In this episode of EmotionAL Support, Alessandra Torresani sits down with UFC veteran and world-champion Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Alberto Crane for a powerful conversation about resilience, mental health, discipline, and the life lessons found on the mat.

Alberto shares his journey through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, competing at the highest levels of martial arts and fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and how the sport shaped his mindset, confidence, and approach to life. The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Alberto opens up about being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and how he used movement, discipline, and community to navigate one of the biggest challenges of his life.

Together, they explore how martial arts can improve mental health, build real confidence, and teach the importance of simply showing up, even when life feels overwhelming.

In this episode:

• ​ The mental health benefits of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• ​ Why showing up is the hardest — and most important — step
• ​ How martial arts builds true confidence and resilience
• ​ Why every parent should consider Jiu-Jitsu for their kids
• ​ Finding purpose and happiness through adversity

One of Alberto’s most powerful reminders:

“The journey is the magic.”

This episode is about resilience, growth, and learning how to keep moving forward - on and off the mat.

In this episode, Chrissy Lawler, sleep expert and founder of The Peaceful Sleeper, shares evidence-based insights on infant sleep, attachment, and how parents can navigate the often polarized landscape of sleep approaches without guilt. Whether you're a new parent or experiencing sleep challenges, Chrissy offers compassionate guidance to find the right sleep strategy for your family.

Key Topics:

• The importance of sleep for mental and physical health in both parents and children

• Challenging common sleep myths and polarized parenting advice

• How to adopt a flexible, individualized approach to sleep training

• The role of attachment security and responsive caregiving

• Supporting postpartum mental health through sleep

• Practical analogies for understanding sleep development and independence

• How partner involvement can enhance sleep and bonding

• Addressing the misinformation around sleep training and attachment outcomes

• Strategies for creating effective, personalized bedtime routines

• The significance of prioritizing parental self-care for family thriving

Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sleep or parenting. Empower yourself with knowledge, trust your instincts, and prioritize your well-being for the best outcomes for your family.

In this episode, Chrissy Lawler, sleep expert and founder of The Peaceful Sleeper, shares evidence-based insights on infant sleep, attachment, and how parents can navigate the often polarized landscape of sleep approaches without guilt. Whether you're a new parent or experiencing sleep challenges, Chrissy offers compassionate guidance to find the right sleep strategy for your family.

Key Topics:

• The importance of sleep for mental and physical health in both parents and children

• Challenging common sleep myths and polarized parenting advice

• How to adopt a flexible, individualized approach to sleep training

• The role of attachment security and responsive caregiving

• Supporting postpartum mental health through sleep

• Practical analogies for understanding sleep development and independence

• How partner involvement can enhance sleep and bonding

• Addressing the misinformation around sleep training and attachment outcomes

• Strategies for creating effective, personalized bedtime routines

• The significance of prioritizing parental self-care for family thriving

Connect with Chrissy Lawler:

• Website - https://thepeacefulsleeper.com/

• Instagram - https://instagram.com/the.peaceful.sleeper

• Books on Amazon

Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sleep or parenting. Empower yourself with knowledge, trust your instincts, and prioritize your well-being for the best outcomes for your family.

Emotional regulation for kids, gentle parenting, nervous system healing, and mindfulness tools for modern moms — this episode explores how to raise emotionally regulated children in today’s overstimulated world.

What if our kids didn’t have to spend their 20s and 30s learning how to regulate emotions we never learned ourselves?

In today’s overstimulated, screen-saturated, anxiety-heavy world, emotional regulation isn’t optional — it’s survival.

In this episode of EmotionAL Support, I sit down with the creators of The Mindful Mantis, a children’s mindfulness movement teaching breathwork, emotional intelligence, meditation, and communication skills to kids as young as three.

As a mom navigating mental health, nervous system healing, and raising a deeply empathetic preschooler, I know first hand how long it can take to understand your emotions. So the question becomes: what if we gave our kids the tools early?

We talk about:

• ​ Why ages 0–7 shape lifelong emotional patterns
• ​ The overdiagnosis conversation happening in schools
• ​ Breathwork and “pause” as powerful parenting tools
• ​ Teaching kids how to communicate instead of suppress
• ​ Modeling emotional regulation (even when you mess up)
• ​ Homeschooling, Montessori, and alternative education
• ​ How to build resilience without raising perfect kids

This conversation isn’t about being the flawless gentle parent. We love Disney and Dippin’ Dots over here. It’s about raising emotionally safe children in a chaotic world — without losing yourself in the process.

If you’re a millennial mom trying to break cycles, regulate your own nervous system, and raise grounded kids who know how to feel, this episode is for you.

Because maybe emotional regulation doesn’t start at 30.

Maybe it starts at 3.

Follow EmotionAL Support for honest conversations about motherhood, mental health, reinvention, and raising emotionally strong children in today’s world.

http://www.instagram.com/alessandratorresani

https://www.themindfulmantis.com/

Emotional regulation for kids, gentle parenting, nervous system healing, and mindfulness tools for modern moms — this episode explores how to raise emotionally regulated children in today’s overstimulated world.

What if our kids didn’t have to spend their 20s and 30s learning how to regulate emotions we never learned ourselves?

In today’s overstimulated, screen-saturated, anxiety-heavy world, emotional regulation isn’t optional — it’s survival.

In this episode of EmotionAL Support, I sit down with the creators of The Mindful Mantis, a children’s mindfulness movement teaching breathwork, emotional intelligence, meditation, and communication skills to kids as young as three.

As a mom navigating mental health, nervous system healing, and raising a deeply empathetic preschooler, I know firsthand how long it can take to understand your emotions. So the question becomes: what if we gave our kids the tools early?

We talk about:

• Why ages 0–7 shape lifelong emotional patterns

• The overdiagnosis conversation happening in schools

• Breathwork and “pause” as powerful parenting tools

• Teaching kids how to communicate instead of suppress

• Modeling emotional regulation (even when you mess up)

• Homeschooling, Montessori, and alternative education

• How to build resilience without raising perfect kids

This conversation isn’t about being the flawless gentle parent. We love Disney and Dippin’ Dots over here. It’s about raising emotionally safe children in a chaotic world — without losing yourself in the process.

If you’re a millennial mom trying to break cycles, regulate your own nervous system, and raise grounded kids who know how to feel, this episode is for you.

Because maybe emotional regulation doesn’t start at 30.

Maybe it starts at 3.

Follow EmotionAL Support for honest conversations about motherhood, mental health, reinvention, and raising emotionally strong children in today’s world.

http://www.instagram.com/alessandratorresani

https://www.themindfulmantis.com/

What does trauma healing really look like for women in their 30s and 40s?

In this intimate and honest episode of EmotionAL Support, Alessandra Torresani sits down with her longtime friend, therapist and former actress Nikki Isbell for a deeply personal conversation about healing, self-care, confidence, and reinventing your life after trauma.

This isn’t a clinical interview — it’s the kind of vulnerable, kitchen-table conversation you have with a friend who’s seen you through every version of yourself.

Together, they talk about:

• Trauma healing for women and how it lives in the body

• The power of friendship as a safe space for growth and support

• Self-care practices that actually help (gratitude journaling, movement, small daily shifts)

• Building confidence in your 30s when you’re doubting yourself

• Leaving the acting industry and navigating career reinvention

• Asking for help and why you don’t have to do it alone

• Creating community as a millennial woman and mom

• Starting over without losing yourself

Nikki shares her journey from navigating her own trauma to becoming a therapist who now helps other women heal — and how small, consistent steps toward self-care can lead to profound transformation.

If you’re healing from trauma, questioning your next chapter, rebuilding after loss, divorce, career shifts, or motherhood transitions — this episode will remind you that reinvention is possible, support is essential, and confidence is something you build one brave choice at a time.

You don’t have to do this alone.

✨ Share this with a friend who’s in her healing era.

Nikki Isbell, AMFT, APCC is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor based in Lake Tahoe, California. She currently provides both Telehealth and in-person therapy through the nonprofit Center for Mental Health Excellence under the supervision of Veronica Viesca, PhD. She also recently started serving as a school-based therapist at Sugar Bowl Academy under the supervision of Kristin Slye, LMFT. Nikki’s work focuses on anxiety, relationships, and mind–body approaches to mental health, integrating attachment-informed and narrative perspectives to support emotional resilience and well-being.

You can find Nikki on Psychology Today or her website at www.nikkiisbell.com

What does trauma healing really look like for women in their 30s and 40s?

In this intimate and honest episode of EmotionAL Support, Alessandra Torresani sits down with her longtime friend, therapist and former actress Nikki Isbell for a deeply personal conversation about healing, self-care, confidence, and reinventing your life after trauma.

This isn’t a clinical interview — it’s the kind of vulnerable, kitchen-table conversation you have with a friend who’s seen you through every version of yourself.

Together, they talk about:

• Trauma healing for women and how it lives in the body

• The power of friendship as a safe space for growth and support

• Self-care practices that actually help (gratitude journaling, movement, small daily shifts)

• Building confidence in your 30s when you’re doubting yourself

• Leaving the acting industry and navigating career reinvention

• Asking for help and why you don’t have to do it alone

• Creating community as a millennial woman and mom

• Starting over without losing yourself

Nikki shares her journey from navigating her own trauma to becoming a therapist who now helps other women heal — and how small, consistent steps toward self-care can lead to profound transformation.

If you’re healing from trauma, questioning your next chapter, rebuilding after loss, divorce, career shifts, or motherhood transitions — this episode will remind you that reinvention is possible, support is essential, and confidence is something you build one brave choice at a time.

You don’t have to do this alone.

✨ Share this with a friend who’s in her healing era.

Nikki Isbell, AMFT, APCC is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor based in Lake Tahoe, California. She currently provides both Telehealth and in-person therapy through the nonprofit Center for Mental Health Excellence under the supervision of Veronica Viesca, PhD. She also recently started serving as a school-based therapist at Sugar Bowl Academy under the supervision of Kristin Slye, LMFT. Nikki’s work focuses on anxiety, relationships, and mind–body approaches to mental health, integrating attachment-informed and narrative perspectives to support emotional resilience and well-being.

You can find Nikki on Psychology Today or her website at www.nikkiisbell.com

Have you ever felt drawn to a place, a person, or a path you can’t explain?

This week on EmotionAL Support, Alessandra sits down with Emmy-award-winning director turned spiritual teacher Mary Madeiras, author of The Akashic Way, to explore the Akashic Records—what they are, how they reveal past lives, uncover hidden emotional blocks, deepen intuition, and reconnect you to your true soul purpose.

Together, they dive into spiritual awakening, self-discovery, motherhood, career reinvention, and the sacred—but terrifying—experience of starting over when life no longer fits. This conversation touches on emotional healing, personal transformation, manifestation, women’s empowerment, and the journey toward inner peace.

Whether you’re feeling stuck, navigating a life transition, searching for meaning, or longing for deeper spiritual growth, this episode is a reminder that nothing in your path is random—and your next chapter may already be written within you.

⸻

In This Episode, We Explore

• What the Akashic Records really are and how they work

• How past lives influence present-day relationships and patterns

• Clearing emotional blocks and reconnecting to intuition

• Spiritual awakening during motherhood and major life transitions

• Career reinvention, purpose, and starting over after loss or change

• Tools for manifestation, healing, and inner peace