Hi, I’m Stella tomlinson (she/her).
My mission is twofold:
1) To honour midlife and menopause as a sacred rite of passage, and
2) To help you tend to the longings of your soul so you can feel a greater sense of peace, purpose and fulfilment as you traverse the changes and challenges of midlife.
Paths To Inner Peace
I believe that inner peace arises when we can accept all parts of ourselves - the inner winters and the inner summers; the shadows and the gold.
This asks us to work on healing the soul wounds inflicted by patriarchy of shame, unworthiness and mistrust, and to decondition from the personal and cultural stories that cage us.
It is an ongoing healing and transformational journey.
It takes courage and self-compassion.
And so I offer what I have learned so far along the way…
I’m the author of four books (so far):
I Am With You: Words for comfort & strength for difficult times
Cycles of Belonging: Honouring ourselves through the sacred cycles of life
My offerings are based on almost 25 years’ experience in personal and spiritual development through meditation, yoga, mindfulness, energy healing, menstrual cycle awareness, Goddess and nature spirituality, and positive neuroplasticity. I’ve been teaching and writing in these fields since 2011.
My work is suffused with compassion, honesty and grounded practicality + a potent dose of feminist soul fire.
Originally from the West Midlands, I lived in Wales for 8 years and now live with my husband in Hampshire, UK.
My work explores:
Nature spirituality as an antidote to patriarchal conditioning
Embracing our cyclic nature through menstrual cycle awareness & conscious menopause
Honouring the full spectrum of human emotion - the darkness and the light
Healing inner pain through mothering the child within
Building inner strengths of self-compassion and self-worth
Certifications
Priestess of Brighde/Brigantia Training (with Priestess Marion Brigantia,Glastonbury) January 2018 – January 2020, including the Elemental Goddess Healing modality (and membership of the Clan of Brighde-Brigantia and The Orchard of Avalon).
Energy Emotional Freedom Technique Master Practitioner (Guild of Energists), April – June 2018.
Energy Emotional Freedom Technique Foundation (Guild of Energists) – November 2017.
Jikiden Reiki Zenki (Shoden) Attuned – July 2017, certified by the Jikiden Reiki Institute.
Restorative Yoga Teacher Training (30-hour immersion, September 2016) with Adelene Cheong, Senior Assistant to Judith Hanson Lasater. Certified Restorative Yoga Teacher.
Dru Meditation Teacher Training with the International School of Dru Yoga (2014 – 2016).
Dru Yoga Teacher Training: 200 hour teacher training course (Dip DYT) with the International School of Dru Yoga (2010 - 2012).
Trainings, study & Personal Development
Total Yoga Nidra Immersion Experience with The Yoga Nidra Network, autumn/winter 2024.
Grief Through The Elements with Nici Harrison of The Grief Space, spring-summer 2024.
Path To Second Spring Group Mentoring with Kate Codrington, Feb-June 2024.
Foundations of Wellbeing, online with Dr Rick Hanson, 12-month course, 2023.
Practices for Grieving and Heartache, online with Ancestral Medicine, winter 2022.
Coping with Grief and Loss, online with Dr Rick Hanson, winter 2022.
Positive Neuroplasticity Training, online with Dr Rick Hanson, summer 2022.
Menopause, the Great Awakener, online with Red School, autumn 2020.
Bardic Grade of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, self-paced course March 2020 – summer 2021.
Menstrual Cycle Literacy, online with Red School 2017-18.
Hormone Harmony online with Red School 2017.
Practised and studied Yoga Nidra since 2016.
BA(Hons) English Literature (1996) and MSc Econ Information and Library Studies (2000).
Inspirations…
In addition to the training and wonderful teachers referenced above, I am deeply grateful to the following women who inspire me in my own work and life:
Sharon Blackie – writer, psychologist and mythologist; author of two of my favourite books: If Women Rose Rooted and The Enchanted Life. I’ve studied her year-long This Mythic Life and Courting the World Soul courses.
Lucy H. Pearce – author, publisher, artist and teacher, and founder of Womancraft Publishing. I particularly love these books by Lucy: Burning Woman and Creatrix.
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli – author of Yoni Shakti and Nidra Shakti and co-founder of the Yoga Nidra Network.
I am an avid reader and, in addition to the above, I particularly love the work of: Mary Oliver, Rick Hanson, John O’Donohue, Bill Plotkin, Maureen Murdock, Francis Weller, Elaine Aron, Susan Cain + I have an extensive collection of books on inner child healing, menopause and conscious menstruation. I’m also drawn to books exploring nature spirituality as well as themes arising from Jungian and depth psychology such as works by James Hollis and Marion Woodman.
A BIT MORE ABOUT ME…
I live with my husband in Hampshire, UK. We relocated here in late 2011 although I’ve lived in various places over the years: originally from the West Midlands, uni in London, postgrad in Aberystwyth, eight years working in Cardiff, then three in Staffordshire before we moved to Hampshire.
I’ve been teaching and writing about yoga, relaxation, meditation and mindfulness since 2011, and earth-based spirituality and cyclic living since 2015. (I no longer teach yoga, but taught regular weekly classes and numerous workshops between 2011 and 2020.)
Since 2015 I’ve been studying, living and sharing sacred seasonal and cyclic living. and Nature and Goddess spirituality, and initiated as a Priestess of Brigid in January 2020, after a two-year training.
I devoted myself full-time to my writing and teaching between 2016 and 2023. Before that I worked in digital and internal communications in three different universities over the years. And in late 2023 I returned to working part-time in higher education.
I’m a nature mystic and a moon-gazer, tree-hugger, cloud-watcher, liminal dreamer, avid reader, and a highly sensitive person.
A FEW RANDOM THINGS
I’m an Aquarius with Gemini rising and moon in Scorpio (a LOT of air in there with some intense emotional energy…)
I’m an INFP – imaginative idealist
I was born under a waning moon
I’ve been vegetarian since the age of 8
I’m in the Queen/Sovereign phase of my life (perimenopause)
BOOKS WHICH HAVE MOST INFLUENCED MY JOURNEY:
The Highly Sensitive Person – Elaine Aron
Wild Power - Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer
Sacred Earth Celebrations – Glennie Kindred
Burning Woman – Lucy H. Pearce
If Women Rose Rooted – Sharon Blackie
The Heroine’s Journey - Maureen Murdock
Second Spring - Kate Codrington