Four Gardens Podcast

Katya Stepanov, co-founder of the Inheritance Project and Rebis, joins the podcast to share about how storytelling can be a transformational and healing practice. Katya begins by telling several powerful stories from her past. We explore how creating safe spaces for diverse narratives subverts exploitative systems that limit the depth of our interpersonal connections and creative intelligence. We...

"Be whoever you want to be, and be funny!" Sunny Atwal is a comedian and poet who taught an excellent improv comedy course I took this fall at the PIT theater in NYC. Sunny shares his creative journey beginning with poetry competitions, getting hooked on improv comedy, and then producing his own solo shows. We get philosophical about improv comedy and explore personal and communal lessons it offer...

Kobi Tov is a spiritual teacher, life coach, and one of the founders of Vagabond Temple. We have a deep conversation about his spiritual path and how he has drawn from intensive, long-term study of traditions such as Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, and Kabbalah. He shares how different spiritual systems offer complementary wisdom and practices and gives clear examples of how he integrates them in his life...

Executive coach Erik Desrosiers joins the podcast and shares how he is integrating diverse spiritual practices with his extensive business background to help guide leaders and organizations towards their higher potential. Erik reflects on the spiritual journey he has taken over the past five years and the powerful practices that have opened his heart and mind such as vipassana, plant medicine, kun...

Follow the golden thread / Center of this universe is / In my own heart / Divided by dark caves / Flooded by roaring rivers… Urana Heart joins the podcast to share her journey to wholeness, following golden threads that led to her own heart. Urana, originally born in Mongolia, is a CPA, poet, healer, and artist. Our conversation explores how to recognize the calling of the Soul and guidance of Spi...

My friend Tristan Montoya and I have a vulnerable and authentic conversation integrating our experiences from the International Tantra Festival in Tepoztlan, Mexico. This was the first tantra festival for both of us, and we discuss its powerful impact and the possibilities it has opened up in our lives.  We share about how each of us followed our highest excitement to attend & how our int...

My friend Nil Akselioglu is a Sex, Love, and Relationships Coach who supports people to “reclaim their joy, pleasure, love and safety.” We discuss her new coaching practice, self-pleasuring, how to raise teenage boys in the age of internet pornography, approaching sexuality from a service mindset, consent, and how she works with people with different gender experiences and sexual orientations. Fol...

Ari Rubens recently returned from a 65-day Outward Bound Outdoor Leadership Semester in Costa Rica that pushed his edges, grew his skillset, and helped him overcome life-long fears. He joins the podcast for the second time to unpack this powerful experience with me and share his highlights and lessons from the journey. He regales me with tales of encountering jaguars, deadly snakes, scuba diving,...

Comedian Myq Kaplan shares about the origins of his career in stand-up comedy and in podcasting. He reflects on the intentions behind his comedy and how his approach and form has evolved over the years. As a fan of Myq as well as his friend, I enjoyed learning about his journey and the lessons along the way. About Myq: Myq has appeared on the Tonight Show, Conan, Letterman, James Corden, Seth Meye...

Lauren Hershey joins the show in the middle of an adventure in the UK. I enjoy how many of my conversations with Lauren explore the power of words to shape our reality. This conversation continues that inquiry, as Lauren shares her thoughtful and creative approach to conflict resolution, storytelling, gender, astrology, and nature connection. Later in the conversation we share about what poetry ha...

Sasha Bugler joins the show and we have a lively conversation about permaculture and her work managing a flower farm. We each offer our definition of permaculture and relate our permaculture background and studies. Sasha shares an overview on how to practice no till farming. Later in the conversation she shares about her mental health journey with bipolar disorder and we reflect on what we can lea...

Kevin Hauber joins the podcast again to lead me through the positive intent process. This is a two person practice where one person guides the other through an internal reflection.  Kevin leads me through the process with the goal of understanding and transforming my inner critic that has come up around making this podcast. In the episode, Kevin describes the positive intent process as, “The...

For years I tried many different meditations programs without ever establishing a steady long-term practice. Learning and practicing meditation and breathwork with Mallory Combemale changed that, and for the past two years the practices she taught me have consistently improved my mental and emotional states.  Mallory is the creator of Breath Connection, the co-founder of Inheritance Project,...

Omar Aena is the creator of Dance Lab and one of my favorite DJs. Music and dance are just one dimension of Omar. I’ve experienced him as a thoughtful and heart-centered community organizer and friend. In our conversation, Omar shares his journey of healing and cultural re-connection following a traumatic incident in Guatemala. Omar’s recovery process led him to go back to his Iraqi roots. He lear...

Melly Huang is an artist and creativity coach who has helped me overcome perfectionism and other challenges that have limited my creative expression. Melly and I talk about the common blockages that her clients face around creativity. She shares about her professional background in psychology and her creative background as a dancer. We discuss how sexuality and creativity are connected, and consid...

Ann Kite taught my very first 5Rhythms class more than seven years ago. Since that first class, I have been hooked on conscious dance and have received so much from my 5Rhythms practice. I am grateful to still be dancing with Ann and the caring community she has brought together. In this episode, Ann shares about the essential qualities of a 5Rhythms experience, how she channels the music and verb...

Over the past two years I have witnessed Kevin Hauber’s deep commitment to creating safe spaces for people to heal and grow. In addition to being a yoga teacher, author, eco businessman, and aquatic bodyworker, he is the main organizer of the Gold-Mining Circle, my men’s group, which focuses on life-purpose and what each man truly wants in his life. In our conversation, we discuss the evolution of...

Andi Wich and I discuss how having a personal mission statement has helped us discover higher service in our lives and direct our focus. Andi guides listeners through a structured process of writing their own mission statements. At the end, I share my new mission statement that I created during this process. Instagram @mister_wick Intro music by bensound.com

Every week I look forward to seeing Andi Wich in my men’s group where he brings his joyful, grounded leadership. In our conversation, we discuss our experience with the Gold-Mining Men’s Group and how it has supported our individual and collective growth. Andi then tells me about the Omega Point Program (OPP) that his father created to help self-discovery through structured peer mentorship. OPP ha...

Andrew Shofer believes the relationship between humans and nature is inseparable. In this episode, he shares about his journey from being a boy scared of bees to a highly skilled naturalist and nature connection guide. We also discuss his healing relationship with cannabis, how real estate is supporting his vision for the future, and how adults can help support nature connection for children.

Kula Collective co-founder Zach Townesmith joins the show from beautiful Seven Springs Retreats in Tennessee. We discuss his background in the creative facilitation field and how creativity is essential to solving all the big challenges in the world and in our lives. We consider the question “What is creativity?” He shares about the flow design process he created which helped me develop the Four G...

Zachary Townesmith shares about lunar and solar creativity, an approach that separates our analytical process from our initial generative, intuitive creative process. This approach has been extremely helpful and I've applied it in all kinds of situations. We also speak Martian, play a lunar-creative word game, and have a few laughs. Zach’s Bio: https://www.thekulacollective.com/zach-townesmith Lun...

I recently met Liz Glazer at one of her stand-up comedy shows and struck up a fast friendship over our shared interest in personal development. In this episode, we talk about how she made the jump from law professor to comedian and what insights she has developed from making this bold career change. Then we explore why she chose sobriety and how a sober lifestyle has affected both of us as we purs...

Ari Rubens always impresses me with his dedication to personal growth and his commitment to bringing out the best in others. We co-founded Engaged Ecology and he has been instrumental in creating the Four Gardens Podcast. He is also a personal trainer, yogi, musician, and permaculture gardener. In this episode we talk about his personal practices in each garden, explore his background, and find ou...

Ari Rubens shares about how to get started with the powerful healing practice of cold exposure. Learn more about Ari's work at arirubens.com Intro music from Bensound.com