Emilie Leeks

Welcome to this space

I am a heart-centred somatic coach, supporting those who are looking for more ease, freedom & joy, in their bodies and in life

Find out more about me and my work below...

Hi, I’m Emilie. Welcome to this space. I am a heart-centred somatic coach, dance teacher and space holder, supporing those who are looking for more ease, freedom & joy, in their bodies and in life. This is not an easy journey, and often we can find ourselves losing our way. It’s my role to help you find your way back. My work weaves practical, useable healing tools, with practices and explorations in self-compassion, body connection, and a return to a deep trust in ourselves. I do not view myself as an expert, here to give you all the answers. Rather, I act as your guide and supporter, as you navigate the twists and turns in your life. I help you rediscover your intuition, find clarity, and take the steps that are right for you, in your unique situation. Due to time limitations, I am currently focusing my work on Somatic Movement, and dance teaching.

Working with me

I am a one-woman business, and work few hours in the week. You won’t get immediate answers to queries, nor the slickest, sleekest experience working with me. You will, however, get personal connection and support, and someone who takes responsibility for their part (and gets things sorted) when things don’t go smoothly. People who connect well with me are respectful of my humanness, own their own feelings, and can expect a high quality, personal service from me. If this doesn’t sound reasonable to you, we are probably not meant to work together - and that’s completely ok!

Why I do this work

I have always loved working with people. As a paediatric speech and language therapist, I enjoyed getting to know children and their families, and working with them on speech, language and communication issues. But what really drew me in was finding a place in myself where I would see these children and parents for who they each were – where I could hear and honour their perspectives, and work collaboratively with them to help them find their path. And then I became a parent myself – and that has been my deepest, biggest and most challenging learning curve. I realised just how under-resourced and under-recognised parents are – and how impossible it was to parent well in such isolation, as we do in our culture. My focus shifted from speech and language therapy, to training as a parent coach and walking alongside other parents, as we all did the necessary learning and inner work to be less tied by our own conditioning and traumas, and to become more conscious and intentional on our parenting path. Finding myself on a parenting path that includes neurodiversity, anxiety and reactivity amongst my children, as well as chronic health conditions in myself, just made me more determined that the mainstream path wasn’t for us. My work with parents, and within my own parenting journey, brought me to explore and train in a number of beautiful healing explorations and practices, which I am honoured to be able to share. It’s far from easy, travelling this healing road, and I continue to learn and grow alongside the beautiful souls I work with. I hope and imagine that it will always be this way.

My approach

As I work with each beautiful client, I am guided by their situation, outlook and desires. It is far from a one-size-fits-all approach! I draw from my various learnings to bring an approach which blends reparenting and trauma education, the inner work of deep exploration, and practices in compassion, movement and embodiment. I work online and in person, and wherever you connect with me through this work, I hold the guiding principle of bringing people home to themselves. You can expect me to bring myself fully and deeply to all of the work I do – and my expectation of the beautiful souls I work with is that they will do the same.

My work aims to be as inclusive as possible. As a white, cis, straight woman, I have a long way to go. I continue to learn and activate in my own ways, and am open to guidance and correction when it is needed. All are welcome in this space – racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of oppression will not be tolerated here, although discomfort is held with care and gentleness as we learn on this path.

Education & trainings

Parent and home educator to 3 beautiful children

Somatic Movement Center® Certified Exercise Instructor

Certified Essential Somatics Movement Teacher

Salsa dance teacher

Certified Way of the Luminous Heart practitioner

Certified Circle holder

Certified Chakradance facilitator

Certified Hand in Hand Parenting instructor

Certified Reiki practitioner

Former paediatric speech and language therapist

Former registered Halliwick Approach lecturer and swimming teacher

I am also an avid reader, and taker of relevant courses! I am constantly learning and evolving, as I dig deeper into my explorations around connection, authenticity, trauma, the nervous system, ancestral wisdom, movement, massage, and dance, amongst other things.

Whole-life living…

It is tremendously important to me to create a beautiful balance in my life – to tend to my own needs, as well as those of others, and to find joy and gratitude, alongside the challenges that life (including the awesome ride that is parenting) brings. Here and there, in the windows that I create or that open up to me in any given moment, I put time towards natural and conscious movement practices, dance, and rest. I am a dog lover and owner, I both frustrate myself with and enjoy making a mess of the gardening, and I love to laugh with my partner, be silly with my children, and connect with friends. I write, crochet, drink tea, and read. Around the washing up, the (occasional) cleaning, and the supporting of my family’s needs (as well as all the other parenting and life ‘stuff’), I make space to do the things I enjoy. It makes all the difference.