How many times this month have you said "Yes" when your entire body was screaming "No"?

In birth work (and for many women), we are conditioned to be 'team players'. We smile when we are angry. We undercharge. We soothe a client's guilt when they cancel at the last minute. We reply to texts outside of office hours so we don't seem 'rigid'.

But in nervous system terms, this isn't just 'being nice.' It is a survival response called Fawning.

In this episode, Sarah explores the sneaky, everyday ways we abandon our own boundaries to make others comfortable, and how chronic fawning leads to the most corrosive symptom of burnout: Resentment.

In this episode, we cover:

• The 4th Survival Response: What is "Fawning" and why is it such a brilliant (but costly) survival strategy in birth work?

• The "Micro-Fawns": The quiet, everyday ways we shrink ourselves to keep the peace.

• Fawn vs. Compassion: How to tell if you are helping from a grounded choice or a fear-based compulsion (and addressing the fear that boundaries will hurt your business).

• The Somatic Cost: How unexpressed "No's" show up as jaw tension, migraines, and 3 AM anxiety.

• The Tool: The "Grounding Anchor" practice to help you find your footing—and your gut intuition—before you answer a request.

Stay Connected:

Like/Follow/Subscribe to the podcast

Website: www.sarahhardywalsh.com

Instagram: @theresilientbirthworker

Free Resource: Get the 5-Day Rest + Resilience Reset

You are likely good at your job because you care deeply. But is that caring contributing to burnout?

In this episode, we tackle the "Cost of Caring." We explore the crucial difference between Empathy (feeling with someone) and Compassion (feeling for someone).

We break down Affective Empathy ("The Sponge") versus Cognitive Empathy ("The Witness") and explore why joining your client in their emotional storm isn't actually helpful for them and is dangerous for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Research: Why "people-oriented" professionals are prone to empathic distress.

• The Sponge vs. The Witness: How to stop absorbing experiences like a sponge.

• The Oak Tree: Why your client needs you to be an anchor.

• The Tool: The "Screen Door" visualization to protect your energy while remaining connected.

Stay Connected:

• Like/Follow/Subscribe to the podcast

• Website: www.sarahhardywalsh.com

• Instagram: @theresilientbirthworker

Free Resource: Get the 5-Day Rest + Resilience Reset

You’ve tried the yoga. You’ve tried the green smoothies. You’ve tried the gratitude journals and mindfulness meditations. So why do you still feel exhausted?

In this episode, we demystify the nervous system. We move beyond vague terms like "stress" and look at the biological map of your body using a simplified version of Polyvagal Theory.

Sarah breaks down the "Nervous System Ladder"—from the safety of the Green Zone, to the hustle of the Red Zone, down to the numbness of the Blue Zone—and explains why you cannot "mindset" your way out of a survival state.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Ladder: Understanding Ventral (Safe), Sympathetic (Fight/Flight), and Dorsal (Freeze).

• The Blue Zone: Why you procrastinate, "ghost" your business, or collapse after a shift.

• 5 Biological Reasons why standard self-care fails when you are in survival mode.

• The Tool: How to use the "Physiological Sigh" to reset your system in 15 seconds.

Stay Connected:

• Like/Follow/Subscribe to the podcast

• Website: www.sarahhardywalsh.com

• Instagram: @theresilientbirthworker

Free Resource: Get the 5-Day Rest + Resilience Reset