The Integral Stage.

Interview Date: 06/13/2025      Tags: Bruce Alderman, echo chamber, filter bubble, algorithms, social media, polarization, attention economy, number of clicks on a podcast, mindfulness revolution, biases, increasing fragmentation, othering, deliberate engagement, social media, reactivity, notice somatic impacts, social media diet, opinions versus facts, J. Krishnamurti, construct awareness, mindfulness, internal silos, internal reflective processes, journaling, dialog, Fr. Raimon Panikkar and interfaith dialog, comparison model, Imperative Method, Media, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Technology.

Isaac Bentwich, M.D. is a longtime practitioner and teacher of Yoga and Meditation. Trained as a physician in Western and Ayurvedic medicine, he founded three life-science technology companies, leading revolutions in medicine, genomics, and environment conservation. Dr. Bentwich lives in Israel. He’s a translator of the Bhagavad Gita and the author of Gita: A Timeless Guide for Our Time (Harmonia Publications 2018)

Interview Date: 6/29/2019     Tags: MP3, Isaac Bentwich, Bhagavad Gita, inner battlefield, Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna, Lord Krishna, the Buddha, God, pearls of wisdom, Personal Transformation, Religion, Spirituality

Kaliko Beamer-Trapp was born on the Isle of Wight, England. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, joined a performing group named Dances of the Pacific and spent the following nine years as a performer of Polynesian music and dance both in California and also in group tours of England, Spain, Mallorca, Hawaiʻi, and Fiji. In 1994 he moved to the island of Hawaiʻi at the invitation of well-known Hawaiiana expert and cultural historian Aunty Nona Beamer (1923-2008). Being in Hawaiʻi brought about a deep affection for things Polynesian, and Kaliko focused his studies particularly on the languages and cultures of Hawaiʻi and the Marquesas Islands (Te Henua ʻEnana). He attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and joined the Hawaiian Studies department at the University of Hawai’I both as a student and an employee in 1994. In 1996, he became the editor for Hawaiian language curriculum at the Hale Kuamoʻo, a Hawaiian language center on the university campus. That same year, Kaliko was adopted into the Beamer family in Waipiʻo Valley, after the late Louise Beamer, Aunty Nona's mother, suggested privately to Aunty Nona, "I wish Kaliko could be my moʻopuna (grandson.)". He speaks as an interpreter of a local language person wants to speak Hawaiian in court and also, as a musician understands how mele and oli music an chant are an important part of the language and are a big part of hula. 

Interview Date: 4/24/2019   Tags: Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, Aunty Nona Beamer, moon calendar, Mauna Kea, Hawaiian language, Battle of Kuamo’o, Arts & Creativity, History, Global Culture, Indigenous Wisdom

Carla Marie Manly, Ph.D. is a licensed psychotherapist who’s focus is on fear-based disorders such as trauma, anxiety, and depression as well as women’s issues. With her doctorate in clinical psychology and her master's degree in counseling, Manly merges her psychotherapy skills with her writing expertise to offer easily understood guidance. Through a highly personalized approach that focuses on discovering and understanding each individual's unique needs and life-path goals, Dr. Manly's psychotherapeutic approach blends her clinical knowledge with a holistic, body-mind-spirit approach. She’s passionate about creating healing from the inside out and maintains her clinical practice in Sonoma County, California just North of San Francisco. She is the author of Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend. (Familius 2019).

Interview Date: 7/30/2019       Tags: MP3, Carla Marie Manly, constructive fear, destructive fear, flight or fight, childhood trauma, volunteering, Psychology, Health & Healing, Personal transformation

Marc Lesser is a Zen teacher who leads trainings and talks worldwide. He has led mindfulness and emotional intelligence programs at many of the world’s leading businesses and organizations including Google, Genetech and Kaiser. He’s currently CEO of ZBA Associates, a company providing mindfulness-based leadership trainings and creating community by supporting ongoing groups. Previously, he served as CEO and co-founder of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, whose core programs he helped develop within Google. Marc was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years and former director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center. His books include Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less (New World Library 2009), Know Yourself, Forget Yourself (New World Library 2013) and Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons From Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen (New World Library 2019).

Interview Date: 6/7/2019    Tags: MP3, Marc Lesser, mindfulness, Norman Fischer, vulnerability, deep listening, ground truth, conflict, failure, Zen, business world, negativity bias, cultivating trust, building trust, connection, Meditation, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Buddhism, Work/Livelihood

Roberto Tostado, M.D., has been practicing medicine for over 26 years and is board certified in regenerative and anti-aging medicine. He’s a fellow of nutritional and digestive medicine at the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, dedicating his practice exclusively to preventative and regenerative medicine. He is one of a new breed of doctors pioneering in integrative approach to wellness. Dr Tostado inspires his patients with the simple, powerful idea that good food is medicine. He enables his patients to experience newfound vitality at any age. He received his degrees from Columbia University, the University of Michigan Medical School, and a USC Medical Residency at the California Medical Center in Los Angeles. He founded the IBody Wellness Center in San Marino, California. He is the author of WTF* (or What the Food) Is Wrong with Our Health? A Rebel Physician’s Manifesto for Reversing Disease and Increasing Smiles. (Roberto Tostado, MD 2019) 

Interview Date: 5/27/2019    Tags: Roberto Tostado, chronic disease, cure disease, manage disease, nutrition, generative medicine, detoxification, medications, toxins, lactobacilli, probiotic, standing up straight, mindset, detoxing our thoughts, Health & Healing

Patricia Sun is a scientific mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and consciousness pioneer. She has traveled the world empowering people to tap into their inherent creative capacity, resulting in new ways of thinking. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 3-1/2 years from the University of California, Berkeley, with two degrees, one in Social Sciences and Psychology and the other in Conservation and Natural Resources. She concentrates directly on creative solutions: "re-creating" thought patterns and "re-perceiving" experience. She’s considered to be a teacher's teacher and leads workshops and gives private consultations.

 Interview Date: 5/23/2025     Tags: Patricia Sun, racism, intuition, linear mind, logical mind, Niels Bohr, counterintuitive, intuitive mind, the radiant intelligence of love, dark matter. Either/or thinking, duality, black-white thinking, consciousness, right brain intelligence, evolutionary leap, gravity, duality, paradox, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychology , Social Change/Politics

Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022)

Interview Date: 5/15/2025    Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, curiosity, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, asking permission to talk about sensitive topics, asking open-ended questions, authentic conversations, Glenn Beck, open conversations lead to better understanding, gentle questions, silos of curiosity, uncertainty, misperceptions, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

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. His the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including:· The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart (Atria Books 2016) and The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martins' Essentials 2025)

Interview Date: 5/9/2025   Tags: Mark Nepo, aging, new normal, pathologizing aging, pain, cancer, ground of being, metaphor of the iceberg, spider web over a rushing stream, being truthful, honest and open, authenticity, deep listening to one another, compassion, monorhaphis sponge, gratitude, metaphor of waves on ocean, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

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-authors of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future.

Interview Date: 4/4/2025.   Tags: Carissa Carter, Scott Doorley, design, fiction, storytelling, awkwardness, appreciation, creativity, humility, insight, metaphors, future, Buckminster Fuller (Bucky Fuller), David Byrne Creativity, Design Thinking, Personal Transformation, Emotional Intelligence, play, creativity