Live Happy Now

As we all settle into our post-summer routine, certain family members can sometimes get overlooked. This week, therapist Brittany Derrenbacher is back to talk about how a change in routine can affect our pets. Brittany is a certified grief and pet loss specialist, founder of the special needs animal rescue Luna Bell’s Moonbows and owner of Sunshine Healing & Empowerment in Louisville, Kentucky, and she explains why our furry family members are so affected by the end-of-summer change in routine and tells us what we can do about it. In this episode, you’ll learn: How pets are affected when we go back to school and back to work. How small changes in your morning routine can make a big difference. What we can do to make being alone less stressful for pets.

We’ve hit the end of summer and for many people, that means dealing with end of summer anxiety. And it’s not just for kids! This week’s guest, Eli Weinstein, is a social work therapist and host of The Dude Therapist podcast, and he’s here to talk about how we all can handle that end of summer anxiety and head into fall with a new game plan for the whole family. In this episode, you’ll learn: What causes end-of-summer anxiety. Why creating a routine helps manage stress. How to find a strategy that works for your family.

As we go back to school, it means kids are spending even more time on their screens. So what’s a parent to do? This week’s guest will tell you! Childcare advocate and author Florence Ann Romano joins us this week to talk about the importance of balancing time on devices. Florence Ann is a big fan of ditching the devices and discovering off-screen play, and she’s here today to talk about how parents can get a handle on their children’s screen time — and maybe even improve their own screen habits. In this episode, you’ll learn: What too much screen time does to developing brains. How to develop learning opportunities without screens. How parents’ screen usage affects their relationship with their children.

Whether we admit it or not, most of us spend a lot of time comparing ourselves to others. But what if our true superpower is learning just to be ourselves? This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Dr. Ronald Siegel, a psychotherapist, Harvard psychology professor and mindfulness expert whose latest research looks at what a climate of self-comparison is doing to undermine our happiness. His new book, The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are, looks at the trap of constant self-evaluation and explains how we can learn to let go of our comparison culture and live a more satisfying, happy life. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s natural for us to compare ourselves to others. How social media has amplified the climate of self-comparison. How practices like gratitude and mindfulness help minimize the effects of constant self-evaluation.

Music has such a powerful healing ability that some researchers are even looking at “sonic pharmacology” — using music as a tool to improve patients’ health. Steve Keller is one of the world’s leading experts on sonic strategy. As a researcher, he has explored how music and sound affect everything from our physical wellbeing to our emotional state to our relationships and overall perception of happiness. In this episode, he looks at the many surprising ways music can be used as a healing tool — and explains why, one day, your doctor might give you a musical prescription. In this episode, you’ll learn: How the medical community is using sound to enhance healing. Some of the surprising ways noise affects our health — and how music can help. The unexpected ways music can change your eating habits and promote a healthier lifestyle.

As kids (and teachers) head back to school, what if they started focusing on subjects like gratitude, kindness and empathy? This week’s guest, Ash Manuel, left his teaching career after discovering positive psychology and set out on a mission to change how children learn. Now, his Growing with Gratitude program is a global positive education program that helps build and protect children’s mental wellbeing.   In this episode, you’ll learn: How Ash became interested in positive psychology. How he has applied his teaching skills to develop the Growing with Gratitude program. What he hopes to accomplish by taking gratitude into classrooms.

This is a special week at Live Happy Now because we’ve reached an important milestone — and we truly could not have done it without you. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Live Happy CEO and Co-founder Deborah Heisz for an important announcement and to talk about the future of the podcast. In this episode, you’ll learn: What led to the launch of Live Happy Now. How our podcast has changed over the past seven years. What we hope listeners gain from listening each week.

Bullying is a huge issue for kids today, and as we go back to school, many children are dreading having to face that challenge every day. This week’s guest, Jennifer Fraser, PhD, is author of the powerful new book, The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health. Jennifer is an award-winning educator whose online courses and workshops teach the impact of neuroscience on personal development and culture change. In her latest book, she breaks down how bullying affects our brains and, more importantly, she tells us how to help our brains heal from that trauma. In this episode, you’ll learn: What happens to our brains when they are being bullied. How society has normalized bullying from adults — and why it’s so important to stop that cycle. Steps to take to address bullying in schools and the workplace.

As the world opens up to traveling again, can you make your travel experiences more meaningful? This week’s guest will show you how! Jessica Blotter is a speaker and journalist who specializes in sustainable and regenerative tourism. After witnessing extreme poverty on a vacation to Belize, Jessica launched a movement in 2016 called Kind Traveler, which allows travelers to positively impact the communities they visit — and enjoy incredible experiences as well. In this episode, she explains why it’s so important to travel kindly, and every trip you take can make a difference. In this episode, you’ll learn: What sustainable and regenerative tourism is and why it matters. The role that giving back plays in creating a more positive travel experience. How you can embrace sustainable tourism in your own travels.

Music education typically focuses on teaching students who want to be musicians or music teachers, but this week’s guest sees it as a vehicle for teaching an entire spectrum of social emotional learning skills. Nadine Levitt is a mother, former opera singer and the founder of WURRLYedu, which uses music to teach children about things like empathy, collaboration, impulse control and so much more. In this episode, she explains how music can help change the way young learners look at the world and broaden their understanding of complex emotions. In this episode, you’ll learn: How her career as a performer led Nadine to create Wurrlyedu. How music can help children learn critical life skills. Why using music for social emotional learning is particularly important in our current environment.

Laughter and humor feel good, but have you thought about how much good it can do? This week’s guest, Dr. Shepherd Siegel, is a musician turned educator whose recent research has centered around the idea of play, playfulness and humor as a driving force of change. His latest book, Tricking Power into Performing Acts of Love: How Tricksters through History have Changed the World, looks at the trickster archetype and the role it plays in social change. On this episode, he talks about the importance of finding fun and humor in our lives — and how to reclaim those habits as adults.  In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s important to explore fun and playfulness. The importance of discovering humor in dark times. How to get more humor and playfulness in your life.

It’s summertime, and that makes it a great time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. But this is about more than working on a killer tan; this week, Laura Allen and Courtney Crim from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, talk about the amazing power of nature. Laura and Courtney developed the course The Natural Environment and Well-being, and on this episode, they explain why it’s so important to get outside every day and what nature is doing for your mind, body and spirit.   In this episode, you’ll learn: The mental, physical and emotional benefits of spending time in nature. Tips for getting more nature in your life — even if you live in an urban area. How much time you should spend outside every week.

Summer is all about fun and happiness, so this week, we’re looking at how to make this your family’s happiest summer yet.  On this week’s episode, educator and children’s emotional health expert Maureen Healy talks about how to do that! Her new book, The Happiness Workbook for Kids, looks at how to navigate the difficult times we’re in and create fun, positive experiences for children. In this episode, she talks about some of the things we all can do to make this summer happier – and healthier – for the whole family. In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of teaching emotional health to children. How positive emotional health makes us happier. Ideas for where to start making this summer your happiest yet.

We all want and need relationships — but you might be surprised to find out how little we actually know about them! This week, bestselling author Eric Barker joins us to talk about his newest book, Plays Well With Others, that takes a deep dive into friendships, marital relationships and every other kind of relationship to explore what we’re doing right, where we could improve and how the pandemic has changed the way we look at our relationships. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why friendships are the most important relationships we have. What science says we can do to build stronger friendships. How the way we fight with our spouse predicts the outcome of our relationship.

If you’re one of those sensitive people out there, congratulations – you’re about to learn what an incredible superpower it is. This week’s guest is Katie Abey, author of the new children’s book We Feel Happy, which helps children explore their feelings. As a sensitive person herself, Katie is aware of some of the challenges that can bring, and her book is designed to help children learn more about their feelings and how to embrace them. And the great new is – it works for adults, too! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s important for children to learn to identify and embrace their feelings. How parents and other adults can help on this journey. How Katie uses art to help others “be proud of their weirdness.”

Music is a great tool for bringing people together, and during the days of lockdown, the Marsh Family from the UK began sharing song parodies to express what they were going through. As it turns out they were exactly what the world needed, and their viral videos now have received more than 30 million views. They were dubbed the “Von Trapped Family” by the New York Times, and in this episode of On a Positive Note, parents Ben and Danielle Marsh talk about how their family’s humorous approach to the pandemic helped them keep their own sanity while turning their family into a global sensation. In this episode, you’ll learn: What inspired them to start doing parodies. How humor has helped them tackle tough topics. How singing together has brought them closer as a family.

June is Pride month, which makes it the perfect time to revisit the theme of unity. This week’s guest, Wes Schmitz, is co-host of the popular Two Bottles Deep Podcast, which is designed to open up conversations between the gay and straight communities. Wes has been connecting people his entire life and his podcast has picked up an unexpected following thanks to its honest, open conversational approach. Let’s hear what he has to say about how listening really can build a bridge and create more unity. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s so important for the gay and straight communities to listen to one another. How this could help us find unity in other areas. Why Wes thinks the Two Bottle Deep Podcast has been so well-received by a surprising audience demographic.

In this always-on world, it can be a challenge to find downtime. But cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Sara Mednick, author of the new book, The Hidden Power of the Downstate, says that spending too much time in our upstate is leaving us unhappy, exhausted and unhealthy. In this episode, she explains the need for us to discover our downstate and leverage it to enjoy a healthier, happier life. In this episode, you’ll learn: What the downstate is and why it’s so important. How spending too much time in the upstate can harm your health. What activities we can engage in to get some of the same health benefits as being in our downstate.

Wil Wheaton burst into the spotlight in 1986 in the iconic coming of age movie Stand By Me. He went on to play many more roles throughout his teen and young adult years, including starring as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation and playing a version of himself on the hit TV show, The Big Bang Theory. But his success hid a childhood filled with trauma and abuse that led to a lifetime of depression, anxiety and complex PTSD. In his new memoir, Still Just a Geek, Wil opens up about his life and explains how he came to grips with his past. This week, he talks about why it’s so important to him to talk openly about mental health. In this episode, you’ll learn: What led Wil to revisit his life in his new memoir. How writing the book helped him find empathy and compassion for his younger self. Why it’s so important for him to normalize the conversation around mental health.

Can a doodle improve your mental health? If it’s drawn by Danny Casale, it just might! Under the moniker of Coolman Coffeedan, Danny is using his art to provide encouragement, make people laugh, and even explore the challenges of mental health. His work took off during the pandemic, and now he has millions of followers who rely on his adorable characters to uplift and inspire them. His new book UR Special: Advice for Humans from Coolman Coffeedan, tackles topics ranging from loneliness and anxiety to grief and self-confidence. And just like this conversation, his art will make you smile.   In this episode, you’ll learn: How Danny turned doodling into a mental health movement. Why it’s important to him to address mental health issues openly. Why he thinks so many people are connecting with his drawings.