Stella began publishing Under the Pine in 2008, shortly after moving her private practice in acupuncture and energy medicine from Los Angeles to Santa Fe, NM.
In California, she earned a masters degree in Oriental Medicine from Emperor’s College, Santa Monica, from which she graduated summa cum laude and studied from luminaries such as Yvonne Farrell, OMD, Mikio Sankey, Ph.D, and 88th generation Daoist Priest, Jeffrey Yuen.
While in California, Stella changed her named from Laura Chamorro in an experiment that unexpectedly led to a spiritual awakening. She documented the experience for Spirituality & Health and Reality Sandwich. Also, here and here.
Prior to that, Stella worked in magazine publishing in New York City. She was an editor at both Bride’s and Condé Nast Traveler, where she met her husband, Aaron Sugarman. She has also has taught creative writing to teens for over fifteen years, with Connecticut’s Young People’s Institute as well as with +Writing and Reading in Santa Fe. Since 2010, she has been teaching Physiology and Pathophysiology at the New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts (NMAHA).
Of Colombian and Virginian heritage, Stella grew up in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and still knows the difference between a quahog and a littleneck.
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