The Four Sacred Gifts Podcast with Dr. Anita Sanchez

Society & Culture

For decades, Dr. Anita Sanchez, Nahuatl (Aztec/Toltec) and Mexican American, has committed herself to bridging indigenous wisdom and science for individual, business, and societal renewal. Drawing on her indigenous life experience and inner-city origins, Anita is a messenger of the Eagle Hoop Prophecy and gifts: forgiving the unforgiveable, healing, unity, and hope in action. A renowned consultant, trainer, coach, and speaker, she focuses on cultural transformation, leadership, diversity, inclusion, and belonging for Fortune 500 companies, education, and global non-profit organizations. Anita is a board member of Bioneers, a member of the Evolutionary Leaders and Transformational Leadership Council, an Elder Council member of The Wellbeing Project, Wisdom Weavers of the World, and the Fire Circle Earth.

Anita is a grandmother, Auntie, mother, and activist who holds a Ph.D. in organizational development. The author of seven books, including her international award-winning book, The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times, and her upcoming book, Your Kaleidoscope Mind: Getting More Done by Letting More Go, Anita shares tools for transmuting trauma and pain into freedom and joy. Dr. Anita’s recent awards include 2022 Mogul’s Top 100 DEI Leaders, 2020 Conscious Company Media “World Changing Woman”, and the 2020 World Woman’s Foundation “Woman of the Hour”- #SheisMyHero, a campaign to inspire one million girls to live their dreams and leadership. Each year, Anita leads an annual journey into the sacred headwaters of the Amazon, continuing her personal mission of inspiring people to discover and trust their gifts so that they become a life-giving force to all, people and the earth.

In this podcast, our intention is to amplify Native voices that are essential, and largely muted. Indigenous leaders from every part of the world – the east, west, north, and south, share their life experiences, unleash their knowledge, wisdom and expand our perspective: to inspire us to dream a different dream. They light the way from a dream of separation and illusions to one of connections and relationships, highlighting the “original knowledge” that provides an essential path to ensuring our (and the planet’s) survival. When we allow ourselves to be quiet enough to listen to the wisdom from within, from Elders, and from Mother Earth, we give ourselves the opportunity to experience unity and oneness with all life.

Learn more about Dr. Anita, her acclaimed self-paced online course, and her free song at FourSacredGifts.com and Anita-Sanchez.com

Ep. 1 - Where to Start Hope and Healing with Māori Healer Donna Kerridge, from New Zealand

For the first episode of The Four Sacred Gifts Podcast, Anita Sanchez sits down with Māori healer Donna Kerridge for a conversation about re-connecting to Mother Earth and healing the land and the people who live on it.

In this episode, Anita Sanchez dives into:

Biodiversity and the lands of Indigenous people
The interconnectivity of nature and humans
Incorporating modern medicine with Indigenous knowledge
How losing connection to Mother Earth and community can cause anxiety and other health issues
The individual gifts that we bring into the world
Being inclusive and finding our sense of home and belonging in the world
Healing the vitality of people and place
Talking to people, not corporations
How laws will never change the lore that underpins human life
Maintaining a balance between appropriation and welcoming others into Indigenous communities

About Donna Kerridge:

Donna Kerridge is a Rongoā Māori (traditional Māori healing) practitioner from Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand who is deeply connected to our Earth and her wisdom. She is a humble advocate, healer and leader, passionate about Indigenous practices that focus on healing and restoring our people and our Whenua (land). Donna is able to walk with ease in corporate and policy circles, bridging Western approaches with Indigenous Māori approaches to enable us to bring the best of our collective gifts forward. She advises the New Zealand Ministry of Health to shape policy, lectures, and educates people of all ages in Rongoā, has studied Western health science and a range of Indigenous healing practices, and is a sought-after leader. Learn more about Donna Kerridge HERE.

“I want to remind everybody that we are all indigenous somewhere; some of us have just become disconnected. I think it is the job of all of us to connect to our roots, even if it is through the roots of the land that you now reside upon.” – Donna Kerridge

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Ep. 2 - Biocultural Heritage with Mindahi Bastida, Otomi-Toltec Elder from Mexico

Focusing on environmental impacts, Toltec elder Mindahi Bastida shares wisdom on biocultural diversity and protecting all forms of life.

This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Mindahi discuss:

The impact of industrialization and over-exploitation of water in Mexico
Spiritual and material destruction
Wetland restorations and a mermaid entity
Why Indigenous wisdom is so important
The earth as our first mother
Learning how to live in a sacred relationship with all beings
Listening to nature and realizing our oneness
Sacred sites around the world that contain special energy
Making an effort to protect sacred areas
Taking care of all life sources so that the earth can thrive
Planting seeds for a better future
Interrelation and the collective way of ancient peoples

About Mindahi Bastida:

Mindahi Bastida (Otomi-Toltec) is the director of the Original Nations Program of the Fountain and was the director of the Original Caretakers Program at the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary in New York until 2020. He has done general coordination of the Otomi-Toltec Regional Council in Mexico, is a caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples, and has been an Otomi-Toltec Ritual Ceremony Officer since 1988. He is a consultant with UNESCO around Sacred Sites and Biocultural issues and for other UN programs. Mindahi has served as a delegate to various commissions and summits on Indigenous Rights and Sustainability, including the 1992 Earth Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He has written on the relation between State and Indigenous Peoples, intercultural education, collective intellectual property rights and associated Traditional Knowledge, bicultural sacred sites, and other topics. Mindahi is the author of Ancestors: Divine Remembrance of Lineage Relations and Sacred Sites. For more information, visit theearthelders.org.

“We have worked with science, with culture, and with spirituality. It is possible to work in that way everywhere around the world. That’s the only way we can protect life, protect species, biocultural heritage, biocultural memory, and biocultural diversity.” – Mindahi Bastida

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Ep. 3 - Food as Medicine with Chef Kimberly Brave Heart, Oglala Lakota Nation

Highlighting the medicinal significance of food, Chef Brave Heart joins Anita for a heartfelt discussion on food sovereignty and protecting traditions.

In this episode, Anita and Chef Brave Heart explore:

The special meaning of Chef Brave Heart’s name
Preserving lineage and tradition
The Run for Freedom and living life with intention
Food sovereignty and sensing love through food
Chef Brave Heart’s first time cooking with her grandma
Making beautiful meals out of what we have
The Lakota’s symbiotic relationship with buffalo
The health crisis on the Pine Ridge Reservation
Regaining cultural identity and connection to spirit
The urgency to protect our planet and stop harming it
Chef Brave Heart’s passion for sharing the story and history of the Lakota people

About Chef Kimberly Brave Heart:

A citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Chef Brave Heart

instinctually embraces both her Indigenous and Jewish heritage. She has always held a deep respect for her people and has the ability to tell the history and stories of her people through her food. Chef Brave Heart strives to combine the power of storytelling, cultural preservation and gastronomy to create unique experiences that educate and delight audiences. As a professional inspirational speaker and Indigenous Chef, Chef Brave Heart leverages her expertise in the culinary arts, her cultural heritage, and entrepreneurial expertise to deliver captivating presentations, cooking demonstrations and immersive dining experiences. Chef Brave Heart has received numerous awards and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Food Travel Magazine, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and The New York Times. To learn more about Chef Brave Heart, visit her website or follow her on social media @chefbraveheart.

“My mom would tell me: ‘You don’t ever cook if you are angry. You don’t ever cook if you are crying. This is medicine you are preparing.’ When you cook this food even if you don’t know the people, you pray for them. You pray that their homes and their children and themselves, you pray health and well-being over them and you get blessings in return.” – Chef Kimberly Brave Heart

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Ep. 4 – Healing Through Ceremony with Michael YellowBird, MHA Nation

Confronting the impacts of racism and stress on Indigenous health and culture, Dr. YellowBird and Anita explore healing through ceremony.

Learn more about Dr. Yellowbird’s work on neurodecolonization and Indigenous mindfulness HERE

This week, Anita and Michael YellowBird delve into:

An opening meditation from Dr. YellowBird
Indigenous creation stories and calling on a divine power
Deep relationships with wild plants
The inevitability of struggling and over-valuing comfort
The racism Dr. YellowBird experienced growing up in the 60’s
Dr. YellowBird’s research into indigenous mindfulness and decolonization
How belief in something changes our brain
How the government destroyed collectivist culture
The strain that stress, racism, etc. has had on indigenous health
Reversing generational trauma through mindfulness practice
Giving as well as receiving in our relationship to the earth
The healing power of connecting with nature

About Michael YellowBird

Dr. Yellow Bird, MSW, PhD, is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, where he is the former Dean. He is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) in North Dakota, USA. He has held faculty and administrative appointments at numerous universities. Dr. Yellow Bird’s research focuses on the effects of colonization and methods of decolonization, ancestral health, intermittent fasting, Indigenous mindfulness, neurodecolonization, mindful decolonization, and the cultural significance of Rez dogs. He serves as a consultant, trainer, and senior advisor to several BIPOC mindfulness groups and organizations who are seeking to incorporate mindfulness practices, philosophies, and activities to Indigenize and decolonize western mindfulness approaches in order to address systemic racism and engage in structural change. Dr. Yellow Bird is the author of numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, research reports, and the co-editor of four books: For Indigenous Eyes Only: The Decolonization Handbook, 2012; Indigenous Social Work around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice, 2008; and Decolonizing Social Work, 2013. He is also the co-author of two recent books: A Sahnish (Arikara) Ethnobotany (2020) and Decolonizing Holistic Pathways Towards Integrative Healing in Social Work (2021).

“Stress, racism, hate, fear, isolation, being marginalized, poverty, all these things have an effect. It exposes us to more diseases of aging sooner than we should be. These are the things that our ancestors were doing: dancing, singing, eating traditional foods, supporting one another. They were living very healthy lives.” – Dr. Michael YellowBird

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