http://authenticallyspeaking.co.uk/

Authentically speaking - Coaching & Training for Lawyers, 23 Bishop Road, Macclesfield (2026)

25/04/2026

Anniversary flowers, a sunny dining table, and a card that was perfect today. 🌸

I haven’t picked up my Angel Cards in a really long time. But this morning, sitting with my wedding anniversary flowers and a quiet moment to reflect, I pulled this one and it felt like a very timely nod to everything happening right now.

Archangel Raphael: “The healing angel is with you, supporting your healing work.”

That’s exactly what this year has been about. For me, and with my clients and clubs.

When we carry grief, anxiety, or the heavy weight of the past, our nervous systems remember. They hold onto it long after the moment has passed. Learning how to pause, breathe, and tell your body that you are safe now is some of the most profound healing work you can ever do.

It has been genuinely revolutionary for me. My cortisol levels halved between August 2025 and March 2026. Halved. 🙌

This is why I started running The Mental Wellbeing Club™ first in Macclesfield, and from this Monday in Alderley Edge too (with Manchester coming very soon!).

It is a gentle, nervous-system-led space where we learn practical tools to help us process the heavy things we all carry so we can find our way back to calmer. No sitting in a circle being forced to share. No pressure. Just warmth, community, and tools that actually work.

If you are local and feel like you could use a little support with your own healing work right now, I would genuinely love to see you there. 💙

📍 Sunday 26th April | 2–4pm
Pause Studio, Dukes Court, Macclesfield
🎟 Link in bio to book

📍 Monday 27th April | 7–9pm
The Venue, Alderley Edge
🎟 Link in bio to book

Tickets are just £10. Or send me a DM and I’ll send you the details directly.

Whatever you are carrying today, I hope you can find a moment to pause and breathe. ❤️

19/04/2026

Two years ago I came to train lawyers in Hong Kong for two days and one night and as soon as I arrived, I almost ran straight back on to the plane once I realised I’d even have to navigate the airport alone.

But today I decided I wanted to see “Big Buddha”, I bought a sun visor, took my water, walked slowly, stopped when I was tired, and enjoyed a little cry in the monastery. No panic. No running away. I used cable cars over Hong Kong and climbed 268 steps in 27 degree heat! I realised coming down again that I didn’t feel even a little bit of stress, I felt I could have taken a nap or done a meditation!

Working on my nervous system has been one of the best and most necessary things I’ve ever done, and I’ve tried lots over the last 11 years.

It has completely changed my capacity levels and brought down my stress (measurably: I have blood tests showing my cortisol level halving between August 2025 and March 2026).

This is why I’m so passionate about the stress, anxiety, and nervous system work I’m doing through The Mental Wellbeing Club™.

If you live near Macclesfield or Alderley Edge, I’d love to share these practical tools with as many people as possible.
It’s like learning a whole new language you can use with colleagues, family members and for yourself.

Our next meetings are a week away:
📍 Macclesfield: Sunday 26th April, 2pm–4pm (Pause Studio)
📍 Alderley Edge: Monday 27th April, 7pm–9pm (The Venue)

Tickets are £10 per session. So do share with anyone you know whose stress levels are on the higher side, come and join us, and help to build your own capacity for whatever life throws at you.

(P.S. Yes, I wore my Mental Wellbeing Company T-shirt all the way to the top!) ❤️🥰🙏

Booking Link is in the bio under events or drop me a DM if you’d like the full PDF info first

10/04/2026

So… caravan’s first trip to the Lake District 🚐

Engine warning light comes on.

Of course it does 😅

A few years ago this would’ve completely thrown me. But then I wouldn’t have been towing a caravan!

This time?
Called RAC. Got the diagnosis (split turbo pipe), ordered the part…

…and today I fitted it myself so we could get home.

No drama. No ruined trip.

Just a quiet reminder that I can handle more than I think I can.

Funny how confidence doesn’t come from everything going smoothly…
It comes from moments like this. Looking forward to the next trip!

06/04/2026

✨ Caravan mode + creative thinking…

While I’m away on my first proper trip with the new caravan 🚐✨
(this already feels like a life upgrade, am glad I treated myself at Christmas!)

…I’ve been thinking about what this next season looks like for me.

Two things are top of mind this week:

1. A paid mentoring offer. Something I’ve been asked for a lot in recent weeks (and over the years)…
and I finally have the space to create it properly.

2. The next Rest, Restore & Rise cohort
A 6–9 month coaching journey for senior lawyers ready to do the work to longer just cope, but change how they lead and live.

And woven into both (always optional, always tailored) is the deeper work:

❤️ AI tools for thinking, coaching, content & visibility
😴 Hypnosis to gently shift old patterns
💰 Money mindset work (because this matters more than we admit)
⛑️ Nervous system + trauma-informed tools so your body isn’t holding you back

But, I’d love to know, if you were working with me… what would make this truly powerful?What’s missing?

Not more for the sake of more.
Not overwhelm. But actually make it all easier.

The things that would genuinely move the needle in your life or career.

I want this to be simple.
But also my usual life and career changing (I don’t call it that, my clients do…) ⚡️

So tell me…
👇 what’s missing for you?

31/03/2026

Had a really great training session on how to create more feelings of balance even in pressured environments, perhaps especially at those times.
How to still be who we want to be at home after a trying day.
Protecting our valuable mental energy and cognitive capacity…

Now it’s time for the holidays!

31/03/2026

How to create more balance even in pressured environments, maybe especially in those! Great training session today for a lovely bunch of lawyers. A hug and catch up with my sis in law and off home to start the holidays!

28/03/2026

Are you carrying more than you should? You are not alone. 🌙

This Sunday, I am launching The Mental Wellbeing Club Macclesfield, a warm, safe space for real, grounded nervous system support right here in our community.

Whether you are neurodivergent, supporting someone who is, or simply feeling like you are holding it all together behind a coping mask, you’ll find a warm welcome and helpful coping tools.

We will have a cuppa, connect, and leave with practical tools to support your nervous system in everyday life. No pressure, no expectations, just a genuinely warm and welcoming group of people who get it led by me, mum of 3 ADHD boys, nervous system, stress and burnout expert.

📍 Pause Studio, Dukes Court, Macclesfield
📅 Sunday 29th March, 2–4pm
✨ Drop me a message to let me know you are coming to join us

Swipe through to find out more, and tag someone in Macclesfield who might need this today. 💛

Macclesfield WellbeingCommunity SafeSpace NeurodivergentSupport CheshireEvents CheshireWellbeing MacclesfieldLife HealGrowFeelSupported TheMentalWellbeingClub

04/01/2026

Welcome to Day 7 and for now the final day of the Lawyer’s Energy Reset Protocol, though not the end of the conversation, or the opportunity to put some of these ideas and tools into practice this year.

It’s been fantastic to share this with you this week.

Here is the link to Day 7's recording. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E3A5raLxiChGh-81Y31hBh9AG73BBWhu/view?usp=sharing

Before we look at today’s final piece, I want to say something important: you’re not about to lose what you’ve gained.

Even if you’ve not listened to any recordings, or caught one or two.
Even if some days passed you by.
Even if life stayed busy.

You’ve already built awareness, of your energy, your attention, and what quietly drains you. You’ve possibly started to notice moments of clarity about how you work, and what it costs you when everything is left on default setting without questioning if it's working for us or not.

That awareness doesn’t disappear. It tends to grow, slowly over time. Often what starts off feeling slow, speeds up quite quickly.

Today’s focus: sustainability

Rather than adding more, today is about deciding what you want to keep.
In the recording, I introduce a simple, flexible way of supporting your energy over time. Not a rigid system, just a framework you can return to when it’s useful.

You might think of it in three layers:

1. Daily foundations (a few minutes)
A brief check-in at the start or end of the day:
• How is my energy today?
• What supported it?
• What drained it?

2. A weekly pause (15–20 minutes)
A moment to notice patterns:
• What worked this week?
• What didn’t?
• What’s coming up that might need a bit more care?

3. Occasional reflection (monthly or when needed)
Stepping back to ask:
• What am I learning about how I work?
• What one habit or boundary do I want to keep practising?

You don’t need all of this.

You don’t need to do it “properly” do a small piece of it first and come back in another week.

The most effective approach is the one you’ll actually return to, even imperfectly.

So for today, I’d invite you to choose one small thing to carry into the weeks ahead.

One idea from this reset that feels supportive and realistic for you.
That’s enough.

You can listen to today’s final recording here when it suits you. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E3A5raLxiChGh-81Y31hBh9AG73BBWhu/view?usp=sharing

This Lawyers Energy Reset Protocol is about recognising that your career doesn’t have to be sustained through constant self-sacrifice.

This is about building something steadier. Something that allows you to keep going, without losing yourself along the way. And, helping us all to have a healthier happier legal profession.

Hannah

P.S. If you’d prefer a one-to-one conversation at any point, you’re always welcome to book a chat, just drop me a message.

03/01/2026

Welcome to Day 6 of the Lawyers Energy Reset Protocol.

Today we’re turning towards something many lawyers know very well, the inner voice that insists you should be doing more, better, faster.

The one that rarely sounds impressed, never stops to look back at the accomplishments, and is quick to point out what you haven’t done yet.

You can go straight to the recording for Day 6 here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e8zaTdy_p2o0jp2XJUmyD1HKh7cDD22I/view?usp=sharing

For some people the inner voice it’s loud, and constant.

For others it’s quieter, but almost always there in the background, running the show.

However you hear it, this voice is tiring. Not just emotionally, but energetically. It keeps the nervous system on high alert, even when you’re already doing enough, already working hard enough.

There’s an important paradox here.

Many lawyers believe this inner critic is what keeps standards high. That without it, they’d become complacent or careless. But in practice, the most consistently effective lawyers aren’t driven by harsh self-judgement.

They tend to:

*assess their work realistically

*learn quickly from mistakes

*and move on without carrying unnecessary self-criticism

Over time, that’s far more sustainable, and makes work and life far more enjoyable!

In the recording today, I talk about a few common “critic patterns” I see in legal professionals, perfectionism, comparison, and the constant scanning for what might go wrong. These voices aren’t trying to harm you. They’re usually trying to protect you, just in ways that are outdated and often unhelpful.

Today isn’t about silencing that voice or replacing it with "fake positivity, our clever brains know when this is happening!

It’s about noticing it, and beginning to relate to it differently.

For today, I’d invite you to keep this very simple:

Notice when the critical voice shows up

Notice what it says, and when it tends to appear

And, if it feels possible, try one slightly more supportive response

For example, instead of “I should have worked later” maybe it's
“I worked hard today, and rest will help me think more clearly tomorrow and get through this quicker and more accurately.”

There’s no need to get this “right”. These are long-standing patterns, and awareness alone is really helpful and can start to allow the patterns to change.

You can listen to the Day 6 audio here when it suits you: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e8zaTdy_p2o0jp2XJUmyD1HKh7cDD22I/view?usp=sharing

Tomorrow, we’ll bring everything together, not as a set of rules to follow, but as a way of deciding what you want to carry forward, and what you’re ready to leave behind.

I'm also going to open up my Zoom room tomorrow to end Day 7 for anyone who wants to ask any questions, have a chat about anything they have noticed, or anything at all! So if you happen to be free at 7pm, I'll be logging in for half an hour,

For now, go gently with this one. You’re looking at habits that once helped you succeed, they are very powerful self protection mechanisms and it's not that they are wrong or broken, they might just need a little adjustment.

What got us here, won't get us there.

Hannah

P.S. If you want to talk through what you’re noticing, or where self-criticism, self doubt or a harsh inner critic feels particularly strong, you’re very welcome to book a chat, or drop into my Zoom room at 7pm on Sunday 4th for a chat.

Drop me a message for the Zoom link if you'd like to join me.

02/01/2026

Welcome to Day 5 of our Lawyers Energy Reset Protocol.

By now, you might have noticed something really important about this energy review and reset.

It's not that we aren't capable of great work, of working under pressure or of asking a lot of ourselves, it's that we've been asking ourselves to do too much of the wrong kinds of work at the work times.

Today is about exploring that.

You can go straight to the audio here if you prefer to listen in.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZRmXfooJvVg1-V3pqsQ8DTCdaEPkJHnu/view?usp=sharing

Most of us were trained to treat the workday as flat and uniform. As if we should be equally sharp, focused, and creative at all hours, even a long time after "usual" working hours have finished!

But we’re not machines. We’re human.

That’s often why work can feel manageable at one point in the day, and much harder at another. Why complex tasks feel almost impossible late in the afternoon. And why unfinished thinking shows up at 2-3am, wading through mental treacle.

Today’s focus is designing your workday around your natural energy, as much as the realities of legal practice allow, this is about progress not perfection.

In the recording, I talk about three simple ideas:

• Noticing your own energy patterns

When do you feel clearer? When does your energy dip? There’s no “right” pattern, just your personal one.

• Matching tasks to energy, where possible

Saving deeper thinking for times when your mind is more available, and leaving lighter tasks for lower-energy moments, lower grade or lower gear work such as repetitive admin, filling or even getting that time recording on to the system.

• Allowing brief recovery moments

Small pauses between demanding tasks that help your system reset, rather than pushing straight through. Counter intuitive as it might seem to take even a brief pause when we're really under pressure, what it gives you in renewed energy, is noticeable.

You won’t be able to control everything, hearings, unexpected deadlines, and client demands will always exist. But even small shifts in when you prepare, write, or think can preserve a surprising amount of energy.

For today, I’d invite you simply to notice:
*when work feels more effortful than it needs to
*when it flows more easily
*and whether the task matches the energy you have at that moment

You don’t need to reorganise your whole schedule. Awareness is enough for now.

You can listen to today’s training here when it suits you.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZRmXfooJvVg1-V3pqsQ8DTCdaEPkJHnu/view?usp=sharing

Tomorrow, we’ll turn to something many lawyers know very well, the inner voice that insists you should be doing more, better, faster.
For today, see what could happen when you stop fighting your own rhythms.

Hannah

P.S. If you’d like to talk through what you’re noticing, or where your energy feels most mismatched to your work, you’re very welcome to book a chat, just drop me a note.

01/01/2026

Welcome to Day 4 and sending wishes for a very Happy (and healthy) New Year to you and your family.

This in-between 2025-2026 moment brings a strange mix of reflections and pressure. A sense that something should change or shift, without always knowing what, or how.

Today’s focus is one of the most important parts of this reset, and of all of the work I do with clients, especially in the beginning: energy protection and preservation.

If you want to skip straight to the recording, here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FDnD7588cxq4jFYh3y4-lNw0UBY6aBIq/view?usp=sharing

We're not approaching this reset protocol in a rigid, rule-based way, although lawyers love a good rule, a rule that pushes the stress levels (the nervous system) too far, only causes more issues, not less.

But instead in a way that allows you to keep doing what you do, and after a little while, doing it even better, without slowing draining yourself in the process.

Here's a little story you might have heard before.

About 10 years ago, a favourite, although much moaned about client, told me about emailing me on a Saturday evening while he was in the pub with friends. They asked what he was doing and he said he was emailing his lawyer. His friends didn’t believe he’d get a response.

So he told them to wait.

And within minutes, I’d replied.

It wasn’t urgent.
It didn’t require thought.
It could easily have waited until Monday.

When he told me this, I felt how ridiculous it was, not because I’d done something “wrong”, but because I could see it clearly for the first time. I had no boundaries at all. I was available constantly, and I’d labelled that as being professional, responsive.

In reality, was it was, was fear, cleverly disguised as "responsive".
Fear of losing the client.
Fear of losing all of my clients.
Fear of losing my career, my house, everything.

Ten years on, I still work with this client, and I don’t email in the evenings, at weekends, or during holidays.

Nothing fell apart.
I didn't lose, I gained.

What I learned from this and other boundaries I began to set:

Your mental and emotional energy is a finite professional resource, just like your time and expertise. Protecting it isn’t selfish or uncommitted. It’s what makes sustained, high-quality work possible.

Most other professionals aren't available at the drop of a hat, why do lawyers think we need to be? Are we devaluing our expertise?

In today’s recording, I talk about three kinds of boundaries lawyers often need to consider setting (but not at the same time, and what these boundaries look like, will be different for everyone, every workplace, and every situation):

How and when you communicate

When you are genuinely available

What emotional responsibility is yours, and what isn’t

You don’t need to take this all on.

For today, I’d invite you to choose one small boundary that feels manageable. Something modest, relatively easy and safe to try out.

For example:

not checking email for a time in the morning (even initially for the first hour after you wake up if you're prone to checking right away)

protecting your lunch break from calls, that might be 20-30 minutes at first

deciding, as often as you can, when your workday ends (because the work is never done, there is no natural end, we need to set one)

Try it briefly. Notice the discomfort, the fear perhaps about what might happen, and also what starts to change when you do.

You can listen to the Day 4 audio here when it suits you: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FDnD7588cxq4jFYh3y4-lNw0UBY6aBIq/view?usp=sharing

And if you’re someone who prefers to follow things in order, slowly and methodically, you’re not alone. This work isn’t about rushing or implementing everything at once. It’s about practice, adjusting our mindset and thinking patterns, and allowing it to take time.

Tomorrow, we’ll turn to designing workdays that fit your natural energy rhythms, rather than fighting them.

Hannah

P.S. If you’d like to talk through where boundaries feel hardest for you and how you could gently set some to start you off with, let's have a chat, I've got some time this week just for the reset protocol and it's been great hearing from so many people!

I've put a link to book a chat below or feel free to drop me a comment or a message and we can chat that way as well.

29/12/2025

Welcome to Day 1 of the Lawyer’s Energy Reset.

Today isn’t about fixing or changing anything, just about starting to notice.

Many lawyers assume exhaustion comes from the long hours, heavy workloads, and difficult clients. Those things do matter, but they’re rarely the whole picture. And, if we tackle some of the real energy drains, these things become much easier to navigate.

Often, the bigger drains are quieter and easier to miss. They’ve usually become normal, so normal, they aren't seen anymore.

Things like:

*switching constantly between different tasks and the competing demands of clients, colleagues, deadlines and targets;

*carrying on work in your head when you're technically not "working" anymore;

*spending disproportionate but valuable energy on routine tasks (because they are easier and more attractive);

*absorbing other people’s urgency or stress as your own and increasing your stress levels.

Noticing where you might be doing any of the above, isn't a bad thing, it's very valuable information.

So for today, the invitation is to start to notice or observe your energy, not judge or try to change anything.

You can listen to our Day 1 recording on this topic here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fdYEsWWSen0VWO-uIHuIheTK8DyDfZGZ/view?mc_cid=27719357d8&mc_eid=5802308ad6

If it would be helpful, you can try:

pausing a few times during the day

notice how your energy feels in that moment on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 10 is high energy)

notice what you were doing just beforehand that either increased your energy or drained it

That’s it.

There’s no need to track this perfectly or at set intervals.
There’s no score to aim for.
And there’s nothing you need to change yet.

Curiosity is enough.

If today is busy, or you don’t get to it, you can come back to this whenever you like. One observation is enough for now.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at time and attention, not from a productivity angle, but from the perspective of reducing unnecessary mental load.

For today, just notice what your stress system has been trying to tell you.

Hannah

Authentically speaking - Coaching & Training for Lawyers

25/04/2026

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