Live Happy Now

Zelana Montminy, Ph.D., is a leading figure in positive psychology, bringing a unique and varied skill set to the well-being realm. Zelana is the author of 21 Days to Resilience, which is ranked No. 1 on Amazon’s Mental Health Hot New Releases, and she speaks around the world on the topic of resilience.

Live Happy CEO Deborah K. Heisz joins Dr. Michelle Robin to talk about the impact of small changes on your overall well-being. Michelle is an international speaker, best-selling author and founder of Your Wellness Connection, one of the nation’s most successful integrative healing centers.

In this episode we touch on the difficult subject of finding joy after the loss of a loved one. And although everyone must deal with grief in his or her own way, it is possible to be able to get back to living a life full of joy and find your authentic happiness once again. Kristin Meekhof who is a licensed master’s level social worker and author of the book A Widow’s Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and Advice For the First Five Years and was a contributor to Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy for the piece titled “The Healing Power of Gratitude”.

Neil Pasricha is The New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Awesome series. Neil is a Harvard MBA, one of the most popular TED speakers of all time and the Director of the Institute for Global Happiness. He has dedicated the past 15 years of his life to developing leaders—creating global programs inside the world’s largest companies and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. In this episode, he shares more about his new book The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything.

Ross Mathews has won the hearts of millions of Americans since his television debut as a correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ross is author of the national best-seller Man Up!: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence and can currently be seen as the newest host of FOX's Hollywood Today Live, on the red carpet with E! for the biggest awards shows of the season, and returning as a judge on the smash hit, LOGO series RuPaul’s Drag Race. In this episode we learn more about Ross’s journey toward happiness and what his keys are to living happy.

Linda Swain is a creator, producer and television host. Her most recent nationally televised show, Tapping IN: The Happiest People & Places on the Planet received a Daytime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Travel Program in 2015. Tapping IN combines Linda’s passion to share the stories of others through television and nearly 30 years of spanning the globe, searching for the happiest people and places on the planet for her travel company Swain Destinations.

Joshua Smyth, Ph.D., is a professor of Biobehavioral Health andMedicine at Penn State and co-author of the upcoming bookOpening Up by Writing It Down–How Expressive Writing ImprovesHealth and Eases Emotional Pain. Joshua was interviewed for anarticle in our latest issue of Live Happy magazine abouthow a 20 minute practice of creative writing can help make youhappier, healthier and more resilient. In this episode of LiveHappy Now, we talk with him about how expressive writing canhelp manage stress and improve well-being.

We talk with child and adult psychiatrist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Edward Hallowell on the steps parents can take to help their children become happier as adults. Dr. Hallowell graduated from Harvard College and Tulane School of Medicine and was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School from 1983 to 2004. He has authored twenty books on various psychological topics including the power of the human connection, methods of forgiving others, dealing with worry, managing excessive busyness and the childhood roots of happiness.

Learn more about the importance of our oceans to our global well-being with Peter Neill, founder and director of World Ocean Observatory. World Ocean Observatory is a web-based place of exchange for information and education about the health of the ocean. Peter is also host of World Ocean Radio, a weekly series of 5-minute audio essays on a wide range of ocean topics, and editor of World Ocean Journal, a bi-annual e-magazine of the WOO focused on ocean culture and solutions to today’s ocean issues.

In this episode of Live Happy Now, we discover why mindfulness can be considered the ultimate success habit. Matt Tenney is author of The Mindfulness Edge: How to Rewire Your Brain for Leadership and Personal Excellence Without Adding to Your Schedule. Through keynote speeches and training programs, Matt works to develop highly effective leaders who achieve extraordinary, long-term business outcomes and live more fulfilling lives.

In this episode of Live Happy Now we talk with Stacy Kaiser, Live Happy editor at large, about the idea of "super parents" and why striving to be a good parent by allowing room for error and accepting imperfections really helps model to children that trying your best is what is really important. Stacy is a licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, media personality and author of How to Be a Grown Up: The Ten Secret Skills Everyone Needs to Know.

In this episode, Live Happy Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Dr. Drew Ramsey about one of 10 practices for choosing joy: health. Dr. Drew is The New York Times best-selling author of Fifty Shades of Kale and The Happiness Diet. He is one of psychiatry’s leading proponents of using dietary change to help balance moods, sharpen brain function and improve mental health.

In this episode Live Happy Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Kenneth Pargament, Ph.D., about one of 10 practices for choosing joy: resilience. Kenneth has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is professor emeritus of psychology at Bowling Green State University. He is also author of The Psychology of Religion and Coping and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred.

In this episode Live Happy magazine science editor Paula Felps talks with Steve Leventhal, executive director of CorStone, about one of 10 practices for choosing joy: resilience. CorStone is an international nongovernmental organization that develops and provides personal resilience programs to improve well-being for youth worldwide, focusing on adolescent girls in developing countries as critical change-agents in their communities. CorStone believes that cultivating personal resilience is a foundational step in helping youth to thrive—one which is often missing in development programs worldwide. Its evidence-based programs impact three interdependent factors in well-being: emotional health, physical health and education.

In this episode we are joined by Live Happy Director of Digital Marketing and Products Laura Coppedge to share more about the International Day of Happiness and what Live Happy is doing to celebrate this special day.

In this episode Live Happy Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Ali Smith, co-founder of the Holistic Life Foundation, on one of 10 practices for choosing joy: mindfulness. Ali has more than 15 years of experience teaching yoga and mindfulness to diverse populations. Through his work at the Holistic Life Foundation, he has developed and piloted yoga and mindfulness programs with at-risk youth at drug treatment centers, juvenile detention centers, alternative high schools, mental crisis facilities and in many other underserved communities.

In this episode Live Happy co-founder and Editorial Director Deborah Heisz talks with Birju Pandya, a senior advisor for RSF Social Financial, on one of ten practices for choosing joy: giving back. Birju is also involved with ServiceSpace, an organization run entirely by volunteers that leverages technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. Some of the projects by ServiceSpace include a daily positive news service, an acts-of-kindness portal, and a gift-economy restaurant.

In this episode Live Happy Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah Heisz talks with Sonja Lyubomirsky about gratitude. Sonja is author of The How of Happiness, the first book by a highly-credentialed positive psychologist to present the latest research in a “how-to” format. Sonja’s work has been awarded a Templeton Psychology Prize, a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation grant, and a million-dollar grant (with Ken Sheldon) from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness.

Holly Raynes was inspired by a family member who was a Titanic survivor and another who escaped from Poland in World War II. Her book, Nation of Enemies, combines lessons from the past with a healthy fear of the modern landscape. A longtime member of Boston’s writing community, Holly has a history of trying anything once (acting, diving out of a plane and white water rafting). Out of all the things she has tried, writing and raising children seem to have stuck. In this episode, Live Happy co-founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Holly on one of 10 practices for choosing joy—creativity.

Paula Felps is the science editor for Live Happy magazine and has worked as a freelance writer and editor since 1998, covering topics from health and fitness to luxury cars and travel to business and technology. She has written for publications and websites such as Executive Travel, American Driver, Self and Reserve. In this episode, Live Happy co-founder and Editorial Director Deborah K. Heisz talks with Paula about the science of savoring and shares a glimpse into the new April 2016 issue of Live Happy magazine.