Live Happy Now

We know that listening to music can help heal our hearts, but what can it do for the songwriter? In this episode, host Paula Felps talks with Morgan James, a singer and songwriter who has appeared on Broadway stages and with symphony orchestras in addition to writing and recording her own music. While working on her latest album, she and Doug Wamble — her husband and cowriter —were grappling with the devastating illnesses of dear friends. Morgan explains how they put the tangled emotions of uncertainty, grief and loss into a song called I’ll Be Holding On, which also has become the album’s video centerpiece. In this episode, you’ll learn: How songwriting helps her process difficult emotions. Why it was so important to write about the grief she was experiencing. How performing songs helps her work through challenging situations.

As commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Captain Brett Crozier made a choice during the pandemic to take a stand to protect his crew. His actions quickly led to his dismissal, but also were effective in providing the protection he was looking for. In this episode, he talks about his new book, Surf When You Can: Lessons in Life, Loyalty, and Leadership from a Maverick Navy Captain, and shares some of the life and leadership lessons he has learned along the way. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s imperative to choose your conscience over your career. The power of kindness as a leadership principle. The importance of creating a life/work balance.

June is filled with holidays encouraging us to celebrate our pets. In addition to being Adopt a Cat Month and National Microchip Month, it is National Foster a Pet Month. To learn more about how fostering pets can improve your physical and mental well-being, host Paula Felps sits down with Brittany Derrenbacher, a clinical mental health counselor and founder of Luna Bells Moonbows Special Needs Rescue in Louisville, Kentucky. Brittany explains the many benefits of pet fostering for the entire family and offers tips on how to get started.  In this episode, you’ll learn: How fostering pets can improve mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. Creative alternatives to full-time pet fostering. How fostering pets can teach children important emotional skills. 

It’s National Garden Week, so it is the perfect time to talk about what plants and digging in the dirt can do for you. This week’s guest is Joeleen David, a master gardener and owner of Wine Cottage Gardens near Nashville, and she’s here to talk about how gardening is much more than growing food or flowers; it’s also a natural way to improve mental health. In this episode, you’ll learn: How gardening can help with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. Why gardening is a fun way to build exercise into your life. How she is using Wine Cottage Gardens to give back to others — and you can too.

We all know vacations are fun, but did you know how good they are for you? This week’s guest is Dr. Andrew Stevenson, a social anthropologist, filmmaker and senior lecturer in psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Andrew’s new book, The Psychology of Travel, looks at what travel can do for us and how we can approach it differently to get the most out of it.   In this episode, you’ll learn: Why travel is so good for our mental health. Why we’re never really traveling “alone” and how other people affect our travel experiences. The link between memory and travel.

All of us procrastinate once in a while, but chronic procrastination creates stress — for ourselves and those around us — and damages our well-being. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with coach, author, and speaker Sherri Fisher to learn more about how procrastination affects us and what we can do about it. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why procrastination isn’t just a time management problem. How mindfulness interval training can help overcome procrastination. Self-care tips to help beat procrastination.

Recording artist gnash has made mental health a central part of his music, delivering messages through music that might be difficult to talk about in conversation. As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month in May, it’s the perfect time to talk to gnash about his latest album, The Art of Letting Go, which is a journey through the tumultuous emotions brought on by the pandemic. In this episode, you’ll hear how making this album helped save his life during the pandemic and what he hopes we all take away from it. In this episode, you’ll learn: How The Art of Letting Go developed during the pandemic. Why he shares breathing exercises with his audience when he’s on stage. How he uses music, movement, and meditation to manage anxiety and worry.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this episode’s guest has found a unique way to help clients process such difficult emotions and grief, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Sherry Walling is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and mental health advocate who began using movement — particularly the circus arts — to manage loss and grief in her own life. She soon discovered what an effective outlet it provided for releasing trapped emotions and began offering workshops to help others learn these same techniques.   In this episode, you’ll learn: How movement improves your mental health. How loss in her own life led Sherry to discover the circus arts. Why it’s important to make mental health a priority.

In just a few days we’ll celebrate Mother’s Day, which makes it the perfect time to talk to Dr. Shefali, a New York Times best-selling author and an expert in family dynamics. She has developed a highly acclaimed approach to parenting that she calls conscious parenting, and in this episode, she explains why much of what we think about parenting is wrong and how we all can become more conscious — not just as parents but in all our relationships.  In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s so important for parents to recognize their patterns. How addressing childhood wounds helps make us better parents. Why it’s never too late to become a more conscious parent. 

Our digital lifestyles often don’t seem to support our well-being, and that’s a great reason to observe Digital Wellness Day on May 5. This week’s guest, best-selling author and speaker Amy Blankson, offers tips on how to become more present in an increasingly distracted world — whether we’re at work, home, or school. As CEO and Co-Founder of the Digital Wellness Institute, Amy has made it her mission to cultivate happiness and well-being in the digital era. She’s here to share tips about how to create boundaries and find balance in our digital lives. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to practice digital wellness (and how to do it). Why it’s important to create boundaries with digital tools. How to observe Digital Wellness Day on May 5.