Who is Eleanor Hadley & What’s a Sensuality Coach?

In this episode I want to introduce myself to you, in case you have no idea who I am. I’ll be sharing a bit about me and my story and how I came to be a Sensuality Coach and how I help people embody their most sensual selves.

This podcast is for YOU, so if you ever have any questions you’d like me to answer on the show, or topics you’d like me to cover – reach out to me on email here or over on instagram @eleanorhadley

Links & Resources

Start your journey to explore your own personal pleasure language with my free quiz, including a bonus worksheet with journaling prompts to help you dive even deeper. Take the quiz now: www.eleanorhadley.com/pleasurelanguage

Get out of your head and into your body by joining my signature online course in The Art of Sensual Movement. Use the code PODCAST for 15%off – https://www.eleanorhadley.com/tasm

Learn more about my upcoming retreats here: https://eleanorhadley.com/retreats

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Sensuality Academy Podcast!

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Episode Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 2 of The Sensuality Academy podcast. In this episode I will introduce myself to you, in case you have absolutely no idea who I am, share a bit about me and how I came to become a Sensuality Coach and how I help people embody their most sensual selves.

So, who the hell am I?

As you heard at the top, my name is Eleanor Hadley – and as you can probably tell by my accent I’m an Aussie – if you listen very carefully you might be able to pick up a slight American twang, with some words that I say because I lived in Richmond Virginia, in the US for three years when I was a kid – I had a full blown American accent then I moved back to Australia when I was about 10 and it went back to Aussie. 

I’m from Melbourne, but I’m somewhat of a digital nomad and totally addicted to travel, so you’ll likely hear me coming at you from all around the world throughout the series of this podcast.  

Now, I’m going to share a bit more about what a Sensuality Coach actually does in a minute – but first, how did I get here?  

Without going too far back – I studied International Community Development at Uni – which I know seems totally irrelevant right now, but stick with me, it comes together. During high school, I was absolutely obsessed with volunteering and I would constantly search for charities and NGO’s that I could work with. Which led me to hopping on a plane all by myself at 17 years old to head to Guatemala, of all places, to work in an orphanage for three weeks, at 17. Now, I’ve got really different views on this whole ‘voluntourism’ vibe these days – at the time it solidified my desire to work in community development and lead me to get an exclusive invitation to study this subject at a university in Melbourne, which was amazing. I absolutely loved it.  

Throughout my study, while I was absolutely in love with my course – I got to travel,  I got to work on projects in Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Uganda. After my studies, because the course was so great and my lecturers were so amazing, I actually came to the conclusion that it really wasn’t my place – as some blonde, white chick from Australia – to be going into communities and telling them what to do and how to “develop”. I knew a lot aboutdevelopment, but I didn’t feel like I had any tangible skills that would be really, truly meaningful in a community setting – you know, as a teacher, a doctor, an engineer. My studies had taught me that real transformation happened from within, from the people in the community themselves. People always know what’s best for them; they just need some resources so they don’t really need Westerners imposing their culture but really tangible support in other ways that I didn’t feel I couldn’t offer with my studies and my skill set at the time.  

So, while I absolutely adored my course and the work I had been involved in. I decided I would revisit this industry when I had something tangible to offer.

As I was finishing my degree, I was taking regular pole dancing classes. I grew up dancing in different realms, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, never anything too serious and I decided to start pole dancing classes on a whim and got fully addicted. I know it’s a bit random to go from International Community Development to talking about Pole dancing. I started training multiple times a week, sometimes daily, I worked all the way up through to Elite level, started competing, I started working on the desk at my local studio and I was so addicted. 

I was absolutely in love with the way Pole Dancing made me feel. I felt strong, I felt sexy. I felt really in my body for the first time, I felt that ownership of my own sensuality and my power, my strength it was amazing for my confidence and really had me stepping into my femininity in a way I never experienced before.

In true Eleanor fashion, I decided to go all in and ended up buying a studio in Melbourne – it was actually the studio that was the first pole studio in the state that’s the one I purchased in Prahran, Melbourne if anyone is familiar. So, for a lot of people including myself this seemed like a total 180 from international community development to pole dancing business owner. It seemed like a total switcheroo. Switcheroo is probably not the right word, you know what I mean. It was just a full 180. But – the underlying theme of the two, which I only really uncovered only fairly recently, only a few years ago was that of transformation. It was all about transformation. Seeing something transform having an impact in a way that allowed people to transform how they felt about themselves and how they lived their life. So, that is what I’m still the most passionate about is facilitating transformation, being a part of that process. 

So, back to the studio. I ran this pole dancing studio, my business, successfully for four years – teaching students and managing a staff of about 10. And the most rewarding part for me was watching my students’ transformation. They would come in Week 1, super shy, meek and mild, in leggings or sheepishly pulling down their shorts trying to cover their legs. But, in a matter of weeks they’d be strutting their stuff, in their heels flipping upside down and having the best time and it always put the biggest smile on my face because it was amazing to see these women totally change their relationship with their bodies and their confidence. To see how much their self confidence and self esteem, just beautiful, so beautiful. 

Their sense of self love improved tenfold by attending these classes and what I loved about teaching Pole, it was a beautiful blend of supportive, body positive environment, the focus on fun and the permission granted for them to move sensually made such an impact. So amazing to witness. 

At some point in my final year of owning the studio, I had the idea for Sensual Yoga, if you’re familiar with my work you’ll know what Sensual Yoga is but I’ll share a bit about that soon. So, I had this idea for Sensual Yoga and because of that I decided to sell my studio to pursue this idea.

There’s a lot more to the story of how I created Sensual Yoga but I’ll share it in an upcoming episode to get into the juicy details because it’s quite fun and I obviously adore it, I created it – but for now I am going to share a bit more on my story.

Once I sold the studio, quite literally, the next day. I signed the contract, it was sold. I was off on a plane the very next day to my spiritual home of Guatemala – like I mentioned before that was the first place I ever visited solo and it feels kind of like home, a second home, I’ve been five times now, and I  adore it. 

I spent about 6 months in Latin America after I sold my studio, where I studied to become a certified Yoga Teacher, immersed myself in Esoteric Studies, became a certified crystal healer, got a diploma in Aromatherapy, studied my Reiki level 1 & 2 and started planning my new business. I love learning as you can probably tell. 

So from there and with all my qualifications, I created Sensual Yoga and started teaching workshops when I came back to Melbourne after my travels. Soon after those workshops, I created my signature online course, called The Art of Sensual Movement – which you can find at eleanorhadley.com 

From there, I was sharing more and more openly about my journey, my sensual journey, the importance of sensuality over on my socials, on instagram – @eleanorhadley – and started getting SO many questions from my followers about self-love, femininity, sexuality and more. It was great to see that my posts were resonating and throughout this process a friend suggested that I would make a great coach – initially I cringed at. How could I be a coach? – huge imposter syndrome. Who am I? All those bullshit excuses that come up. Who is going to want me as a coach? What do I have to offer? All of that. 

But, I realised I’ve always been a natural coach. I’m the person my family and friends seem to call on when they want advice, guidance or simply someone to hold space for them to express their feelings and to listen. It’s part of who I am. 

So, it didn’t take me long to think that maybe I will do this coaching. I studied yet again – if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a very passionate student and I LOVE to learn and integrate the knowledge I’ve gained into my coaching that’s why I’m constantly learning new things. 

So I studied life coaching with The Beautiful You Life Coaching Academy – who, side note, are absolutely incredible, the most heart-centred school you’ll find. If you happen to be interested in studying life coaching, definitely reach out to me and I’ll answer any questions you have, also share how you can get an entire coaching package with me for free if you enrol with them. 

Anyway, I became a certified life coach and naturally decided that my specialty, my niche, would be sensuality. Ever since, I’ve hosted retreats around the world (at the time of recording I have a retreat in Greece in June 2020 and also Slovenia in August 2020 – check out eleanorhadley.com/retreats for the latest updates). Since I’ve studied, I’ve worked with 1:1 clients and also have my signature group coaching program which is also called The Sensuality Academy! 

So, what the hell is a Sensuality Coach?

As a Sensuality Coach, I work with people who are wanting to connect on a deeper, more intimate level with themselves. Too often in our culture and society, sensuality – and god forbid sexuality – is seen as taboo. And for those who identify as women, so often our sexuality is seen as something external from us – something that we ‘perform’ for the pleasure of someone else. Our sensuality is our own.  

Through my work, I empower people to reclaim their sensuality:

—> In a future episode, I’ll share more in depth on what Sensuality is, my own definition, so keep an eye out for that. 

• I’m SO passionate about sensuality – it’s literally written in the stars for me

• If anyone else out there is into astrology as much as I am, it’ll be no surprise to you that I’m a very proud, Taurus – and one of the major words to describe us is SENSUAL. Not only is my sun in Taurus, but my Venus is too – so I was destined to be all about sensuality.

• Through my work, I’ve seen the powerful effects of women getting in touch with their sensuality (myself included) 

• This goes back to when I was teaching pole classes – I saw how amazing it was when women were given permission to move their bodies sensually for themselves.

• In a world that is very much patriarchal, with so much focus on the male gaze, it can be easy to assume that moving in a sensual way is only limited to situations where it is for the benefit of a man, but….

• I believe that your sensuality is yours to own and share, or not share, as you so please  (that means your sensuality is YOURS)

• I believe that movement is incredibly powerful and healing, and that’s why I created Sensual Yoga, being a channel, a way to express and embody our femininity, our sensuality – I’ll share more on this topic in another episode

• When we move in a way that society has told us is ’not okay’, we essentially take the power back. When we move in a way that’s sensual purely for our own benefit and enjoyment – it’s a reclamation

• I want to help you reclaim your sensuality

That’s what I do. 

I do this with my clients through powerful questioning, gentle guidance and sharing tangible techniques to help them get out of their heads and into their body. To reclaim and rediscover your innate sensuality, your innate femininity. 

And, that’s what I aim to do with this podcast too. I want to share simple, easy tips that you can connect more with your sensuality, your femininity, your body and your pleasure. I want YOU to reclaim your sensuality. 

So, that’s a bit about me and my journey. 

If you watch my instagram stories – at least when I’m back visiting Melbourne – you’ll also know that I have an adorable Great Dane named Alfie – and a sweet little kitty named Pocahontas. Yes, they get along, they’re besties, and yes they’re both grey, they match – because of course, they’re brother and sister, duh. 

Okay, so by now you probably have a better idea of who I am and why I do what I do. I can’t wait to share lots of juicy gems with you throughout this podcast! 

If you loved this episode, or any of them – I’d appreciate if you would share with your friends. Send them a link, screenshot and share this to your stories. It would mean the world. 

Thanks, beautiful, until next time, stay sensual!