The Emma Guns Show

This week, I did something I’ve never done before - I walked out of a sound bath halfway through. Then I went to a breathwork session that felt eerily like a cult. Both experiences made me realise how far modern wellness has drifted from its purpose. In this episode, I unpack why so many wellness practices now feel performative rather than healing; more about being seen to be “working on yourself” than actually feeling better. I talk about the way movements like clean eating and body positivity started as genuine acts of self-care, only to be hijacked by branding, aesthetics, and algorithms. What happens when wellness becomes performance? And what would it look like if no one could see it? Connect with me: 🌿 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emmaguns/ 📰 Substack https://emmaguns.substack.com/ 🎧 Listen to past episodes https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-emma-guns-show/id1102982843 Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On my last trip to San Francisco, something unexpected happened: I didn’t get jet lag. Normally, I’d spend the first few days wide awake at 3 a.m. and desperate for a nap by lunchtime — but this time, my body adjusted almost instantly. In this episode, I share the two surprisingly simple things that made all the difference: moving my body and drinking chia seeds. We’ll talk about why exercise acts like a reset button for your internal clock, how chia seeds can keep you hydrated and regular while travelling, and the three “anchors” your body uses to sync with a new time zone — light, movement, and meals. Plus, I share practical, easy-to-remember travel habits that genuinely make you feel human again: sunlight and exercisechia-seed hydration tricktiming your meals and caffeine Whether you’re crossing continents or just hopping time zones, this episode is your quick, no-nonsense guide to beating jet lag without expensive supplements or rigid routines. @emmagunsThe Emma Guns Show Newsletter Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Failure. We all fear it, but what if it isn’t the end? What if failure is the secret ingredient to resilience, confidence, and real personal growth? In this episode of The Emma Guns Show, I explore why failure doesn’t have to derail you and how to use setbacks as stepping stones. Whether it’s in your career, relationships, or personal goals, learning how to fail well is the ultimate self-development tool. Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode: Why failure is feedback, not finality.The importance of resilience over perfection.How to separate your self-worth from your setbacks.My take on “glow-up gurus” and why lived experience matters more than a curated aesthetic.Practical mindset shifts and tools to bounce back stronger.✨ This episode is for you if: Failure isn’t fatal, it’s formative. And once you stop being felled by it, you’ll see that every setback carries the seed of progress. Resources & Links: @emmagunsThe Emma Guns Show NewsletterHey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Polly Vernon has written the most incredible book and, if you are a woman, you should probably read it. Sooner rather than later. In this episode, Polly and I discuss the female body in all its weird, wonderful and miraculous ways and how getting to know it better is a wonderful journey on which to embark. How the Female Body Works by Polly Vernon is available now. Follow and subscribe to Polly over on Substack -- Broad with Polly Vernon. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Of all the podcasts I’ve ever recorded, it’s this one with motivational speaker, celebrity therapist and pioneering hypnotherapist that has generated the most feedback from listeners saying ‘this conversation changed my life’. Indeed, when I left Marisa’s house, I immediately bought all her books from my parked car and devoured all of them in a matter of days. Marisa uses her various skills to help people become ‘unstuck’ from the patterns that cause stagnation, frustration and in action. And, while you might think this would involve deep work, some of her observations and techniques can be quick and easy to apply. It’s why her technique has been dubbed ‘rapid transformational therapy’. At the core of her messaging is this idea of ‘being enough’ something which many of us don’t feel as has almost becoming a belief that we just aren’t good enough. Marisa explains how to untangle that untrue belief and move forward believing that you are not only enough but you are worthy. This conversation was originally published in 2017. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm reading two snippets from the internet to you today. One, from the brilliant Holly Tucker about podcasts and why she believes they are so strong as an audio-only medium and secondly something I read on Substack about how to properly relax. I'd love to hear your thoughts on both of these. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s handy to look on the bright side of life, right? Who doesn’t love an optimist? But, what if by always looking for a fix or the silver lining, you’re actually invalidating perfectly reasonable and logical emotions. More than that, what if being positive is actually making you toxic? In this conversation with Whitney Goodman, the radically honest psychologist, we explore how always being hopeful or trying to be helpful can actually be confusing and dissatisfying. It’s something we’ve seen creep into our vocabulary more and more with things like manifesting, but actually all this ‘looking on the bright side’ can make you vulnerable to failures and make you wonder what you’re doing wrong. Fear not though, in this conversation, we explore some valuable tools to help you eradicate toxic positivity, the ways in which you can be helpful and constructive and why a little negativity isn’t actually a bad thing… This conversation with originally published in 2022. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sure, I may be a little late to the party on this one but when Rylan Clark spoke about immigration on This Morning, why did no one in government use the opportunity to state facts and finally put to bed some of the falsehoods and misconceptions around asylum seekers and immigration? I'd love to hear your views on this. Also, why are women so judgemental about what other women eat? And I'm being specific here because it's a women-on-woman crime... This is brilliant feature Polly Vernon wrote on the subject that you may find interesting. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raphael Rowe has every right to be the most bitter man in Britain. Convicted for a crime he didn’t commit, despite eye-witness evidence that couldn’t have possibly put him near the scene of the crime, Raphael spent 12 years in prison with no hope of parole. While his story is jaw-dropping, it’s actually Raphael’s resolve, how he maintained hope and how he has been able to make peace with what happened to him and more forward positively. If you listen to our conversation, you can’t hear an ounce of hate, regret or bitterness in his voice and I wonder if I’d be able to be the same if I had walked in his shoes. Could you? Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You could be fooled into thinking Keeley Hazell’s memoir, Everyone’s Seen My Tits, would be a nostalgic romp through the Noughties, featuring salacious gossip and saucy behind-the-scenes insights from a time when the Red Tops - the tabloid newspapers - loomed large. What you actually get is a soul-bearing account of what it was like to grow up in a tough environment, both behind closed doors and on the streets of South East London, navigating revenge porn before people really knew was revenge porn was and what it was like to have the world open up to you in ways you could have never imagined only for the way you’d made that happen be the reason that all the doors you wanted to open, seemed firmly locked to you. As soon as I started reading Keeley’s book, I found it a challenge to put it down. I was hooked. I was stunned by the honesty and, more than once, was waiting for the bit at the end of the chapter where she either apologised for her feelings or somehow minimised them to make her real feelings more palatable for an audience. Spoiler alert - that moment never came. And it was this that made me admire her and enjoy the book even more. She welcomed me, the reader, into her circle of trust. So, I couldn’t wait to interview her and, as you’ll hear, she’s as unedited and unreserved in person as she is in the book. Buy Keeley's book here: Everyone's Seen My Tits. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I recently stopped watching TV in the mornings, and it surprised me how much calmer and more spacious my day felt. It made me realise how many little habits quietly drain our time and attention, often without us noticing. In this episode, I’m exploring the hidden ways our hours get pinched, and sharing small, gentle swaps that can help us feel like the day belongs a little more to us. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world feels pretty divided right now, doesn’t it? I’m convinced the mere fact so many people feel comfortable listening to music without headphones on public transport is a sign of the apocalypse. When it can often feel as though we’re surrounded by conflict, injustice and hatred, we are all people who fundamentally want the same things. That’s what Anjali Kumar discovered when she went on a search to find God. In her book Stalking God: My Unorthodox Search for Something to Believe In, she stumbled across something truly fascinating about what human beings want, need and desire. How she came about this was, as you’ll hear in our conversation, a happy accident but it was the beginning of a truly inspiring journey. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a global scale, we can probably all identify that people such as Donald Trump and Meghan Markle polarise opinion to such an extent that they are the subject of millions of social media posts, podcasts, Youtube videos and media column inches. But what about your regular local emotional vampire? The friend, colleague, neighbour, acquaintance who somehow manages to occupy your thoughts, always be front of mind and somehow manipulate you without being anywhere near you. In this episode, I ask if someone is living rent-free in your head. (Quite possibly) Plus, how you can break their spell and focus on the people who deserve your mental, emotional and physical attention. Hey! Why not share your thoughts and insights to make your listening experience even better. Complete this listener survey to tell me what you want to hear: http://bit.ly/theemmagunsshow-survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently, I’ve had a few of those awful dark nights of the soul. The ones where you can’t sleep because your brain is on that setting where it’s showing you all the mistakes you’ve made, all the things you did and are doing wrong and all the ways in which you are screwing up. Spoiler alert - your thoughts are not facts. However, that’s not to say that life’s experiences don’t all add up to series of lessons and while it can be unpleasant to revisit the parts of yourself riddled with error, that can often be where you find the really helpful, enlightening and magical stuff. I was on the brink of being drowned by my negative thoughts when I remembered my conversation with Daniel Pink. You may have heard him on one of the many huge podcasts lately, but back in 2022, Daniel and I unpicked the many ways in which regret leads to growth. It was a helpful conversation then and I believe it is just as helpful now. Don’t fear regret, embrace it. It might be an unconventional view, but it sure beats staring at the ceiling at 2am feeling rubbish about yourself… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s Bullet Points, I take a look at the incredible ‘come back’ of Lindsay Lohan. She once was troubled but now she’s the most poised star you’ll find on a red carpet. It struck me that no one is asking about what happened for her to be able to come back from the brink and that perhaps, because she’s now arguably more beautiful than she’s ever been, that’s enough for people to assume she’s well and fully recovered. Also this week, how I’m sad about the demise of And Just Like That, despite everything I’ve said. Why the Idaho Murders, which were brilliantly covered here on Redhanded, got under my skin and a little trailer swap with my friends over at the Straight Up podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In response to the article I wrote in The Times about whether I was daft for not using skinny jabs to lose weight, I thought revisiting my conversation with Johann Hari about his book Magic Pill, which extensively researched the benefits, limitations and risks of GLP-1 Agonist drugs such as Ozempic, Semaglutide, Wegovy and Mounjaro. Johann is thorough and meticulous in his research and this interview, originally broadcast in 2024, was before weight loss drugs became as mainstream and as widely prescribed as they are today. One of the experts Johann interviewed during his years of research, stated that the cultural impact of GLP-1s was as significant as the smart phone. At the time, it seemed like a very bold statement, but in the year since we spoke, I think it's hard to argue that they haven't completely changed the way we talk about weight, weight loss, diets, food and more... I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Email me at office@emmaguns.com or Subscribe to my Substack and join the chat there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, you read that right... Ok, maybe not 'defence' but I'm curious about the wider social context and why it is that this person, at this time has generated so much interest and intrigued when porn has lived so comfortably out of public view. This is the brilliant piece in The Times by Janice Turner that's well worth a read for the wider context of this 'phenomenon'. 📧 Contact me: office@emmaguns.com 👓 Read me: Subscribe to my Substack: https://emmaguns.substack.com/ Follow me: 📱 https://www.instagram.com/emmaguns/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I wrote 'I Regret not Taking Ozempic' on my Substack and after the HUGE response, I thought it'd be prudent to revisit this conversation with the addiction, parenting and relationship expert Mandy Saligari. In it we discuss the complicated relationship we can have with food and our bodies. Whether it's food addiction or something a little more complicated and why a distorted relationship with food can also show up in how you manage love and money... 📧 Contact me: office@emmaguns.com 👓 Read me: Subscribe to my Substack: https://emmaguns.substack.com/ Follow me: 📱 https://www.instagram.com/emmaguns/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Bullet Points, you can join me on the rollercoaster of cutting my own fringe, plus why I've decided to put a paywall on my Substack. Yep, I've been writing and posting on my Substack for free and as someone said to me recently, 'how are people going to know your time and effort are worth anything if you're constantly giving it away for free?' 📧 Contact me: office@emmaguns.com 👓 Read me: Subscribe to my Substack: https://emmaguns.substack.com/ Follow me: 📱 https://www.instagram.com/emmaguns/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anxiety is a huge subject yet it's only really in recent years that we've started to accommodate as a very natural and normal emotional state. In the past, being anxious might have been seen as not being able to cope, being sensitive or needing to 'buck up' and 'get on with it'. In fact, you could argue that the world has gone from being fairly intolerant of it to being hyper aware of it. Dr Tracy Dennis-Tiwary is an expert on the subject and has written an excellent book Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You (even though it feels bad) and it makes an excellent case for reframing your anxiety so you can use it to your advantage. This conversation was originally recorded in 2022. 📧 Contact me: office@emmaguns.com 👓 Read me: Subscribe to my Substack: https://emmaguns.substack.com/ Follow me: 📱 https://www.instagram.com/emmaguns/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.