“I dive into the well of my body
and end up in another world
everything I need
already exists in me
there’s no need
to look anywhere else”
~ Rupi Kaur
Welcome to
my space...
I am so glad you found your way here.
I am Stella Stathi MA, Body Priestess, Jungian/Somatic Psychotherapist & Coach, and Alchemical Embodiment Teacher. I have been immersed in the worlds of psychology, spirituality and embodiment for over 18 years, and have been in a life-long relationship with my body for twice as many -without always knowing it!
My work is dedicated to the remembrance and reclamation of the true nature of the Body and to the radical embodiment of the totality of who we are;
Psyche, Soma & Soul.
Above all else, I am a womxn in a body, on an ever-unfolding journey that’s allowed me to experience first-hand, study in-depth and guide womxn over the last decade through the different layers of our body/soul relationship, toward wholeness.
I believe that the body is the world’s best-kept secret.
But not what we’ve been taught the body is by the Inanimate Body Culture we live in:
an image
an object
a machine
a prize
a lifeless mass of flesh and bones, fat and muscle
I’m talking about the living body, the wise body, the knowing body; the body that is synonymous with the self.
As such, the body is a complete self-development and soul embodiment system in itself. And this system is what I am here to share with you.
Through my personal, ongoing journey with my body and my work supporting other womxn on theirs, I have discovered that there are three distinct, yet interconnected layers of our body relationship, which correspond to the three distinct yet interwoven layers of our being:
Body - Psyche
Soma - Soma
SoulBody - Soul
The deeper we go into the body, the deeper we come into ourselves.
In Priestessing the Body, I bring together the three major approaches I have been professionally trained in and personally transformed by, to embrace the full spectrum of life experience and to meet you right where you are on your body/soul journey.
My Journey
My own journey can also be broken down into three distinct periods:
“The greater the light, the bigger the shadow”
~Carl Jung
From my late teens to mid-twenties, I got immersed in new-age spirituality, yoga philosophy and professional studies in yoga and dance. This was a very colourful period of my life, filled with the excitement and joy of new horizons, as I hungrily explored what lay beyond our everyday reality. During that time, I worked intensively with my spiritual/energy body, the chakras and the kundalini, and expanded the physical capacities of my body in movement.
…All while struggling with an eating disorder that stayed with me for 7 years -in secret, in the shadow. You see, I was fascinated with the body, but in no way in my body…
Many of us get exposed to spirituality and the “bigger-Self” before we have had a chance to consciously meet and develop our earthly, purely human, small-self. Beautiful as spiritual development can be, without a strong psychological foundation, it can become deeply unbalancing. Using a tree analogy, to spread our branches out and reach to the sky, we need strong roots holding us up -otherwise, we run a serious risk of collapsing.
“The body expresses what the mind represses”
~Erica Hornthal
I experienced my turning point on the dance floor, when, after hours of moving my body freely, without form or purpose, the layers of body armour and numbness that had been built up started to melt, and my soma rose to the surface; my living, feeling body, which had been in deep pain for years.
Through the gateway of the soma, I came back to my psyche. I committed to recovery and turned around to face all that I had been avoiding till that time; my personal history, my physical and emotional needs, the childhood wounds, traumas and formative experiences I had been carrying (which we all do). During that time, I entered therapy, completed a practitioner’s certification in eating disorders, a Masters degree in psychotherapy and trained in somatic/movement therapy.
Post-graduation, I set up a private therapy and coaching practice supporting other womxn in healing their relationship with food and their bodies, through deep inner work.
Shadow and wound healing work is powerful and absolutely essential. And, as I came to realise, when it is not balanced with life work, with cultivating joy and expanding our capacity for embodying goodness, it can become equally unbalancing.
“The body never lies. It’s your spiritual tuning fork”
~Sera Beak
After I had developed strong roots inside my body and psyche, I began searching for the spiritual again. This time, I was led to a radically different kind of spirituality than the one I had encountered before. A feminine, Goddess, Soul (rather than spirit) Path, that was centred inside the body, and not up and out in the ethers; that embraced our everyday, “mundane” Life as the ultimate Initiation; that was free of hierarchy, and in which the wisdom of nature and the forgotten mysteries of the body were held sacred.
I have been walking a Priestess path for over 7 years now, during which I have been initiated, certified and have apprenticed as a Priestess.
You…
You may now be starting to explore your relationship with your body and self. You may be currently struggling with a negative body-image, body shame and judgment, and/or issues related to food and your self-esteem, and longing to feel more accepting of yourself and at peace inside your own skin.
Or..
…you may have done a lot of energy or spiritual work, potentially involving your body, such as yoga and chakra work, sensuality work, goddess embodiment, etc. but have not explored your personal history and make-up, your wounds and life-long patterns in a deeper way. You may have been avoiding the “mainstream” psychological approaches, because they feel too clinical and as if they lack the magic, but are beginning to realise that there are some things that need to be looked at and worked through -in a soulful yet grounded way.
Or…
…you may have done a lot of therapeutic, psychological, shadow and trauma work, may have significantly improved your relationship with food and your body, and are now looking for what lies beyond the deep, hard work; you may be longing to explore your universal/archetypal identity, experience your elemental, ecstatic body and embody more of your soul’s potential -without the spiritual bypass.
Wherever you are on your journey,
your Body is the Way.
We need to do the healing work and the ecstatic work.
We need to root deep down and expand in all directions.
Psyche without Soul can get dry, heavy, hard and disconnected from the juice and beauty of life.
Spirit without Psyche can leave us ungrounded, split in half and unequipped to deal with our real-life challenges and relationships.
We need both Psyche and Soul, to be whole -and the bridge between them is the Body.
It would be my deepest pleasure and honour to hold space for you and help you re-member and em-body ALL of who you are.
Fun facts about me…
🌹I am a Capricorn sun, Taurus moon and Pisces ascendant, with lots of Scorpio and Sagittarius in my chart. My Capricorn and Pisces are often at odds with each other, but Taurus helps me balance them. I’m grateful to the other two for making things interesting and deeeep!!
🌹I am an INFJ type in Myers-Briggs typology, a 4/6 Spleenic Projector in Human Design, a type 4 in the Enneagram and a 9 life path in Numerology (and if it’s not clear already, I LOVE personality tests, quizzes and systems that help us better understand ourselves!)
🌹I am originally from Northern Greece, and have been living in the UK for over 12 years. In 2018, I moved to magical Glastonbury with my partner and I don’t see us leaving anytime soon…
🌹I like coffee more than I’d like to and love cacao unapologetically. And, I could live on dates and peanut butter...for a very long time! 😂
🌹My favourite colour is red…It actually feels more accurate to say that Red claimed me a few years ago and I’ve been walking its path ever since.
🌹The theme of my MA dissertation was the Chakra System and Western Alchemy as parallel paths to Individuation. It is hands-down my favourite thing I’ve written 🤓
🌹I can appear very serious and composed on the outside, but can be very silly and all over the place a lot of the time (as is pretty obvious…!).
The Professional Stuff
Professional Bio
Stella Stathi MA, MBACP Reg. is a qualified, experienced Jungian/Somatic Psychotherapist and Coach, Embodied Alchemy Teacher & Body Priestess.
She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Jungian/Integrative Psychotherapy and has also trained extensively in Somatic Expressive Therapy, Energy (Chakra) Psychology and Goddess Spirituality.
Stella has specialised in the treatment of eating disorders and body-image issues and, for over a decade, she privately supported womxn in healing their relationship with food and their bodies, from the inside out, through embodied, alchemical soul-work.
She is now sharing her knowledge and experience in the area of Eating & Body-Image Psychology through online courses and programmes, while also transitioning more fully into her role as a Priestess.
She is passionate about bridging the worlds of Psychology and Spirituality, the Personal and the Transpersonal, through the Body, and is dedicated to a Path of Wholeness and Grounded Magic.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Psychology -Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Master’s Degree (MA) in Integrative/Jungian Psychotherapy & Healing Practice -Society for Psychology & Healing, through Middlesex University, UK
Level II Professional Training in SomaSoul Somatic Movement Therapy -Leven Institute for Expressive Movement, USA
Master Practitioner qualification in the treatment of Eating Disorders, Disordered Eating and Body-Image Issues -National Centre for Eating Disorders, UK
JourneyDance teacher Level II certification; a ritual-form, chakra-based, body-positive movement modality -USA
250-hr Yoga teacher certification, with Shiva Rea -Samudra School for Living Yoga, USA
Insight Yoga teacher training with Sarah Powers -Insight Yoga, USA/UK
Reiki Master Teacher and Healer & Reiki Drum practitioner qualification, with Sarah Gregg, UK
Chakra Psychology and Mind-Body Therapy trainings, with Anodea Judith -Sacred Centers, USA
Somatic Trauma Therapy Training with Babette Rothschild, UK
Authentic Movement & Therapeutic Presence with the Institute for Integrative Bodywork & Movement Therapy, UK
Priestess training and initiation with Elayne Kalila Doughty -Priestess Presence Temple / 13 Moon Mystery School (3 years)
Priestess training, certification and apprenticeship with Vanessa Sage -Sage Priestess (4 years)
Tantric Rose Mystery School Priestess Training with Leyolah Antara -Kundalini Dance
Rosa Mystica Ecstatic Priestess Training with Elayne Kalila Doughty & Diana DuBrow -Priestess Presence Temple & Emerald Temple
Temple Guide Training with the Priestess Presence Temple