About
In this powerful and deeply compassionate episode of the Wise Divine Women Podcast, Dana Irvine welcomes Helen Williams Malinowski for an important conversation about the connection between stress, trauma, the nervous system, and the body.
Helen shares how somatic therapy can help women reconnect with their bodies, recognize patterns of nervous system dysregulation, and begin moving out of chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, and overwhelm.
Together, Dana and Helen explore the many ways stress can show up physically and emotionally — from tension, fatigue, and reactivity to people-pleasing, difficulty setting boundaries, and feeling disconnected from your own needs.
Helen offers simple, practical strategies women can begin using right away, including intentional breathing, grounding, movement, and body-awareness practices designed to create more space between stress and response.
The conversation also looks at the conditioning many women experience to put everyone else first, ignore discomfort, and push through exhaustion. Helen explains why learning to notice and honor the body’s signals can become an important step toward stronger boundaries, greater resilience, and a deeper sense of authenticity.
Listeners will leave this episode with practical tools for calming the nervous system, managing everyday stress, and developing a more compassionate relationship with their bodies.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover
- What nervous system dysregulation can look and feel like
- How somatic therapy can support trauma healing and emotional wellness
- Why the body often communicates stress before we consciously recognize it
- Simple breathwork and grounding practices for calming the nervous system
- How people-pleasing and conditioning can affect women’s health
- Why healthy boundaries are an essential part of healing
- How movement and body awareness can help release accumulated stress
- The importance of creating space between reaction and response
- Why discomfort can sometimes become an invitation for deeper awareness and growth
- Helen’s book, Coming Back, and its message for women and practitioners
Key Takeaways
✨ Stress symptoms can be the body’s way of asking for attention, support, and change.
✨ Slow breathing and intentional exhaling can help shift the nervous system toward a calmer state.
✨ Healing often begins when we start noticing our body’s signals instead of automatically pushing through them.
✨ Chronic stress and unresolved trauma can disconnect women from their needs, intuition, and boundaries.
✨ Somatic practices can help create space between an emotional trigger and our response.
✨ Learning to stay present with discomfort rather than immediately avoiding it may support greater emotional awareness and resilience.
✨ Small, consistent body-awareness practices can have a meaningful impact on overall wellbeing.
Connect with Helen Williams Malinowski
Website:
https://helenwilliamsmalinowski.com
Book – Coming Back:
Available through major online booksellers.
Ready to explore what your body may be telling you?
Visit Dana Irvine to learn more, explore resources, and book a Health Clarity Call.
