Vanessa Cook | WHEN Stories Radio Network
Send us Fan Mail What if healing isn't about fixing yourself... but remembering who you were before the world taught you to abandon yourself? In this deeply moving conversation on the WHEN Stories Radio Network, Wendy Babcock sits down with trauma-informed healing practitioner Vanessa Cook to explore the powerful story behind her keynote, Coming Home to Myself. Vanessa shares the deeply personal journey that led her from religious trauma, church hurt, and years of spiritual performance to a l...
What if healing isn't about fixing yourself... but remembering who you were before the world taught you to abandon yourself?
In this deeply moving conversation on the WHEN Stories Radio Network, Wendy Babcock sits down with trauma-informed healing practitioner Vanessa Cook to explore the powerful story behind her keynote, Coming Home to Myself.
Vanessa shares the deeply personal journey that led her from religious trauma, church hurt, and years of spiritual performance to a life rooted in authenticity, self-trust, and embodied healing. Together, Wendy and Vanessa discuss the courage it took to tell this story publicly, the overwhelming response it received, and why speaking our hardest truths often becomes the catalyst for someone else's healing.
The conversation goes beyond religion. It's about identity, nervous system healing, learning to trust yourself again, and discovering that the life you've been searching for may begin by simply coming home to yourself.
Whether you've experienced religious trauma, spiritual abuse, emotional neglect, people-pleasing, or you've simply spent years trying to earn your worth, this episode offers hope, compassion, and a reminder that healing is possible.
In this episode you'll discover:
• Why Vanessa evolved from holistic health coaching into trauma-informed somatic healing
• How breathwork helps regulate the nervous system and process unresolved trauma
• The hidden connection between emotional wounds and physical health
• What it really means to "come home to yourself"
• Why healing isn't about needing another person forever—it's about learning to trust yourself
• How sharing vulnerable stories creates connection instead of isolation
• The surprising response Vanessa received after publicly sharing her story of religious deconstruction
• Why authenticity often requires courage before it creates freedom
Memorable Moments
"I'm not healing them. They're healing themselves."
"You don't need another person to trust. You need to learn to trust yourself."
"The stage is simply the vehicle. Your courage is what changes lives."
About Vanessa Cook
Vanessa Cook is the founder of Starlight & Sage Wellness and a trauma-informed holistic wellness speaker, breathwork facilitator, somatic healing guide, tantra healing practitioner, and sexuality educator. Through breathwork, somatic practices, movement, sound healing, and transformational coaching, she helps individuals reconnect with themselves, regulate their nervous systems, heal from trauma, and reclaim their inner power.
Her work supports people navigating religious trauma, emotional healing, self-worth, relationships, personal transformation, and embodied wellness through personalized, whole-person approaches.
Learn more about Vanessa:
Website: https://starlightandsagewellness.com/
Book a Session: https://calendly.com/starlightandsage
Facebook: https://facebook.com/vanessahealingpractitioner
Instagram: https://instagram.com/starlightandsagehealing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@starlightandsagehealing
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/starlightandsagewellness
About WHEN Stories™
WHEN Stories™ helps entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches, authors, executives, and changemakers transform the defining moments of their lives into powerful keynote talks that build authority, credibility, and lasting impact.
Every keynote becomes part of The Authority Trail™—a multimedia authority-building ecosystem that extends beyond the stage through professionally produced videos, podcasts, books, photography, speaker profiles, and digital assets that increase discoverability by audiences, event planners, media outlets, and AI search.
If you've ever wondered how one meaningful story can become a keynote, podcast, book chapter, YouTube feature, and long-term authority asset, this is exactly what WHEN Stories was built to do.
Learn more:
https://whenstories.com
About Wendy Babcock
Wendy Babcock is the founder of WHEN Stories™, creator of The Authority Trail™, TEDx speaker, international keynote speaker, bestselling author, and authority-building strategist.
She helps speakers, entrepreneurs, authors, coaches, and experts transform their personal stories into authority-building assets that generate speaking engagements, media opportunities, strategic partnerships, referrals, and long-term visibility—both online and in AI-powered search.
Learn more:
https://wendybabcock.com
Video Production: MKE Video
Sponsored By:
• Kate Carter Coaching
• Crash Design Co. (Kristin Adkins)
• Thryv
Subscribe for more transformational keynote talks, powerful podcast conversations, and inspiring stories that remind us one story really can change everything.
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Thank you for tuning in to the WHEN Stories Podcast, where we explore the transformative moments that redefine our lives.
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