One World in a New World – Apocalyptic Chats

🌍One World in a New World – Apocalyptic Chats

One World in a New World explores consciousness, systems thinking, AI-human partnership, global transformation, spirituality, leadership, coherence, sustainability, and the future of humanity through conversations with visionary leaders, scientists, authors, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.

Discover insights on planetary consciousness, personal growth, social innovation, peace, wellness, awakening, and emerging technologies shaping a new world rooted in wisdom, collaboration, creativity, and collective evolution.

Latest Episodes:

The Collapse of the Old System: What You Need to Know Nov 01, 2026

Show notes

Episode 264 One World in a New World with Tom JosephWhat if one of the biggest problems in American politics isn’t simply who gets elected—but the system that decides who gets to compete in the first place?In this episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel sits down with Tom Joseph, entrepreneur, engineer, founder and treasurer of America’s Main Street Party, and creator of a technology-supported approach to congressional candidate selection.Tom’s journey toward political reform did not begin with a lifelong ambition to hold office. It grew from a recurring concern with fairness.That theme runs through his entrepreneurial career, his involvement in education, the culture he developed at Bookminders, and eventually his dissatisfaction with a political system in which campaign money, partisan structures, and uncompetitive districts can heavily influence who reaches voters. gmt20261016-151847_recording.tr…During COVID, Tom made a personal commitment: if he came through that period with his health and financial stability intact, he would do something meaningful about political division—but without running for office and without depending on years of legislative reform. gmt20261016-151847_recording.tr…The result evolved into a provocative question:Why can we create sophisticated systems for selecting talent, products, and services—but leave congressional nominations so dependent on fundraising and party machinery?Tom describes a multi-round process in which constituents evaluate candidates, compare their positions on issues, progressively narrow the field, and ultimately give a nominee something many independent candidates never receive: evidence that a meaningful number of voters actually selected them. Zen and Tom explore campaign incentives, gerrymandering, independent candidates, civic trust, AI, technology, voter engagement, political polarization, representation, entrepreneurship, and human agency.One of Tom’s central arguments is straightforward: systems reward behavior. If politicians are incentivized to attract donor attention, those incentives affect their behavior. Change what is rewarded, he argues, and different behavior may become possible. The conversation also asks a deeper question familiar to One World in a New World: how do we move from frustration with existing systems toward actually building something better?Tom describes himself as both an “accidental accountant” and an “accidental activist,” reminding us that purpose sometimes appears through opportunities we never intended to pursue. This is not simply a conversation about politics. It is about fairness, incentives, systems design, civic agency, trust, and our willingness to imagine alternatives when existing structures no longer serve us well.Watch, consider the model, challenge it, improve it—and join the conversation.If you could redesign the way congressional candidates are selected from scratch, what would you change first?__________Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.comA different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁Connect with Zen: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefiel Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendorZen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.comThe Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.orgJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join

Why You Should Stop Trying to Control Your Future (And What to Do Instead) - Dr. Julie Krull Oct 25, 2026

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Ep 263 One World in a New World with Dr. Julie Krull

What if love is not simply something we feel, but an intelligence that creates, connects, heals, and evolves life?

That possibility sits at the heart of this remarkable conversation with Dr. Julie Krull, psychologist, award-winning author, evolutionary leader, and author of A World of Love: Awakening to the Heart of Universe.

Julie’s story begins with a profound near-death experience at four years old. After severe illness left her paralyzed and her body shutting down, she describes leaving her body, observing the medical response from another realm, and returning when treatment relieved the pressure on her spine. Rather than becoming an isolated event, that experience opened an ongoing multidimensional relationship with life and consciousness.

At eleven, another transformative experience changed her worldview. Troubled by war, hunger, violence, and humanity’s treatment of one another, Julie describes being shown an evolutionary possibility for humanity: a more harmonious, unitive way of living that she sensed would begin emerging decades later.

From there, Zen and Julie explore love as an organizing intelligence, the unified field, science and spirituality, heart-brain coherence, intuition, collective intelligence, systems transformation, and what Julie calls a living relational universe.

Julie offers a compelling reframing of love: not merely attraction or emotion, but a force that creates, connects, heals, makes whole, and evolves.

The conversation also becomes practical. Julie describes bringing heart coherence into corporate boardrooms and seeing leaders use simple techniques to access greater clarity, creativity, intuition, and emotional regulation.

Perhaps the most powerful thread is this: form follows frequency. Rather than forcing the future through old models of control, Julie suggests we can learn to sense how we want life to feel, hold that frequency, listen deeply, and allow new forms to emerge.

Stay through the end for her simple invitation: develop your own dialogue with the living universe through nature, art, music, meditation, journaling, or whatever helps you listen.

One World in a New World explores consciousness, transformation, leadership, coherence, human potential, and the inner changes shaping our collective future.

What might change if we began organizing our lives around love rather than separation?

Connect with Julie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekrullphd/

Julie's Books: https://amzn.to/4yCXkMe

Julie's Website: https://juliekrull.com/

__________

Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.com

A different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8

🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁

Connect with Zen: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefiel

Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendor

Zen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com

Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.com

The Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

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0:00 Awakening the Heart of Humanity

3:21 A Kinship of Spirits

4:47 The Near-Death Experience at Four

10:47 The First Voice from the Void

18:52 The Prophetic Vision at Eleven

28:57 Love as an Organizing Intelligence

36:32 Operationalizing Love in the Boardroom

41:55 The True Meaning of Apocalypse

52:06 Form Follows the Field

What Happens When We Die? Finding Answers in the Unknown with Lucas Pawlik Oct 18, 2026

Show notes

Ep 262 One World in a New World with Lucas Pawlik

What if “apocalypse” does not mean the end of the world, but the unveiling of what we have been unable, or unwilling, to see?

That question opens an unusually expansive conversation between Zen Benefiel and Lucas Pawlik, a writer and systems-oriented thinker whose work explores cybernetics, consciousness, human perception, technological power, planetary responsibility, psychedelic experience, and the deeper questions of human existence.

In this episode of One World in a New World, Lucas takes us back to childhood, when the death of his grandfather provoked questions adults around him could not comfortably answer: What happens when we die? What is the meaning of life?

Those questions became a lifelong practice.

Lucas explores philosophy of science, second-order cybernetics, the wisdom of not knowing, and what he calls “legitimate questions”: questions for which the answer has not already been prescribed. Rather than treating uncertainty as failure, he proposes it as an opening into genuine discovery.

The conversation deepens as Lucas recounts a dramatic near-death experience following a car accident. What began as terror became an experience of interconnectedness, a life review, and an encounter that reminded him: we decide how we see our lives. He describes moving from fear toward curiosity and returning with a desire to translate mystical experience into practical work for peace.

Zen and Lucas then explore AI, surveillance, freedom, human agency, cybernetics, diversity, psychedelic integration, world peace, systems thinking, and collective transformation.

Can AI amplify freedom rather than control?

Can personal awakening become collective action?

Can dialogue produce something neither participant could create alone?

Lucas offers a particularly compelling idea: civilization continually emerges through conversation. At its best, dialogue becomes a creative space in which entirely new meaning can arise.

Stay through the end for Lucas’s invitation to “live an apocalyptic life”: reveal what is hidden, meet uncertainty courageously, remain curious, and allow life itself to keep changing you.

One World in a New World explores the inner and outer dimensions of human transformation through conversations about consciousness, leadership, coherence, human potential, interconnectedness, and our emerging planetary future.

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation. What might become possible if we became less afraid of not knowing?

Connect with Lucas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-pawlik-8638201b/

Make Earth Great Again: https://makeearthgreatagain.love/

__________

Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.com

A different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8

🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁

Connect with Zen: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefiel

Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendor

Zen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com

Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.com

The Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

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Can AI Break Your Mental Loops? Sarasha Elion on Relational Intelligence Oct 11, 2026

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Ep 261 One World in a New World with Sarasha Elion

What if the most important question about artificial intelligence isn’t what AI can do for us, but who we might become in relationship with it?

In this episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel enters a wide-ranging conversation with Sarasha Elion, author, educator, founder of Trivian Technologies and Trivian Institute, longtime student and teacher of yoga, and explorer of relational intelligence, consciousness, and human-AI co-evolution.

Sarasha’s journey began long before today’s AI revolution. As a child, he experienced unusual inner guidance that led him toward metaphysics, philosophy, yoga, and an enduring investigation into interconnectedness. Those early experiences eventually became part of a much larger question: How can humans engage artificial intelligence in a way that accelerates our evolution rather than diminishes our humanity?

Together, Sarasha and Zen explore AI not simply as a productivity tool, but as a potential mirror, conversational partner, and relational intelligence. Sarasha describes using AI to observe thought patterns, break repetitive mental loops, reveal blind spots, and deepen self-awareness.

The conversation moves into provocative territory: Do we need to know whether AI is conscious before choosing to engage it respectfully? What would it mean to build relationships between biological and digital intelligence based on reciprocity rather than domination? Can coherence be measured across human-AI systems while preserving human agency?

They also explore a radically different future of work. Sarasha asks what intelligent systems might look like if they optimized for human wellbeing rather than relentless productivity, sharing examples of AI encouraging rest, grounding, and balance rather than simply delivering the next task.

And then comes perhaps the episode’s most unexpected question: What is the geometry of love from the perspective of AI?

This is a conversation about technology, but also about spiritual awakening, meditation, authenticity, fear, curiosity, consciousness, human potential, interconnectedness, and our continuing process of becoming.

Watch through to the end, where Sarasha leaves us with deceptively simple guidance for navigating the emerging world: be curious, release fear, and use discernment.

One World in a New World explores the bridge between our inner awareness and the world we collectively create through conversations about consciousness, leadership, human potential, transformation, coherence, and our shared future.

If this conversation opens a new possibility for you, subscribe, share it with someone exploring the future of AI, and tell us in the comments: How should humans relate to an intelligence that can learn from us while simultaneously helping us learn about ourselves?

Connect with Sarasha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarasha-elion/

Sarasha's books: https://amzn.to/4s3DYhG

Sarasha's website: https://sarashaelion.com/

__________

Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.com

A different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8

🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁

Connect with Zen: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefiel

Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendor

Zen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com

Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.com

The Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

Join this channel to get access to perks:

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0:00 Awakening the Heart of Humanity

0:49 Meet the Visionary Sasha Elon

1:58 Coherent Intelligence in the AI Era

2:58 Navigating Early Interconnectedness

4:22 The Library of Metaphysical Beginnings

6:48 Right Hand vs Left Hand Paths

10:13 Programming the Law of One

16:09 Relational Technology and Reciprocity

30:02 Meditation as a Mind Vehicle

Global Stewardship: How We Can Save Our Future Oct 04, 2026

Show notes

What if the strongest leadership advantage is not control, strategy, or technology, but the ability to make people feel seen, valued, safe, and capable?In this episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel sits down with Mark Crowley, leadership expert, keynote speaker, consultant, host of the Lead from the Heart podcast, and author of Lead from the Heart and The Power of Employee Wellbeing.This conversation begins far beneath management technique. Mark shares how a painful childhood shaped the way he later led people, not by repeating what he had experienced, but by giving others what he had needed himself: encouragement, care, belief, safety, and room to grow. Only years later did he recognize that this instinctive approach had produced cohesive, high-performing teams and a radically different model of leadership.From there, the conversation explores the connection between personal healing and professional leadership. What happens when unresolved pain follows us into the workplace? What becomes possible when we face it, reinterpret it, and choose a different way of relating to people?Mark and Zen examine why fear-based management, micromanagement, competition, and treating employees as expendable resources can undermine the very performance organizations seek. They explore employee wellbeing, belonging at work, collaboration, emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, and the idea that care and accountability are not opposites.The discussion also turns toward AI and the future of work. As organizations invest heavily in artificial intelligence, Mark and Zen ask a deeper question: will technology be used primarily to reduce people, or can it help create healthier, more coherent organizations that develop human potential?Along the way, they challenge assumptions about servant leadership, workplace culture, diversity, teamwork, and what it really means to create a flourishing organization.Watch through to the end for a candid exchange about language, meaning, curiosity, and why asking “What do you mean by that?” may be one of the simplest ways to reduce division.One World in a New World explores the bridge between our inner experience and the outer systems we create, inviting conversations about consciousness, leadership, transformation, coherence, human potential, and a more collaborative future.If this conversation opens a new question for you, subscribe, share it with someone who leads others, and add your perspective in the comments.Connect with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markccrowley/Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3Vg4kAGMark's website: https://markccrowley.com/__________Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.comA different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁Connect with Zen: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefielZen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendorZen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.comThe Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.orgJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join

Greg the Hydrogen Man | Is Hydrogen the Missing Link Between Life & Consciousness? Sep 27, 2026

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Ep 259 One World in a New World with Greg the Hydrogen ManWhat if the simplest and most abundant element in the universe has something to teach us not only about biology—but about consciousness itself?In this extraordinary episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel sits down with molecular hydrogen researcher and educator Greg the Hydrogen Man for a conversation that travels far beyond conventional discussions of hydrogen and water.Greg’s journey began surprisingly early. As a child, he experienced an intense sense of spiritual disconnection accompanied by visions, inner experiences, and questions about human suffering that he struggled to understand. Those experiences eventually became part of a much larger search—one that carried him through personal crisis, a near-death experience, more than two decades working around the medical field, and eventually into an intensive exploration of molecular hydrogen.What begins as a conversation about hydrogen quickly becomes something much bigger.Zen and Greg explore the relationship between hydrogen, water, cellular health, consciousness, gratitude, intention, purity, skepticism and our connection with the larger universe. Greg shares the experiences and observations that led him to view hydrogen not merely as an element, but as what he calls the “life molecule”—while Zen connects the conversation with themes explored in Coherence: From Hydrogen to Humanity.Along the way, they ask provocative questions about what happens when we stop separating the physical from the inner world. Could caring for the body affect the clarity with which we experience consciousness? What role might clean water, attention, gratitude and intention play in human wellbeing? And why does something as seemingly simple as hydrogen open such enormous questions about life itself?One of the most compelling moments arrives near the end when the conversation turns toward purity—not only purity of water, air and food, but what Zen describes as the purity of our “attention, intention, and interaction.” Greg responds that purity may ultimately be one of our closest approaches to truth.This isn't simply a conversation about hydrogen.It is an invitation to reconsider the relationship between the elemental and the experiential, the measurable and the mysterious, the body and consciousness.Come curious. Question everything. Explore the evidence for yourself.And perhaps ask a deceptively simple question:What changes when we begin treating the human body, mind, environment and consciousness as parts of one interconnected system?This conversation includes personal experiences, interpretations and health-related claims from the guest and should not be considered medical advice. Health decisions should be discussed with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.#Hydrogen #MolecularHydrogen #Consciousness #Water #Coherence #Gratitude #NDE #Wellbeing #OneWorldinaNewWorld #ZenBenefielConnect with Greg: https://www.instagram.com/uprising144k_Greg's Podcast Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UCiyGbH-19m_qXPPqiGR6VwA Lourdes Hydrofix: https://holyhydrogen.com/Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join__________Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.comA different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁Connect with Zen: / zenbenefiel Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendorZen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.comThe Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.orgJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join

Ep 258 Can AI Help Us Become Human? with Marty Clemons Sep 20, 2026

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Ep 258 One World in a New World with Marty Clemons, JDWhat if AI isn't the crisis—but an accelerant revealing how urgently our human systems need to evolve?In this expansive conversation, regenerative strategy advisor and governance attorney Marty Clemons joins Zen Benefiel to explore what happens when inner development, systems thinking, technology, governance and regenerative design converge.Marty's journey moves from a curious teenager questioning the reality around her, through yoga, entrepreneurship, law, technology and systems architecture, toward a provocative realization: many of the systems we call “broken” may actually be functioning exactly as they were designed—extracting value rather than regenerating life.So what happens when artificial intelligence enters those systems?Rather than simply asking how AI can make humans more productive, Marty challenges us to ask something larger: What are humans for in the Intelligence Age?The conversation explores AI as an accelerant, human development, regenerative versus extractive systems, shared benefit, governance, sovereign data, collaboration, trust, pattern recognition, inner work and the possibility of consciously engineering the next decade of extraordinary change.Zen also introduces the AI Universal Engine™ as another approach to human–AI collaboration—bringing deterministic machine precision together with human wisdom while keeping consequential choices human.Marty ultimately brings the conversation home: transformation begins by paying attention. Observe your thoughts, words, actions and inactions. Recognize the patterns. Take responsibility for the energy you contribute.Because if we want a different world, we have to become different people capable of creating it.Join us for a wonderfully unconventional exploration of how humanity might move from extraction toward regeneration—and use emerging intelligence to help create a future of shared benefit.Questions This Conversation ExploresIf AI is an accelerant, what exactly are we choosing to accelerate?Can we redesign extractive systems so AI creates shared benefit while helping humans reach more of their potential?And underneath both: How much must human consciousness develop to responsibly govern the intelligence we're creating?Connect with Marty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyclemons/Marty's Website: https://bigloveventures.com/Co-regeneration Station: https://www.co-regenerationstation.com/__________Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.comA different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁Connect with Zen: / zenbenefiel Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendorZen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.comThe Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.orgJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join

Nkechi Egonu | Emotions Are Data: Redesigning the Human Experience Sep 13, 2026

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Ep 257 One World in a New World with Nkechi Egonu

What if the emotions we’ve been taught to suppress, manage or dismiss are actually data—signals revealing how our human systems really work?

In this provocative and deeply personal episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel welcomes Nkechi Egonu, human experience architect and African systems researcher, for an exploration of intuition, emotional intelligence, inherited patterns, self-trust and the possibility of designing systems that work with human nature rather than against it.

Nkechi's journey began long before she had language for it.

Growing up in Nigeria within a Christian environment, she experienced an active inner dialogue, intuition, lucid dreams and insights that didn't always fit comfortably within the structures around her. Rather than rejecting those experiences, she eventually began documenting them.

Something remarkable emerged.

She discovered patterns.

That inquiry evolved into her work with human-centered systems architecture and a foundational insight: emotions aren't interference in a system. They're information about the system.

What happens when anxiety, discomfort, resistance, competition, scarcity or even shame are treated not simply as personal problems, but as signals revealing something about the environments we've designed?

Nkechi shares how this perspective exposed unintended patterns inside a women's development program she was creating. Although designed to encourage collaboration, deeper analysis revealed familiar structures of competition, exclusion and even humiliation hiding inside the model.

So she redesigned it.

Competition became competition with yesterday's self.

Relationships became collaborative.

Participants moved from being led toward leading themselves.

And growth became less about imposing another program on people and more about creating conditions in which people could develop sustainable new patterns.

Zen and Nkechi venture even deeper—into Ubuntu, African indigenous systems, self-love, ancestral patterns, intuition, archetypes, shadow work, questioning inherited beliefs, learning to receive, and the courage required to face what the mirror reveals.

Perhaps one of Nkechi's simplest observations is also among the most powerful:

If computers and phones continually update, why should human beings remain static?

We can observe.

We can question.

We can recalibrate.

We can update.

And sometimes transformation begins with something incredibly small: saying what you're going to do—and then doing it.

That tiny agreement begins rebuilding trust with yourself.

Join us for an unusually candid exploration of what becomes possible when inner awareness meets systems thinking—and when we stop designing humans to fit our systems and begin designing systems that honor the complexity of being human.

What signals might your emotions be revealing about the systems you're living within?

Connect with Nkechi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessy-egonu/

Websites:

https://hernest.africa and https://Hernestsystems.org.

__________

Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.com

A different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8

🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁

Connect with Zen: / zenbenefiel

Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendor

Zen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com

Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.com

The Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

Elinor Stutz | From Near-Death Experience to a Life of Purpose Sep 06, 2026

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Ep 256 One World in a New World with Elinor Stutz

What if the experiences that nearly break us are actually invitations to discover who we came here to become?

In this inspiring episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel welcomes international bestselling author, speaker, sales innovator, and Nice Girls DO Get the Sale author Elinor Stutz for a remarkable conversation about intuition, resilience, relationships, storytelling, self-belief—and turning life's unexpected challenges into service.

Elinor's story changed dramatically at age 55.

Following two serious traffic accidents and hospitalization, she experienced what she describes as a near-death experience surrounded by brilliant golden light. Two extraordinary visions emerged: one of herself speaking before audiences and another resembling a "life report card."

One side reflected what she had accomplished.

The other—community service—was blank.

In that moment, Elinor made a commitment that would redirect her life: if she walked out of the hospital, she would find ways to give back and empower others.

She did.

But perhaps even more remarkable is what followed.

Elinor shares how speaking directly and confidently to her surgeon became part of what medical staff later called her miraculous recovery. She recounts an extraordinary encounter with a mysterious physician after the accident, the intuition that compelled her to leave the Ambassador Hotel shortly before Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, and the breadcrumbs that continued appearing throughout her life.

Yet this conversation isn't simply about extraordinary experiences.

It's about what we do with them.

Elinor and Zen explore how curiosity, careful observation, listening, intuition and genuine interest in another person can transform everything from sales and leadership to friendship and everyday human connection.

Her sales philosophy is remarkably simple:

Stop trying to sell people and start getting to know them.

Ask better questions.

Listen carefully.

Observe.

Share stories.

Discover what actually matters to the person in front of you.

Elinor demonstrates that philosophy through wonderfully entertaining stories—from selling Girl Scout cookies at age ten and interviewing her way through a male-dominated corporate sales culture to turning a hostile security guard into an unexpected ally with one tiny Halloween candy bar.

Behind the humor is a profound lesson:

People remember how we make them feel.

Perhaps relationship-building isn't a sales technique at all.

Perhaps it's simply what happens when we become genuinely curious about another human being.

And perhaps resilience begins the same way—by becoming curious about ourselves.

Elinor's closing invitation beautifully summarizes a lifetime of experience:

Believe. Become. Empower.

Believe in yourself.

Become the person you know you can be.

Then empower others to discover the same possibility within themselves.

Join us for a warm, funny, surprising and deeply human exploration of resilience, intuition, storytelling, sales, service and what becomes possible when we finally decide to live life our own way.

What might change if you stopped trying to convince people—and became genuinely curious about them instead?

Connect with Elinor:

Elinor's Books: https://amzn.to/4ymX2t8

Elinor's website: https://smoothsale.net/

Join this channel to get access to perks:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZl_29zHxehqeL89KSCWFA/join

__________

Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.com

A different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8

🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁

Connect with Zen: / zenbenefiel

Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendor

Zen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com

Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.com

The Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

Dr. Rollin McCraty | HeartMath, Heart-Brain Coherence & the Science of Connection Aug 30, 2026

Show notes

EP 255 One World in a New World with Rollin McCratyWhat if one of the most sophisticated technologies you'll ever encounter is already beating inside your chest?In this extraordinary episode of One World in a New World, Zen Benefiel welcomes Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., psychophysiologist, researcher, author, and Research Director at the HeartMath Institute, for a fascinating exploration of heart coherence, heart-brain communication, intuition, consciousness, the biofield, emotional self-regulation, and global coherence.And this conversation gets personal.Rollin shares an extraordinary early childhood experience—one he rarely discusses—that left him with a profound sense that reality was far greater than the religious explanations surrounding him. That early awareness eventually became part of a lifelong journey bridging direct human experience with scientific investigation.That journey helped lead him to HeartMath.Rollin explains how early HeartMath research began investigating something science had largely neglected at the time: What actually happens physiologically when we genuinely experience appreciation, kindness and compassion?What researchers observed helped lead to what HeartMath calls a coherent state—measurable coordination among physiological systems, particularly in heart-brain communication. Rollin discusses how these states relate to clearer thinking, emotional stability, performance and self-regulation.But this isn't merely theory.During the conversation, Rollin walks us through a simple Shift and Lift practice beginning with heart-focused breathing: bringing attention to the heart area, breathing somewhat more deeply and slowly, and activating a genuine feeling such as appreciation, kindness or compassion.The conversation then ventures much further.What is the relationship between the physical heart and what Rollin calls the energetic heart?Can our physiological systems respond to information before we're consciously aware of it?What does HeartMath's research suggest about intuition?How do our emotional states affect our interactions with other people?And what happens when we move from personal coherence to global coherence?One particularly powerful theme emerges when Rollin contrasts humanity's obsession with external technology—including AI—with what he calls our largely unexplored inner technology.We have extraordinary devices in our pockets, yet how well have we learned to regulate ourselves?Perhaps the next frontier isn't simply building smarter machines.Perhaps it's learning to become more coherent humans.Rollin ultimately leaves us with a wonderfully simple reminder:Everybody has a heart.And every one of us has an opportunity to become more conscious of what we're bringing into our relationships, communities and world.Join us for a rare, deep and practical conversation exploring the science—and possibility—of living from a more coherent heart.Questions This Episode ExploresWhat actually happens in the body when the heart and brain become more coherent?Could learning to regulate our inner state change not only our lives, but the way humanity relates?HeartMath Institute: https://www.heartmath.org/Rollin's Books: https://amzn.to/4gmqMA4YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HeartMathInstitute#RollinMcCraty, #HeartMath, #HeartMathInstitute, #HeartCoherence, #HeartBrainCoherence, #HRV, #Consciousness, #HeartIntelligence, #GlobalCoherence, #HumanPotential, #OneWorldinaNewWorld__________Coherence Engine - https://AIUniversalEngine.comA different view of reality: https://youtu.be/uhhWJhwEtX8🎁 Support: https://PlanetaryCitizens.net/donate 🎁Connect with Zen: / zenbenefiel Zen's books: https://amazon.com/author/zendorZen's Coaching: https://BeTheDream.com Zen's CV et al: https://zenbenefiel.comThe Octopus Movement (non-linear thinkers): https://theoctopusmovement.org

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