Lara Owen is a writer and teacher. Her first book, Her Blood Is Gold: Awakening to the Wisdom of Menstruation, was published in 1993 and is considered to be a classic in the field of women’s spirituality. Drawing from ancient indigenous wisdom along with the experience of her own retreats over several years, the book illuminates the role the menstrual cycle can play in actualizing female power, self-healing, and self-knowledge. Her most recent book, Growing Your Inner Light: A Guide to Independent Spiritual Practice, explores the practicalities of the independent path from the perspective that purposeful engagement with one’s own spiritual development influences both individual well-being and social evolution, and is based on over thirty years of study in several traditions and parts of the world. 

Born in England in 1955, Lara graduated from the University of Warwick and then studied Chinese medicine, training to advanced level in Beijing and the UK. She co-founded one of the first holistic health centers in England in 1981, and practiced acupuncture and herbalism there during the 1980’s. She then studied psychology in Switzerland and the US, chiefly with Dr. Arnold Mindell, and worked as a psychotherapist for twenty years. She has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism since the mid ’80′s, and has trained in traditional indigenous spiritual and healing practices in Britain, the US and Mexico. She began practicing astrology in her early 20′s and has worked with thousands of clients all over the world, as well as lecturing and writing articles on how the mirror of the sky can expand our understanding of both individual and collective experience. 

Lara has lectured and taught workshops internationally — to date, in Australia, China, England, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Scotland, and the USA. Her articles have been published in a wide range of publications from professional journals to women’s magazines, and along with her books have been translated into many languages. She also writes fiction and has taught courses in creative writing and creative process since the mid 1990′s, including teaching for several years at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Lara has worked on spiritual and health-related projects in publishing, television and film as a writer, producer, and consultant, and has appeared on television and radio in the UK and US discussing spiritual practice, women’s well-being and spirituality, and midlife relationships.

Lara lived in the US for many years, and then in France. She now lives in southwest England.