The Life Of Bryony - The Life of You – What Emma Gannon Needs Most After a Year of Nothing

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

Emma Gannon is back with me, fresh from talking about her ‘year of nothing’, to share the three things she simply cannot live without. As someone who has come through serious burnout, Emma has thought deeply about what genuinely keeps her grounded, rested and sane – and it’s probably not what you’d expect. We chat about carving out tiny pockets of sanctuary at home, the importance of true laughter and connection, and the simple rituals she uses to listen to her intuition. If you’re exhausted, over-stimulated, or just craving a bit more everyday magic, this gentle, cosy conversation is for you.BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODEEmma’s new book, ‘A Year of Nothing’ is available to pre-order now and will be released on 22nd January 2026.WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOUGot something to share? Message us on @lifeofbryonypod on Instagram.If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might need it – it really helps! Bryony xxCREDITS:Host: Bryony GordonGuest: Emma GannonProducer: Laura Elwood-CraigAssistant Producer: Tippi WillardStudio Manager: Sam ChisholmEditor: Luke ShelleyExec Producer: Jamie East  A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome, lovely ones, to the bonus edition of The Life of Briney. Today, Emma Gannon is sharing all the ways she avoids running herself into the ground. And as you might expect from someone who's recovered from burnout, it's a good one. I remember before my burnout, I didn't laugh. I wasn't laughing. And that is a bit of a red flag now. So my husband's really funny. He makes me laugh.

So I think just like a big, like massive, meaty laugh. My chat with Emma coming up, Right after this. I'magan, I just know that you are going to gift us absolute gems for this week's life of you. The three things that are essential to your well-being. And I feel like they're going to be goodens. I'm going to start with my chair. Your chair.

Yeah. So I'm really interested. to my chair. So I... Not the chair you're in right now. No, this is a lovely chair. But like you, I had the honour of judging the women's prize this year, last year. And I needed a space to read that wasn't my living room because my husband watches TV and there and stuff. And not my bedroom. I didn't want to read in bed necessarily and not my kitchen. Basically, I was like, I need like another space. So I bought this big armchair to go in my office in my house. and it's my reading chair.

Wow. Okay, so can you, is it like, can you fold your legs up in it? Yes. That's really crucial. And I've got a footstool, so it's sort of like a chaise long. Oh my gosh. And it's green and stripy and really deep. So you can curl up on it. I've got actually quite a few cushions on it. And I'm not allowed technology in the chair.

Really? Yeah. That's the rule you've created for the chair. I have a rule. No phones, no iPads, no scrolling, just reading in this chair. And I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me. Can I ask you where the chair is from? It's from Dunelm.

Oh, it gets better. It gets better. It's really good. Do you know what? Honestly, Emma, I'm Dunelm. My entire house is covered in Dunelm wallpaper. And it's also a sofa bed if it wants to be. Stop it.

A single one. But, you know, amazing. And so I just have this chair and I found myself, I was on holiday recently. And you know how some people like look through 50s. of their kids or, like, the things they love. I was looking through pictures of my chair. Can I just look at my face? It really brings me a lot of joy.

Like, I recommend anyone just having a chair they love. That's number one. Okay. It's so good. I don't know how you're going to beat this, so well. I would say the other thing is, and this is on the topic of rest and how it actually doesn't have to be,

like, rest doesn't equal bed rotting necessarily. Like, it really doesn't. For me, rest is like an active thing sometimes. And I know that when I'm sort of in a bit of a spiral, like I need to laugh. I need to go and I need to go out of my friends and laugh. And that to me used to mean like go to the pub and stuff like that. But I don't mean that. It can even be like a long walk. But just with a friend who's just, you know, you're going to giggle together and laugh. Yeah. Because I remember before my burnout, I didn't laugh. I wasn't laughing. And that is a bit of a red flag now. So my husband's really funny. He makes me laugh. So I think just like a big like massive. massive, meaty laugh. Do you know what? It's so interesting you say that.

I had, I mean, this is obviously a long time ago because I'm a long time married. But in my early 20s, I had this boyfriend. And the moment I knew that the relationship was over was, I remember we were sitting in his living room one Sunday afternoon. And he said, like a friend of his said something. And he laughed so uproariously. And I was like, I've never seen you laugh like that. And I was like, we're not meant to be together. We're not meant to be together because he hasn't laughed like that at me.

Do you know what I mean? But he laughed like that at his friend, the bear, whatever he called him. You know, blokes have nicknames. That's funny, yeah. And I was like, no, this is not going the distance. And it literally, he broke up with me the next weekend. Oh my God. I think there's definitely something in that.

Because, you know, marriage is like, you know, goes in and out of like, it's not all perfect all the time. But, like, me and Paul, so I'm not, like, a lot of the time, we'll go to bed laughing hysterically at something. Like, you know that, like, silent laughter? Yeah, I do. We just make each other laugh, like, like, a ridiculous amount. And I think that really got me through bad times. Yeah.

Laughter is, laughter is, my best friend calls it when I really start laughing. It's like the full mutley. I like, like, you know that kind of thing. I've seen that. I love that. Yeah. And crying. drawing with laughter and it is just chemically it creates something in you doesn't it

it regulates the nervous system yeah i love so yeah that just came to mind also another really good one you've done you this is i mean this is a cracker one okay the i don't know how you're going to be laughter and the chair from don't else because that's all you need so the third one i would say is something i've got into in the last year or so is i'm going to say it tarot cards And it's not because I'm like really amazing at reading them although I am quite good now so if you ever want one a reading but it's more the pictures so I've I collect them so I've got about 20 decks now

because when I like something I really I really like it I don't know you can collect tarot cards well I mean I've just got you know a ridiculous amount now but they you know the suit and like the deck I think it's 78 cards is all the same and you have like the major cards and the minor cards and you can read kind of where someone is. But they all have different pictures on so I can pick out a deck

depending on my mood. So there's like darker ones and there's lighter ones and there's like a child friendly one. Okay, but so hang on. Because I, okay, so I, when I want to know from people listening, please message me on Instagram or wherever in the place in the show notes.

Do you want me to do an episode of The Life of Brine on tarot because I you should people I keep hearing about it and I don't quite understand it okay but I know a lot of people love it and kind of go to it for comfort and whatnot so I'm interested in it so tell me so you pull your tarot cards and through that through just pulling those cards you'll be able to tell me about where I am in my life yes and it but and it's more I love it because it's prompts so it's you know you might have the card of like indecision, for example. And then like the card of the tower card, which is like when things are burning down to the ground and restarting or like, I'm just making these up. Or like you might have

the card of the sun, which is like warmth and energy and radiation. And it's like, I'm not going to say like, I think this. It's more what, you know, what do you think is bringing up? And you get to have really good conversations. And the cars are doing the work. Like it's not about. It's about how you interpret the cards. So, but so like if I pull death and start screaming, like, ah, because that's what I always think of what I wrote. I get death quite a lot and I get the devil card quite a lot. Like, as in there are some cards that you look at and you're like,

oh, they're not great, but actually what they just mean is. The end of something. The end of something. Or like, are you, you know, thinking, are you going down old patterns that need to be looked at? Almost certainly. It's all just sort of, there's a phrase that's like there's no bad cards. And I truly, I believe that.

But also I have a writer's group of some friends that I've made over the past few years through the book, actually, where we sometimes swap our tarot card pulls on WhatsApp and would like read each other's. Really? So this is like a whole thing. Yeah. It's a whole new way of socialising.

Wow. Okay, everyone. Do you want a life of briny on tarot? I mean, I think I don't need the answer because I think I know what my answer is and it's a yes. I would watch that and maybe they can read your tarot cards live. Emma Gannon, thank you so much for coming on the life of you. Thank you for having me. A massive thank you to Emma.

If you've got any tips on how you've taken back control after feeling absolutely spent, then please share them with me on Instagram at at Life of Briny Pot. And if you're just here for the good vibes, you can always leave us a review or give us a follow at Life of Briny Pot. Most importantly, take care of yourself and I'll see you next time.