The Four Sacred Gifts Podcast with Dr. Anita Sanchez

Renowned Oglala Lakota Elder Basil Brave Heart explores forgiveness, unconditional love, and our mystical relationship with all creation.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Basil explore:

• A lesson on forgiving the unforgivable 
• The concept of ‘it takes a village’
• Lakota childbirth and bringing the formless to form
• Honoring the thunder beings
• The breath as a cosmological prayer that is aligned with the divine
• Thanking the divine with an offering of tobacco 
• Unconditional love and embracing each other fully 
• Defining ourselves, accepting ourselves, and forgiving ourselves each morning
• Basil’s spiritual experience in the midst of a mental health crisis 

About Basil Brave Heart:

Basil Brave Heart is an Oglala Lakota Elder who lives in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, a place with a 53.75% unemployment rate and the lowest life expectancy in the United States. Also known as Prisoner of War Camp #334, Pine Ridge was established in 1899 when the United States Government forced Basil’s ancestors onto reservations. He is a Catholic boarding school survivor, retired school administrator, addiction counselor, and Korean War combat veteran who served as a paratrooper in the 1950s.  As a young child in the 1930s, Basil’s Grandma Lucy told him about the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre.  She counseled him to forgive the soldiers who perpetrated the massacre.  A dream of his Grandma later guided Basil to change the name of a peak in the Black Hills.  In 2016, it was renamed “Black Elk Peak” at the federal level.  Basil studies how quantum physics corroborates the wisdom woven throughout the Lakota language and other Indigenous languages.  Over the last decade, he has been facilitating truth, healing, and forgiveness across historical divides.

“When I get up every morning, I thank the breath. I say my prayers and I read something that is going to put me in line with the divine. I love myself and forgive myself.” –Basil Brave Heart

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

UN-recognized climate solutionist Bodhi Patil deep dives into the wisdom of the ocean, which connects all living things and carries the story of our creation.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Bodhi explore:

• Exploring the depths of the ocean 
• Water as a sacred gift connecting all life forms
• Remembering how to care for the planet we are a part of
• Seeing the past, present, and future via the ocean 
• Considering how we connect to the ocean individually 
• Blending coastal indigenous knowledge with science and technology 
• The matriarchal species of the ocean 
• How the ocean is what makes our planet so special 
• Ensuring the prosperity of coastal communities and ecosystems
• Teaching young people about interconnectedness and becoming a steward

About Bodhi Patil:

Bodhi Patil is a UN-recognized, award-winning GenZ ocean-climate “solutionist”, the co-creator of Ocean Uprise and the founder of InnerLight. He is a recent Masters of Management dual degree graduate with a BA in Environment and Sustainability from the University of British Columbia. He has been featured on CNN, TEDx, United Nations Web TV, Forbes, Apple, and many international media outlets for improving ocean & human health. His life mission is to help a generation discover their InnerLight (Strong Body, Calm Mind, Vibrant Spirit) and, in doing so, become ocean guardians. Through InnerLight, he aims to prove that young and Indigenous people have an outsized benefit in protecting the ocean and boost investment accordingly. Utilizing next-gen education tools as a catalyst for ocean impact is key to his life’s mission. Bodhi just screened The Sea Keepers, a documentary about an Indigenous community in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, rebuilding their connection to the ocean. He's fired up about getting this message out to the planet and creating real educational resources around it. If you're interested in the ocean, Indigenous knowledge, or impact storytelling, check it out!

“Life emerged from the ocean and we have a sacred responsibility to steward the ocean. One of the many sacred gifts of our planet is water; water is connected through all life forms.” –Bodhi Patil

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Multimedia storyteller Aaron Ableman explores how listening to our hearts can help us uncover our unique gifts and create a more conscious world.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Aaron explore:

• Spoken word from Aaron’s book, Rebels of Kindness
• How Aaron’s upbringing exposed him to a multitude of spiritual experiences 
• Aaron’s time in Nicaragua working alongside his father to preserve lands
• The profound miracle inside of us all
• Growing our relationship with others through our relationship with ourselves 
• Consulting our hearts rather than the media
• Going both backwards and forwards, taking wisdom from the past and moving towards a better future
• The planet as a living, benevolent intelligence 

“We are actually all born inherently gifted. We have the universe inside us. How we reveal that is unique to the nurturing journey that we go on. The environment, the food we eat, the books we read, the dynamics of what our unique journey is.” –Aaron Ableman

About Aaron Ableman:

Aaron Ableman is a United Nations award-winning multimedia storyteller, artist/rapper, and innovative producer whose work bridges entertainment, impact business, education, ecology, and spirituality. As the author of four acclaimed books—his most recent co-authored with Robert Edward Grant as a best selling mythological children’s series called Gaia’s Game—Ableman continues to inspire revolutionary hope. His debut, Pacha’s Pajamas, became a ground breaking edutainment brand featuring 75 collaborators, reaching over 4 million children with 22 awards, and inspiring an environmental-tech company using mushrooms to solve the plastic-pollution crisis. His second book, Welcome to Earth, chronicles his first year as a father through daily letters and creative practices for new parents. His previous work, Rebels of Kindness, blends poetry, parables, and real-world heroism to champion the transformative power of care. Ableman’s projects span the globe—from  planting a million trees in one day to producing humanitarian music campaigns with brands. As a producer for the #SaveSoilmovement, he helped reach 4.4 billion people, engaging 70 world leaders and securing Vatican support. He has collaborated with legends like U2, MosDef, Michael Beck with, and Michael Franti, and has appeared on MTV, HBO, and TIME.com. With loving presence, philosophical wisdom, and comedic sensibilities, Ableman continues to champion conscious planetary evolution. For more information, visit www.aaronableman.com. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Conscious futurist Stephanie Trager inspires listeners to heal the Earth through the Kogi's wisdom, the restoration of sacred lands, and the power of reciprocity.

Check out this recent feature article on Stephanie’s work restoring sacred Kogi lands and learn how you can contribute!

In this episode, Anita and Stephanie discuss:

• Returning sacred lands to the Kogi people, the four tribes of the Sierra Nevada de Colombia
• The Duanama stone carvings and other sacred sites 
• A powerful message from the Kogi people 
• Collectively navigating ancestral trauma and trauma to Mother Earth
• The Sierra Nevada as a regulatory system for our planet
• Tending to sacred land sites as a way to protect the entire world
• Finding our path for the future by first healing the earth and giving the land back to our indigenous peoples 
• Reaching within our own hearts to see what we can offer to the world

About Stephanie Trager:

Stephanie Trager, JD is a transformational catalyst, earthkeeper, medicine woman, and advocate for the wisdom of the natural world. With over 30 years of experience spanning law, environmental justice, conscious governance, leadership development, and human potential, she bridges ancient wisdom with modern science to help visionary leaders create meaningful change. A former environmental attorney and co-founder of one of the first corporate responsibility law firms in the U.S., Stephanie has worked on forest conservation, human rights, and sustainability initiatives worldwide. She now serves as a board member of Dream Change, advises on rights of nature and ethical governance, and is developing an Earth School in collaboration with Indigenous communities in Colombia. She is also the author of the forthcoming book Rise of the Conscious Futurist. Check out Stephanie’s website and her podcast, Catalyst Talks 

“The Kogi know, and the tribes know, the Sierra Nevada as the great regulatory system for the entire planet. If we look at the Amazon as the lungs of the earth, the Sierra Nevada they consider the heart of the earth. The sacred sites need to be tended to, and unless they are, the systems of the earth cannot be maintained. Sacred sites are the organs, the nervous system, the brain of the earth.” –Stephanie Trager

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give at https://beherenownetwork.com/10years.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts podcast, Community organizer Britt Gondolfi joins Anita to explore the impact of knowing your roots, embracing your story, and becoming a force for good.

Anita and Britt explore:

• What it means to understand the self and the shame we carry with us 
• The importance of tracing where you come from
• Connecting to our ancestors in dream life and waking life
• Taking responsibility for the care of ecosystems 
• The beauty of being in community with people who want to do something good
• Navigating conflict through love 
• Going to court on behalf of our environment 

About Britt Gondolfi:

Britt Gondolfi, born and raised in Southeast Louisiana, is a children’s book author, community organizer, and mother. Since 2017, Britt has worked with the Bioneers Intercultural Conversation Program, facilitating programming for students from Atlanta, Bogalusa, and Houma. While in law school, Britt supported the Bioneers Rights of Nature initiative by researching the intersection of tribal sovereignty and Federal Indian law, facilitating workshops on the Rights of Nature at the Ho-Chunk and Mashpee Wampanoag nations. She recently took a stand for women’s rights, running a fierce campaign for State Senate in Louisiana. Her first Children’s book, “Look Up! Fontaine the Pigeon Starts a Revolution,” is a hilarious social commentary on digital distraction and Nature’s fight to save us from ourselves.

 “I have to recognize that all of that historical memory lives in me, and within this body and lifetime. How do I alchemize the lessons of all of my ancestors? ” – Britt Gondolfi

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Environmental health advocate Mackenzie Feldman reveals how grassroots action and land stewardship can reshape our relationship with the earth, from the grounds of college campuses to the food systems that sustain us all. 

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Mackenzie explore:

• Pesticide testing in Hawaii: ground zero for industrial agriculture 
• Learning about our food systems and grassroots movements against GMOs
• Mackenzie’s work transforming college campuses to not use pesticides
• The fight against Monsanto and cancer-causing chemicals 
• The direct connection between land care and the food we consume
• Taking a stand and challenging the dominance of humans over nature
• Transforming our relationship to the land we live on 
• Following our purpose in life and the natural unfolding of our divine path 
• Connecting our personal life and our professional life
• Taking inspiration from indigenous cultures even if we ourselves are not indigenous 

“It’s all connected and now my work is focused on school campuses and getting pesticides out, but it’s also about so much more than that. It’s really about taking a stand on how we want to interact with the land, how we want to be in relationship with land, how we want to challenge this dominance of humans over nature.” –Mackenzie Feldman

About Mackenzie Feldman:

Born and raised in Hawai'i, Mackenzie Feldman is the founder and co-director of Re:wild Your Campus, an organization that works with institutions to eliminate pesticide use and support groundskeepers in the transition to organic, biodiverse landcare. Re:wild Your Campus has partnered with 100+ schools and trained 800+ students and community members through its Advocacy Bootcamp. They have helped improve thousands of acres of campus landscapes, protecting over half a million students annually from toxic pesticide exposure. Mackenzie is a 2026 Forbes 30 U 30 honoree and a 2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader. She holds a MS from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and is the author of the cookbook, Groundbakers. Contact Mackenzie at www.rewild.org.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From The Four Sacred Gifts Ep. 20 - Co-Creating with the Universe featuring Anita Sanchez & Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn, Maori

Indigenous activist Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn teaches Māori wisdom, guiding listeners to co-create reality and find their place within the universe.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Catherine chat about:

- Catherine’s early life, upbringing, and academic background in law and philosophy

- Indigenous rights and Māori negotiations with the Crown in New Zealand

- The Māori concept of pure potential and spiritual cosmology

- The fractal nature of things, how the micro and macro reflect each other in the universe

- How humans and the universe can co-create reality

- The tension between science and indigenous spirituality

- Expanding awareness: humanity’s role within a greater cosmic intelligence

About Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn:

Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn hails from the Ngāti Kurī and Te Rarawa Māoripeoples of Aotearoa (New Zealand). She has been an Indigenous human rights activist, advocate for decolonisation, and environmental defender most of her adult life. Her credentials include a Master of Laws; official roles in both of her tribes' Treaty Claims negotiations with the New Zealand Government; two UN human rights Indigenous Fellowships (representing the Pacific); and as a delegate representing her Māori people at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.A former educator and now proud grandmother, she is currently focused on building climate resilience and food sovereignty in her community through an organisation to which she belongs, Climate Action Tai Tokerau.

"That is the infrastructure of the universe. That is the scaffolding of reality, that we as humans are able to interact and somehow engage that scaffolding and co-create reality as we go along." –Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leading figure in the fight against human trafficking, Hasina Kharbhih, joins Anita for a powerful talk on feminine leadership and dismantling exploitation. 

In this episode, Anita and Hasina Kharbhih chat about:

• A woman’s journey into taking care of the ancestral home
• The joy, curiosity, and responsibility of community
• Hasina’s nonprofit Impulse NGO Network, combating human trafficking, unsafe migration, and exploitation
• How vulnerable populations become trapped in cycles of trafficking and systemic abuse
• Community-based strategies for preventing crime and addressing social injustice
• The “Six R’s” framework for human trafficking intervention: report, rescue, rehabilitation, repatriation, reintegration, and restitution
• Reducing exploitation by training other nonprofits in human trafficking interventions
• Cultivating hope, resilience, and the belief that social change is possible
• Nurturing as a transformative model of women’s leadership and ethical social impact
• Amplifying the life-giving forces that all of us have

About Hasina Kharbhih:

Hasina Kharbhih of the Khasi Tribe in Northeast India is an Ashoka Fellow and Aspen ILI Fellow. Ms. Kharbhih created the nationally and internationally acknowledged Impulse Model (formerly known as The Meghalaya Model), a holistic method to address human trafficking. On the basis of the model, key stakeholders from the public and private sectors work in collaboration to combat human trafficking and strengthen each other’s work by incorporating some fundamental components. Karbhih is also the founder and managing director of Impulse Social Enterprises which aims to promote local artisans and create sustainable livelihood that helps prevent unsafe migration, which often leads to human trafficking. She is also founder chair of the board of Impulse NGO Network, a significant force against human trafficking today. For 31 years now, she has been working to provide sustainable livelihood in a safe environment for women and children. What started out as a mission in her home state of Meghalaya, has today evolved into a global program that aims to put an end to human trafficking and exploitation worldwide. Keep up with Hasina on Instagram.

"Shared leadership is the strength of addressing any development challenges or a crime as human trafficking. When we all stand together, we respond much more efficiently." –Hasina Kharbhih

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaking to our spiritual hunger, Kahontakwas Diane Longboat invites listeners to transform the world by reclaiming sovereignty of the mind and uncovering our unique gifts.

In this inspirational episode, Anita and Kahontakwas Diane Longboat discuss:

• A special blessing for listeners and offering praise to mother earth
• The three elements of a good mind according to the Haudenosaunee 
• Today’s challenge: to take great care of our minds
• Stabilizing and nurturing our young people for the next Seven Generations
• How sovereignty of the mind creates the foundation of true community
• Deep spirituality and praying for our teachers
• Knowing your self, your gifts, and your purpose in the world
• Forgiveness as the first step towards unity
• The Great Awakening as an inner process, one person at a time
• The spiritual evolution of humanity and the healing of mother earth
• Contributing to the river of change through our unique destinies 
• Remembering that everything is sacred and that we all are born from the earth and stars
• Releasing old mindsets and beliefs that hinder our growth

“Today, our challenge is to take care of our minds, to be mindful of what we say, what we do, what we allow to come into our minds. The movies we watch, the music we listen to, the kinds of folks that we allow within our family boundaries. That sovereignty of the mind is critical because there are forces that are at work in the world, cosmic forces, forces outside of our human consciousness, that are trying to program us to hate, to be greedy, to make war, to fear each other” –Kahontakwas Diane Longboat

About Kahontakwas Diane Longboat:

Kahontakwas Diane Longboat, B.A, B.Ed, M.Ed is a member of the Turtle Clan, Mohawk Nation at Six Nations Grand River Territory, Canada and a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Diane’s work has been situated for decades at the intersection of health, education and systems metamorphosis based on traditional Indigenous epistemology. Born of vision, in 1994, Diane founded Soul of the Mother, a healing and teaching Lodge of Nations, on the shores of the Grand River. It is the home of international teachers of peace and healing and a refuge for those seeking healing and strengthening of their own gifts. Diane also founded First Nations House, the Office of Indigenous Student Services and Programs at the University of Toronto. Working alongside gifted leaders, Diane is the President/Founder of the Institute for the Study of Spirit, a national Indigenous women-led charity dedicated to supporting international ceremonial gatherings through a global network of spiritual leaders and healers. Get a hold of Diane through email at [email protected]. 

“Deep spirituality is not signing up for a course or a workshop. Deep spirituality means that you're going to first and foremost pray for your teacher. When you're ready, that teacher will appear and will hopefully be connected to community, to lodges that will assist you on the journey of your own healing and self-development.” –Kahontakwas Diane Longboat

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anita Sanchez and Joannah Tindongan have a soulful conversation on Ifugao wisdom, ancestral lineage, and keeping traditional culture alive in the modern world.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Joannah Tindongan talk about:

• Joannah’s experience growing up between two cultures 
• The Ifugao people of the Philippines and Joannah’s indigenous paternal lineage
• Getting young people interested in traditional ways of living 
• Ifugao creation stories and keeping the lineage alive through storytelling 
• Respecting women, elders, the land, and all beings 
• The importance of connection both with community and the natural world around us 
• Communicating with our ancestors in sleeping and waking life
• The gift of being a student of life and approaching all things with curiosity 
• Remembering that time is not linear and that we have the power to heal 

“To cook on a fire, to plant the rice, to do the rituals, to pick food from the garden, to fetch drinking water, All those things are part of the way that we used to live. That’s one of the biggest impacts we can have, to relearn how to do the simple living in this crazy, busy world that we’re in now.” –Joannah Tindongan

About Joannah Tindongan:

Joannah was born in the Philippines and raised in Appalachian Ohio, in the United States. She is an Indigenous Filipina-US community organizer and culture bearer with passion for Indigenous advocacy, social justice, and defense of IP land and water sovereignty. A former community organizer for many years in the US, she now lives in the Cordillera mountains of the Philippines, in neighboring tribal lands. She works with her father and community to revitalize and teach Indigenous culture & traditional living through the Ifugao Center for Living Culture, which they founded together, and she loves traveling to teach and learn with Indigenous siblings around the world.

“One of my biggest dreams is that folks realize that there are less barriers to connecting with our surroundings and with our ancestors than we think.” –Joannah Tindongan

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.