Root to Rise

A 6-month Journey of 1:1 Soul Tending

Deepen into your innate wisdom, attune to the voice of the sacred, and root into the truth of who you most deeply are so that you may unfurl into the true shape of your soul.

“If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.”

—Rainer Maria Rilke

About the Soul Tending Journey

This 6-month journey is about remembering that which is already and most deeply true. That you are wise, and innately connected to and supported by the sacred web of life.

When we are connected to our deepest self, rooted in our wild belonging, and making choices that are in alignment with the truth of our soul’s own knowing, we experience greater freedom, joy and vitality.

We are rooted. Grounded. Free.

This 6-month container is a sacred, contemplative space that guides you through a transformative encounter with your own wisdom and inner resources so that you can live in greater alignment with your authentic self.

Of course, living in alignment with your soul doesn’t mean that life will be easy, but it does mean you will have greater ease.

Even when life serves up the unexpected, we know we can trust our innate capacity. We remember we are rooted in a larger story. We are empowered to fully inhabit our one wild and precious life.

“This soul tending journey with Stephanie was an incredibly empowering gift for me. I cannot explain how valuable this journey was. It exceeded my expectations, and I feel like it was exactly what I needed to learn to trust my intuition.”

—Chelsea V.

"Meeting with Stephanie was the best thing I did for myself. I was able to work through my self doubt and found clarity to make an important decision. I am grateful for the way Stephanie held space for me and honored me where I was."

—Connie C.

About Soul Tending

Life is full of complex challenges and profound change. It is normal to find ourselves adrift and disoriented when our inner and outer experiences no longer feel congruent.

Mainstream culture tells us to look outside of ourselves for answers. Or to approach our quest for clarity through the rational, logical, and measurable. While these can be helpful ways of knowing and while there is certainly much goodness to be found in external authorities, we have collectively lost touch with our own inner wisdom and other, more feminine, streams of knowing that are innate to our human experience.

Our soul—that deepest, most authentic aspect of our being—is our best guide.

We cannot come into true alignment with ourselves when we stay in the realm of logic or when we continuously give our power away.

As a Soul Companion, I hold space for a different type of listening.

Together, in a safe and sacred container, we drop down into your soulscape by listening to the wisdom of your intuition, emotions, physical sensation, and imagination. Trusting that it all belongs, we invite the support of the sacred through your own connection to the earth and personal sense of that which is greater.

Through our innate feminine ways of knowing, we touch into what is most authentic to you—welcoming home exiled aspects of yourself; uncovering your truest longings; untangling limiting beliefs and unhelpful ancestral patterns; and receiving the wisdom that is already within you to meet you exactly where you are.

The Soul Tending Journey invites you to more fully inhabit the wisdom of your own soul and your own wild belonging to this good earth.

You are already whole. And you already wholly belong.

Healing is not about fixing something that is broken, but rather coming home to your beautiful, wild, earthy aliveness.

It’s about being more fully YOU!

Why Soul Tending is Needed

Collectively we have lost our sense of rootedness in our own wisdom and our inherent belonging to the great web of life.

The sacred has been outsourced. A thousand voices call out for our attention, and often the most difficult voice to hear can be our own.

And yet, it is your birthright to inhabit the true shape of your soul.

Not only that, the world needs your fullest expression.

Your soul is an expression of the soul of the world.

As you live into the truth of who you most deeply are, your personal healing brings healing to the whole. You are able to move into the world grounded in integrity, aligned with your deepest values, and aware of your own unique gifts and medicine.

“This journey has helped me calm the chaos in my mind. I am a better version of myself, and as a result have healthier, happier relationships with my family. I feel more confident and empowered to meet the demands of my life.”

—Kacey J.

“Stephanie is a metamorphosis doula. She walks with us as we bridge what was, what is and what can come to be. Working with Stephanie is a pivotal step in an embodied experience of my belovedness and the goodness of the universe.”

—Eleanor H.

Sacred Thresholds into this Work

“The doors to the world of the wild are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.” — Clarissa Pinkola Estes

The way into our soul’s knowing often comes through a wound, an ache, a longing, a loss, or a dramatic life change.

One of the mysteries of our human experiences is that these challenges often hold our deepest medicine. In Soul Tending, without bypassing the pain, we approach these experiences tenderly as sacred thresholds that can usher us into what poet David Whyte calls the “truth hidden in the center of your being.”

“The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed—to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.”

— Parker Palmer

The Gifts of the Journey

Although I can’t say exactly where this journey will lead you, I can say you it will leave you transformed. This is powerful work.

Here are some of the gifts others have received from this journey:

  • Clarity about the invitations of their soul, including next steps that lead to living in greater alignment with that calling.

  • Cultivate and trust their own wisdom and deepen their connection to the goodness of their body.

  • Hone their intuition, imagination and creativity that they may live in joyful flow.

  • Touch the sacred in their daily life and connect authentically and joyfully to the sacredness of the earth.

  • Move toward a greater sense of wholeness, power and resilience.

  • Listen deeply to the voice of the divine within and learn to walk with mystery.

 

What is included

Twice a month for a minimum of 6 months, we will meet 1:1 for a total of 12 guided sessions, including:

  • An initial 30-minute Discovery Session to explore your intentions and hopes for the journey and lay the groundwork together

  • Eleven 1-hour Soul Tending sessions. These include a grounding practice to start, soulful reflection following the threads of your journey, somatic awareness, guided imagery, embodied practice, and creative exploration.

  • One 90-minute Soul Journey Session that includes a personalized guided imaginal journey. Our souls speak in symbols and imagery. Through a gentle guided mediation personalized for your needs, we will journey into your inner world to listen for wisdom and clarity that is held in your subconscious. This imaginal journey is typically in the middle of our time together.

  • Personalized follow-up support: After each session, you’ll be emailed notes about our session and personalized invitations of journaling prompts, rituals, and creative, nature-based practices to take you deeper into what your inner wisdom is revealing to you.

  • Unlimited coaching support between sessions via email and text

  • Sessions can be held in the following ways:

    • virtually, Pacific Time

    • in my home office in North East LA

    • outside in nature, supported by the grounding presence of earth on the wild margins of Pasadena, CA

Exchange

The cost of this 6-month journey is $2820.

Payments may be divided into 6 monthly payments at no extra charge.

If you’d like to explore whether this journey is a good fit for you, please schedule a free consultation below. We’ll use this time to learn more about one another, discuss the journey in depth, and see if we feel like we are a good fit.

 

My Story

For much of my life, I felt entirely subject to the unending demands of the external world…work responsibilities, social pressures, relational obligations. I was really good at being good. Hoping that this was my ticket to feeling good about myself, my life.

Maybe you can relate?

Hungry for belonging, I tried to fit the dictates of school, church, work, and culture, and in the process learned to deny essential parts of myself. I judged my body harshly and ignored her wisdom; dismissed my creativity; resisted my emotionality; overrode my intuition; distrusted my longings; and repressed my sexuality.

In essence I had learned to mute the voice of my soul.

After the sudden death of my brother, followed by years of unexplained infertility, I experienced a great unraveling of faith and identity. Any notions of certainty I had were stripped away.

I was initiated through loss into the great mystery.

Through a series of loving steps I began to court my own soul and remember my innate belonging to this sacred earth. I began to listen to the voice of the divine within, and claim my freedom to show up joyfully in my own skin.

As a Soul Companion, it is my honor to hold sacred space for you to step more fully into your truest expression of who you are.

As we journey together, I offer witness and presence, and provide gentle invitations in the form of reflective questions, guided imagery, embodied practice, somatic awareness and creative exploration to bring you deeper into your own innate wisdom and wild belonging.

What People Are Saying

 

“To me, Soul Tending felt much more nourishing than something like therapy or counseling-- we spent a lot of time in nature, moving our bodies and discovering what came up for me. Stephanie gently led our time together so that I could experience the interconnectedness of everything around me, while also holding space for my heart and my voice to speak. It felt like a dance between my body, the beauty that surrounded me and my deepest intuition.  I haven't felt this connected to myself in a long time.”

— Chelsea V.

 

“Stephanie is a fantastic listener who prompts one's own deep listening. Her presence is welcoming and open, she holds a beautiful space for one’s becoming.”

— Eleanor H.

 

“Stephanie knows that there is a deep power and knowing inside all of us. In journeying with her, I’ve learned to trust myself and access my innate wisdom.”

— Hannah O.

 

“Soul Tending helped me discover aspects of myself that I would not have otherwise connected with without this journey. Stephanie created a space of openness and acceptance while guiding me through gentle, yet revealing, practices. The imaginative meditations were particularly potent.

This experience has changed the way I see myself, and the way I interact with my life. I have greater self-understanding, as well as more compassion, acceptance and patience for myself and my children.”

—Kacey J.

Beloved

You are right where you need to be.

Whole. Holy. Just as you are. 

Already, you are inseparably connected to the Mystery who sang you into being, who is as close as your breath. 

Breathe. 

Is there a hunger in you to know more deeply that which is already yours? 

That longing inside you...

Listen, dear one. 

It's time to enter the depths.  

Need a hand to hold? Take mine. We can go there together.

Questions you might have

  • If you find yourself in a time of transition, loss, or soul searching, are hungry to know your own wisdom and wild belonging, and feel the call to enter the depths of your own soul, then soul tending is for you.

    Those who find this journey most helpful are reflective, thoughtful, and willing to enter the discomfort of not-knowing. They have a sense of the sacred at work both in their own lives and around them.

  • There are many wonderful guides out there to choose from, and it can be a bit overwhelming to know with whom to invest your time, energy and money.

    I encourage you to peruse my website to get a feel for my voice, perspective and style.

    I also welcome you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation to feel into my energy and approach. Soul tending is a co-created venture, so it is important that we both feel good about the chemistry between us.

    My identity as a white, cis-gendered woman means that I experience the world differently than those from other identity backgrounds. I am committed to creating a safe environment for my clients, and yet I also know that unlearning the systems of white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity are life-long ventures. I am committed to continuously learning more and doing better.

    Because of my work’s focus on the particular needs and struggles of women+, I typically work with women+. However, I am open to working with others as well.

  • This journey includes 12 sessions and typically takes about 6 months. However, it may be longer or more condensed, based on your own needs.

    I like the rhythm of meeting every other week as it allows space for integration between sessions while being regular enough to create momentum. However, you can decide to go at the pace that works best for you.

    After our initial Unfurl container has ended, some people find it helpful to continue receiving Soul Tending support, which I am happy to offer as my schedule permits.

  • Our one-hour Soul Tending sessions begin with a brief breath practice to ground your body, followed by open-ended verbal discussion about what is most alive for you in terms of your soulscape. This includes your longings, values, sense of purpose, questions, and points of pain.

    Because we are tracking soul, I may invite you out of the realm of thought and into the wisdom of your embodied sensation, emotion, movement and images.

    Everything I invite is optional. Together we co-create this space, following your wisdom and needs, as well as your own comfort levels.

    In the middle of our journey is a 90 minute Imaginal Journey—a personalized guided meditation meant to carry you deeper into your own soul-scape to uncover unconscious patterns, access your own resourcedness, and connect to the sacred within. This session typically occurs midway through our time together.

  • Soul Tending is not meant to replace professional medical care or mental health counseling, nor does it serve as a treatment for any mental health diagnosis. I am not a therapist nor am I acting as one.

    Soul Tending is a transformational healing path of self-discovery, self-empowerment, and sacred soul tending. Our focus in on the sacred, the intuitive, and the embodied soul. I approach this from the framework that you are already whole.

    Clients often find Soul Tending to dovetail nicely with therapy. Only you can know what healing modalities are best for you at this time.

    If you are dealing with an acute mental health issue or looking for a diagnosis or treatment for a diagnosis please seek professional medical help.

  • Yes! I am happy to continue to hold space for your becoming as long as feels supportive to you and as my own schedule allows. I have several clients who continue to receive support through 1:1 Soul Tending after our original container has ended.

  • This journey is meant for you. If your inner wisdom tells you that this work is no longer a good fit, I support and celebrate that knowing. Part of following your inner wisdom is trial and error, and being willing to pivot when things change.

    Should you choose to stop our work together, I would refund you for any sessions that you paid for but did not yet complete. There are no refunds for sessions already completed.

    (Just FYI, this scenario hasn’t happened before. To date, I am happy to report that my clients have all had positive, transformational experiences. And it has been an honor to watch them each unfurl.)

“This is the first, wildest and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists,  ​​and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness”

 - Mary Oliver