"Healing happens when the body feels safe, the heart feels held, and the spirit feels seen."
This is the foundation of my work — and the heartbeat of everything I offer.
Meet Vanessa
Vanessa Tucker is a somatic and healing arts educator, medicine woman, and artist supporting people to become all they can be through embodied healing and expanded consciousness, rooted in the intelligence of the body, the wisdom of the soul, and the power of creative expression.
With over 30 years of experience, Vanessa guides people through the alchemy of wholeness—not by transcending their humanity, but by fully embodying it.
Her work weaves somatic movement dance therapy, therapeutic shamanism, energy medicine, and creative soul practice into an intuitive, trauma-informed approach that students and clients describe as “life-changing,” “deeply healing,” “safe and nurturing,” and “the biggest gift you can give yourself.”
As the founder of The Centre for Somatic & Healing Arts, Walk Your Talk Retreats, and co-founder of The Modern Medicine Woman Training School, Vanessa teaches an integrated tapestry of somatic movement, feminine wisdom, energy healing, and creative soul work through practitioner trainings, immersive retreats, community classes, and one-to-one through her private practice.
An acclaimed author of two books, co-creator of The Medicine Woman Wisdom Oracle, and creator of Happy Cards, Vanessa’s creative work extends into photography, natural-dye textiles, and jewellery design—each piece reflecting the same medicine and intuitive wisdom that flow through her teaching and healing.
My Story: From Breaking Open to Becoming
My path as a healer began in the most unexpected way — through a personal crisis that stripped everything back to the bone.
I became the wounded healer long before I understood what that meant.
Faced with the question, “What would I do if I had six months to live?” I did the only thing that felt true:
I let go.
I left behind the life I knew and began a pilgrimage across India — sitting with gurus, masters, and sadhus, listening not only to their teachings but to the whisper of my own soul.
I trained as a Reiki Master.
I immersed myself in spiritual disciplines.
I deepened into silence, prayer, meditation, and the raw truth of my own being.
But transformation did not come from any one teacher.
It came from learning to trust myself.
To listen to my body.
To answer the call of my soul.
To love the parts of myself I had abandoned.
To walk my own path — even when it terrified me.
As I healed, something ancient stirred — not a decision, but a calling.
A knowing that the medicine I had received was not mine to keep.
That the path I walked through my own fire had shaped me into someone who could hold space for others walking theirs.
My work began there — in the alchemy of my own becoming.
What healed me became the foundation of what I now teach:
embodiment, intuition, creativity, and the courage to return to oneself again and again.
As I continue to embody my soul's path, it deepens with every person I am called to serve.
The Power of a Woven Path- Imprinted by Nature, Led by Soul.
My work is woven — not from one thread, but from the many creative paths that have shaped me, each one rooted in the earth and guided by the soul.
I’ve learned that every part of who I am — the mover, the creative, the therapist, the educator, the mystic, the wild woman, the writer, the artist — carries its own piece of medicine.
My medicine is earth-based, heart-centred, and soul-led.
It is shaped by the understanding that we are nature expressing herself through a human body — life energy taking form, the invisible becoming known.
We are not here to transcend our humanity, but to experience the sacred within it and offer that earth-born wisdom back to the sky.
Bringing these threads together is my way of honouring my whole self and offering the world a form of healing that is both grounded and soulful, both creative and clinical, both ancient in its roots and emerging in its expression.
My gifts become their true medicine when they come together in unity.
How I Work: An Embodied–Soul Approach to Healing, Transformation & Becoming
My work weaves the intelligence of the body with the wisdom of the soul, creating a space where healing and growth become a lived experience rather than an idea. Everything I offer — whether in a class, a retreat, a training, or a one-to-one session — is rooted in safety, intuition, connection and relationship.
I listen to the body.
The body tells the truth long before the mind does. Through somatic movement and embodied awareness, we awaken your innate wisdom and gently soften the places that have gone numb, tight, or silent — opening space, giving voice, and allowing your nervous system to settle into safety, possibility, and new patterns of being.
I honour the soul.
Using therapeutic shamanism, inner journeying, active imagination, archetypes and soul-retrieval practices, we meet the parts of you that split off through trauma, grief, or life’s initiations — not to fix you, but to welcome you home.
I work with & read energy.
Reiki, crystal healing and energy medicine help clear, balance, and restore the subtle layers of your system. This creates spaciousness around old patterns and reconnects you to your natural vitality and inner guidance.
I invite creativity to lead.
Movement, dance, voice, imagery, ritual, sound, textile art, photography — creativity allows what is unspoken to find expression. It awakens a deeper intelligence and offers pathways into transformation that the mind alone cannot access.
I follow what emerges.
No two people receive the same session.
No two trainings unfold in the same way.
The work is transpersonal - responsive, intuitive, trauma-informed, and attuned to the moment.
You bring your lived experience; I bring presence, skill, expertise, and the ability to hold a safe, sacred container.
I work from the belief that you are not broken.
You are becoming.
My role is not to lead you away from yourself, but to walk beside you as you return to the truth you’ve always carried — in your body, in your breath, in your deepest knowing.
Ways to Work With Me
My work meets you where you are and supports you in becoming who you’re here to be.
Whether you’re seeking deep personal healing, creative embodiment, spiritual guidance, or professional development, there is a path that can hold you.
One-to-One Healing & Therapy
My signature programme Alchemy Healing offers bespoke sessions blending somatic movement dance therapy, therapeutic shamanism, energy medicine, and hypnotherapy. This is for those ready to grow, recover from trauma, integrate grief or lost parts, discover their power, and come home to themselves in a deeply held and attuned space. → Explore One-to-One Healing
Professional Training Programs
For healers, therapists, coaches, and freelancers called to this work:
- • Somatic Movement Dance Therapy Training (Foundation, Level 2 & 3)
• Modern Medicine Woman Practitioner Training
• Reiki Training (First Degree to Master Teacher) - • Somatic Soul Retrieval
Each training is accredited, immersive, trauma-informed, and creatively alive — backed by science, upheld by spirit, and rooted in embodied wisdom. They are transformative on both personal and professional levels.
Walk Your Talk Retreats
Life-changing retreats in the UK and India, created as a journey into self-love, healing, and embodied empowerment. For over a decade, these creative spaces have supported people in reconnecting with themselves, tending to their inner needs, and transforming old patterns with compassion and courage.
If you’re longing to rest, reset, heal, and explore the deeper layers of who you are, Walk Your Talk offers a soul-nurturing journey like no other. Explore the retreats
Workshops & Classes
Join me for a variery of online and in-person workshops, from women’s circles, and somatic movement sessions to oracle card training and working with feminine wisdom. Explore The Studio for virtual classes or come to Tavistock, Devon for embodied community gatherings.
Empowering Photography
Healing through imagery and creative embodiment:
Inner Goddess Portraits
Love Your Body Sessions
Soul-Led Branding Photography
These sessions help you see yourself with new eyes — reclaiming beauty, visibility, and creative power.
Creative Arts & Eco-Printed Cloth
Books & oracle cards, eco-printed altar cloths, naturally dyed textiles, tailsman jewellery infused with intention, and ritual creations.
Birthed from the same medicine that guides all my work: soul, nature, spirit, and heart.
The Experience of Working Together
Independent reviews from my work:
"Vanessa is a treasured gem in this world. As a heart centred facilitator she employs her knowledge and skills in a safe, empowering and creative style." (Medicine Woman practitioner training)
"Thank you to Vanessa for her exceptional guidance throughout this journey. She held the space for our growth and modeled what it means to be an excellent healer." (somatic movement training)
"Vanessa has such a natural talent for connection at a soul level which I am very grateful for, along with her kind and patient guidance and support." (Somatic Soul Retrieval training)
"Vanessa is a truly special lady with a warm, open hearted soul and the knowledge and skills to change people’s lives in a profound way" (healing & therapy)
"I developed the know how and confidence to set up my own healing practise. I thoroughly recommend training with Vanessa - she is experienced, kind and encouraging" (Reiki training)
"Vanessa is somewhat of a goddess. Might sound corny I know, but this woman is magical. Majestic. Awe inspiring. Mesmerising... My life had been turned upside down. My heart was broken but being on this truly amazing retreat enabled me to feel alive again." (Retreat participant)
I am here to walk beside you until you remember your own power.
My work is grounded in 30+ years of study, practice, integration, and expertise.
Qualifications & Professional Training
Somatic & Therapeutic Training
- ISMETA & UKSMDT Registered Somatic Movement Dance Therapist & Educator (500 hours, Dr A Williamson)
- Psycho-Spiritual & Therapeutic Shamanism (C. Mackinnon)
- Soul Retrieval for Therapeutic Professionals (C. Mackinnon)
- Certified Hypnotherapist (American Board of Hypnotherapy)
- NLP Practitioner (INLPTA)
- Treating Trauma Master Series (NICAM)
- Embodied Individuation (Centre for Applied Jungian Studies)
- Polyvagal Theory: Embodied Philosophy (Dr. Stephen Porges)
Energy & Spiritual Disciplines
- Reiki Master Teacher (Usui Shiki Ryoho)
- Meditation Training (Bodhidharma Institute)
- Crystal Healing Diploma
Education & Creative Arts
- PGCE, University of Exeter
- BA (Hons) Drama, English & Psychology
- Rainbow of Desire – The Boal Method of Theatre & Therapy
Published Works
Author of:
Journals: Practise based offering for Dance Movement & Spiritualities Intellect Press Sympathetic holding and parasympathetic release: Vagal tone and beta, alpha and theta in bio-somatic dance and movement naturopathy by Dr. Amanda Williamson.
Featured in: Salon Business, Spirit & Destiny, Cornwall Today, Western Morning News
Remembering the Woman You have Always Been
My work is not about becoming someone new —
it is about remembering the woman you have always been, beyond the conditioning, the suffering, and the self-doubt.
- Through this work, I invite you to:
- Heal what has been holding you back
- Embody your sacred feminine wisdom
- Express your truth with courage
- Serve from a place of wholeness
- Live a soul-led, creatively alive life
Walk This Path With Me
If your body is craving safety…
Ready to begin your journey into embodied healing, feminine wisdom, or Somatic Movement Dance Therapy training? Explore my offerings and take your next step.
If your spirit is ready to be seen…
If something inside you is whispering, “There is more for me…”
I am here.
