Laura Helgeson on UTI Advocacy, Misdiagnosis, & Mental Health: Creating Change & Choosing Kindness

In this vulnerable and empowering episode of The F.E.E.L. Podcast, Melissa Crook is joined by Laura Helgeson—a returning voice from the Embracing Layers community—to dive deeper into the often-overlooked relationship between physical health, emotional healing, and spiritual well-being.

Laura shares her personal journey living with chronic UTIs, a condition she’s experienced since childhood and long kept hidden due to stigma and misinformation. Her courage to speak out shines a light on the importance of releasing shame, advocating for your own health, and unlearning the societal messages that tell us to stay quiet about our bodies.

Through this intimate conversation, Melissa and Laura explore how self-care, advocacy, and even the smallest acts of kindness toward ourselves can have a major impact on how we live, heal, and connect with ourselves more fully.

Listeners will walk away with tools to:
🌿 Understand the emotional toll of chronic health conditions
🧠 Break cycles of shame surrounding physical symptoms
💛 Advocate for your wellness when resources are lacking
✨ Strengthen the mind-body-spirit connection
🌸 Take small steps that lead to lasting healing

🎧 Tune in now to hear how Laura is turning her pain into purpose—and inspiring women to become their own best health advocates.

📌 Keywords: Chronic UTI awareness, Mind-body-spirit healing, Women’s health advocacy, Emotional wellness and physical health, Breaking health taboos, Releasing shame, Living unapologetically, Chronic illness in women, Self-care mindset, Healing through honesty, Holistic health journey, Spiritual wellness for women, Personal growth podcast, Women’s empowerment and health

Ways to Engage:
Do something kind for yourself today. Get a large coffee instead of medium, take yourself out to a restaurant you’ve been wanting to try, stay in for the evening instead of going out. Whatever it may be, do something kind for yourself—it doesn’t have to be big. The little things add up.

Blog Excerpt:
Laura Helgeson has returned to share her journey with transparency, compassion, and courage. Her struggle with chronic UTIs, a condition affecting millions yet rarely discussed, has transformed her into a trailblazer. She’s not just navigating her own health—she’s starting conversations, filling knowledge gaps, and becoming the very resource she once searched for. Laura reminds us that even the smallest acts of self-kindness can sustain us through life's hardest seasons. Her voice is powerful, her message is clear: women deserve to heal without shame, speak without fear, and live with full-body freedom.

#WomensHealthAdvocacy #ChronicUTIAwareness #EmotionalHealing #WholeBodyWellness #SelfCareForWomen #TheFEELPodcast #BreakingStigma #MindBodyConnection #WomenSupportingWomen #SpiritualHealing #ShameFreeLiving #HolisticHealthJourney #LiveUnapologetically #HealingThroughHonesty #EmpoweredWellness

Timestamps:

Prioritizing Self Care - ( 2:55 )

Confidently Setting Boundaries - ( 5:19 )

Taking Care of Your Emotional Health as much as Your Physical Health - ( 8:32 )

Support self & other women unapologetically - ( 14:10 )

Coming Back to Your WHY and Your VALUES - ( 23:15 )

Living Out of Your Own Expectations - ( 35:07 )

Accepting the Layered Aspects of Yourself - ( 38:16 )

Living out FEEL, how does it affect your relationships - ( 43:34 )

5 Activities That Nourish You - ( 55:49 )

5 Words for How You Want to Feel in the Next Six Months - ( 57:09 )

Original Music by Rio & Valencia Saint-Louis