Four Gardens Podcast

The Four Gardens Podcast returns after a long hiatus with an interview of Johann Klaassen, the CEO and CIO of Horizons Sustainable Financial Services. I am thrilled to be working at Horizons as an investment advisor representative. One reason I enjoy my work so much is that I get to collaborate with Johann and learn from him every day. In our conversation, Johann explains what we mean by Socially...

In this conversation, we reflect on the 50 episodes of this show that we have created in collaboration with so many incredible guests. We revisit our intentions behind making this podcast, and discuss a handful of our favorite episodes. We identify the key lessons we have learned and track the huge impacts this project has had on both of our lives. Whether you are brand new to the podcast, or you...

Sonia Zilberman is somatic therapy practitioner, relationship coach, and sacred medicine facilitator helping people cultivate authentic self-expression, intimate relationships, and ease in their lives. She joins the podcast to share about emotional health. I currently work with Sonia as one of her coaching and therapy clients, and have felt the transformative effects of her work. In our conversati...

Nil Akselioglu is a Sex, Love, and Relationships Coach who supports people to “reclaim their joy, pleasure, love and safety.” Nil how having healthy, rooted sexuality can be incredibly supportive to overall health and feeling truly alive. Shame can often block our sexual expression, and Nil shares how practices of embodiment, witnessing, and affirmation allows us to bring those parts into light an...

Victoria Wolfgang is passionate about studying and teaching the ancient insight practice of yoga and helping other neurodivergent people find self-acceptance and holistic wellness. In our conversation, she shares about the bullying and isolation she experienced growing up with undiagnosed autism and ADHD, as well as the unique strengths that her different neurology gives her. She shares essential...

Shirin Biswas's mission is to co-create a community where people practice Self-Care, daily. He shares his knowledge of Engineering Design tools to help people discover Self-Care activities that are meaningful to them and he empowers them to apply these practices in their daily routine.  In our conversation, Shirin shares about his own healing journey and his practical approach to Self-Love an...

Lyrra Magda is a folk botanist, hide tanner, and teacher based in the Southeast & Mid-Atlantic regions. She studies the plants and animals of these landscapes through the simple immersion of living close to them— cutting wood, carrying water, living in simple structures like tents and cabins, cultivating wild and domestic plants into a blur that erases their distinctions, raising animals, and...

Umair Ahsan is the founder of Aquanimous, a company that markets sustainable cork-based yoga, recovery and self-massage tools. Aquanimous also organizes classes  for recovery practices using self-massage tools. Aquanimous was founded to bridge personal wellness practice and environmental consciousness, and aims to  shift the normalization of plastics and artificial materials in the fitne...

Yonah Levy guides people back to peace and from there to thriving through Counseling, Coaching, Business Wellness Consulting and Group Leadership. Yonah has worked with thousands of clients from all walks of life, helping them move beyond inner blockages and optimize their lives.  He has been practicing and teaching Mindfulness and Meditation for over two decades.  In our conversation, Y...

Becca Salky joins the podcast to share her story of finding purpose and gratitude through living with MOG antibody disease. Since Becca was four years old, she has periodically experienced intense, debilitating symptoms from MOG including seizures and blindness. For most of her life, her condition perplexed doctors and was mis-diagnosed. Becca herself was a leading force in finding the correct dia...

Kevin Hauber's chronic pain began over two decades ago after a botched vasectomy operation. In the following years, he experienced extreme, nearly debilitating pain that changed his life. His healing journey included multiple reconstructive operations, over 200 medications, and also many alternative methods. This journey eventually led him to the yoga and somatic techniques that he teaches and pra...

Kevin Platt is a bodyworker, movement teacher and human experience enthusiast. He has deep respect for the wisdom that lives in the human body and spirit with special interest in learning the subtleties of the human nervous system. When Kevin was 19, he suffered a spinal infection that required hospitalization and temporarily took away his freedom of movement. In our conversation, we trace how tha...

Ari Rubens is a high-performance fitness coach, yoga teacher, and certified badass. He's also the co-host and producer of this podcast. In this conversation, we discuss the brand new season of this show, which will be focused on health. Ari shares how you can shift your goals and mindset in order to achieve amazing fitness outcomes. We talk about common misconceptions people have about topics like...

Sonia Zilberman is somatic therapy practitioner, relationship coach, and sacred medicine facilitator helping people cultivate authentic self-expression, intimate relationships, and ease in their lives. This is a powerful conversation I recommend to anyone looking for new insights into their intimate relationships. Sonia starts by sharing her approach to relationships as a "sacred and courageo...

Conscious dance has been a transformational practice for me. As someone who is regularly caught up in the invisible world of my thoughts, conscious dance practices have invited me to return to the wisdom of my body and the moment. On the dance floor, I find my way back to joy through connecting to the music, to my feet, to my breath, and to community. The experience of dancing without drugs and al...

In this episode, Jake Ifshin shares a morning journaling practice he created to grow self-awareness, clarity on what you want, and ideas on how to cultivate yourself today. Watch the video version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/RSualr01P_Y Five Part Morning Journaling Practice Overview Part 1 - Observations: Free writing on everything you are noticing about how you are feeling in the prese...

Jake Ifshin, host of the Four Gardens Podcast, shares a creative journaling and breathwork practice to help you tend to yourself when you are overwhelmed by a challenge. In this practice you will distinguish what part challenge is under your influence and what part is out of your control and can be released.  Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/E-IhlSwV4aY Podcast I...

Sarah Miller was catapulted into a journey of self-healing and spiritual growth through the loss of her entire family (Dad, Grandpa, Mom, Grandma), all before the age of 27. Along her own journey of healing through loss she found her true purpose in life -- to help others heal. For this she knows to be true, healed people heal the world. Sarah is a Certified End of Life Doula, Life Coach, Neuro-Li...

Lesley Younge has been a progressive educator in independent schools for 16 years. She is passionate about interdisciplinary education, experiential education, community engagement, mindfulness and global competency. Career highlights include starting a garden and food justice community engagement program, organizing professional development in Malawi, serving as a Teacher in Residence at the Smit...

Marta Pascual Barea is the executive director and founder of School of Wonder, a social enterprise that creates immersive experiences and games to play in the fresh air in which kids and families become protagonists of imaginative stories full of fun missions that activate their imagination and connect them to the world they explore. I was fortunate to be able to help lead an adventure this fall i...

Dan Turello is a writer, editor, photographer, and cultural historian and the creator of the Alternative DC Portraits Project. Alternative DC is a playground experiment, an invitation to be curious and create meaning together. It features folks who don’t fit the mold of what the world thinks of as being typical of Washington, DC, with its stereotype of suits, starched shirts, and one-dimensional p...

Lexi Mondot helps healers, coaches, instructors and spiritual leaders of the new earth movement decolonize oppressive systems from their practice using Cyclical Arts. They join the podcast for a powerful conversation on how we can live in better harmony with natural cycles. We start by discussing the intricacies and deep wisdom reflected in the menstrual cycle. Lexi shares how they integrate this...

Luke Monteleone, founder of Purpose State and a life purpose coach, joins the podcast to discuss how we can work with our trauma to grow a life of greater meaning and harmony. In our conversation, Luke shares what he means by life purpose and how he helps clients. He offers the example of his birth trauma of being born prematurely and spending his first days in an incubator. This early trauma deep...

Bill Wich, creator of the Omega Point Program (OPP), joins the podcast and shares about the evolution and impact of the OPP. I recently completed the OPP’s 20 day mentorship process, where I spent 45 minutes each day going through a series of scripts with the same friend taking turns in the role of mentor and mentee. I found that this process grew my listening, empathy, intuition, and peacefulness...

Mallory Combemale, founder of Breath Connection and co-founder of the Inheritance Project, joins the podcast for a second time to share a powerful breathwork practice that will help you move through anger or other challenging emotions and return to joyful equanimity. I highly recommend you watch the practice section on YouTube (link below) so that you can more easily learn the dynamic movements th...