Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Brinkman.

Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, to start off, I’ll explain what I do. I am a women’s mentor, focusing on somatics and menstrual cycle awareness, and creator of Ebb & Flow. Through Ebb & Flow, I educate women about the menstrual cycle and the female body and how the constantly changing rhythms of our hormonal cycle affect all areas of our lives as women. I support women in reconnecting with this cyclical nature, in order to heal a diverse range of issues such as irregular or painful cycles, hormonal imbalances, body dysmorphia, low self-worth, exhaustion, stress, burnout, and more. I also include somatic healing, dance therapy, and mindfulness in my work, to create a holistic approach to working with women that addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being.

I came into this work after a decade-long struggle with irregular menstrual cycles and PCOS, which began when I was 16 years old. I sought help from many different health practitioners and was repeatedly disappointed with the care I received. I was put on hormonal birth control to “regulate my periods,” but I now know that hormonal birth control does not regulate periods, but rather, it masks the underlying issue. After healing my cycles naturally through supplements, lifestyle changes, and learning about menstrual cycle awareness and cyclical living, I decided I wanted to share this invaluable information with more women since there was nothing like it easily available when I began struggling with my cycle so many years prior.

I underwent training with leaders in the field of menstrual cycle education at Red School and immersed myself in years of self-study. As I built my mentoring business, Ebb & Flow, I combined my training in women’s health with the Bachelor’s Degree I had received in Dance many years prior to create an offering that combines menstrual cycle awareness with embodiment practices, in order to provide a more holistic approach to healing women’s bodies.

I also spent almost a decade prior to my work in women’s health as an organic farmer and public school teacher, which may seem far afield, but have greatly influenced my work with women. The skills I developed working primarily with refugee youth as a teacher, have grounded my work in a trauma-informed perspective that many coaches lack. Furthermore, my years of experience growing organic vegetables and herbs, provided a deep foundational education in seasonality and Earth-based wisdom. Since our menstrual cycle follows a cyclical pattern, mirrored in the seasons of the Earth, I am particularly poised to support women in reconnecting with the seasons of their cycle and life, as well as support them in nourishing their bodies with food and herbs to support optimal hormonal health and well-being.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although I have enjoyed the journey, the road to building my business has not been smooth sailing. Building an online presence and gaining a steady following of clients online has been a challenge. I have found that the in-person offerings I provide for women, such as women’s circles and dance workshops, have been wildly successful and have been where many of my online clients have come from, but if I don’t regularly offer in-person events, which is a challenge now as a digital nomad, it can be hard to stand out among a field of other women’s coaches and attract a following in online spaces only.

Like many others, I have found social media exhausting and not very financially rewarding. Therefore, in recent months, I have refocused my efforts on alternatives to social media, such as Pinterest and my email community, which seem to be generating more traffic than social media has in the past.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
As mentioned, my women’s coaching practice is Ebb & Flow. I specialize in menstrual health and somatics; somatics emphasizes body awareness, movement, and sensory perception as a way to cultivate greater connection, healing, and self-regulation. I teach women about the phases of their menstrual cycle to empower them with body literacy and support them to align their lives with their cycles. This practice is called cyclical living, and when women can live according to how their body naturally changes over the course of the menstrual month, they experience significantly reduced stress, fewer menstrual symptoms, increased energy, and improved relationships.

The approach to embodiment and somatic practice that I embed in my work sets me apart from other menstrual cycle coaches. I studied dance extensively and have years of experience teaching movement practices. Most menstrual cycle coaches focus more on healing symptoms, whereas I ground my work in supporting clients to create a new, healthier relationship with their bodies and cycles, in which they are better able to tend to themselves and set boundaries because they have gained the embodied awareness of what their body needs as their hormones shift throughout the month. This positions them to take better care of themselves and live with greater ease, vibrancy, and confidence.

I have several offerings at various entry-points for women who wish to go deeper with this work. I offer 1:1 mentoring in which I directly support women over several cycles to track their menstrual cycle, understand their hormonal changes, and make lifestyle adjustments that support greater hormonal health and well-being. I also offer monthly, donation-based Online Women’s Circles, in which we discuss various themes related to the body and our cycles and where women can get a taste of my mentorship and facilitation style. I have many free resources available on my website, ebbandflowlife.com/resources, and an eBook, Cycle Love. Finally, very soon, I will be launching a self-paced online course for those new to cycle tracking, The Body Wisdom Workshop.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Regarding finding a mentor and networking, I am now a full-time digital nomad, so almost all of my networking takes place online. That being said, I have found a number of mentors and role models, and I have built very strong relationships in various online communities.

What has worked well for me is to find someone whose work, communication, and leadership style resonate with me. For example, not only did I resonate with the content of what my mentors at Red School were teaching, but I also tested out their facilitation and teaching style through a number of free events before I enrolled in their intensive training program. Then, through their training program, I forged deep connections and found additional mentors to support my path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ebbandflowlife.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebbandflowlife_/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ebbandflowlife
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ebbandflowlife, https://www.pinterest.com/ebbandflowlife/, https://www.ebbandflowlife.com/resources

Image Credits
Luna Antonia Arboleda