Emma Graves co-founded Brooklyn Herborium and developed our original Between You & The Moon holistic skincare line. She is an NYS-licensed esthetician as well as a certified herbalist who has been working in the field of natural skincare and practicing herbal medicine since 1997. In addition to completing her “Green Medicine” training at the NY Open Center, she has had further training in facial reflexology, lymphatic drainage, gua sha, ayurvedic nutrition, and practical homeopathy. In addition to her practice at Brooklyn Herborium, Emma has spent the past ten years teaching her methods to Holistic Practitioners and herbal enthusiasts through various herb schools, such as the Arbor Vitae School of Herbal Medicine, and apprenticeships held seasonally at Brooklyn Herborium.
Functional Selfcare is the art of giving your body what it needs when it needs it, protecting it from outside harm, and getting out of its way so that it can function as intended. Where medicine is meant to diagnose and prescribe, Holistic Selfcare looks at how the body is functioning overall and shifts the target away from daily routines that keep you stuck in a control cycle or (worse!) downward spiral to a workable and specific target that gives your body what you need when you need it so that you are able to grow out of your current dis-ease instead of just keeping them under control.
Your Holisitc Selfcare consultation will be about an hour long. Emma will interview you about your history, current symptoms, and habits around sleep, food, and stress. From there, she will show you a new way to think about your current problems and help you develop a clear-cut path toward healing. You will leave with a binder of worksheets tailored to your precise needs. Over the years, many people have commented that consulting with Emma fills in the missing pieces they wished their doctor had told them. They had yet to recognize that selfcare isn’t typically a part of conventional or alternative medicine.
Your Holistic Selfcare Consultation can address a myriad of conditions at the same time. Often, we start with the health of the skin, and digestion and elimination improve (or vice-versa). Our practical methods of supporting hormonal balance are often all you need to address painful periods, fertility and child-bearing issues, PCOS, insulin resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, menopause/perimenopause, cystic pimples, melasma, and thyroid dysfunction without medication. If you are already working with a medical professional and taking medication, you will be taught how to support your body so that the medication can do its job better, and you may work with your prescriber to reduce dependency on medication.
Holistic modalities go further than simply looking at the body as a whole; they look at each individual as a “holy” conjuncture of mind-body-spirit. If necessary, you will be given practical ways to improve the health of the gut and its microbiome or deal with reactivity, cellular confusion, and inflammation in the body. At the same time, you will learn how specific thoughts, emotions, and energetic forces are connected to the production of hormones and neurotransmitters that can help or hinder your overall healing in these areas. Be prepared for at least a few “Aha!” moments and “homework” to help you integrate these concepts.
