Emma Marshall is the founder and creator of the neuroscience-backed Movement is Medicine® Method; a method that uses various forms of movement to connect the mind and the body that allows people to connect, feel and release.
Alongside Movement is Medicine, Emma has a degree in English Literature & Communication Studies, is a TEDx Speaker and a teacher or the mind-body connection. Prior to Movement is Medicine, Emma worked in the music industry for 10 years working for some of the biggest companies, brands and artists in the world such as Sony, CAA and Red Bull and she also worked in SEN Education for two years with children who were diagnosed with autism, ADHD, behavioural issues and processing difficulties. She has an Instagram platform under the name Emma The Alchemist where she creates educational, inspirational and entertaining content with a 20k+ following.
The origins of Emma's work and of Movement is Medicine® came about after Emma’s own serious health journey. After years of health issues and trauma Emma's body crashed in 2019 and she was seriously ill, with no answers, she had to look at other options. Emma explored various modalities including western and alternative medicine, which took her to a hospital in Mexico using western and integrative medicine and into the jungle working with indigenous shamans. She had to research, explore and understand the mind-body connection at a very profound level to make a full recovery from this ordeal.
Whilst in treatment and recovery Emma spent her time self-studying and explored the mind-body connection, nervous system education, somatic education and theory, trauma-informed EFT and subconscious reprogramming, herbalism, nutrition, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, psychotherapy, energy healing, Shamanism, plant medicines and much more.
Due to her career in the music industry she took great interest in dance and music being used as medicine and started to look at the indigenous teachings from around the world alongside the science. She created a bridge between these two worlds using content creation, workshops and 1:1 work to teach people her findings and theories.
She created the 30 Day Movement is Medicine® challenge, curated a playlist for people to access and dance to and got people from all over the world up and moving in February 2021. This grew into a worldwide movement of people using dance with clear intention and trauma-informed teachings to help them release, regulate and come back into their body.
She created the Movement is Medicine® method in February 2021 and has taught it ever since.
She lived in Mexico working and studying the ancient knowledge behind these practices. With inspiration and wisdom from Central and South America, Africa and the The Caribbean, Emma fuses together this ancient healing modality with the modern world. She uses music that is centred around the drum, with a modern twist so that people connect to this practice through music they'd also likely hear on a dance floor somewhere such as afro beats, afro house, latin and tribal house.
Emma believes that the issues that society faces today are created due to a disconnect from self, from community and from the planet due to unresolved mental, emotional and physical stress and trauma. With the right tools and framework, people can work through this disconnection by connecting with their physical body to move and let go of the stories of the past- which in turn positively impacts the mind as well. During this process, connection is re-established, which in turn impacts every area of health and wellbeing - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.