The Functional Nurse Podcast - Nursing in Functional Medicine · Brigitte Sager, DNP

Interview with Laura Alessio, RN, MSN, PHN, LNC, HWNC-BC

·1 hr·5 clips

Laura's story starts with care. She says her mother was in a catastrophic car accident while pregnant with her, and growing up around a traumatic brain injury taught her patience early. Nursing came later. After studying sociology and Spanish, she moved into an accelerated master's program in nursing at the University of San Diego. Hands-on work came first. She had already earned an EMT license and worked as an ER tech, which gave her real clinical exposure before nursing school. Bridget keeps the tone conversational. Laura sounds like someone drawing meaning from experience rather than trying to package it into a polished origin story. The interview stays practical. She explains how helping with caretaking as a child made the transition into nursing feel natural and why that kind of background still matters in functional medicine. Restorative yoga enters the picture. Laura compares it with more intense yoga styles and says the slower, gentler version became more important to her as she got older. Meditation follows that same thread. What once felt unnecessary, like meditating before bed, later made more sense as a way to relax and settle the body. She admits she was not naturally good at it. A one-on-one instructor and a nurse coach helped her see that meditation can be done in whatever position and setting actually works. Comfort matters. Laura says the point is not to force yourself into discomfort, but to choose the version of the practice that keeps you in a safe space. The retreat story makes that clear. She describes a silent, highly structured trip with early wake-ups, empty rooms, matching clothes, and her biggest concern being that she could not ask what was in the food. She says controlled settings like that can make the practice easier, even if the hardest part for her was not being able to ask what was in the food.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about nursing, mindfulness, and the long route into functional care.

Laura Alessio's route into nursing feels grounded and lived-in rather than neatly packaged. Her mother's traumatic brain injury after a catastrophic car accident, the years spent studying sociology and Spanish, the accelerated master's program, and the EMT and ER tech work all…

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Why you'd press play

A nurse's path from caregiving to a more grounded take on restorative yoga and meditation.

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