S1:E2 | Meet Emma

Hello and welcome to the sleep seekers podcast. I’m your host, Emma Ashford and I am the host of this podcast and the founder of Sleep Seekers.

In this episode of the podcast, I’m going to give you an introduction to me, the work I do with sleep and other issues and explain why I’m starting this podcast.

So, this podcast is long overdue ... it has existed in my head for a long time, I have planned episodes in my head when on walks for years, it just hasn’t existed in your earbuds until now.

Sleep is an area that so many people need to improve, but beyond the basic sleep hygiene advice, it can be hard to know where to go.

I also get frustrated sometimes with the amount of studies and sleep science that is often talked about with no discussion or explanation of applying that in reality.

I am all about helping people to apply simple strategies in real world ways ... so it’s time to make this podcast official.

So, a bit about me... I have run a clinical practise for around 12 years dealing with self esteem, stress, sleep issues, trauma etc but I started to specialise in sleep around 8 years ago - for me it's a really great balance between therapy, coaching and science.

I found that i really enjoyed it,  watching people come back to life with what was often a little more understanding and some simple adjustments.

This is where I was given the nickname ‘sleep genie’ which has always made me laugh - but to people who have perhaps slept really badly for years and years, the fact that I could help them overcome this must have felt like some sort of magic.

Let me reassure you, there is nothing magic about me, I just know my stuff!

I then did more training & learning before creating my unique model and approach very organically through working in the trenches with sleep and human beings (as opposed to what the book says).

I became more involved in teaching sleep and promoting good sleep as well as just improving bad sleep through teaching to individuals and clients and also to groups in organisations.

I believe that a huge proportion of the sleep problems out there could be prevented by having a bit of sleep education as a norm in our lives - but yet sleep isn’t really taught anywhere. We all just sort of hope for the best and I want to empower people far more than that.

So, I created Sleep Seekers which is about promoting and restoring good quality, natural sleep. I have been quietly working 1-1 with people for a long time but I am now working on getting these messages into the wider world, having a presence on social media.

Through covid and various lockdowns I was spending a lot of my time delivering training to police officers on sleep and working shifts and I do work with other organisations to deliver training on various aspects of sleep which I love to do. And, I still love doing my other work that I have always done in my clinical practice, much of which has a lot of overlap with sleep problems.

So, I also work a lot with managing stress, building self esteem and various other aspects of mental health and wellbeing - this sits under the other part of my business which is ‘Managing Minds’.

In the near future, I will expand Sleep Seekers to include sleep issues with children, as well as adults... watch this space (I’m in the planning and development stages at the moment).

Most of what I teach is work I have done myself, techniques I use myself pretty much everyday - I whole-heartedly believe in all of it.

The two parts to what I do are completely linked and entwined but are separated because not everyone wanting or needing to work on sleep needs or wants to work on the other stuff and vice versa. I have always loved self development and learning skills, techniques and ways of moving through life that make things feel easier, better or mean I get closer to reaching my potential. I tend to attract people who have a similar philosophy and want to learn how to sleep better or improve their life in some way and are willing to take action to do so.

Outside of work ... I am a mum of two young children - at the time of recording they are age 6 and 4. I understand the work / mum / life / sleep juggle. So I spend a lot of time hanging out with them and my husband.

My favourite thing in the world is travel, a bug which my daughter also seems to have inherited from me so we always planning a trip somewhere or other (even if its a total fantasy ‘someday’ trip) and we are often off on adventures on the weekend, exploring the local area and the brilliant stuff we have close to use.

My other big love is food! Eating it, reading about it, cooking it, going out for it.

Besides that, I live a pretty simple life ... exercising, being outside, exploring the countryside and I can’t wait for the kids to both be able to ride bikes so we can go out for big bike rides.

I am literally always doing some sort of course, coaching or learning of some sort. I love learning, challenging myself and growing myself in some way and I have evolved many times as a result and I know I have many evolutions to come.

I almost exclusively do all of my learning, self development and courses online now - they fit in with my life, you can often take it at your own pace and go over it as many times as you want to.

We are so lucky to have this level of knowledge and expertise at our finger-tips these days. I love the access to experts that this gives us - you can choose to work with an expert or a person that really resonates with you as opposed to just having to learn from the person that happens to be in your local area. I have built many of my offerings in a similar vein as I am such a fan.

So, I hope that you feel that you know me a bit better now... I will leave the links to my work in the show notes below so you can go and have a look around and feel free to CONTACT US if you have any questions on your best next steps or what might suit your needs best. 

HAVE A GREAT DAY & I WILL SEE YOU SOON FOR ANOTHER EPISODE OF THE SLEEP SEEKERS PODCAST!

MANAGING MINDS | CLICK HERE → 

SLEEP SEEKERS PROGRAMMES | CLICK HERE →

CONTACT EMMA | CLICK HERE → 

MORE ABOUT EMMA | CLICK HERE → 

SLEEP OPTIMISER PROGRAMME | CLICK HERE → 

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