Illume Podcast

In this episode, I sit down to interview Sheetal Kandola, U.S-born Tantra Teacher in who has traveled all over the world for her education and now calls India home on purpose with a personal mission to decolonise her relationship with her roots and be an embodiment of feminine freedom in her homeland. 

Sheetal is an Indian-American global mental health scientist, somatic therapist, sex educator and Shakta Tantra practitioner bridging Eastern Indigenous medicine with modern Western neuroscience.

As an Indigenous practitioner carrying the living traditions of Tantra, Yoga and Ayurveda, Sheetal is devoted to preserving these lineages with integrity while translating their wisdom through the language of contemporary science. She translates the language of the nervous system into the language of the sacred. 

Her work sits at the intersection of nervous system intelligence, embodiment, sexuality, spirituality and collective liberation revealing how ancient practices and modern research illuminate one another.

Blending classical Tantra-yoga, somatic therapy and nervous system science, she guides humans beyond self-improvement and into self-remembrance. Her philosophy is simple: 'healing is about remembering who you were before trauma, shame and conditioning disconnected you from your body, your voice and your power'.

Rooted in decolonial and queer liberation, Sheetal creates spaces where devotion, discernment and embodied practice become pathways to both personal and collective transformation.

Her offerings include private 1:1 mentorship, immersive Navratri containers, New Moon and Full Moon ceremonies, retreats, yatras and Shakti Shala, her online temple space where women gather to study, practice and awaken together. Learn more about her containers at  www.sheetalkandola.com.

Whether speaking on podcasts, leading retreats or facilitating intimate circles, Sheetal invites people to experience a new paradigm of healing: one that bridges ancient Eastern Indigenous wisdom with modern Western neuroscience and restores the body as both the laboratory and the temple.

You can connect with her at sheetalkandola/discovery-call, explore her community teaching offerings at https://shakti-system-os.vercel.app/ and give her a follow on instagram @sheetalkandola.

Timestamps:

00:00 The Journey Begins: Personal Background and Initiation

09:14 Cultural Exploration: Embracing Indian Heritage

17:58 The Path of Yoga: From Tennis to Spirituality

24:03 Shiva's Embrace: A Deep Connection to the Divine

33:47 The Path of Liberation: Feminine Power in Tantra

39:22 Navigating Cultural Identity and Sacred Practices

52:31 Gupt Navaratri: Inner Reflections and Sacred Rituals

57:47 Exploring the Mahavidyas

01:05:12 The Power of Rejection and Liberation

01:11:58 Understanding Shakti and Personal Power

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode, I interview Kallie Klug, founder of Kali Somatics. Kallie is a somatic experiencing practitioner and yoga teacher with international certifications in therapeutic yoga, women's embodiment, somatic parts work and integrative  trauma therapy. She has studied traditional yoga, breathwork and meditation at its birthplace in the Himalayas of Rishikesh, India. She is now the author of 'Tired of Being Good: A nervous system map for reinhabiting your body after a lifetime of fawning'. 

Kallie specializes in the fawn response: the often-overlooked fourth trauma response that looks like people pleasing, chronic self-abandonment, over-functioning and losing touch with our authentic needs in order to maintain safety, belonging and connection. 

Kallie's teachings are grounded in somatic psychology and traditional embodiment practices to help those who are ready to access the inner wisdom of their own bodies. She believes that 'we all have the key within ourselves to stop outsourcing our healing and unlock potent empowerment from within'.

Together, we explore how fawning shapes our relationships, careers, sexuality, creativity and sense of self. Kallie shares her personal journey of moving beyond the "good girl" identity, the grief that can emerge when old relational structures fall away and how somatic work helps us reconnect with the parts of ourselves hidden beneath the performance and survival adaptation response.

Through stories from her first book, reflections on culture and conditioning and practical somatic wisdom, Kallie offers a compassionate and deeply human perspective on healing the fawn response. 

Connect with Kallie on instagram @kali.somatics and grab her upcoming book Tired of Being Good at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H53CHKJL?spcref=PRINT_LISTING&dplnkId=22454d83-3e7e-4773-9871-109d6518800b&nodl=1.

Timestamps

02:13 Discovering the fawn response

06:00 People pleasing, survival and the "good girl" identity

15:57 Healing fawning and bringing unconscious patterns into awareness

20:07 Writing Tired of Being Good and the courage of honesty

29:15 The antidote to fawning: connection with self and others

30:36 Tenderness, authenticity and being seen beyond the performance

34:02 Dating, spontaneity and building bridges without scripts

38:30 Sexual fawning, boundaries and true intimacy

40:14 Nonviolent sexual trauma and incongruence in relationships

41:12 Burnout, resentment and the hidden costs of people pleasing

48:43 Culture, language and how fawning is reinforced socially

50:51 Kallie reads an excerpt from Tired of Being Good

53:03 A practical somatic exercise for working with fawning

01:01:07 Loneliness, self-witnessing and the power of vulnerability

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode Rashi interviews Natalie - a former nurse practitioner and medial educator who left the medical model to go deeper into the study of the feminine nervous system, women’s embodied intelligence and the sacred places science can't fully reach. 

Her path is rooted in Kundalini yoga, ritual and lived devotion refined through years of her soul’s evolution and the profound transformations of the many women she's mentored. 

She now guides women into a way of being that nurtures their totality from physical body, energy body and emotional body to their beliefs and soul essence. Through ‘The Beauty Way,’  Natalie supports women preparing for union. Her mission is to awaken the numb, disconnected, modern woman from sleepwalking into unapologetic radiance, deep feeling and radical aliveness. Tune into this offering now open for enrolment at https://thebeautyway.lovable.app/.

Natalie's work is devoted to catalyzing a great feminine awakening where women shatter ancestral chains of fear, guilt or shame and bravely choose to feel again. 

She believes this return to aliveness creates a cascade of beauty that transforms families, communities and cultures for generations to come. Connect with her work on Instagram @thenatalieadele and ground into your heart with this free rose meditation gifted from her altar to yours at https://tinyurl.com/groundedrose.

Timestamps:

02:41 The Evolution of Natalie’s Yoga Practice

09:12 Understanding Sadhana and Its Importance

18:29 The Journey of Conscious Relating

25:28 Navigating Relationship Dynamics and Personal Growth

31:42 The Challenge of Staying Present

34:09 The Power of Choosing to Stay

37:20 The Birth of the Beauty Way

41:00 Initiations for Women: The Beauty Way Program

55:30 The Impact of Wholeness on the World

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

Welcome back to the second episode of Season Three of Illume Podcast, this is the second part of the interview with Sabrina Sundari - a somatic experiencing practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist and medical intuitive passionate about living in awareness as a form of trauma healing 'as the ancestors did' to naturally create space for all that wants to be felt, healed and released without intellectually obsessing over the healing journey.

You can book sessions with Sabrina now for somatic + energetic work 1:1 on her website http://sabrinasundari.com. 

Timestamps:

04:44 The Role of Medical Intuition

09:03 Differentiating Trauma from Intuition

12:46 Navigating Intimacy and Trauma

16:16 Accessing Pleasure and Sensation

20:33 The Importance of Humor in Healing

26:54 Finding Humor in Imperfection

28:10 The Role of Coaches and Being Trauma-Informed

30:11 Navigating Spiritual Bypassing

36:19 Setting Boundaries in Relationships

39:30 The Dangers of Over-Spiritualization

41:21 Observations on the Spiritual Community in Costa Rica

47:28 What Lights Her Up: Dance, Music and Sunlight

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

Welcome back to the first episode of Season Three of Illume Podcast, I sit down to interview Sabrina Sundari - a somatic experiencing practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist and medical intuitive passionate about living in awareness as a form of trauma healing 'as the ancestors did' to naturally create space for all that wants to be felt, healed and released without intellectually obsessing over the healing journey.

You can book sessions with Sabrina now for somatic + energetic work 1:1 on her website http://sabrinasundari.com. 

Timestamps:

01:50 The Journey of Healing

04:13 Understanding the Inner Child

08:27 The Role of Somatic Therapy

15:36 Dysregulation Explained

24:37 Mindfulness and Presence in Healing

35:08 The Cost of Living Intuitively

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode I interview Amara - the founder of Daughters of Kali, The Eternal Temple of Shakti. Amara Devi is a force of inspiration for south asian women and W.O.C who are on a path pf decolonising their hearts, roots and spirituality from the age-old westernisation of indigenous and ancient ancestral wisdom of the vedic, yogic and tantric lineages among others. She is a teacher, coach and space holder of temple spaces for BIPOC women, specifically 'brown sisters' ready to reclaim their shakti i.e innate feminine power and confront fear or shame instilled by a capitalistic culture, patriarchal society and colonial mentality of both those that colonise and those that have been colonised.

To connect with Amara Devi and Daughters of Kali head over to her instagram @amarashakti.co. You can find her current offerings: Kali Awakening, Return of the Devadasis and 1:1 Ancestral & Energetic Support on her website https://amarashakti.co before she departs for a pilgrimage and her on the grounds project in India to make the mission of DoK (now Amara Shakti) bigger and grander than ever. 

Timestamps:

01:49 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Awakening

05:28 The Role of Trauma in Spiritual Awakening

08:33 The Path of Pleasure vs. Pain in Spirituality

11:39 Reclaiming Power and the Role of Kali

14:04 The Birth of Daughters of Kali

18:06 Colonization in Modern Spiritual Spaces

20:01 Navigating Cultural Appropriation and Spirituality

24:05 Healing Shame and Reconnecting with Ancestry

27:39 Offerings and the Vision of Daughters of Kali

37:56 The Transformative Power of Burnout

41:57 Embodying Shakti: The Fire Within

43:12 Love, Devotion, and Divine Union

50:56 The Balance of Shiva and Shakti

57:34 Reclaiming Power and Identity

01:00:20 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Healing

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

I welcome you back to the second season of Illume podcast, where I go into why I explored alternative relationship structures, shadows of non-monogamy and why love does not need to be a test of what you can endure.

Time Stamps:

1:11 Kundalini Awakening 

4:24 Journey Through Karmic Magnification

7:48 Confusion around Identity 

9:06 Polyamory as a Possibility

12:24 Shadow behind Freedom

16:01 Paradox of Safety and Danger in Awakening

20:09 Reflections on Capital L Love

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode I interview John Minks - a sound therapist with over 17 years of experience in exploring the profound healing powers of sound. His deep understanding of music allows him to create harmonized soundscapes, blending traditional sound healing instruments with digital synthesizers to craft immersive, cosmic sound journeys. 

As the founder of Deep Space Mallets, John creates custom mallets for gongs, singing bowls and frame drums ensuring each piece contributes to the therapeutic sound experience. 

He regularly conducts sound, yoga and meditation retreats and travels across the United States offering transformative sound therapy sessions. Through his work, John continues to expand the boundaries of sound healing with a mission to provide profound experiences to those seeking relaxation, mental clarity and inner peace.

Timestamps:

2:13 John’s Musical Awakening and Early Experiences

10:08 The Transformative Power of Sound 

12:55 The Science Behind Sound Healing 

20:41 The Cellular Impact of Sound 

23:51 Exploring Instruments and Personal Connections 

24:39 The Cosmic Connection of Sound 

30:16 Healing Through Sound: The Gong Experience 

34:35 Sound Medicine v. Plant Medicine 

37:11 Celestial Soundscapes: A Journey Beyond 

40:11 Love and Healing: A Shared Journey 

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode I interview Ava Tamar - an intimacy coach, digital artist and neo-tantra mentor leading the way with rawness and vulnerability. She is a teacher of conscious relating and soft living specialising in transformative coaching for ‘bold humans'. 

Follow her on instagram @intimatewithava or work with her 1:1 in private mentorship if you're called to dive deeper. Her current offering  ‘reclaim’ is an online course for women awakening and reclaiming their inner high priestess that was open for enrolment at the time of this episode originally airing. 

Timestamps: 

03:11 The Journey of Vulnerability in Relationships 

05:47 The Power of Memes and Branding Online 

08:54 The Importance of Mentorship and Community 

11:58 Exploring Temple Arts & Sexuality 

14:57 Creating Sacred Spaces for Connection 

17:52 Navigating Relationships and Spiritual Growth 

26:10 Acceptance and Parental Wounds 

29:58 Reclaiming Personal Power 

34:04 The High Priestess Archetype 

38:59 Embracing the Witch Within 

42:55 The Connection to Nature and Cycles

46:58 Spiritual Practices for Empowerment 

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.

In this episode I interview Liz Harrington who is a hypnosis, dating and attachment coach. She educates prolifically on navigating anxious-avoidant attachment styles, conscious dating and calling in love through subconscious, somatic and energetic work. 

Follow her on instagram @liz_harrington and work with her in 1:1 coaching or through her online courses namely ‘conscious dating’ and her latest offering ‘calling in aligned love.’ Learn more about her on her website: https://liz-harrington.com.  

Timestamps:

3:46 Turning Point and Shift in Attachment Patterns

8:08 Transition from Corporate Job to Coaching 

19:51 Importance of Hypnotherapy and Subconscious Work

26:27 Understanding Attachment Wounds 

29:12 Medicine and Energetics of the Anxious-Avoidant Dance 

33:41 Blind Spots and Conscious Dating 

48:59 Exploring Soul Contracts and Soulmates 

51:35 The Importance of Self Worth and Vulnerability 

56:19 Embracing Authenticity in the Dating Process 

If this episode resonated and you wish you had someone you could talk to who would just get it without explanations, don't hesitate to reach out!

Getting aligned support is imperative to the process of self actualisation and spiritual awakening especially when it is sudden and traditional therapy isn't helping. 

I help people stop giving their power away to people, places and systems they have outgrown and embody the identity of cycle breaker, embodied healer & sovereign leader on their unique mission. 

My approach combines the art of intuitive psychotherapy, integrative trauma attuned coaching, neuroscience and indigenous wisdom traditions. 

→ Book a healing/coaching consultation: https://calendly.com/rashj1236/discovery-call?month=2026-07.