Tosca Dea
Lover of Nature & Forgotten Wisdom; Sitter on Santa’s Lap
Once upon a time…
I started out with a very modern approach to education and received my bachelor’s in nutrition, and earned my license to practice dietetics in the community in America. I then received my master’s in health promotion and gained my Certified Health Education Specialist license. I became a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner equipping me to interpret innovative labs through the lens of optimising vitality and functional health (addressing the root cause of symptoms versus the ‘suppress-symptoms-then-treat-the-disease’ orientation of the existing healthcare model). After a lot of thought, I allowed my licenses to expire as it is very costly to maintain professional development requirements and memberships. I also found my paradigm of health had shifted away from that of the licensing boards and the learning material no longer felt relevant to my approach.
During that time…
During that time, I completed a 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training in Sparks, Nevada USA then completed another Yoga Alliance-certified 200-hour YTT in Cork, Ireland and a further 300 hours in Goa, India. Additionally I received my 300-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training from Josh & Terry Summers School and their 100-hr Qi Cultivation Teacher Training along with multiple other yoga courses underpinned by Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupressure techniques. I received my Qigong Teacher Training Certifications for 5 Element and 8 Trigram Organ practices from White Tiger Qigong (a sub-branch of Taoist Medical Qigong).
Most recently…
Most recently, I’m working through my ICF-Life Coaching accreditation and a diploma from the Faculty of Astrological Studies in England. I’ve completed many other astrology courses including from the Sophia Centre at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Kepler College and Judith Hill’s Medical Astrology. I completed a 2-year Herbal/Botanical Medicine Apprenticeship from The Plant Medicine School in Ireland while supplementing this education with Eastern and Western traditional energy-based herbalism courses including from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism. I completed the University College Cork’s Certificate in Mythology and various psychology-based courses at the Jung Centre. I’m currently also working part-time as a research assistant at the University of Galway with a focus in mental health promotion. You can access my CV here.
Finally…
I can’t put a number on how many hours I spend reading books. I have an eclectic taste that seems to find commonality in the evolution of human consciousness and the need for our species to find meaning, mostly through connecting with nature. My library includes topics like philosophy, mythology, folk & star lore, embodied spirituality, ancient practices & rituals (astrology, herbalism, pagan, healing, divination, alchemy, eating, living etc.), esoteric/gnostic traditions, theories of the origins (both physics & metaphysics), and theories of psychological, behavioural, cultural, social and physical evolution (Carl Jung’s Depth/Archetypal Psychology, Stanislov Grof’s Transpersonal Psychology and Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory are particularly interesting to me). I also love permaculture and have no shortage of books on the topic, as well as a beautiful foraging and medicine garden (my best friend and mentor!) in my own home here in Ireland.
wild Being 