This week in the Self-Care Challenge, we’re focusing on rebooting the body, not as something to fix or optimize, but as something to listen to and care for in sustainable ways. So often, especially in helping and frontline roles, we learn to override bodily signals in order to keep going. Hunger, exhaustion, tension, pain, and restlessness get postponed or ignored because there is always something or someone that needs us. Over time, the body adapts. It carries stress, fatigue, and vigilance long before we have language for it, and often long after we think we’ve “moved on.” Rebooting the body doesn’t mean starting over or doing more. It doesn’t mean rigid routines, perfect habits, or drastic changes. It means listening to the body and giving it what it needs to keep going. It means slowing down enough to notice what the body has been holding, and responding with care rather than discipline. Sometimes rebooting looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like gentle movement, nourishment, warmth, or simply reducing strain where we can. This week is an invitation to rebuild trust with your body, to notice its cues, respect its limits, and support it in small, realistic ways. You’re invited to choose one practice a day, repeat the same practice throughout the week, or engage in whatever way feels most accessible. There is no expectation to do everything. Listening itself is the practice. Your body sets the pace.

Happy New Year, everyone 🎉I hope the year ahead brings moments of steadiness, growth, and care for you, both personally and professionally. As we begin this new year together, I’d love to open a conversation about reflexivity and reflective practice. So much of our work asks us not just to do, but to pause, notice, question, and reflect. Reflexivity invites us to consider how our values, identities, experiences, power, and context shape the way we show up in practice. Reflective practice gives us space to learn from what’s working, what feels uncomfortable, and what we might want to do differently as we move forward. As you step into this year, I’m curious: How do you see reflexivity or reflective practice shaping your work in the coming year? What makes it difficult to slow down and reflect in your current role or setting? What obstacles get in the way (time, systems, expectations, emotional load, or something else)? How can we support one another here to move past those barriers? This is a space to think out loud, share honestly, and learn together. Whether you post a few words or a longer reflection, your voice is welcome. Looking forward to learning alongside you this year.

This January, I want to pause and center something that often gets pushed aside in frontline work: ourselves. So much of our work is about holding space for others, responding to crises, and meeting needs. Over time, it can become easy to lose sight of ourselves in the process - to keep going, even when we’re depleted. Self-care in frontline work isn’t about doing more or getting it “right.” It’s about noticing where we are, how we’re showing up, and what we might need to keep going in sustainable ways. As you reflect, you’re invited to be honest with yourself and, if it feels right, here: • How do you see yourself right now? • Are you remembering to include yourself in your care, or are you forgetting yourself? • Do you feel like you’re giving yourself enough rest, boundaries, and compassion? • When things feel heavy, do you seek support?• Who do you usually reach out to just to vent? And if you need a place to vent, this can be that space. You don’t have to have a solution. You don’t have to tidy it up. Sometimes being heard is enough. This month, we’ll be starting our Self-Care Challenge, beginning January 5. You’re invited to join! Let’s support one another in centring ourselves as we move into this year together.

We’re glad you’re here. We are social workers, with experience across domestic violence, working with children and families, disability, and social work education. Like many of you, our work has been shaped by complex systems, ethical tension, and the realities of frontline and community-based practice. We created The Social Work Circle because we saw a need for a space that supports learning, reflection, and connection outside of performance, productivity, or institutional expectations. A space where social workers and community practitioners can think together, learn from experience, and stay connected to the values that brought us into this work. Our hope is that this community becomes a place to: - share practice-based learning - explore questions that don’t have easy answers - learn alongside peers across roles and settings - stay grounded while navigating challenging systems We’re looking forward to learning with you and shaping this space together over time. We invite you to introduce yourself by sharing: - Where you’re joining from - Your area of practice or field - What drew you to this community - What you hope to gain from being here We also welcome your ideas about what you’d like this space to offer.

One of the things that often gets lost in frontline work is the chance to slow down and think together. So much of our work happens under pressure: limited time, heavy caseloads, system constraints, ethical tension, and expectations that don’t always align with our values. Reflection becomes something we’re told to do, rather than something that actually supports us. This community exists because learning in doesn’t only come from training, policies, or supervision. It comes from: - noticing patterns over time - sitting with uncertainty - naming tensions that don’t have clean answers - hearing how others make sense of similar challenges This is a space to think with others. Please share: - What part of your work feels hardest to hold alone? - What do you wish there was more room to talk about in these spaces?