In this powerful and heart-centered conversation, Helen Williams Malinowski joins Dana Irvine on the Wise Divine Women Podcast to explore the profound connection between stress, trauma, and the nervous system. Together, they discuss how somatic therapy helps women reconnect with their bodies, regulate stress responses, and begin healing from chronic overwhelm and emotional exhaustion.

Helen shares practical tools to calm the nervous system, including simple breathing exercises, body awareness practices, and ways to recognize the subtle signals our bodies send when stress and trauma are unresolved. The conversation also dives into the conditioning many women experience around boundaries, people-pleasing, and ignoring their own needs — and how reclaiming body awareness can become a pathway back to healing, authenticity, and resilience.

Listeners will walk away with compassionate, practical strategies for managing stress, honoring their body’s wisdom, and creating healthier emotional boundaries in everyday life.

Key Topics Discussed

• Understanding stress and nervous system dysregulation
• How somatic therapy supports trauma healing
• Learning to listen to the body’s stress signals
• Breathwork and simple grounding exercises for daily stress relief
• The impact of conditioning and people-pleasing on women’s health
• Why boundaries are essential for healing and emotional wellness
• Movement and body awareness as tools for releasing stored stress
• Helen’s upcoming book, Coming Back, and its message for women and practitioners

• Stress symptoms are often the body’s way of asking for attention and support
• Deep breathing and intentional exhaling can help regulate the nervous system quickly
• Healing begins when women learn to pause and listen to their body’s signals
• Chronic stress and trauma can disconnect women from their intuition and boundaries
• Somatic practices create space between reaction and response
• Honoring discomfort instead of avoiding it can support emotional healing and growth
• Simple daily body-awareness practices can have a profound impact on overall wellness

Timeline

00:00 – Welcome & Introduction to Helen Williams Malinowski
01:03 – What Is Somatic Therapy?
02:08 – Stress in Women, Entrepreneurs & Caregivers
03:21 – How the Body Responds to Stress
04:03 – Recognizing Stress Signals & Nervous System Dysregulation
05:54 – Trauma Healing & Creating Space Before Reacting
06:16 – Why Women Struggle with Boundaries
07:43 – The Growing Stress Load Women Carry Today
08:43 – Hormones, Conditioning & Emotional Stress
10:50 – Breathwork Techniques to Calm the Nervous System
12:21 – Movement, Somatic Release & Body Awareness
16:27 – Helen’s Upcoming Book Coming Back
23:50 – Final Thoughts & Encouragement for Listeners

• Helen Williams Malinowski Website
• Coming Back by Helen Williams Malinowski

• Official Website of Helen Williams Malinowski

Hosted by Dana Irvine, the Wise Divine Women Podcast explores functional wellness, women’s health, hormone balance, breast health, nervous system healing, faith, and holistic living for women seeking deeper healing in mind, body, and spirit.

Visit Dana Irvine for more information