As we wrap up 2024 and head into the new year, many of us start thinking about what we’d like to accomplish in 2025. But it’s important to pause for a moment and look at what we’ve done over the past 12 months. This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah Heisz to talk about the power of reflection. Find out why taking time to celebrate what you’ve done and review what you’d like to do better can have a profound impact on the way you approach the new year. In th...
Dec 24, 2024•24 min•Ep. 61
It may be called the most wonderful time of the year, but for many people, it’s the most stressful. Nine out of 10 Americans report feeling stressed out right now, so this week host Paula Felps talks with author and mindfulness expert Julie Potiker about how her SNAP mindfulness method can help lower your stress level throughout the holiday season — and beyond. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why mindfulness is such an effective tool for managing stress. What the SNAP method is and how to use it....
Dec 17, 2024•27 min•Ep. 60
With holiday gatherings just around the corner, many of us are experiencing a familiar feeling of anxiety. Annual gatherings can often unearth familiar arguments, so this week, host Paula Felps talks with author and success coach Dr. Andrea Goeglein to learn how to navigate those gatherings with less stress and greater success. In this episode, you’ll learn: What drives anxiety around family holiday gatherings. How to set guidelines ahead of time to avoid common arguments. Tips for creating a mo...
Dec 10, 2024•29 min•Ep. 59
As we move toward the new year, it’s common to think about what we’d like to see unfold in the coming months. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Francesca Sipma, an international speaker, trainer, and author who created a process called hypnobreathwork to help people connect with their state of flow and discover their purpose. In her powerful new book, Unblock Your Purpose: Breathwork, Intuition and Flow, she walks readers through the methodology to tap into their unique purpose and find cla...
Dec 04, 2024•28 min•Ep. 58
During this time of year, there’s a lot of talk about gathering with loved ones, but what does that mean for those who are estranged from their families? This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Gina Moffa, a licensed clinical social worker and author of Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss. Gina, who specializes in grief and loss, trauma, and painful life transitions, discusses estrangement during the holidays and offers tips for self-care as well as advice for...
Nov 26, 2024•28 min•Season 10Ep. 17
The holiday shopping season is here, and for many people, that creates stress and anxiety. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Bright Dickson, co-host of the Money and Mindset with Bright and Brian podcast, to talk about how we can change our approach to holiday spending for less stress and more joy. In this episode, you’ll learn: Some of the things to consider before you start buying presents this year. Why setting an intention about how you want to feel can help in your gift-buying deci...
Nov 19, 2024•31 min•Season 10Ep. 16
Resiliency plays a crucial role in how we recover from setbacks, solve problems, and navigate our personal and professional relationships. This week, we’re sharing an episode of our sister podcast, Built to Win, from the leadership team at Neora. Live Happy CEO Deborah Heisz, who also is co-CEO at Neora, sits down with Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe — an author, speaker, and educator who specializes in workplace well-being — to tell us how to cultivate everyday resiliency and what it can do for us. In ...
Nov 11, 2024•33 min•Season 10Ep. 15
By now, most people have a good idea of what outcomes they want from this year’s presidential election. But what happens if it doesn’t turn out as you had hoped? This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Dr. Lauren Cook, who created Live Happy’s Overcoming Election Stress email series. She’s here to offer tips on self-care this election day and how we can use the outcome to build resilience and lasting connections. In this episode, you’ll learn: What you can do on Election Day to minimize anxie...
Nov 05, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 14
This week, we’re celebrating Halloween, but did you know that in addition to being fun, Halloween is good for you? In this episode, Live Happy’s Casey Johnson sits down with host Paula Felps to talk about why participating in Halloween traditions has a positive effect on our well-being and how this holiday offers a playful way to approach personal development. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why we need Halloween — especially now! How to use Halloween-themed affirmations to improve your self-talk...
Oct 29, 2024•20 min•Season 10Ep. 13
We intrinsically know that animals and nature have a lot to teach us, but this episode’s guest takes that education to a whole new level. Vanessa Chakour is an author, naturalist, and former pro boxer whose new book, Earthly Bodies: Embracing Animal Nature dives into the parallels between our human struggles and the experiences of our wilder neighbors. Looking at 23 wild animals, from wolves to sea lions, Vanessa explores how developing empathy for wild animals can help with our own understandin...
Oct 24, 2024•27 min•Ep. 57
Body image is a struggle for many people, but for tweens and teens in the era of influencers and social media, it has become even more challenging. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Dr. Charlotte Markey, a best-selling author, professor of psychology, and chair of the Health Sciences Department at Rutgers University. Charlotte has devoted much of her career to helping adolescents sort out the complex issue of body image, and with her new book, Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life, she...
Oct 22, 2024•25 min•Season 11Ep. 11
We live in a world where we’re connected to our devices 24/7, but how connected are we to what really matters? This week, host Paula Felps talks with Dr. Adam Dorsay, a licensed psychologist, executive coach, and host of the award-winning podcast SuperPsyched. In his new book by the same name, Adam explores four types of essential connections that we all need but might not be getting in our busy, distracted lives. Join us as he explains why each type of connection is so important and, even bette...
Oct 15, 2024•32 min•Season 10Ep. 11
World Kindness Day is just about a month away, but you the 5th Annual Kindness campaign encourages you to start celebrating it early. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Dr. Michelle Robin and Bayleigh Petty of Small Changes Big Shifts, an organization dedicated to the whole-body approach to wellness and wellbeing. Their Kindness Campaign is a 31-day email series that begins on October 14, and this week they’re here to talk about their mission of kindness, what it can do for you, and how you ...
Oct 08, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 10
This week, we’re sharing an episode of Need a Lift?, a show that focuses on bringing people together during a tough time in our culture. Host Tim Shriver talks to wise guests who have transformed painful moments in their lives into purpose through their spiritual rituals and practices. Guests like bestselling novelist Min Jin Lee on why she creates complicated characters who hold the secret to our transformation, and Olympic athlete Michael Phelps and his wife Nicole discussing the importance of...
Oct 03, 2024•51 min•Ep. 56
Since the pandemic, there has been a 70% increase in stress-based illnesses. This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Dr. David Clarke, whose practice in internal medicine and gastroenterology led him to explore how stress and emotions create chronic pain. As president of the non-profit Psychophysiologic Disorders Association, Dave is dedicated to educating people about the stress-related, brain-generated medical conditions. He’s here to explain why we’re seeing more stress-related illnesses, ho...
Oct 01, 2024•29 min•Season 10Ep. 9
When award-winning journalist and bestselling child development author Wendy Lyons Sunshine adopted a difficult puppy, she found that traditional training methods didn’t work on her dog. So she began applying the evidence-based parenting practices she wrote about and found this new approach was life-changing for both her and her dog. In her latest book, Tender Paws: How Science-Based Parenting Can Transform Our Relationship with Dogs, Wendy offers therapeutic concepts designed to meet each dogs’...
Sep 26, 2024•29 min•Ep. 55
We are in the midst of a tumultuous election cycle, and that can take a toll on our sleep, our mental health, and our relationships. But the good news is it doesn’t have to be like that! This week, host Paula Felps talks with psychology instructor and resiliency expert Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, author of Stress Wisely: How to Be Well in an Unwell World. Dr. Robyne offers tips to help us navigate potentially volatile conversations, understand the stress that we’re feeling right now, and learn how ...
Sep 24, 2024•31 min•Season 10Ep. 8
Burnout and stress continue to create tremendous challenges at home and on the job, so this week, we’re looking at how we can reclaim our joy and energy. Join host Paula Felps as she talks with clinical psychologist Chris Germer who, along with researcher Dr. Kristin Neff, developed the world-renowned Mindful Self-compassion program. Their third co-authored book, Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout, looks at how self-compassion can help overcome burnout and offers simple anti-burnout tools to de...
Sep 17, 2024•20 min•Ep. 54
Mindfulness is known for preventing depression and improving mental health, but how do you create a practice that works for you? This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Willem Kuyken, the Ritblat Professor of Mindfulness and Psychological Science at the University of Oxford in the UK, to answer that question. Willem’s most recent book, Mindfulness for Life, offers three keys to living well through mindfulness and explains how to develop and sustain a mindfulness practice that works for you. In ...
Sep 10, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 6
Some days kindness seems in short supply, but this week host Paula Felps is joined by Kristina Joy Carlson, founder of the KINDd Method and managing director of global philanthropy at Carter Global. Kristina has turned her personal practice of outrageous kindness into an inspirational campaign that can be practiced by individuals and corporations alike. In this episode, she explains what it means to practice outrageous kindness and how it can change the world we live in. In this episode, you’ll ...
Sep 03, 2024•27 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Election season is now officially underway and that means that many of us are already feeling election stress. That’s why Live Happy has partnered with licensed clinical psychologist and author Dr. Lauren Cook to offer a free four-week email course, Overcoming Election Stress. In this episode, host Paula Felps sits down with Lauren to talk about some of the symptoms of election stress and explain how this email course can help get you through the next couple of months. In this episode, you’ll le...
Aug 27, 2024•25 min•Season 10Ep. 4
If you’ve never thought of cows as intuitive healers, this episode just might change your mind. Ellie Laks is the founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates abused and discarded farm animals. She is the creator of cow hug therapy and, as she explains in her book by the same name , she has learned amazing lessons from these animals about life, death, and everything in between. She’s here today to share some of those lessons with us. In this episo...
Aug 22, 2024•23 min
If you feel like your workday never ends, you aren’t alone! This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Janelle Wells and Doreen MacAulay, partners in the consultancy WellsQuest and authors of Our (In)Visible Work: How Everyone Everywhere Experiences It Every Day. Their work focuses on the effect of the unpaid work we do both on the job and at home, and they’re here to talk about how taking on these essential tasks can tax our time and lead to burnout, anxiety, and exhaustion — and how we can manag...
Aug 20, 2024•33 min•Season 10Ep. 3
Students and teachers are heading back to school, but just because summer is ending doesn’t mean our fun has to end, too. This summer, Live Happy teamed up with organizational psychologist Mike Rucker, PhD, to offer the Summer of Fun email series, filled with ideas about how to bring more fun to your summer. As we head into fall and winter, host Paula Felps sits down with Mike to talk about how we can carry this commitment to fun with us as the days get shorter. In this episode, you’ll learn: Ho...
Aug 13, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 2
As we head toward the end of summer, many of us are talking about the contentious election environment. In this episode, host Paula Felps is by Rob Volpe, an empathy activist, consultant, and author of Tell Me More About That: Solving the empathy crisis one conversation at a time, who talks about how we can avoid some of the hazards that come with discussing differing opinions. He’ll also explain how learning to approach these conversations differently can change the way we interact with one ano...
Aug 06, 2024•29 min•Season 10Ep. 1
As Live Happy Now wraps up its ninth season, we’re looking ahead to some exciting new things to share with our listeners. In this episode, Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah Heisz flips the script to interview host Paula Felps and find out what’s in store. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why we’re going to look at Election Stress in Season 10 and how to sign up for our related email course. Why (and how) Gen Z is playing a big part of our next season. More about the Live Happy Newsletter and h...
Jul 30, 2024•23 min•Season 9Ep. 52
Acclaimed soprano Renee Fleming has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, performing in operas, concerts, theater, and films. But now, the five-time Grammy Award winner is using her voice to help improve our wellbeing. In her new book, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, Renee has curated a collection of essays from leading scientists, artists, musicians, creative arts therapists, educators, and healthcare providers about the powerful impact of music and the a...
Jul 25, 2024•23 min
Summer is a recess for all of us, but what if you could prioritize play all year long? This week, host Paula Felps talks with Jeff Harry, who uses a combination of positive psychology and play to foster healing and help individuals overcome their biggest challenges. Learn why we all need to embrace the power of play and how to create your personal play practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to discover your “play values.” The power of having a “play partner.” How adding play to your life c...
Jul 23, 2024•28 min•Season 9Ep. 51
We’ve all heard the advice to stop and smell the roses, but this week’s episode is a reminder to take a moment to arrange them. Talia Boone is a social entrepreneur whose work has centered around human and civil rights issues. A few years ago, she discovered flower arranging as a form of meditation and self-care, and in the height of the pandemic she launched Postal Petals to help others relieve the anxiety they were feeling. Today, her company’s mindful approach to flower arranging is being use...
Jul 16, 2024•29 min•Season 9Ep. 50
For years, wolves have been revered as spirit animals and in many spiritual traditions, they’re believed to help people connect with their instincts and inner wisdom. At the Sedona Wolf Sanctuary in Arizona, rescued wolves on sacred land create a healing experience for those who have experienced trauma or who are looking for a renewing spiritual experience. In this episode, host Brittany Derrenbacher talks with Cynthia Heisch, founder and CEO of the sanctuary, to talk about how and why wolves ca...
Jul 11, 2024•23 min
