Burn out and the long road back to yourself with Hana Walker-Brown

Welcome to episode 207 with Hana Walker-Brown, a multi-award winning and critically acclaimed storyteller and sound artist who works across film, radio and podcasting and narrative non-fiction.

In 2023 Hana was signed off work with severe burnout.  It took a year for her to understand this experience, to unpack it, to make peace with it and to get back to herself and in this episode, I chat to Hana about that process.

This isn’t a conversation about jobs and working too hard because all of that is just a mechanism for burnout. 

This is a conversation about self-discovery, programming and learning to do things differently.

In this episode, Hana and I chat about her experience of burnout, how it all came to a head, what recovery looks like for her and what that word even means.

We chat about learning how to slow down, accepting the messier parts of ourselves and leaning in to the discomfort of rest.

We also chat about the importance of sharing stories, how to really listen, building self-esteem and why it’s important to have lots of hobbies.

Hana has recently made a documentary for BBC Radio 4 called In Pieces, where she explores different aspects of burnout through her own experience, through the people around her and the experiences of others and we chat about what it was like to make and then to put out in to the world.

Listen here: BBC Radio 4 - Illuminated, In Pieces

This is a truly wonderful conversation and I’ve thought about it a lot since we recorded.  It’s a beautiful chat and it felt like a special one to be a part of.

Connect with Hana @hana_walker_brown or at www.hanawalkerbrown.com

You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

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Thanks for listening!