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Dear Social worker, Welcome to 
the world's number one personal 

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development podcast. 
For social workers. 

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Skill alone isn't enough. 
Building character is what 

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sustains careers in social work.
I'm Lisa Ran, a social worker 

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and full time entrepreneur and 
founder of Social work coaching 

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hub.com. 
And whilst I cannot reduce your 

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caseload, I can help you level 
up your career with practical 

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tools, leadership strategies and
tips to build resilience. 

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This is real talk. 
From one social worker to 

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another, empowering your 
personal growth, you're exactly 

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where you need to be. 
Let's talk. 

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This week we're going to be 
focused on listening to your 

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body and our quote and our book 
recommendation comes from Doctor

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Bessel van de Kolk, The Body 
Keeps Score. 

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Today's episode is for anyone 
who feels like they are 

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constantly on the go, moving 
from 1 task to the nest without 

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a moment to breathe. 
Now, you might think I'm fine, 

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I'm handling everything. 
But your body might be telling a

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different story and I'm guilty 
of that. 

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That happened to me. 
It could be there's tension in 

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your shoulders, you may be 
getting headaches, or there's 

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just exhaustion that you just 
can't shake. 

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These are all signs your body is
processing stress, even when 

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your brain refuses to recognize 
it. 

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As social workers, we are 
conditioned to prioritise 

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everyone and everything else, 
but today we're going to explore

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why tuning into your body and 
recognising these signals is 

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essential for sustainability in 
social work. 

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I'll never forget a time in my 
career when I ignored my body 

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signals. 
And it happened when we had a 

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health assessment. 
All social workers were offered 

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like a health and well-being 
assessment. 

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They were trying to help us 
prioritize our well-being. 

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And I remember sitting down with
this lady who was just asking 

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general questions about health 
like what have you eaten over 

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the past week and how have you 
slept over the past week? 

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And she was scaling and scoring 
these the answers to the 

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questions. 
And I never forget that week. 

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I remember I had not cooked 
anything. 

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I'd eaten out for breakfast, 
lunch and dinner and I remember 

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in that moment I felt really 
embarrassed. 

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Embarrassed that I was spending 
time caring for, advising, 

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supporting, advocating for 
everyone out to look after 

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themselves or to lower the risks
in their home and focus on their

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well-being etcetera etcetera. 
And I was completely neglecting 

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my own. 
And she'd only asked me 

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questions around that previous 
week, right? 

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So yes, to an extent I shouldn't
feel that bad. 

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It's only a week. 
But for me, it was a moment of 

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clarity. 
It was a moment of clarity where

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I realized that I was ignoring 
my own needs and I was ignoring 

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my body signals Forrest. 
You know when your body craves 

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sugar and craves salt, sometimes
it is an indication of poor 

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sleep because the body is 
responding to stress. 

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When you start picking on 
cookies and cakes and things and

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sweets, all of those can be 
something that is used to manage

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stress. 
And whilst I was juggling 

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multiple cases, back-to-back 
meetings, endless paperwork, I'd

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convinced myself I was fine 
because I didn't feel stressed 

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emotionally. 
I was still able to get up, I 

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was still able to make safe 
decisions. 

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But my buddy told a different 
story and it was only when I 

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stopped and I was asked the 
question by someone else, not me

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doing self reflection. 
When someone else was in the 

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picture asking me these 
questions, I was like, I'm 

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ignoring what my body is telling
me here. 

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Eventually, I had no choice but 
to listen when I experienced 

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burnout. 
So since then, I've learned to 

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recognize the signs of stress in
my body and take action. 

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However, I was not successful in
taking action before the burnout

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appeared again In my social work
career. 

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I made some changes but not 
enough boundaries. 

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And then I've made some 
boundaries but not enough 

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changes. 
And then eventually I found 

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around the right formula that 
worked for me and that minimized

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the chance of me experiencing 
burnout again in social work. 

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So I'm going to talk to you 
today about how the body keeps 

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score. 
And let's delve into the 

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disconnect between mind and 
body. 

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Perhaps you struggle with 
downtime. 

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What does your downtime look 
like? 

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Can you even relax? 
I got to a place where I wrote a

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journal called the self-care 
Journal for Social workers. 

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It's available on my website. 
It's available from Amazon and 

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you just tick off what you've 
achieved and when just so it's 

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something really quick for you, 
but it really helps you focus on

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what your well-being needs are 
for that week. 

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So I would highly recommend you 
get something like that that you

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can hold on to, you can carry 
with you. 

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But at the beginning of that 
book, you have a list of or a 

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template that asks you what do 
you want to do to relax? 

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And it gives you all the 
different categories and ways of

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relaxing with some examples. 
And that is something that I had

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to do when I was in practice 
because I struggled to relax. 

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I was so used to the busyness 
and so used to the stress that I

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felt it was my norm and it 
really wasn't. 

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Now another disconnect may be 
experiencing physical symptoms. 

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So I worked with a colleague who
used to have constant migraines 

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and headaches. 
And yes, there can be other 

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reasons why this is happening, 
but in this case it was related 

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to stress. 
And I also had another colleague

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who had digestive issues and 
really struggling to keep food 

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down, not feeling like they 
wanted to eat sometimes as well.

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And there wasn't an obvious 
cause for that. 

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And when they went to get it 
sorted, nothing was found, you 

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know, when she went to the GP. 
So these things can be signs 

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that the body is under stress, 
but we accept them as the 

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norming keep trying to pardon 
and go and keep going and it 

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never ends well. 
Another common sign could be 

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forgetting things or feeling 
scatterbrained because your 

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brain is overloaded with 
information so much so that it 

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can't remember what you'd just 
said or where you'd put 

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something. 
I'm not talking about, you know,

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getting to the top of the stairs
and saying, oh, I've completely 

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forgotten what I came for. 
I'm talking about things really 

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related to work where you just 
feel like you haven't quite got 

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a handle on things and you're 
ignoring it because you just 

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need to get the work done need 
and you're focused on getting 

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those outcomes for children and 
families equally. 

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What's happening is that your 
brain is becoming so 

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overstimulated that it can't 
retain the same level of 

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information that it may have 
done if you had some rest or 

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you'd had some downtime or you 
were just taking breaks. 

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And one of the last signs of the
disconnect between mind and body

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is feeling fine. 
You feel fine emotionally, but 

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your body tells a different 
story, whether it's having 

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sniffles or sinus problems and 
colds and flus and coughs. 

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And all of these can be 
contributing factors to you 

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being overloaded, exhausted, and
stressed, but you still feel 

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fine. 
So I'm going to give you 3 

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practical strategies for tuning 
into your body. 

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Even as a student social worker,
you still need to be aware of 

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these things because you will 
get to a place where things feel

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like they're out of control. 
And this is one of the things 

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that we don't have influence or 
control over as a social worker 

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because we cannot have a handle 
on how many families need 

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protection and advocacy and 
support. 

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That's something that is beyond 
our control. 

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We are on the back end and have 
to respond to what the needs are

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and it's important that we 
recognise what we are not in 

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control of and focus on what we 
are in control of in order to 

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support sustainability in the 
career. 

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So the first practical strategy 
for tuning into your body is to 

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pause and check. 
In that story I told you where I

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had that well-being assessment 
and it was only in that 

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assessment I recognize that I 
wasn't looking after myself the 

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best way that I could. 
And I believe that stop that 

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pause throughout that day 
invited me to check in with my 

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body and I had to start asking 
myself questions. 

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So I'm asking you these 
questions. 

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Are you clenching your jaw? 
One of my social worker friends 

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said when she went to the 
dentist that inside of her gums 

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were black, There was a line 
that was black inside and that 

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was because she was clenching 
her jaw at night due to stress. 

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Is that a way of you managing 
your stress and you feeling fine

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but actually your body is 
keeping score of that? 

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Are your shoulders tense? 
There's an easy solution for 

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that guys. 
Book in a massage. 

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If you remember at the beginning
of the year, I said if you 

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remember, book in your holidays 
a year in advance all the way to

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December. 
Those dates do not have to be 

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definite. 
They do not have to be in stone.

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You do not have to go on 
holiday. 

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It may be that they're admin 
days, but they serve a purpose, 

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one to remind you to take a 
break. 

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So make sure they are regular 
every six to eight weeks, 

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whether it's one day, two days 
over the bank holiday, a week. 

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Make sure that you've got 
something in the diary to remind

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you to take a break. 
Of course, you must take a break

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on some of those dates. 
And then lastly, lastly, you're 

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able to prioritize yourself care
according to that. 

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So it may be that you book a 
massage in let's say, November 

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2025. 
It's booked ahead of time, 

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right? 
And that's a way that you can 

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find a solution to some of these
bodily responses to stress. 

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Another one, which I've heard 
someone talk about this before, 

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He's holding your breath. 
Sometimes holding your breath 

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can be a stress response. 
And I've heard the phrase e-mail

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apnea before. 
I'm trying to recall the 

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author's name of the book. 
It might come to me by the end 

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of this podcast. 
But e-mail apnea was a really 

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interesting concept and holding 
your breath may be something 

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that you do. 
So try and just observe yourself

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this week and really check in 
with your body and say, what is 

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my body trying to tell me? 
Because every action or every 

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response that your body gives, 
it's a it's telling you 

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something. 
And these small moments, these 

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small pauses that you create for
yourself is going to help you 

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become more aware of your stress
signals before they escalate, 

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which is the key. 
We don't want to get to burn out

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and then start trying to figure 
it out because you're going to 

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be exhausted, right? 
It's kind of going to be the 

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back way of doing it. 
So try and get ahead of it #2 

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create a stress map. 
Have you ever heard of one of 

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these? 
It's a journal for a week. 

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Jot down when your body feels 
off. 

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Now you can use one of my 
publications. 

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It's called the Mood Tracker 
Journal, and it's available from

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me directly at Social Work 
Coaching Hub, or you can go 

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direct to Amazon. 
And it's a way of you 

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documenting how you're feeling, 
how your body's feeling. 

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Because over time, when you look
back over this journal, you 

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might notice patterns. 
Maybe your headaches spike after

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certain meetings, or your back 
pain worsens after long periods 

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at your desk. 
Recognizing these activation 

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points in these triggers can 
help you address some of the 

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root causes of stress. 
We don't want to just skim the 

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cream off the coffee. 
We want to make sure that we've 

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got a very good idea of the 
roasting bean that makes the 

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coffee, IE the stress the root 
cause of that stress. 

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And #3 it might be you have to 
engage your body now. 

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Movement is medicine and moving 
your body more, particularly in 

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the age where we are working 
from home more, will really help

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you get rid of some of that 
energy, some of that vicarious 

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trauma that's been thrown at you
throughout the day, right? 

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So it may be you look at deep 
breathing exercises and I can 

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recommend a called Balance. 
I think you have the first year 

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free. 
If you're a Christian, you can 

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use the app Abide. 
Again, I think you have some 

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meditations on there free. 
Whether it's joining the gym, 

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stretching, dancing, walking in 
nature or anything that moves 

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your body. 
We all know that it's good for 

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us. 
We all know it can be difficult 

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to do that, particularly in the 
winter months, but you've got to

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find something that works for 
you because movement is medicine

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and it's certainly going to help
with some of that stress relief.

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So consider how you're going to 
integrate that into your week. 

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Now we have a couple of 
questions this week. 

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I'm going to focus on one. 
If we have time for the other 

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one, I will. 
This has come from Will, who is 

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listening from London. 
So hi Will, thank you for your 

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question. 
And if you want to send in 

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questions to me, you can 
info@socialworkcoachinghub.com. 

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I'd love to hear from you. 
I'd love to hear your journeys 

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and please do like this podcast,
share this podcast and write a 

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review. 
If you're listening on Apple, it

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goes a long way. 
So Will asks, I'm always on the 

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go and feel guilty if I stop. 
How do I give myself permission 

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to rest? 
That word, the P word 

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permission. 
Let's think of it like this. 

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You are not giving yourself 
permission to rest. 

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You're not. 
You're not giving yourself 

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permission to rest at all. 
You are giving yourself 

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permission to be on the go, and 
that's because somewhere it is 

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serving you more than rest. 
There's a message that's been 

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given to the neurons in your 
brain that you are being served 

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more or better than resting. 
So we need to reframe what rest 

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is actually going to give to you
in order for you to think of 

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rest in a different way. 
So we have to reframe that, 

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perhaps thinking of it as a 
necessity and not a luxury. 

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And perhaps we could use an 
analogy of you charging your 

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phone. 
We all charge our phones, right?

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Every single night we charge our
phones. 

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We make sure we've got our plugs
and we've got our leads. 

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We put them in our car with us. 
We put them in our bags, our 

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handbags, they go everywhere 
with us, right, Because our 

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phone needs the juice. 
You need the exact same thing. 

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If you don't take time to 
recharge, you're simply going to

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run out. 
It is that simple. 

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That's the only direction of 
travel. 

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If you don't take the time to 
rest and you won't be able to 

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function effectively and you'll 
start neglecting yourself and 

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eventually you'll you'll be 
moving towards exhaustion and 

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burnout. 
So I want you to start small, 

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Will. 
I want you to schedule 10 

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minutes of uninterrupted 
downtown, downtown downtime. 

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And I want you to do that at 
least three times a week, three 

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times a week, and gradually 
build from there. 

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Decide what you're going to do 
in that 10 minutes. 

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Now, it could be something that 
brings you absolute joy 

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listening to your favorite 
songs, painting, dancing, 

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whatever it may be. 
You've got to decide what that 

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is. 
And if you want a resource to 

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help you, if you go to 
socialworkcoachinghub.com/books,

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you can get a copy of my book, 
The Self-care Journal for Social

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Workers, and that's going to 
help. 

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It gives you great ideas for 
downtime and rest, and it really

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helps you focus on giving 
yourself the permission to rest 

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and keep yourself accountable to
that. 

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The book recommendation for this
episode, as I've mentioned, I 

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highly recommend that something 
I refer to in my coaching 

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sessions is The Body Keep Score 
by Doctor Bessel Van the Coke. 

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Now the book explains how stress
and trauma are stored in the 

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body. 
Do what I said, it's stored in 

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the body. 
It's not stored in the mind, 

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it's in the body. 
So whether you think you're fine

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or not, it's the body that will 
really tell the story. 

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And it offers insight into 
healing and self-awareness. 

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And if you'd like to bring 
training to your local authority

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or to your organization, Ioffer 
trauma informed self-care 

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workshops and training. 
And I've delivered this to the 

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ambulance service, to trade 
unions, to social work 

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organisations. 
And essentially it teaches you 

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to consider the trauma that you 
are exposed to in the workplace 

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and create a self-care plan 
according to how you're 

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responding to that trauma. 
So you walk out out with a 

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trauma informed well-being plan.
So you can go to 

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socialworkcoachinghub.com/speaker
or if you'd like me to be a 

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speaker for your event, you can 
go to 

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socialworkcoachinghub.com/speaker
or just reach out to me on 

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Instagram and LinkedIn under my 
name, Lisa Ann Edwards, which is

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LESIN. 
Let's dive into the three main 

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takeaways from this podcast 
episode #1 stress isn't just in 

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your head. 
Your body holds on to it as 

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well. 
It will tell your story. 

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If you do not do right by your 
body, eventually it's going to 

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show up in a different way #2 
tuning into your body signals 

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can help you prevent burnout and
take proactive steps toward 

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Wellness. 
I recommended my journal, the 

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Mood Tracker Journal, where you 
can just track how you're 

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feeling, track the stress 
points, and then that puts you 

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in a better position to create 
solutions. 

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I also mentioned the diary. 
Make sure you've planned your 

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diary for the rest of the year, 
even if it's just one day off. 

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Create those boundaries now and 
then you're able to book in, 

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say, a massage or a pedicure, 
whatever it may be, way ahead of

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time, and that helps you focus 
and keep in mind yourself. 

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Care #3 Rest is not a reward, 
it's a necessity. self-care is 

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not selfish, it's a necessity. 
Listen to your body, it's always

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speaking to you. 
So to help you start tuning into

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your body, I want you to 
download the body stress 

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checking guide from the show 
notes. 

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It includes prompts and 
techniques to help you identify 

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stress and perhaps integrate 
some exercise into yourself. 

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Care, perhaps daily if we can 
manage it as social workers. 

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I know it feels like a lot if we
say daily, right? 

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So let's just go with what you 
feel is realistic. 

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So if you enjoyed this episode, 
please subscribe, share it with 

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00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,720
your colleagues, and let's 
create a culture in social work 

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that values our well-being as 
much as we are valuing others. 

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So thank you for tuning in to 
the number one personal 

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development podcast for social 
workers. 

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Remember, thriving in social 
work starts with you. 

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00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:28,800
If you're ready to level up your
career, visit 

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00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,000
socialworkcoachinghub.com for 
more tools and resources. 

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Until next time, keep growing, 
keep thriving, and God bless.