Live Happy Now

This week, we celebrate International Women’s Day, which makes it the perfect time to talk about how women can help empower and support each other. In this episode, host Paula Felps talks with Amber Olson Rourke, an award-winning marketing executive, mom, co-founder of the direct sales company Neora, and co-host of the Built to Win podcast. Amber is passionate about empowering women to step into their full potential and reach for more than they think is possible, and she’s here to talk about how we can look for opportunities to support one another — and how that can change the world. In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance and value of women supporting each other. How raising girls to support one another can change their future. How to create your own community of supportive women.  To hear more from Amber follow her on Instagram and subscribe to the Built to Win podcast.  

Throughout March, Live Happy celebrates Happiness Month with 31 days of happy actions that we call #HappyActs. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah Heisz about how we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary of #HappyActs and how you can share happiness with our new digital wall on the International Day of Happiness on March 20. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why practicing happiness with intention is so good for you. What a #HappyAct is — and how you can practice them. New ways to celebrate the International Day of Happiness.

Music has the power to help us heal, and that’s why one Musicians on Call delivers music where it might be needed most: the hospital. This volunteer organization connects musicians with hospitals to provide live and recorded music to patients. In this episode, host Paula Felps is joined by Katy Epley, executive vice president at Musicians on Call, to learn how this program came about and how it has changed the lives of both patients and the musicians who perform for them. In this episode, you’ll learn: The physical, emotional, and mental benefits of experiencing live music in a hospital setting. How this program has changed the landscape for accessing live music in the hospital. How to get involved with Musicians on Call.

Enduring the Loss of Love With Clare Mackintosh Grief and loss are an inevitable aspect of love, and this week, best-selling author Clare Mackintosh sits down with host Paula Felps to discuss her new book, I Promise It Won’t Always Hurt Like This. Written years after the death of her son, it’s filled with important insights about love, loss, and the journey to healing — and shares hope for those who are walking through a painful time.   In this episode, you’ll learn: Why grief and love are two sides of the same coin. The importance of understanding grief before losing someone. How writing about grief can help with healing.

This week, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, so today, we want to talk about the greatest love of your life — yourself. In this episode, host Paula Felps is joined by Brittany Derrenbacher and Sarah Pavey of The Healing Collective in Louisville, Kentucky. In their practices, Brittany and Sarah teach clients how to discover a deep lasting love for themselves, and they also hold workshops on creating self-love vision boards. Today, they’re sharing some insights on how self-love improves our lives and our relationships and offer some tips for starting your own self-love practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why self-love is the foundation of all our relationships. How practicing self-love changes the way you interact with others. Simple ways to begin practicing self-love.

It’s February, which means the message of love and Valentine’s Day is all around us. But did you know this is the make-or-break time for many couples? This week, host Paula Felps welcomes Dr. Julia DiGangi, a neuropsychologist and author of Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power. She’s here to discuss some common mistakes we make in our relationships and how we can improve those relationships by learning more about what our brains – not our hearts – are doing to complicate things. In this episode, you’ll learn: The three styles of attachment and how they affect your relationships. How the patterns in your brain affect how you respond to your partner. Why self-love is a vital part of every relationship.

As we approach February, our minds turn to love. For the next few weeks, Live Happy Now will look at the many ways love shows up in our lives and how we can create more of it. To kick it off, host Paula Felps talks with Maria Baltazzi, author of Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct and Produce the Life You Want. In her book, Maria outlines eight happiness essentials and, not surprisingly, one of them is love. In this episode she talks about some of the practices we can use to build more love into our lives. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to use journaling to build more love in your life. Using photography to retrain your brain to look for love. How a loving kindness meditation can create more love for yourself and others.

Throughout January, we’ve been sharing practices that can help you create habits that increase your wellbeing. And now, it’s time for an adventure! This week, host Paula Felps talks with Steve Taylor, a best-selling author and senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University in England. Steve has devoted his life to investigating spiritual awakenings for himself and others and his new book, The Adventure: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Awakening, provides a roadmap to walk through practices to help you embark on your awakening journey.  In this episode, you’ll learn: Why awakening is the greatest adventure any of us will ever experience. The eight qualities of wakefulness and why they matter. How embracing our mortality improves our spiritual awakening. 

As we venture a little farther into the new year, it’s a good time to pause, take a breath, and – if you have three minutes – learn to meditate! This week, host Paula Felps is joined by  Richard Dixey, a lifelong student of Buddhism who has devoted the past 15 years of his life to teaching meditation. His new book, Three Minutes a Day: A Fourteen Week Course to Learn Meditation and Transform Your Life, is designed to teach readers how to change their lives with simple meditation practices that truly do take just three minutes a day. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why meditation is so good for us. How learning to meditate for just three minutes a day can transform us. Simple practices to begin your meditation journey.

Dr. Joanne Cacciatore knows first-hand the trauma caused by grief and loss. And she also knows how animals can help us heal. On this episode, host Brittany Derrenbacher sits down with Dr. Jo, founder of the Arizona-based Selah Carefarm, which provides a compassionate, healing space for those who have suffered trauma and loss. Listen in as they discuss how humans and animals help each other heal from abuse, trauma, and grief. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why animals are such experts at helping us heal from trauma. How working with abused animals has had a profound effect on Dr. Jo’s life. What a day on Selah Carefarm is like.

What’s so funny about 2024? You’re about to find out! This week, host Paula Felps talks with Paul Osincup, a speaker, corporate trainer, and author of the forthcoming book The Humor Habit. Paul recognizes the importance of humor as a tool to relieve stress, improve our physical and mental health, and to make the world more enjoyable for ourselves and those around us. He’s here to tell us how to create a humor strategy for 2024 and make it a healthier, funnier, and happier year. In this episode, you’ll learn: What humor does for your mental health. The value of finding your Humor Homie. How to become hardwired for humor.

If you’re looking for an adventure to start the new year, why not take an inner field trip? This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Leesa Renee Hall, a mental health wellness advocate and author of the Inner Field Trip workbook, which helps explore what drives us, what oppresses us, and helps us identify our personal biases. Armed with that information, Leesa says we can change the way we move through the world and transform our relationships — which seems like a great way to start the year. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to go on an inner field trip. How going on this journey is helpful to your mental health. Why self-reflection is such a powerful tool for healing.

The holidays are here, which means we’ve been filling our ears with the sounds of the season. As we hit the final stretch, host Paula Felps sits down with Jasper Smith of the popular a capella group Straight No Chaser. Since being discovered on YouTube, this group has become an international sensation and has become part of a holiday tradition for many. In this episode, you’ll learn: How a 10-year-old video from college launched the band’s career. Why Straight No Chaser has become synonymous with the holiday season. Why the band loves delivering happiness for the holidays.

Grief is a difficult path to walk any time of the year, but during the holiday season, it becomes even more challenging. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Gina Moffa, a licensed psychotherapist specializing in grief and trauma. Her new book, Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting Go: A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss, is a travel companion guide to the most difficult journey people will take in their lives. In this episode, Gina talks specifically about how grief is compounded during the holidays and tells us how to navigate it.  In this episode, you’ll learn: How to take care of ourselves during the holidays if we are suffering fresh loss. How grief manifests itself in our bodies and how we can practice self-care. Tips for supporting someone who is experiencing grief during the holidays (and beyond).

If you’ve ever wished you could talk to the animals, we’ve got great news for you: Today’s guest says you can! Join host Brittany Derrenbacher as she sits down with Joan Ranquet, a well-known animal communicator, author, TEDx speaker, educator, and animal advocate. Joan and Brittany talk about the many ways we can learn to listen to our animals and they also discuss the benefits of “tapping,” which Joan talks about in her newest book, Emotional Freedom Technique for Animals and Their Humans: Creating a Harmonious Relationship Through Tapping. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Joan believes all of us have the ability to tune into what animals are telling us. Simple ways we can learn to listen to animals. How the emotional freedom technique, or “tapping,” can ease anxiety in pets.

Holidays are the time for gathering with family and that can often be stressful. But having a good strategy in place can help make the season run more smoothly. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Trakida Maldonado, a licensed professional counselor for SonderMind who brings more than a decade of clinical experience to the table. In this episode, Trakida offers actionable advice for navigating common holiday situations with family members, setting boundaries before your holiday gatherings, and how to make the holidays a little bit easier on everyone — no matter what your situation is. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to handle family gatherings when your relationships aren’t going well. Managing the expectations of your extended family to make the holidays a positive experience for children. Tips for setting boundaries and managing conflict at gatherings.

This year, as you’re shopping for the perfect holiday gift, why not put forgiveness on your list? It’s always the perfect size, never goes out of style, and it’s also like giving a gift to yourself. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Barbara J. Hunt, a forgiveness specialist, speaker, workshop leader, and bestselling author of Forgiveness Made Easy. Barbara explains how forgiveness is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves and how we can use forgiveness as a practice to help us navigate those often-tricky holiday gatherings. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why forgiveness feels so hard.  What forgiveness really is — and what it isn’t. How forgiveness can transform relationships.

Studies show that our world is becoming less optimistic, but this week’s guest believes we can change that — and we can start this holiday season. Dr. Emily Bashah is a psychologist whose private practice specializes in mental illness, collective trauma, grief, and relationship dynamics. She’s also co-host of The Optimistic American podcast, where she and Paul Johnson create space for a positive and hopeful view of America and help us feel more optimistic about the future. In this episode, she shares how we can regain our optimism by changing how we think. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why we’re feeling less optimistic these days. How to overcome your innate negativity bias and find your optimism. What to keep in mind this holiday season to boost optimism. 

For many people, the holiday season marks an increase in anxiety. But this week’s guest explains why that’s not always a bad thing! Dr. David Rosmarin is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, program director at McLean Hospital, and founder of the Center for Anxiety. He’s also author of the new book, Thriving with Anxiety: 9 Tools to Make Your Anxiety Work for You, and in this episode he talks about why the holidays cause so much anxiety and offers tips for thriving throughout the season (and beyond!). In this episode, you’ll learn: The difference between stress and anxiety. How to identify your anxiety triggers so you can manage them. The importance of self-care — especially during times of stress — to reduce anxiety. 

November is Adopt a Senior Pet month, and that makes it the perfect time to talk to Dr. Julie Buzby, an integrative veterinarian with a special place in her heart for senior pets. She’s here to talk with host Brittany Derrenbacher about some of the misconceptions we often have about senior dogs and why in many cases a senior pet may be the best option for adoption. So listen in as she and Brittany talk about what senior pets can do for us—and what we should be doing for them.   In this episode, you’ll learn: What age dogs are considered seniors. Tips for caring for a senior pet. Benefits of senior pets for senior citizens.