Emotional Healing for Women: A Compassionate Guide to Reclaiming Inner Peace

Life’s challenges can impact not just physical wellness, but emotional wellbeing. Discover how you can acknowledge, heal and nourish yourself.

When we are physically injured or wounded our body heals naturally – with rest, medical advice and safe precautions we can observe healing signs and often have a full recovery.

Emotional healing is far more complex – and unique. Emotional wounds can be caused by all kind of experiences, common ones include betrayal, abandonment, rejection, humiliation, shame and injustice.

Each situation will be different and complex and how we cope with these situations depends on so many factors.

Emotional distress can take years to even acknowledge and understand, let along recover from. But with patience, understanding and compassion we can become more in touch with our emotions, heal and become stronger.

The good news is, we have the innate ability to heal ourselves, but it is important to have a supportive network of friends, family and professional assistance from a counsellor or psychologist.

What is emotional distress?

We can’t see distress, we can only experience and feel it, but emotional scars can run deep – affecting all aspects of our lives, relationships and physical health.

Instinctively and as a form of self-protection, it is common to push past hurts, grievances and trauma aside. To either fill our time with deadlines and distractions, with the risk of overloading and overwhelming ourselves, or we can become depressed and stuck.

Emotional distress can create anxiety and even manifest as physical issues, such as tension, headaches, gut issues, hormone imbalance and exhaustion. Unless we take time to process these feelings, past grievances and emotions, we risk them festering within us, detrimentally affecting our life, physical

health and potentially appearing when we are vulnerable – during major life milestones, such as pregnancy, parenthood and menopause.

Recognising emotional distress

Emotional distress can appear in a wide variety of ways from feelings of sadness, anger, depression and anxiety. You may have difficulty regulating emotions or find certain situations can trigger reactions.

Other signs can be negative thinking, feeling unsafe, insecure and having a low self-esteem and self-worth.

Emotional distress can also manifest in certain behaviours – such as social isolation, avoiding certain situations or people, engaging in substance abuse, relationships problems or feeling lost, Physical reactions include digestive issues, erratic sleep or insomnia, fatigue, headaches or heart palpitations and panic attacks.

If you are concerned then it is advised to seek professional help such as your GP, a trauma-informed therapist or psychologist.

What is emotional healing?

Emotional healing is processing past hurts and trauma to a point where you feel that you can move on – feeling stronger, with clarity and a clearer perspective. This could be through a host of different healing methods such as counselling, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), meditation, nature therapy and restorative yoga

Why is emotional healing important for women’s health and fertility?

Emotional imbalances and trauma can lead to stress and hormonal imbalances, which can affect a woman’s fertility. A Chinese study found that pre-existing mental health problems in both partners are associated with lower couple fertility, with a more pronounced impact when both partners experience mental health issues (1).

It is important to focus on creating emotional health and resilience before embarking on pregnancy and parenting. Stress impacts our mind and body and can create imbalances in our hormone levels – this has impacts not just for fertility but for our overall health and wellbeing. Emotional healing helps us to come into a more relaxed state and into our parasympathetic nervous system, where our mind and body can heal. Women are often natural empaths and nurturers – we can take on not only our pain, but others’ pain and if we don’t clear this, then it can affect our mental and physical health.

The Healing Journey – stages and principles

It is generally believed that emotional healing occurs in the following stages – this may not be a linear path for you, but moving through all of these stages helps you to heal and grow.

Awareness & acknowledgement

The first stage is to become aware of your grief or emotional wound and to acknowledge how and why this is manifesting in your mind, body and life. This can be confronting, but is a huge step and the starting point on your road to recovery.

Acceptance & self-compassion

Next is acceptance. This may sound simple, but it is far from easy as we might be in denial or resistant to accepting the situation or feeling. An important part of acceptance is to sit with this in a non-judgmental and compassionate manner. Being kind to yourself and letting go of expectations, just sitting with the feelings.

This is when meditation, mindfulness, restorative yoga or sessions with a counsellor can be part of your self-healing journey.

Expression & releas

Find ways to express your emotions – and this could be creatively through journalling, writing or art. Do this without critiquing your work or analysing too deeply.

When we express ourselves in this way it can create a release of the stored emotions, which can help you heal and move forward in your life. Another way to release is through physical activity – this could be a nurturing practice, such as restorative yoga or through breath work or meditation.

Reconnection & growth

The next stage is to move forward in your life, having transformed your emotional wounds into a new-found strength, wisdom and resilience. And to continue to nurture and nourish your emotional health. Recognising the value and importance of self-healing, reflection and self-care.

Holistic practices and therapies

There are a range of holistic practices – that target the whole body and integrate mind, body and spiritual healing. These practices can range from group yoga classes to one-to-one counselling and psychology sessions.

Professional therapy

Trauma is extremely common – according to Australian research up to 75 per cent of us are estimated to experience a potentially traumatic event in our life (2).

Professional therapy is recommended to help navigate and process these emotions. This could be with a psychiatrist, psychologist or counsellor. Professional therapists use a range of therapies and tools to help you not only identify the trauma but to develop coping skills, emotional regulation and self-awareness. Such therapies could include CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) which helps you to identify and reframe negative thought patterns or DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy) which helps regulate and balance emotions, promoting mindfulness and easing distress.

Therapy sessions can also include a range of practices including art therapy, group therapy and vision boarding.

Mindfulness, meditation and journalling

Mindfulness is about anchoring you to the present moment, instead of ruminating about the past or fretting about the future. When we practise mindfulness consistently then we can help create focus, clarity and a feeling of being grounded and calm.

Mindfulness is coming into the present moment observing our senses – noticing the touch of the air on our skin, the fragrances around us, what we can see or the patches of light behind our eyes, if our eyes are closed, what we can hear and what we can taste. All while suspending judgment and analysis – simply noticing.

Practising regularly helps us come into this state more easily and naturally. Meditation is another practice which helps to calm our mind and gives us the space for self-reflection.

You may also like to journal your feelings – write down without editing, simply letting the words spill onto the paper can be a hugely cathartic process.

Movement, yoga, somatic and breath work

Much like our mind, our body can hold on to memories and trauma – and by introducing gentle movement we can begin to release this tension. By moving the body in yoga and somatic movement classes, we become more body-aware which helps us tune into sensations within the body – and how this influences our mind.

That mind/body connection becomes easier to understand and experience. Somatic movement is about feeling into the body and noticing sensations internally, rather than how the movement will affect us externally. Breathwork is also helpful and also forms part of the yoga that we offer at Thrive Journey. By slowing the breath – particularly the exhalation, we ignite the relaxation response, which helps us to release stress and encourages us to move from our mind into our body.

Yoga Therapy is an in-depth training, where the practitioner will assess your wellness on all 5 layers (Koshas) of your being and diagnose yoga practices that will support healing on each layer concurrently. The layers are physical, energetic, emotional, intellectual and spirit. When the injury to the emotions is very recent or extreme it is not unusual to work on the other four layers and allow the interconnectedness of the layers to work the gentle magic.

Building Resilience & Preventing Relapse

Priortise your mental and emotional health as this is the foundation for overall health and wellbeing. You can also put supports in place, such as creating a strong healthcare team including a good GP, and possibly an Ayurvedic,

Traditional Chinese Medicine or holistic practitioner and trauma-informed counsellor. Put time and effort into ensuring you connect with friends and have regular time in nature. Read our guide to the Eight Pillars of wellness to create a strong foundation for emotional health and wellbeing and remember to be kind to yourself, to be gentle and not expect too much from yourself.

Daily self-care

Caring for your emotional health doesn’t need to take up a lot of time. Create daily habits – start the day with deep breaths and gaze at something in nature.

Go for regular walks and do five-minute mindfulness practices – kick off your shoes and feel your feet on the earth, the breeze on your skin and really tune into the sounds you can hear around you.

In the evening, wind down slowly from your day and spend some time journalling – what went well during your day, what you are grateful for and what can you learn from.

Supportive environments & boundaries

Make sure you have people around you who are your cheerleaders who believe in you and are there to support you.

Create a home base which is comfortable and safe. And practise saying no – so you don’t overload yourself with too many jobs and commitments. Keep space in your diary for time out, remember you don’t have to fill every moment!

Tracking progress & celebrating growth

This is where journalling can help – you might like to reflect on your journey, note what is working and what isn’t helping. Do regular check ins and celebrate the wins – however small. Notice your self-talk and remind yourself to be your own best friend – be caring, compassionate and kind.

Conclusion – Empowering Women to Heal and Thrive

The practices we offer at Thrive Journey, such as online yoga and Qi Gong can be hugely beneficial for our emotional health. We meet online and live, to promote connection and community. Practising in a safe and supportive environment – in the comfort of your own home, while we move our body gently and quieten our mind, helps us to tune in to sensations and promotes calmness.

Please click here for more information about our programs.

• Katie Brown is a professional writer and one of our Thrive Journey Yoga teachers. She is also a Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher, with a Diploma in Counselling and an Undergraduate Certificate in Mental Health from Monash University.
• Sarah Manning is a qualified Yoga Therapist with a Diploma from the Institute of Vivekananda Yoga & Research Development (2011)

Mental health care resources

Singapore

• National Mindline 1771: Provides round-the-clock support, counselling, and referrals via phone, WhatsApp (+65 6669 1771), or webchat at mindline.sg.
• Samaritans of Singapore (SOS): A secular non-profit organization offering 24-hour confidential emotional support for those in a crisis or with suicidal thoughts. They can be reached via their hotline (1767) or CareText (WhatsApp 9151 1767).
• Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Helpline: A 24-hour emergency hotline for mental health crises and guidance on supporting loved ones. Call: +65 6389 2222

UK

• Mind: Call Mind’s support line on 0300 102 1234.
• Samaritans: Call 116 123 (free from any phone)

Australia

• Lifeline: Call 13 11 14 for crisis support and suicide prevention services.
• Beyond Blue: Call 1300 224 636 for support with anxiety, depression, and mental health issues.

USA

• 988 – Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

References:

(1) Bingjie Wu, Xiaoyue Cheng, Ruimin Zheng, Hua Yang, Mi Xiang, Wei Qiu, Shuai Yang, Kadila Abulaiti, Jiahao Wu, Wenjuan Wang, Fan Jiang, Jinsong Zhang, Jun Zhang, Mental health of couples affects fertility, modified by socioeconomic status: a couple-based analysis, Human Reproduction Open, Volume 2025, Issue 4, 2025, hoaf071, https://doi.org/10.1093/hropen/hoaf071

(2) https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/patients/trauma/Pages/trauma-violence-abuse-neglect.aspx Rossman, 2002 & Mills et al., 2011 cited in Bendall et al., 2018