Claire Day: I have such a treat for you this week. My chat with Michelle Grisopo, who is a gorgeous soul who I met on Mastermind when I was doing a year's Mastermind with Tiffany Carroll. And Michelle lives in the States and she has a background in acupuncture and essential oils, aromatherapy. And she's just such a wonderful soul. She's so beautiful. she had a really significant life event right before we were meeting for a retreat in in Sardinia with Tiffany. And she talks a little bit about that and the huge differences from before and after that event and how that has led to significant crossroads and thresholds in her life that she never asked to cross through and how she navigated them with such grace. Not always with ease, most definitely it's been a difficult path. She has so much beautiful wisdom to share and I so enjoyed talking to her and I really hope you'll enjoy listening. I'm gonna read a little bio so you get a bit more of a feel around Michelle and then we'll dive into the episode. So, Michelle is a practitioner of Chinese medicine and acupuncture with passions relating to essential oils, plant medicine, and nature's wisdom. Michelle is a weaver of many modalities that anchor and highlight our spiritual essence in our human experience. Her 12 years of clinical experience provided her with repeated anecdotal evidence of our innate capacity for creative expression and the gift of remembering why we came here. Her goal is to assist individuals. In finding and feeling into the essence of who they are. Michelle believes we all have the tools to settle into and trust our most authentic self. Michelle has been in clinical practice for 12 years in both community and private acupuncture settings. Recently, she made the jump from private practice to focusing solely on teaching and guiding others how to heal themselves. She finds great joy in teaching and facilitating group sessions around essential oils and Chinese face reading. She studied essential oils under the guidance and extensively with Jeffrey Young, Peter Holmes, and Tiffany Carroll. Past few years I have found Michelle delving deeply into the art of Chinese face reading, studying with the late Lillian Bridges. In 2023, Michelle opened her online apothecary to create and share the medicine of essential oils. Michelle is a board is a national board certified acupuncturist, licensed to practice in New Jersey and New York, and a diplom diplomate of acupuncture. She earned her Master of Science in Classical Acupuncture at Pacific College Health and Science in New York and her BA from Loyola University in Baltimore MD. Michelle is a certified aroma point therapist and Reiki level two trained. Hopefully, I got all the abbreviations right for the places where they are in the States. I really hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoy chatting to Michelle. Here you go. So we're back and I'm so excited to have Michelle here with us today. Michelle and I were in a fabulous container together and become friends through that and has had such an interesting journey in her own kind of holistic well-being and her own journey in her own life. And I'm so looking forward to our chat today. It's been too long since we've had a conversation. How are you doing? Are you good?
Michelle Graceffo: Hi Claire. Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here today and get get to the nitty-gritty and let's connect.
Claire Day: I know, I know.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah.
Claire Day: we had had a little chat before we pressed record here and there was all of it that was so relevant to what we're gonna be chatting about that I thought we should really dive in. So we did a little bit of an intro or I I'll do a little bit of intro into your your official titles, but your background is in acupuncture and hur have you studied herbalism separately or is that part of the the training with the acupunctures to do the herbalism as well.
Michelle Graceffo: so here in the States we actually do have the option of doing like it's a dual program, you know, where you learn acupuncture and herbs together or you can just go to school for acupuncture. And I have to say that when the actually the reason why I wanted to become an acupuncturist was to learn about Chinese herbs. but once I got into school and I was juggling both learning channel theory and the herbs, I realized that I I was getting spread too thin. So I ended up dropping the herbalism and I just stuck with becoming an acupuncturist actually. So I figured let me master one thing at a time.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: So just acupuncture.
Claire Day: And is that the herbalism something that you think you might leap back around to down the line or your focus has shifted? Because I know you were just saying and sharing that you've moved out of doing kind of one on one
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it's ac that's it's huge. it's a big identity shift that has occurred over the last couple of years. And closing my practice had so much to do with that actually, because I needed and wanted to learn self worth at a different level instead of, you know, like if I how do I make people feel? Well, what about how do I make myself feel? so yeah I I think I would go back to learn herbs, but what is interesting and how I know you so so well is through essential oils. So it was really fascinating how you know life just all those pieces start to fall down and as the herbs took a you know a back seat, the essential oils came up instead. So I would actually Enjoy learning more about the essential oil piece. You know, right now I'm really trained in understanding essential oils through the lens of Chinese medicine and you know, like Taoist principles of nature. But I am really fascinated that in learning like French aromatherapy. So I think that's next actually.
Claire Day: So cool. Yes, 'cause there's so many different concepts and understandings of ways in which they can be used. And certainly I know the way that w we learned through Run Point therapy to use them, which is that combination of oils and Chinese medicine. It blew my mind the impact that they can have with such a small little amount. it just yeah, it completely changed the way that I use essential oils.
Michelle Graceffo: Absolutely. You know, we have it's sort of like a it's like a loose rule of thumb that, you know, if we prescribe someone Chinese herbs, you'll know if it's the right herb within a few days. And the person should feel dramatically different within a week. And I find that essential oils are the same, you know, like when you're working with essential oils on some and connecting the you know, the essence of that plant spirit to a specific acupuncture point. I mean, you know, that change happens immediately. And I think that's probably one of the the most attractive part about working with that medicine is that in real time you see this this shift occur. You know, with acupuncture, it's a little bit more subtle. I mean not to say that, you know, someone doesn't get on the table and then they leave feeling much better. Of course they do. But acupuncture is is very subtle and it can be a slower breakthrough where I find that where when you're working, you know, because really a s acupuncture is it's not adding anything to your body, you know, and it doesn't take anything away either. It's just shifting the energy. It's working with what you already have. So when we actually add in the essential oils or a Chinese herb, right, that is really changing the the like the chemical makeup in your body. So that's why we see such dramatic shifts like that, you know? So yeah, I love I love it.
Claire Day: Yeah. And explain to me now in what way are you working differently then with these modalities than you were when you had your private practice? You're doing group work now, isn't it?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. So hmm.
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I let's see, I think there's so many different reasons why I was ready to close my acupuncture practice. And I would say that one of well, you know, as a practitioner I have always my my goal within the treatment is to empower my patients. And really to be able to like teach them that they can become their own doctor. I mean, having support is wonderful, but we've all been in that place before where maybe we don't feel well enough to even leave the house. And so it's so amazing to be able to look at your collection of essential oils or know what herbs do what, or through nutrition that you can heal yourself. And so when I decided to close my practice, I really had such a deep desire to start teaching people how to heal themselves. So and I think that that was sort of missing within that that one-on-one work, right? Because it's and I do this all the time. Like I'll show up for a massage or an acupuncture treatment or my chiropractical treatments, like whatever self-care I'm going for. And it's almost like It's very easy sometimes to like go in there, lay down on the table, receive, and then I go back to like doing what I was doing, right? And I I can almost undo the treatment sometimes, right? If I'm if I'm not really self-aware or very mindful. So I had noticed this within my patients too. You know, a lot of people were re-entering situations that were stressful, you know, so they would take that hour, hour and a half to relax. But then they were like going back to either a home situation or a work situation, whatever it was. And it all came like kind of tumbling back. And a lot of people would say, I felt really good for a couple of days, but then it all came back. And so it started getting the wheels turning about like, well, how do I get myself to extend these treatments? and so I'm really focusing on teaching people a mindset shift. And then also about the essential oil. So I'm doing a lot of virtual work. Actually, this month in August, I'm opening up an oil of the month club. So we'll be, yeah, we'll have a monthly membership where you can learn about essential oils. in the fall, I'm gonna open up a group mentorship. I would like to, it was almost like I've I've been looking to like sort of bridge the gap between that one-on-one work and virtual work. So I would like to be like more of a participant in people's lives because I know that that's what my soul is asking of me. You know, it's it's not just these separate things. It's like how can I weave this all together and continue the plot, you know, like just continue the story. and that way I can take it wherever I go. And then that
Claire Day: Right.
Michelle Graceffo: is my hope with with others too.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah. It definitely is a learned through repetition and through being in that community of people doing things. I know I've spent years studying different modalities and you can still go into that kind of fight or flight mode where you don't think of all these tools and things that you can use to bring yourself back into alignment and back into balance and ground it again.
Michelle Graceffo: Right.
Claire Day: and sometimes that bit of accountability and knowledge there to to pull from is amazing. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it you know, it's like I I think too, like as I understand what community really means, you know, so like my first training as an acupuncturist, I worked in community acupuncture, which is when we treat everybody in one room. And this way we're able to lower the cost of acupuncture. So it's much different than a private treatment where it's just you and a bed and the practitioner, right? And what I found is that when we can have more connection and we can like I said before like continue the conversation there is that accountability and what I have witnessed too when we heal in a group we all play off of one another and you know it's really cool because especially with the essential oils when I used to work in community I would I would like play with this kind of stuff and I'd say okay everybody's gonna get lavender on liver three today you know And I would just see how this the room, the shift in the room, people when they would come in to just grab their seat and receive a treatment, already the the healing had occurred because they stepped into a room that had this frequency that was already there, ready to like meet and greet them, right? So it's so interesting. Like even before I had left my private practice, my my brother is an acupuncturist too. So we were in practice together. And him and I were doing what we called, they were called the point of essence gatherings, and we would do these in person. And we would talk about like the season that we were in based on like the the nodes in in the Chinese calendar. And then we would go over like a sequence with the acupuncture points pairing with the oils. And it's so neat to do that as a group because something that you might not realize is medicine, but you know, someone else is having a very similar experience. So then when we talk about that as a group and it's like, you felt that, I felt this, yeah, that's a good way of saying that. You know, you realize that boy, there's a lot more that's actually happening than maybe what we're conscious of. So I love
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: that type of group work because it's so fascinating to just see us all like, you know, it's so neat to connect the dots that way through each other.
Claire Day: Yes, yeah. I definitely experienced that through the Run Point Mastery journey where that group field brings up, you know, you're working with the same oils together and the themes that come up for everybody. You're like, yeah, and you mightn't have recognized it in yourself and then you hear somebody else talking about their experience and you're like, Actually, I've had something really similar come up in my life, in your own theme, but with the group theme in mind, yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Right. Fascinating, right?
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the healing that can come from that, from that recognition where doing something on your own, you it might have slipped by you. You know, it might take you a few times of that lesson coming up again for you to go, okay, I see what's being shown to me here. Yeah, amazing.
Michelle Graceffo: That's right. Yeah, that's right. Mm-hmm.
Claire Day: So is there something in particular that you would have felt was very important to you back, say when you were doing your your one on one work or your private practice that isn't of significance to you now? Or or have you left something behind from where you were? Because you've moved and everything. You you moved home, you've you've completely changed, you know, everything about your life and lifestyle has changed.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, that's that's a really good question. because everything has changed. you know what I think is is actually probably the most profound for at for the better part of like the last decade, I've lived alone. and I've been single. So that lifestyle, that mindset shapes how you move through life. You know, so when it was just me, that's all I had to really care about and really be responsible for. And at the same time, that comes with its own challenges. Then I'm my own cheerleader, my own support system, I'm the only one paying bills, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. but you know, two years ago I was in a pretty serious car accident, which then prompted me to have a near-death experience. And since that point Everything has shifted and a lot of it was without my control. So I used to be really like more heavy in my mental space, and I would try to calculate everything. you know, I tried to micromanage everything and have so much control. And again, because I lived on my own, there was nothing ever getting in my way, you know. and I had the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I. And I would show up to work and leave and you know, like I was I was, you know, part of the community, but then could slip out when I wanted to, right? but since that near-death experience and the mindset shift that I've had, part of that was moving back home, to be with my parents. And even when I asked them if I could if they would take me back, I I I I didn't even know it was gonna come out of my mouth. there's been so many things that have happened in my life since then, twenty twenty four, that I didn't really have much consciousness behind. It was like this soul driven decision that then the next thing I knew I was just doing that. And so coming back home, as you and I were talking about before we press record, I I've I've gained a different understanding of what community means and how when I live with other people, there's almost like a sense of responsibility that we all have for one another. And, you know, if I understand like the way that my energetic body is going to influence other people in my family, but I also understand that too, like we're all tr contributing to operating a household. You know, so everybody has like a task, you know, who makes dinner, who sets the table, you know, who's watering the plants, who's cleaning, right? There's there's so much that goes into just maintaining a household. And so honestly, it's been such a a shift within the way that I view my life because it's not just about me anymore.
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: and then being able to You know, I think at first when I moved home, it was like a little like, ugh, like I can't just do this, I can't just go here and someone's always looking for me, like, you know, leave me alone. But that
Claire Day: Mm-hmm.
Michelle Graceffo: has shifted so much where I want people to know where I am, you know, and I want to tell people I'll be home by this time, or you know, that someone is looking out for me. And it's nice to come home and have someone to talk to and to connect with. So you know, I think everything does happen for a reason. But I think the biggest mindset shift for me has been from like me to we and then
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: just how that really shapes the way that I move through life, the decisions I make. and also like how that impacts my work then, you know, because I think for so long I was creating from a place that just was significant for me. But now that I'm around my family, I'm like, that's how that plays out in that person. okay, that's how they see that. And then it gives me more ideas for my own work. And then I think I can hold space for more people. You know, like that was a big thing too, like capacity, like just having the capacity to hold that energy. You know, I do, I'm very aware of how much alone time I'm. and thankfully like my family understands that part of me too, so they know, okay, she's going on her walks, like this is a time for her to be by herself, or if she's gonna go into her bedroom and close the door, like we know, like, okay, she's like meditating, right? She's in her her own field. But it's been really I think it's medicine that has has brought me to a place that is actually preparing me for where I wanna go next.
Claire Day: Mm. Beautiful.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah.
Claire Day: And of those, you know, the I suppose it brings to mind that kind of self-care element of knowing what you need intrinsically and giving it to yourself, giving yourself permission to take that time or to do those meditations. Or so what would be your favorite tool or technique, or what do you go to most when you need that self-care, or when you need that kind of rebalancing for yourself?
Michelle Graceffo: I love baths. I'm like a big bath person. salt. Salt is really, really important for me. sometimes I'll just I'll sprinkle some salt on the ground and then just stand on it and then just you know close my eyes and get into a place where I can ask for things to be released and to like be realigned. of course I'm always gonna, you know, rely on acupuncture and essential oils. But you know, I really don't underestimate the power of water and salt and nature. I I gain a lot of my clarity on very long, slow walks in the woods. I find that the trees are very, very inspirational. And then lucky for me, like where I live, I have the woods and I have the beach. So I find that like, yeah, it's the best of both worlds. You know, I for the majority of the last ten years I've lived within like a block of the ocean. So that was always beautiful to wake up, watch the sunrise. And where I live now, I'm about fifteen minutes away from the beach now and only like three minutes from like a beautiful park. And the a friend of mine actually was just asking me over the weekend, like, A are you going to the beach? 'Cause she noticed I wasn't as tan as I normally am at this This point in the summer. And I said to her, actually, I've been walking more in the woods. And she's like, What do you find is the difference? And I said to her, I think the ocean always created this like openness and this like expansive, big, bright light energy, like the horizon, right? It can go on forever. Where right now the woods, the trees, for me, they like drop an insight. They help with my creative process. They help surrounding. So they're two very different energies, but both equally medicinal. So that's how I really try to restore myself. I try to I get out like every single day. even in the rain, you know, I I'll go out because to me it's very, very important to connect with nature. I even just like sitting on the deck, you know, like it's just nice to be in the backyard. Very, very simple. You know, I've noticed like as I'm getting older, I'm like, I really am turning into like my grandparents or I hear my parents say this. It's like less really is more, you know?
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And it's just these very very simple things, you know. Even the joy of having a cappuccino in the morning.
Claire Day: Yeah. And the majority of them are all things that you can do for free as well. It's not something that you have to invest, you know, hundreds or thousands of euros in
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. And I I honestly like this is in the past, like when I did have my one-on-ones, in the summertime, like I would say to my patients, like, don't come in to see me. Go outside. Go outside. Like this is not the time, right? And because this is when the weather is the nicest. So let's take advantage of that. Let's really fill our cup up from the resources of Mother Earth. And it's free. And like you said, you know, and I think to me it's like we need to We really need to tap into that because that's the original medicine is everything that we we're surrounded by.
Claire Day: Yeah. And what so many of us are lacking in these days.
Michelle Graceffo: Mm-hmm.
Claire Day: Yeah. Li life at a desk for lots of people. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Right. Yeah. So it's important that we we try to shift that as often as possible.
Claire Day: Yeah. And I suppose one of the questions is, you know, what's your biggest crossroad or threshold in life? But at a guess it's from from and I've only known you from in and around the time of the accident and and not long before, but that seems like a a a major kind of cross crossroad in your
Michelle Graceffo: Huge.
Claire Day: life where you literally, you know, through through like you say, without having necessarily a choice in a lot of it, but also trusting your instincts on What was the right path for you to go forward from then? Would that be fair to say that was probably one of the biggest? Or is there anything else that comes to mind that
Michelle Graceffo: Right. So I yeah, that then my near death experience was was for short the biggest initiation, at least as of recent. because
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: then that it then created a a shift for everything else, you know. I used to like I said, like I used to be this person who was like, I'm an independent boss babe, like I got this, I'm running my businesses, I can run a household by myself, I could pay my own bills, like I had really like built an identity around that. And then when you know, because within the car crash I had a concussion. And I honestly say that that concussion was like it tripped me into a whole new operating system. And then it's really been a very slow integration. And from the research that I've done with near death experiences, they say that it can take years for for you know, that experience to really like integrate and land in the body. And I really do feel that. I remember afterwards feeling so connected to nature that it was overwhelming. And even just feeling the human emotions too was very overwhelming for my body to handle. You know, I could be brought to tears by watching like birds bathe in a bath or, you know, I remember one time I was making myself a kale salad and I could just I just started to cry because I was like, wow, there this kale is actually going to heal me. Like I could feel certain things which like it allowed me to realize that it isn't just through my eyes, it isn't just through what I smell, it's not just what I listen to. My body is taking everything in. And so that threshold to cross like has been It's been unsettling at times because I didn't know how to like really work with that energy. And, you know, full transparency, there were times within my recovery that I would like kind of collapse in on myself because it all just felt too much. but as the you know, now we are two years past, and part of that was asking for help. Part of that was dismantling that identity of that I have it all, that I can do it all, and of course I can. But now I can do that with the support of my family, with the support of the people around me, my friends. you know, I it was very difficult for me to ask for help. And it was also very difficult for me to admit that I wasn't okay. so those were two really, really big pieces of my identity that I was like. I really didn't want to let go of. I was like, no, no, no, I can do this. I can do this, you know. And I can remember like shortly after the car accident, you know, I pushed people away because I didn't want to be reminded of how bad I looked. You know, I could tell when I was around people who, you know, especially who've known me for my family or my friends who've known me s for years, for, you know, being in their company at that time was very difficult because I was reminded that I wasn't the same person anymore. Where at the time I know I was in that mastermind with you and and and and then we we traveled to Sardinia together and having you guys who were like fresh new friends at the time was such a breath like I was just like, okay, they can they could just honor my death, you know, and they can just be holding that space that I'm becoming someone else. And so that was really important for me to like hold on to this vision. that it's still not clear, you know, I feel like I'm still figuring it all out, but now I'm more attracted to where I am right here and now, and then like how that's going to change who I am tomorrow. Instead
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: of being like, because there's a lot of grief, you know, and being able
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to honor that grief, but also like, you know, saddle both things at the same time. and know that
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: like there is a lot that has fallen away but there's also s like a lot that I've now made room for. So it's that was it's it was a big thing. I mean and like I said even like leaving my practice too like that was huge. You know I had tied all my self-worth to how I made people feel and I continue to put myself on the back burner you know and I every everyone does this right and We say, yeah, yeah, we'll get to it. And we keep ignoring some some things, right? And it's like, okay, yeah, next week I'll I'll make sure I book that massage, you know? And it would just be something that I kept pushing back. And I find that now it's like I not only do I make room for those things, but I You know, like and it's something that's like so simple where my mom and I are like, okay, at seven o'clock every Wednesday night we do a foot bath together. You know, like it's just it's certain things like that where, you know, I've actually had to like schedule more, you know, for for just being me. And
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: yeah, it's just it's it that was a really big that really was and has been like the biggest threshold that I've crossed in a very long time.
Claire Day: I was gonna say to be able to reflect on the the transition and the journey like that and recognize and appreciate how difficult it all was, because it was hugely difficult, but to be able to see the the light in it and the need for the death of parts of our lives to be able to kind of nourish and nurture and bring on these new parts of us or this new direction we're going is not easy to do, but it's so important. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, and it you know, I think it it made me a better practitioner. it made me like a a more whole person, you know. I was working with one doctor and you know he does a lot of like subconscious programming and he does muscle testing. So I remember he asked me a question and he said, Michelle, do you think you can get better? And at the time I didn't, you know, and I re and I think that opened up a huge part for me to realize within the patients and the community that I treat is that sometimes it can get so low and so dark that we really don't think that we can get better. and so I have found that it's like consistency that is really the key to our health. and I find that that is the message that I'm really trying to like anchor in with people's is actually self-trust. while you're in in the nasty, you know, like and it's so uncomfortable. But for me, I used to be someone who relied so heavily on just like journaling or like let me manifest my way out of this or something like that. But it really had so much to do with action. And that was the piece that I was missing. Like it's it's actually in the doing that I really have those biggest leaps. And so that is something that I get to show my patients, you know. Because I had a handful of people who could actually reflect that back to me. And they said that to me in their treatments. They're like, there's something different about you. So then therefore I'm healing differently. You know, and that is so cool. You know, I d I really realize that like the success of my business is completely 100% tied to how I treat myself. So as long as I stay on top of like my game and like my mental state, my emotional state, if I take care of my physical body, my business will take care of itself. Right. So it's it's in those times where I let those things slide that then my I was like, I'm struggling to get more people in. And, you know, I could feel that I was like, am I gonna be able to pay rent this month? And you know, like all these things started to creep in. And it was like Girl, look at yourself, you know. If you take care of yourself, everything else in your business will take care of itself, you know. So it yeah, these are big, big aha's.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah, huge. And it's always the thing that goes first, the self care element, when you feel that pressure to perform or to be there or to show up and to get more people and to do all the things. And it i it it is, 'cause it's like, I'll go for walk tomorrow or I I don't have time for that now, but it's huge. It's so important. Yeah. And did you hold
Michelle Graceffo: Right, right. Do you like I don't
Claire Day: on to a belief, you know, like Do you have strong kind of beliefs or spirituality or things that you held on to when you were going through the toughest of times? Or does that play a part in your life with grief and loss?
Michelle Graceffo: Right. It does. it's nature. Like I'll always come back to nature. there were
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: I d you know, something that was really, really important to me at the time was I would you I walk. I I walk a lot. It's definitely one of my it's the thing that I gotta do every day.
Claire Day: Mm-hmm.
Michelle Graceffo: and at the time I was living like within a block of the beach, so I would walk the boardwalk every day. And I noticed that spirit was talking to me through other people's conversations. So I would overhear things and I would say, that that was a message for me. you know, and I remember this guy it's so and I'm sure you've heard this story before Claire, I was walking on the boardwalk and this guy was riding his bike and so the conversation was quick. He passed me really quick. And I just heard him saying, No, no, no, no, no, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I remember when that hit me, I was like, whoa. So even though what happened to me was really traumatic, I wouldn't have it any other way. And then, you know, I remember one time I was laying on the beach and I could hear a mother talking to her son, and she said something to him like, I've got you, I got you. And it was I from that I received from Mother Earth like I've never not been held. So those are two things that have continued to like come back to me where if I can get my like body, even if it's just my feet, sometimes my hands too, I'll just crouch and I'll put my hands and my feet on the ground. And then I'm reminded like this is sturdy, this is not gonna cave out underneath me. Like I can. put my whole weight on the earth. You know, it was so easy for me to sort of like play up here, you know, like walking around like I didn't have legs. It I was, it was always such a let me connect to the spiritual realm. Let me just think about this. I was so more like mentally and a like spiritually fascinated with that realm. And since the accident, it was like since the near-death experience, it was like, Girl, you're in your body, like feel that. And like knowing that that is the thing that actually carries me through is like could I actually feel the energy in my knees, in my ankles, in my feet, like and and fill up the entire part of my flesh body. You know, it was almost as if for a really long time I was only living in maybe like 75% of it. You know, maybe there
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: was a part of me in my shoulder that I wasn't actually all the way there. You know, like or I used to find that like it was very easy for me to step outside of myself. You know, it's so easy for me to live two inches, three inches, five inches outside of my body. And so the medicine that like continued to bring me back in as I was recovering was the ground, was nature and knowing that like you know, within that experience I was shown that everything is like colors. And light and vibration and sound. Like I remember thinking, my gosh, color has sound. You know, like I was brought to this place where I mean the the the amount of love was something I've never felt before. And then I could see that I like I didn't exist, but yet I was in everything. And it was just this, it was it what it was such a spiritual. spiritual experience and for a very long time I didn't even know that I had a near-death experience. I thought I just had like a you know like a spiritual experience. I thought I just had like a spiritual awakening. and
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I thought, well, you know, I was in a very stressful situation. So my mind probably popped into a different dimension. But it wasn't until I started like doing some research and like things started to come to me and I was and I thought, my gosh, what I what I experienced was actually a near-death experience. And it allowed me to re recognize that I actually was scared of death. where I used to walk around and be like, No, I could die tomorrow and I'd be fine. And phew, that was a very foolish statement. When I was actually faced with it,
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I was terrified and I was like, No, no, no, no, no, my time is not up here. And I knew that there was so much more that I wanted to do, and I knew that like I wasn't my role for other people too wasn't done. So
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it's i it it it feels like it's something that continues to evolve and I'm sure I'll look back at this time and be like, she was she was just in the beginning stages of it. I'm I'm I'm really excited
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to see how this all continues to unfold. And the most important thing, at least
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: for me, is that I'm not in a rush anymore. I'm not in a rush. So I really I've really been able
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to slow down. Slow, slow down. Actually, I remember when we were in Sardinia, I was walking with Groo, and she said to me, Do you always walk this slow? Or have you, you know, or was this something that you know is is because of your concussion? And I said to her, I I think this is new. I I you know, I live on the east coast of America. Like we're in the tri-state area, we're very like, you know, and everything is just
Claire Day: Yeah,
Michelle Graceffo: Like woo woo woo woo woo We're
Claire Day: yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: slowing it way down.
Claire Day: Yeah, all the better to soak it all in.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, and we need time. Because like go and again going back to what I said, like it's not just what I see, it's not just what I smell, it's not just what I hear, what I taste and touch. Like my whole body is now having this experience. And I'm very, very conscious of it. And so because of that, I need more space, I need more time, I need more rest. And that is what I really am here to. w teach other people too. And and I know that that's that's very difficult for all of us to do, but I think that's actually like the point. I think that's why we're here is really just to enjoy this.
Claire Day: Yeah. I mean our nervous systems haven't caught up with the world that we live in these days. We came
Michelle Graceffo: No.
Claire Day: from beginnings where we sat around fires and chatted and made food and rested and storytelled and made things with our hands and sat on the earth and all of these things and and things have spun out so far now that everything moves so fast. The information comes really fast. The world we live in we're expected to answer straight away to emails and messages and answer our phone. And we weren't built for it.
Michelle Graceffo: No. And it's, you know, and I that was something that I kind of always bumped up against in my practice too, you know, it's like having the time to just have that conversation with people too. You know, it's just you know, like really if you signed up for an acupuncture treatment with me, you knew you were with me for 90 minutes, but everybody who came to see me, like, you weren't walking out of my office at least like until the two hour mark, you know, because it was you know, like
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: There was a lot to cover, you know.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And I think like as a healthcare provider too, it's very important for me to be with that person and
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: not rush what they're going
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: through, you know. I mean, sure, we need to stick to a time limit, but there was also like what I was feeling too, because it was, you know, I've seen the trends in health, you know, and and part of the reason why even, you know, left community acupuncture to open up. Private practice was because I realized that people needed to talk. You know, in community acupuncture, I only had 10 or 15 minutes with you, and then I was on to the next person. And not only was I craving like a deeper connection, but I could tell that my patients were too. So that's why within the private setting, I was like, we have the time, you know, to sit down. Do you want something to drink? Let's talk about this before I start doing some body work on you, you know. I I think we've lost the art of storytelling, and that
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: I think that's a really big part of our healing process.
Claire Day: Yeah, that was a really big drive actually for me in my nursing in a move out from the general wards into I worked in coronary care and high dependency. Well it was just coronary care when I was looking to move in there. And part of it was that when I first started with nursing in your student nurse, you had time to sit on the bed, chat to the patient, hear about them, they tell you what's going on. When you're really busy, like they won't tell you because they don't want to bother you and they don't want to, you know, take up your time. And whereas the in in the higher dependency area, there was a big a big part of it was education, you know, because it was to do with their heart and heart disease and you know, all these different factors that they could influence from home. So it was important that you spend time with them. It's that
Michelle Graceffo: There.
Claire Day: it's gone from from modern nursing because they're so short staffed and understaffed and they don't have the time to sit and it means that people aren't gonna tell you what's going on with them because they don't want to bother you. And like you say, people need
Michelle Graceffo: Right, right.
Claire Day: it. They need the time to talk.
Michelle Graceffo: Yes. sure. I heard that all the time. People would say, I don't want to bother you. You probably don't have time. You know, and I think that was a big gift for me to say, No, tell me. Like I'm here. I'm that you know, because I think my patients also understood like if you do come to see me, you might have to wait five or ten minutes. We I might run behind. But then that person knew that I was also going to give them that time. That didn't mean that I was gonna cut into somebody else's, you know. And I
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: think that Very important is like, you know, what I constantly heard, like feedback from people were I knew I could tell you. I knew you weren't gonna judge me, right? And boy, do we all need that. We all need a space
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: that we can go to where we can go, This is gonna sound really weird, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. You know? so I th that's important, you know. I th this human experience is so fascinating. And I you know we need to talk
Claire Day: Absolutely.
Michelle Graceffo: about every avenue possible.
Claire Day: Yeah. And tell me, I I know you've studied lots of different people from your acupuncture to your oils to your Chinese face reading. Who have you had over the years mentor-wise that have really impacted where you've kind of come to in your your study and your training in or your personal, you know, space?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. well I there's there's been a lot of people along the way. A lot of people. I am so grateful for like all the teachers who have, you know, in so many ways initiated me into this this this system of medicine into Chinese medicine. So all my teachers who have imparted their wisdom on me, be one being Jeffrey Yuan, he's very renowned within the acupuncture world. He's a Taoist priest. And he part of his lineage is that he has to contribute something. And what he contributed to the medicine was essential oils. So he was like the first person that I really started to study with when I started to to learn more about essential oils. And then I studied with Peter Holmes for a little while, which was wonderful. I got like way more almost like a Western side of things, right? So, you know, and that was something that we were always taught in acupuncture school that your patients are not gonna show up and say to you, I have a spleen qi deficiency, right? Like I'm going
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to have to you know, like I have to understand I have to understand the Western diagnoses, right? So, you know, maybe I'm a diabetic or I have PCOS or, you know, like whatever, right? So he really helped in terms of making that connection between a Western diagnosis and then how we would treat that through Chinese medicine. And then I ended up studying with Tiffany Carroll and she also opened up my mind in terms of how to connect with the plants through like my whole body instead of just my intellect. So that was also huge for me. because then it was like, I can actually like oils are people, you know, and then Now I have a relationship with like over a hundred oils, you know, so it's really, really amazing. in my personal life, you know, like I think that my family, they're huge mentors, even though I'm sure they would never, you know, put that, you know, that phrase on themselves. my mom is a caretaker for a little boy who's four years old, and I think he is the biggest teacher of them all. You know, there's there's so much presence with him and then to be able to see the world like through his eyes, you know, like the other day we went for a walk in the rain and he was holding his umbrella and the whole time he was like, I just see street and street and street and just more street, you know, because the umbrella was like blocking his view. And I you know, like I was just like, gosh, that's so funny and He saw this he saw this branch on the ground and it was covered in moss and he had never seen something like that before. So he turned and he looked at my mom and he goes, Ann, what's this? A piece of broccoli? You know, like they're you know, like they're just so funny. And it
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: that has been that to me is like that's that's a teacher. You know,
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: someone who can actually just get you to be right here right now.
Claire Day: no.
Michelle Graceffo: you know, all the past versions of myself, you know, like all the women I've been have been a mentor to myself, I'm sure, you know. But yeah, there's yeah, I think we we're all like teachers to each other.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah. it has been so lovely chatting to you. Tell people, you know, if they'd love to work with you or they like the sound of the containers you have coming up, especially 'cause I know you're in the States, but obviously this is online as well. So potentially people could connect you with you over there. H where can they find you?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, so right now the main way is you know just giving me a call or email and of course my website. through my website people can sign up for my newsletters and stay up to date with different programs that I'm putting out. like I mentioned, you know, this month in August we're starting the Oil of the Month Club and we'll begin with coriander seed. so if people want to sign up with that, they can find that through my website.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And then yeah, it's I'm I try to be as active as I can on social media through my Instagram, Yellow Mellows. and then my website is ihealacademy.com. And so those are Yeah,
Claire Day: Amazing. I'll put the details myself for people.
Michelle Graceffo: yeah, I'm sure. But you know, I'm I'm I I feel like I'm in this place right now where I wanna be very specific about the people that I'm magnetizing towards me. You know, like this I I really want to help people who want to help themselves. So I can trust that what I, you know, how you can reach me and how we can get in touch will happen organically. But yes, it is mostly through my website and then my social media platform.
Claire Day: Fantastic. Thank you so much for chatting today. It's been amazing.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. thank you, Claire. Yes, thank you for having me.
Michelle Graceffo: Hi Claire. Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here today and get get to the nitty-gritty and let's connect.
Claire Day: I know, I know.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah.
Claire Day: we had had a little chat before we pressed record here and there was all of it that was so relevant to what we're gonna be chatting about that I thought we should really dive in. So we did a little bit of an intro or I I'll do a little bit of intro into your your official titles, but your background is in acupuncture and hur have you studied herbalism separately or is that part of the the training with the acupunctures to do the herbalism as well.
Michelle Graceffo: so here in the States we actually do have the option of doing like it's a dual program, you know, where you learn acupuncture and herbs together or you can just go to school for acupuncture. And I have to say that when the actually the reason why I wanted to become an acupuncturist was to learn about Chinese herbs. but once I got into school and I was juggling both learning channel theory and the herbs, I realized that I I was getting spread too thin. So I ended up dropping the herbalism and I just stuck with becoming an acupuncturist actually. So I figured let me master one thing at a time.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: So just acupuncture.
Claire Day: And is that the herbalism something that you think you might leap back around to down the line or your focus has shifted? Because I know you were just saying and sharing that you've moved out of doing kind of one on one
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it's ac that's it's huge. it's a big identity shift that has occurred over the last couple of years. And closing my practice had so much to do with that actually, because I needed and wanted to learn self worth at a different level instead of, you know, like if I how do I make people feel? Well, what about how do I make myself feel? so yeah I I think I would go back to learn herbs, but what is interesting and how I know you so so well is through essential oils. So it was really fascinating how you know life just all those pieces start to fall down and as the herbs took a you know a back seat, the essential oils came up instead. So I would actually Enjoy learning more about the essential oil piece. You know, right now I'm really trained in understanding essential oils through the lens of Chinese medicine and you know, like Taoist principles of nature. But I am really fascinated that in learning like French aromatherapy. So I think that's next actually.
Claire Day: So cool. Yes, 'cause there's so many different concepts and understandings of ways in which they can be used. And certainly I know the way that w we learned through Run Point therapy to use them, which is that combination of oils and Chinese medicine. It blew my mind the impact that they can have with such a small little amount. it just yeah, it completely changed the way that I use essential oils.
Michelle Graceffo: Absolutely. You know, we have it's sort of like a it's like a loose rule of thumb that, you know, if we prescribe someone Chinese herbs, you'll know if it's the right herb within a few days. And the person should feel dramatically different within a week. And I find that essential oils are the same, you know, like when you're working with essential oils on some and connecting the you know, the essence of that plant spirit to a specific acupuncture point. I mean, you know, that change happens immediately. And I think that's probably one of the the most attractive part about working with that medicine is that in real time you see this this shift occur. You know, with acupuncture, it's a little bit more subtle. I mean not to say that, you know, someone doesn't get on the table and then they leave feeling much better. Of course they do. But acupuncture is is very subtle and it can be a slower breakthrough where I find that where when you're working, you know, because really a s acupuncture is it's not adding anything to your body, you know, and it doesn't take anything away either. It's just shifting the energy. It's working with what you already have. So when we actually add in the essential oils or a Chinese herb, right, that is really changing the the like the chemical makeup in your body. So that's why we see such dramatic shifts like that, you know? So yeah, I love I love it.
Claire Day: Yeah. And explain to me now in what way are you working differently then with these modalities than you were when you had your private practice? You're doing group work now, isn't it?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. So hmm.
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I let's see, I think there's so many different reasons why I was ready to close my acupuncture practice. And I would say that one of well, you know, as a practitioner I have always my my goal within the treatment is to empower my patients. And really to be able to like teach them that they can become their own doctor. I mean, having support is wonderful, but we've all been in that place before where maybe we don't feel well enough to even leave the house. And so it's so amazing to be able to look at your collection of essential oils or know what herbs do what, or through nutrition that you can heal yourself. And so when I decided to close my practice, I really had such a deep desire to start teaching people how to heal themselves. So and I think that that was sort of missing within that that one-on-one work, right? Because it's and I do this all the time. Like I'll show up for a massage or an acupuncture treatment or my chiropractical treatments, like whatever self-care I'm going for. And it's almost like It's very easy sometimes to like go in there, lay down on the table, receive, and then I go back to like doing what I was doing, right? And I I can almost undo the treatment sometimes, right? If I'm if I'm not really self-aware or very mindful. So I had noticed this within my patients too. You know, a lot of people were re-entering situations that were stressful, you know, so they would take that hour, hour and a half to relax. But then they were like going back to either a home situation or a work situation, whatever it was. And it all came like kind of tumbling back. And a lot of people would say, I felt really good for a couple of days, but then it all came back. And so it started getting the wheels turning about like, well, how do I get myself to extend these treatments? and so I'm really focusing on teaching people a mindset shift. And then also about the essential oil. So I'm doing a lot of virtual work. Actually, this month in August, I'm opening up an oil of the month club. So we'll be, yeah, we'll have a monthly membership where you can learn about essential oils. in the fall, I'm gonna open up a group mentorship. I would like to, it was almost like I've I've been looking to like sort of bridge the gap between that one-on-one work and virtual work. So I would like to be like more of a participant in people's lives because I know that that's what my soul is asking of me. You know, it's it's not just these separate things. It's like how can I weave this all together and continue the plot, you know, like just continue the story. and that way I can take it wherever I go. And then that
Claire Day: Right.
Michelle Graceffo: is my hope with with others too.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah. It definitely is a learned through repetition and through being in that community of people doing things. I know I've spent years studying different modalities and you can still go into that kind of fight or flight mode where you don't think of all these tools and things that you can use to bring yourself back into alignment and back into balance and ground it again.
Michelle Graceffo: Right.
Claire Day: and sometimes that bit of accountability and knowledge there to to pull from is amazing. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it you know, it's like I I think too, like as I understand what community really means, you know, so like my first training as an acupuncturist, I worked in community acupuncture, which is when we treat everybody in one room. And this way we're able to lower the cost of acupuncture. So it's much different than a private treatment where it's just you and a bed and the practitioner, right? And what I found is that when we can have more connection and we can like I said before like continue the conversation there is that accountability and what I have witnessed too when we heal in a group we all play off of one another and you know it's really cool because especially with the essential oils when I used to work in community I would I would like play with this kind of stuff and I'd say okay everybody's gonna get lavender on liver three today you know And I would just see how this the room, the shift in the room, people when they would come in to just grab their seat and receive a treatment, already the the healing had occurred because they stepped into a room that had this frequency that was already there, ready to like meet and greet them, right? So it's so interesting. Like even before I had left my private practice, my my brother is an acupuncturist too. So we were in practice together. And him and I were doing what we called, they were called the point of essence gatherings, and we would do these in person. And we would talk about like the season that we were in based on like the the nodes in in the Chinese calendar. And then we would go over like a sequence with the acupuncture points pairing with the oils. And it's so neat to do that as a group because something that you might not realize is medicine, but you know, someone else is having a very similar experience. So then when we talk about that as a group and it's like, you felt that, I felt this, yeah, that's a good way of saying that. You know, you realize that boy, there's a lot more that's actually happening than maybe what we're conscious of. So I love
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: that type of group work because it's so fascinating to just see us all like, you know, it's so neat to connect the dots that way through each other.
Claire Day: Yes, yeah. I definitely experienced that through the Run Point Mastery journey where that group field brings up, you know, you're working with the same oils together and the themes that come up for everybody. You're like, yeah, and you mightn't have recognized it in yourself and then you hear somebody else talking about their experience and you're like, Actually, I've had something really similar come up in my life, in your own theme, but with the group theme in mind, yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Right. Fascinating, right?
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the healing that can come from that, from that recognition where doing something on your own, you it might have slipped by you. You know, it might take you a few times of that lesson coming up again for you to go, okay, I see what's being shown to me here. Yeah, amazing.
Michelle Graceffo: That's right. Yeah, that's right. Mm-hmm.
Claire Day: So is there something in particular that you would have felt was very important to you back, say when you were doing your your one on one work or your private practice that isn't of significance to you now? Or or have you left something behind from where you were? Because you've moved and everything. You you moved home, you've you've completely changed, you know, everything about your life and lifestyle has changed.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, that's that's a really good question. because everything has changed. you know what I think is is actually probably the most profound for at for the better part of like the last decade, I've lived alone. and I've been single. So that lifestyle, that mindset shapes how you move through life. You know, so when it was just me, that's all I had to really care about and really be responsible for. And at the same time, that comes with its own challenges. Then I'm my own cheerleader, my own support system, I'm the only one paying bills, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. but you know, two years ago I was in a pretty serious car accident, which then prompted me to have a near-death experience. And since that point Everything has shifted and a lot of it was without my control. So I used to be really like more heavy in my mental space, and I would try to calculate everything. you know, I tried to micromanage everything and have so much control. And again, because I lived on my own, there was nothing ever getting in my way, you know. and I had the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I. And I would show up to work and leave and you know, like I was I was, you know, part of the community, but then could slip out when I wanted to, right? but since that near-death experience and the mindset shift that I've had, part of that was moving back home, to be with my parents. And even when I asked them if I could if they would take me back, I I I I didn't even know it was gonna come out of my mouth. there's been so many things that have happened in my life since then, twenty twenty four, that I didn't really have much consciousness behind. It was like this soul driven decision that then the next thing I knew I was just doing that. And so coming back home, as you and I were talking about before we press record, I I've I've gained a different understanding of what community means and how when I live with other people, there's almost like a sense of responsibility that we all have for one another. And, you know, if I understand like the way that my energetic body is going to influence other people in my family, but I also understand that too, like we're all tr contributing to operating a household. You know, so everybody has like a task, you know, who makes dinner, who sets the table, you know, who's watering the plants, who's cleaning, right? There's there's so much that goes into just maintaining a household. And so honestly, it's been such a a shift within the way that I view my life because it's not just about me anymore.
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: and then being able to You know, I think at first when I moved home, it was like a little like, ugh, like I can't just do this, I can't just go here and someone's always looking for me, like, you know, leave me alone. But that
Claire Day: Mm-hmm.
Michelle Graceffo: has shifted so much where I want people to know where I am, you know, and I want to tell people I'll be home by this time, or you know, that someone is looking out for me. And it's nice to come home and have someone to talk to and to connect with. So you know, I think everything does happen for a reason. But I think the biggest mindset shift for me has been from like me to we and then
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: just how that really shapes the way that I move through life, the decisions I make. and also like how that impacts my work then, you know, because I think for so long I was creating from a place that just was significant for me. But now that I'm around my family, I'm like, that's how that plays out in that person. okay, that's how they see that. And then it gives me more ideas for my own work. And then I think I can hold space for more people. You know, like that was a big thing too, like capacity, like just having the capacity to hold that energy. You know, I do, I'm very aware of how much alone time I'm. and thankfully like my family understands that part of me too, so they know, okay, she's going on her walks, like this is a time for her to be by herself, or if she's gonna go into her bedroom and close the door, like we know, like, okay, she's like meditating, right? She's in her her own field. But it's been really I think it's medicine that has has brought me to a place that is actually preparing me for where I wanna go next.
Claire Day: Mm. Beautiful.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah.
Claire Day: And of those, you know, the I suppose it brings to mind that kind of self-care element of knowing what you need intrinsically and giving it to yourself, giving yourself permission to take that time or to do those meditations. Or so what would be your favorite tool or technique, or what do you go to most when you need that self-care, or when you need that kind of rebalancing for yourself?
Michelle Graceffo: I love baths. I'm like a big bath person. salt. Salt is really, really important for me. sometimes I'll just I'll sprinkle some salt on the ground and then just stand on it and then just you know close my eyes and get into a place where I can ask for things to be released and to like be realigned. of course I'm always gonna, you know, rely on acupuncture and essential oils. But you know, I really don't underestimate the power of water and salt and nature. I I gain a lot of my clarity on very long, slow walks in the woods. I find that the trees are very, very inspirational. And then lucky for me, like where I live, I have the woods and I have the beach. So I find that like, yeah, it's the best of both worlds. You know, I for the majority of the last ten years I've lived within like a block of the ocean. So that was always beautiful to wake up, watch the sunrise. And where I live now, I'm about fifteen minutes away from the beach now and only like three minutes from like a beautiful park. And the a friend of mine actually was just asking me over the weekend, like, A are you going to the beach? 'Cause she noticed I wasn't as tan as I normally am at this This point in the summer. And I said to her, actually, I've been walking more in the woods. And she's like, What do you find is the difference? And I said to her, I think the ocean always created this like openness and this like expansive, big, bright light energy, like the horizon, right? It can go on forever. Where right now the woods, the trees, for me, they like drop an insight. They help with my creative process. They help surrounding. So they're two very different energies, but both equally medicinal. So that's how I really try to restore myself. I try to I get out like every single day. even in the rain, you know, I I'll go out because to me it's very, very important to connect with nature. I even just like sitting on the deck, you know, like it's just nice to be in the backyard. Very, very simple. You know, I've noticed like as I'm getting older, I'm like, I really am turning into like my grandparents or I hear my parents say this. It's like less really is more, you know?
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And it's just these very very simple things, you know. Even the joy of having a cappuccino in the morning.
Claire Day: Yeah. And the majority of them are all things that you can do for free as well. It's not something that you have to invest, you know, hundreds or thousands of euros in
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. And I I honestly like this is in the past, like when I did have my one-on-ones, in the summertime, like I would say to my patients, like, don't come in to see me. Go outside. Go outside. Like this is not the time, right? And because this is when the weather is the nicest. So let's take advantage of that. Let's really fill our cup up from the resources of Mother Earth. And it's free. And like you said, you know, and I think to me it's like we need to We really need to tap into that because that's the original medicine is everything that we we're surrounded by.
Claire Day: Yeah. And what so many of us are lacking in these days.
Michelle Graceffo: Mm-hmm.
Claire Day: Yeah. Li life at a desk for lots of people. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Right. Yeah. So it's important that we we try to shift that as often as possible.
Claire Day: Yeah. And I suppose one of the questions is, you know, what's your biggest crossroad or threshold in life? But at a guess it's from from and I've only known you from in and around the time of the accident and and not long before, but that seems like a a a major kind of cross crossroad in your
Michelle Graceffo: Huge.
Claire Day: life where you literally, you know, through through like you say, without having necessarily a choice in a lot of it, but also trusting your instincts on What was the right path for you to go forward from then? Would that be fair to say that was probably one of the biggest? Or is there anything else that comes to mind that
Michelle Graceffo: Right. So I yeah, that then my near death experience was was for short the biggest initiation, at least as of recent. because
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: then that it then created a a shift for everything else, you know. I used to like I said, like I used to be this person who was like, I'm an independent boss babe, like I got this, I'm running my businesses, I can run a household by myself, I could pay my own bills, like I had really like built an identity around that. And then when you know, because within the car crash I had a concussion. And I honestly say that that concussion was like it tripped me into a whole new operating system. And then it's really been a very slow integration. And from the research that I've done with near death experiences, they say that it can take years for for you know, that experience to really like integrate and land in the body. And I really do feel that. I remember afterwards feeling so connected to nature that it was overwhelming. And even just feeling the human emotions too was very overwhelming for my body to handle. You know, I could be brought to tears by watching like birds bathe in a bath or, you know, I remember one time I was making myself a kale salad and I could just I just started to cry because I was like, wow, there this kale is actually going to heal me. Like I could feel certain things which like it allowed me to realize that it isn't just through my eyes, it isn't just through what I smell, it's not just what I listen to. My body is taking everything in. And so that threshold to cross like has been It's been unsettling at times because I didn't know how to like really work with that energy. And, you know, full transparency, there were times within my recovery that I would like kind of collapse in on myself because it all just felt too much. but as the you know, now we are two years past, and part of that was asking for help. Part of that was dismantling that identity of that I have it all, that I can do it all, and of course I can. But now I can do that with the support of my family, with the support of the people around me, my friends. you know, I it was very difficult for me to ask for help. And it was also very difficult for me to admit that I wasn't okay. so those were two really, really big pieces of my identity that I was like. I really didn't want to let go of. I was like, no, no, no, I can do this. I can do this, you know. And I can remember like shortly after the car accident, you know, I pushed people away because I didn't want to be reminded of how bad I looked. You know, I could tell when I was around people who, you know, especially who've known me for my family or my friends who've known me s for years, for, you know, being in their company at that time was very difficult because I was reminded that I wasn't the same person anymore. Where at the time I know I was in that mastermind with you and and and and then we we traveled to Sardinia together and having you guys who were like fresh new friends at the time was such a breath like I was just like, okay, they can they could just honor my death, you know, and they can just be holding that space that I'm becoming someone else. And so that was really important for me to like hold on to this vision. that it's still not clear, you know, I feel like I'm still figuring it all out, but now I'm more attracted to where I am right here and now, and then like how that's going to change who I am tomorrow. Instead
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: of being like, because there's a lot of grief, you know, and being able
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to honor that grief, but also like, you know, saddle both things at the same time. and know that
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: like there is a lot that has fallen away but there's also s like a lot that I've now made room for. So it's that was it's it was a big thing. I mean and like I said even like leaving my practice too like that was huge. You know I had tied all my self-worth to how I made people feel and I continue to put myself on the back burner you know and I every everyone does this right and We say, yeah, yeah, we'll get to it. And we keep ignoring some some things, right? And it's like, okay, yeah, next week I'll I'll make sure I book that massage, you know? And it would just be something that I kept pushing back. And I find that now it's like I not only do I make room for those things, but I You know, like and it's something that's like so simple where my mom and I are like, okay, at seven o'clock every Wednesday night we do a foot bath together. You know, like it's just it's certain things like that where, you know, I've actually had to like schedule more, you know, for for just being me. And
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: yeah, it's just it's it that was a really big that really was and has been like the biggest threshold that I've crossed in a very long time.
Claire Day: I was gonna say to be able to reflect on the the transition and the journey like that and recognize and appreciate how difficult it all was, because it was hugely difficult, but to be able to see the the light in it and the need for the death of parts of our lives to be able to kind of nourish and nurture and bring on these new parts of us or this new direction we're going is not easy to do, but it's so important. Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, and it you know, I think it it made me a better practitioner. it made me like a a more whole person, you know. I was working with one doctor and you know he does a lot of like subconscious programming and he does muscle testing. So I remember he asked me a question and he said, Michelle, do you think you can get better? And at the time I didn't, you know, and I re and I think that opened up a huge part for me to realize within the patients and the community that I treat is that sometimes it can get so low and so dark that we really don't think that we can get better. and so I have found that it's like consistency that is really the key to our health. and I find that that is the message that I'm really trying to like anchor in with people's is actually self-trust. while you're in in the nasty, you know, like and it's so uncomfortable. But for me, I used to be someone who relied so heavily on just like journaling or like let me manifest my way out of this or something like that. But it really had so much to do with action. And that was the piece that I was missing. Like it's it's actually in the doing that I really have those biggest leaps. And so that is something that I get to show my patients, you know. Because I had a handful of people who could actually reflect that back to me. And they said that to me in their treatments. They're like, there's something different about you. So then therefore I'm healing differently. You know, and that is so cool. You know, I d I really realize that like the success of my business is completely 100% tied to how I treat myself. So as long as I stay on top of like my game and like my mental state, my emotional state, if I take care of my physical body, my business will take care of itself. Right. So it's it's in those times where I let those things slide that then my I was like, I'm struggling to get more people in. And, you know, I could feel that I was like, am I gonna be able to pay rent this month? And you know, like all these things started to creep in. And it was like Girl, look at yourself, you know. If you take care of yourself, everything else in your business will take care of itself, you know. So it yeah, these are big, big aha's.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah, huge. And it's always the thing that goes first, the self care element, when you feel that pressure to perform or to be there or to show up and to get more people and to do all the things. And it i it it is, 'cause it's like, I'll go for walk tomorrow or I I don't have time for that now, but it's huge. It's so important. Yeah. And did you hold
Michelle Graceffo: Right, right. Do you like I don't
Claire Day: on to a belief, you know, like Do you have strong kind of beliefs or spirituality or things that you held on to when you were going through the toughest of times? Or does that play a part in your life with grief and loss?
Michelle Graceffo: Right. It does. it's nature. Like I'll always come back to nature. there were
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: I d you know, something that was really, really important to me at the time was I would you I walk. I I walk a lot. It's definitely one of my it's the thing that I gotta do every day.
Claire Day: Mm-hmm.
Michelle Graceffo: and at the time I was living like within a block of the beach, so I would walk the boardwalk every day. And I noticed that spirit was talking to me through other people's conversations. So I would overhear things and I would say, that that was a message for me. you know, and I remember this guy it's so and I'm sure you've heard this story before Claire, I was walking on the boardwalk and this guy was riding his bike and so the conversation was quick. He passed me really quick. And I just heard him saying, No, no, no, no, no, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I remember when that hit me, I was like, whoa. So even though what happened to me was really traumatic, I wouldn't have it any other way. And then, you know, I remember one time I was laying on the beach and I could hear a mother talking to her son, and she said something to him like, I've got you, I got you. And it was I from that I received from Mother Earth like I've never not been held. So those are two things that have continued to like come back to me where if I can get my like body, even if it's just my feet, sometimes my hands too, I'll just crouch and I'll put my hands and my feet on the ground. And then I'm reminded like this is sturdy, this is not gonna cave out underneath me. Like I can. put my whole weight on the earth. You know, it was so easy for me to sort of like play up here, you know, like walking around like I didn't have legs. It I was, it was always such a let me connect to the spiritual realm. Let me just think about this. I was so more like mentally and a like spiritually fascinated with that realm. And since the accident, it was like since the near-death experience, it was like, Girl, you're in your body, like feel that. And like knowing that that is the thing that actually carries me through is like could I actually feel the energy in my knees, in my ankles, in my feet, like and and fill up the entire part of my flesh body. You know, it was almost as if for a really long time I was only living in maybe like 75% of it. You know, maybe there
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: was a part of me in my shoulder that I wasn't actually all the way there. You know, like or I used to find that like it was very easy for me to step outside of myself. You know, it's so easy for me to live two inches, three inches, five inches outside of my body. And so the medicine that like continued to bring me back in as I was recovering was the ground, was nature and knowing that like you know, within that experience I was shown that everything is like colors. And light and vibration and sound. Like I remember thinking, my gosh, color has sound. You know, like I was brought to this place where I mean the the the amount of love was something I've never felt before. And then I could see that I like I didn't exist, but yet I was in everything. And it was just this, it was it what it was such a spiritual. spiritual experience and for a very long time I didn't even know that I had a near-death experience. I thought I just had like a you know like a spiritual experience. I thought I just had like a spiritual awakening. and
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I thought, well, you know, I was in a very stressful situation. So my mind probably popped into a different dimension. But it wasn't until I started like doing some research and like things started to come to me and I was and I thought, my gosh, what I what I experienced was actually a near-death experience. And it allowed me to re recognize that I actually was scared of death. where I used to walk around and be like, No, I could die tomorrow and I'd be fine. And phew, that was a very foolish statement. When I was actually faced with it,
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: I was terrified and I was like, No, no, no, no, no, my time is not up here. And I knew that there was so much more that I wanted to do, and I knew that like I wasn't my role for other people too wasn't done. So
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, it's i it it it feels like it's something that continues to evolve and I'm sure I'll look back at this time and be like, she was she was just in the beginning stages of it. I'm I'm I'm really excited
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to see how this all continues to unfold. And the most important thing, at least
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: for me, is that I'm not in a rush anymore. I'm not in a rush. So I really I've really been able
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to slow down. Slow, slow down. Actually, I remember when we were in Sardinia, I was walking with Groo, and she said to me, Do you always walk this slow? Or have you, you know, or was this something that you know is is because of your concussion? And I said to her, I I think this is new. I I you know, I live on the east coast of America. Like we're in the tri-state area, we're very like, you know, and everything is just
Claire Day: Yeah,
Michelle Graceffo: Like woo woo woo woo woo We're
Claire Day: yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: slowing it way down.
Claire Day: Yeah, all the better to soak it all in.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, and we need time. Because like go and again going back to what I said, like it's not just what I see, it's not just what I smell, it's not just what I hear, what I taste and touch. Like my whole body is now having this experience. And I'm very, very conscious of it. And so because of that, I need more space, I need more time, I need more rest. And that is what I really am here to. w teach other people too. And and I know that that's that's very difficult for all of us to do, but I think that's actually like the point. I think that's why we're here is really just to enjoy this.
Claire Day: Yeah. I mean our nervous systems haven't caught up with the world that we live in these days. We came
Michelle Graceffo: No.
Claire Day: from beginnings where we sat around fires and chatted and made food and rested and storytelled and made things with our hands and sat on the earth and all of these things and and things have spun out so far now that everything moves so fast. The information comes really fast. The world we live in we're expected to answer straight away to emails and messages and answer our phone. And we weren't built for it.
Michelle Graceffo: No. And it's, you know, and I that was something that I kind of always bumped up against in my practice too, you know, it's like having the time to just have that conversation with people too. You know, it's just you know, like really if you signed up for an acupuncture treatment with me, you knew you were with me for 90 minutes, but everybody who came to see me, like, you weren't walking out of my office at least like until the two hour mark, you know, because it was you know, like
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: There was a lot to cover, you know.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And I think like as a healthcare provider too, it's very important for me to be with that person and
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: not rush what they're going
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: through, you know. I mean, sure, we need to stick to a time limit, but there was also like what I was feeling too, because it was, you know, I've seen the trends in health, you know, and and part of the reason why even, you know, left community acupuncture to open up. Private practice was because I realized that people needed to talk. You know, in community acupuncture, I only had 10 or 15 minutes with you, and then I was on to the next person. And not only was I craving like a deeper connection, but I could tell that my patients were too. So that's why within the private setting, I was like, we have the time, you know, to sit down. Do you want something to drink? Let's talk about this before I start doing some body work on you, you know. I I think we've lost the art of storytelling, and that
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: I think that's a really big part of our healing process.
Claire Day: Yeah, that was a really big drive actually for me in my nursing in a move out from the general wards into I worked in coronary care and high dependency. Well it was just coronary care when I was looking to move in there. And part of it was that when I first started with nursing in your student nurse, you had time to sit on the bed, chat to the patient, hear about them, they tell you what's going on. When you're really busy, like they won't tell you because they don't want to bother you and they don't want to, you know, take up your time. And whereas the in in the higher dependency area, there was a big a big part of it was education, you know, because it was to do with their heart and heart disease and you know, all these different factors that they could influence from home. So it was important that you spend time with them. It's that
Michelle Graceffo: There.
Claire Day: it's gone from from modern nursing because they're so short staffed and understaffed and they don't have the time to sit and it means that people aren't gonna tell you what's going on with them because they don't want to bother you. And like you say, people need
Michelle Graceffo: Right, right.
Claire Day: it. They need the time to talk.
Michelle Graceffo: Yes. sure. I heard that all the time. People would say, I don't want to bother you. You probably don't have time. You know, and I think that was a big gift for me to say, No, tell me. Like I'm here. I'm that you know, because I think my patients also understood like if you do come to see me, you might have to wait five or ten minutes. We I might run behind. But then that person knew that I was also going to give them that time. That didn't mean that I was gonna cut into somebody else's, you know. And I
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: think that Very important is like, you know, what I constantly heard, like feedback from people were I knew I could tell you. I knew you weren't gonna judge me, right? And boy, do we all need that. We all need a space
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: that we can go to where we can go, This is gonna sound really weird, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. You know? so I th that's important, you know. I th this human experience is so fascinating. And I you know we need to talk
Claire Day: Absolutely.
Michelle Graceffo: about every avenue possible.
Claire Day: Yeah. And tell me, I I know you've studied lots of different people from your acupuncture to your oils to your Chinese face reading. Who have you had over the years mentor-wise that have really impacted where you've kind of come to in your your study and your training in or your personal, you know, space?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. well I there's there's been a lot of people along the way. A lot of people. I am so grateful for like all the teachers who have, you know, in so many ways initiated me into this this this system of medicine into Chinese medicine. So all my teachers who have imparted their wisdom on me, be one being Jeffrey Yuan, he's very renowned within the acupuncture world. He's a Taoist priest. And he part of his lineage is that he has to contribute something. And what he contributed to the medicine was essential oils. So he was like the first person that I really started to study with when I started to to learn more about essential oils. And then I studied with Peter Holmes for a little while, which was wonderful. I got like way more almost like a Western side of things, right? So, you know, and that was something that we were always taught in acupuncture school that your patients are not gonna show up and say to you, I have a spleen qi deficiency, right? Like I'm going
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: to have to you know, like I have to understand I have to understand the Western diagnoses, right? So, you know, maybe I'm a diabetic or I have PCOS or, you know, like whatever, right? So he really helped in terms of making that connection between a Western diagnosis and then how we would treat that through Chinese medicine. And then I ended up studying with Tiffany Carroll and she also opened up my mind in terms of how to connect with the plants through like my whole body instead of just my intellect. So that was also huge for me. because then it was like, I can actually like oils are people, you know, and then Now I have a relationship with like over a hundred oils, you know, so it's really, really amazing. in my personal life, you know, like I think that my family, they're huge mentors, even though I'm sure they would never, you know, put that, you know, that phrase on themselves. my mom is a caretaker for a little boy who's four years old, and I think he is the biggest teacher of them all. You know, there's there's so much presence with him and then to be able to see the world like through his eyes, you know, like the other day we went for a walk in the rain and he was holding his umbrella and the whole time he was like, I just see street and street and street and just more street, you know, because the umbrella was like blocking his view. And I you know, like I was just like, gosh, that's so funny and He saw this he saw this branch on the ground and it was covered in moss and he had never seen something like that before. So he turned and he looked at my mom and he goes, Ann, what's this? A piece of broccoli? You know, like they're you know, like they're just so funny. And it
Claire Day: Mm.
Michelle Graceffo: that has been that to me is like that's that's a teacher. You know,
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: someone who can actually just get you to be right here right now.
Claire Day: no.
Michelle Graceffo: you know, all the past versions of myself, you know, like all the women I've been have been a mentor to myself, I'm sure, you know. But yeah, there's yeah, I think we we're all like teachers to each other.
Claire Day: Yeah, yeah. it has been so lovely chatting to you. Tell people, you know, if they'd love to work with you or they like the sound of the containers you have coming up, especially 'cause I know you're in the States, but obviously this is online as well. So potentially people could connect you with you over there. H where can they find you?
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah, so right now the main way is you know just giving me a call or email and of course my website. through my website people can sign up for my newsletters and stay up to date with different programs that I'm putting out. like I mentioned, you know, this month in August we're starting the Oil of the Month Club and we'll begin with coriander seed. so if people want to sign up with that, they can find that through my website.
Claire Day: Yeah.
Michelle Graceffo: And then yeah, it's I'm I try to be as active as I can on social media through my Instagram, Yellow Mellows. and then my website is ihealacademy.com. And so those are Yeah,
Claire Day: Amazing. I'll put the details myself for people.
Michelle Graceffo: yeah, I'm sure. But you know, I'm I'm I I feel like I'm in this place right now where I wanna be very specific about the people that I'm magnetizing towards me. You know, like this I I really want to help people who want to help themselves. So I can trust that what I, you know, how you can reach me and how we can get in touch will happen organically. But yes, it is mostly through my website and then my social media platform.
Claire Day: Fantastic. Thank you so much for chatting today. It's been amazing.
Michelle Graceffo: Yeah. thank you, Claire. Yes, thank you for having me.
