Living Goddess with Chameli Gad Ardagh

Chameli sits down with psychologist and writer, Ailey Jolie to explore how the culture we live in shapes our nervous systems, and why simply regulating ourselves isn’t enough when systems themselves dysregulate us.  They discuss the relief and healing that can come when the systemic abuse of the female body is named, and how symptoms like anxiety and hypervigilance can be healthy signals signaling...

Chameli speaks with Dr. Gertrude Lyons about her book Rewrite the Mother Code and her passionate invitation to expand what it means to mother.  Dr. Lyons shares practices and insights from her own journey of motherhood, and from decades of coaching others, and together they explore what steps one can take to shift out of oppressive belief systems around mothering, and rewrite outdated mother codes...

Twenty years ago, Chameli and Helena Montelius came together for the first Women’s Temple, to remember the sacred within the body, to listen, to breathe, to pray in movement and stillness.  In this special anniversary conversation, Chameli and Helena reflect on what has sustained their Temple group through all the changes of life, the births and endings, the ebbs and flows, the laughter and the te...

Join us in celebrating the new year with a popular episode from our archives. The three giant goddesses, the Norns, from Norse mythology guide us in co-creating with Living Goddess. Through the practice of presence, we can root our visions and desires in the original instructions, so that the future can unfold from wisdom instead of being a carrot on a stick that keeps us leaning out of the intima...

Chameli sits down with Ellen Dee Davidson, author of Sacred Forest Bathing, to explore the ancient art of listening to the trees. With decades of practice in sitting, listening, and communing with the forest, Ellen shares her lived experience of how trees speak to us, through presence, sensation, and subtle messages. Together, they explore how each of us can enter into a more intimate relationship...

In this intimate conversation, Chameli sits with her dear sister Kim Rose Keller, a Sex and Intimacy Coach whose life and work have been devoted to love and the beauty of human connection. Together they explore the landscapes of intimacy, grief, and the gift of community, and what begins to matter most when the illusion of “later” falls away. Kim speaks with exquisite honesty about her journey of...

Chameli shares an update on where she is in her life and practice, about being in a season of ebbing, energy turning inward, about shedding and slowing down. She speaks about the courage it takes to become honest, to listen deeply, and to center the desire of the soul. What happens when we create space for simple beingness? Is it selfish to honor what the soul longs for, or is it, in truth, an act...

Like a pre-programmed car radio automatically playing the same handful of familiar stations, we tend to run on repeat a few familiar, but not always beneficial, thought loops and habitual activities. Chameli shares how the animals she lives with help her in her practice of cultivating senses below the senses, which allows for a more fine-tuned ability to perceive the often subtle signals from the...

Chameli shares a different way of setting intentions for the new year, and every day, by asking ourselves the question: what is essential? She tells the story of Shiva and the Dasha MahaVidyas (Ten Wisdom Goddesses), a story reminding us that trying to escape parts of ourselves, and clinging to others, will keep us stuck in the realm of appearances and disconnected from the union at the Source of...

In this meditative episode that is inspired by Dr. Estes’ lecture series The Dangerous Old Woman, Chameli shares about the shift of priorities that happens when our lives are guided by “She who guards the soul”. The Dangerous Old Woman is an aspect of our being that operates in much vaster timelines than our habitual hurry, and reminds us that we are more free and powerful than we usually take our...

We have our very first guest on the Living Goddess podcast! Cynthia Jurs is the author of the book Summoned by the Earth. In this episode, she shares about the Earth Treasure Vase practice, her reckoning with the patriarchal aspects of Buddhism, and how a pilgrimage to Delphi revealed her seat in the lineage of Gaia's priestesses. For more about Cynthia's work: Gaiamandala.net Summonedbytheearth.o...

Chameli speaks about her experience meeting Parvathy Baul, a master practitioner on the path of devotional song. You will hear the story about the epic love affair between Radha and Krishna, and how surrender and devotion can be portals to divine union. Chameli also speaks on the hesitation and wounding we carry around spiritual devotion, how the purity of our longing and devotion have been taken...

Chameli speaks about her daily practice, and how to create a relationship of mutual support with our seat of practice. She shares about Adhara Shakti, the goddess in that is the frequency of support, taking so many forms in our lives. She also shares about the Three Mother Goddess practice that takes embodied spirituality from a nice sounding concept, into an actualized and lived way of life, a pr...

Chameli speaks about dharma, life purpose, how we can get confused in comparison and in looking outside ourselves for “how to be”, plus how the path of dharma invites us into the vulnerability and risk of being ourselves. She also shares about her dharma journey and commitment to live in intimacy with Goddess.   21 Day Eternal Mother Sadhana: https://awakeningwomen.com/eternal-mother-sadhana/   Co...

In this bonus episode of Living Goddess, Chameli shares information about the 18th annual Summer Ashram Retreat that she hosts in Greece. She shares the focus and mythology for each week, about the practices of dance, chanting, embodied mythology, and temple touch. For more information about the Goddess Summer Ashram www.corfuretreat.com For deepening studies with Chameli www.awakeningwomen.com Su...

Today we call upon Vishnu, the Hindu God, and consort to Lakshmi the Goddess of Abundance. It may be easy to say yes to the beautiful and abundant flow of Lakshmi, but as many of us have overdosed on the suffocating structures of the patriarchy, we often resist creating the sacred structures needed for the qualities of Lakshmi to truly flourish in our life. Inviting the noble integrity and loving...

Today we call upon the Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Abundance. Chameli shares about the four arms of the Goddess, and how they give us a powerful map for a spirituality that is balanced and embodied, and ultimately leads us into heart of abundance.   As Chameli continues her pilgrimage, she will take a break from producing the podcast and will be back with a new episode in March.   Information ab...

As she is preparing for a pilgrimage, Chameli reflects on the Buddhist terms Windhorse and Drip, and on how clearing clutter and being in integrity with your hearts wisdom, not only creates more flow, ease, and abundance in your life but ultimately brings you into union with your deepest self. For deepening studies with Chameli www.awakeningwomen.com Submit your questions and suggestions to Yogini...

The three giant goddesses, the Norns, from Norse mythology guide us in co-creating with Living Goddess. Through the practice of presence, we can root our visions and desires in the original instructions, so that the future can unfold from wisdom instead of being a carrot on a stick that keeps us leaning out of the intimacy with the goddess, and into an endless chase of never-yet-there.   For deepe...

Chameli continues the exploration of the journey home to our essential nature, by sharing a story from Norse mythology about the Goddess hidden behind the armor of forgetfulness and the journey to wake her and unite with her wisdom. We will explore the importance of cultivating and guarding intuition, the willingness to face the unwanted parts of ourselves, and to risk coming into an ‘isness’ with...

Chameli shares about the journey from cosmic ocean into our separate selves, about the Buddhist concept of near enemy, and she also shares her personal practice of liberating herself from the coping strategy of people pleasing and conflict avoidance, back into the essential quality of generosity and compassion. She shares how easily we get stuck in rigid beliefs that create harmful division and de...

Chameli tells the story about the grieving Buddha and how two potent goddesses of love and protection came into form through his broken heart. In this myth, we find potent guidance on how to stay with our hearts open and take enlightened action when faced with the horrendous suffering in the world.   The poem at the end is by Gina Puorro.

Chameli tells the story of the great Indian Goddess Durga and illuminates keys for how we can stay rooted in a place of peace and clarity while engaging in a world so full of suffering, war, and division. Durga mirrors to us a power within us that arises out of a fierce commitment to love, a power that unifies instead of divides us.

Chameli explores how Hestia from Greek mythology and Gunnveig from Norse mythology both guide us home to the light within that never dies; the hearth, our home, our source. She also shares about the challenges and gifts from her practice with the circle, and how the circle itself is a wisdom keeper we all can receive guidance and enlightenment from.

Continuing the exploration of the Gaia/Uranus myth, Chameli speaks about how creating a secure attachment to body, earth and Goddess will liberate us, instead of entrapping us as we have been told for thousands of years. As most patriarchal religions and spiritual paths are Uranus-centered we may be looking at basic avoidance or insecure attachment styles playing themselves out.