Live Happy Now

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. How to participate in Live Happy’s #HalloweenHappyActs.

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 understanding of humanity and see just how interconnected we are with the planet. In this episode, you’ll learn: What rewilding is and why it’s so valuable to the human experience. How discovering empathy for wild animals can help us better understand our humanity. What we can learn from spending time in the natural world and what that will do for us.

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 brings her empathetic sensibilities to a slightly older demographic. Listen as she explains the important role adults play in helping them learn to take care of their mental and physical health while fostering greater self-acceptance.   In this episode, you’ll learn: How the pandemic and social media have affected body image for young people. The importance of media literacy to improve body image and how to cultivate it. How to curate a social media feed to support body image and positivity.

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 better, tells us how we can create each one in our own lives. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why connections are essential to our well-being. What the four types of connections are — and which one is most important. How to start building authentic connections.

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 can be part of it. In this episode, you’ll learn: The relationship between kindness and overall wellbeing. Why spreading kindness is more important than ever today. How to participate in the 5th Annual Kindness Campaign.

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 cultivating an inner life in competition, mental health and in their marriage. Need a Lift? is truly the antidote to the hatred and despair we’re all exhausted of hearing, giving us hope that change is possible. In this episode, The Office’s Rainn Wilson explains that we can quiet the world's chaos and deal with our collective sense of overwhelm by believing in something bigger than us. Find more episodes of Need a Lift? at https://link.chtbl.com/needalift?sid=livehappynow

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, how to identify them, and what we can do about it. In this episode, you’ll learn: What’s driving the rise in stress-based illness. Examples of the most common stress-based illness. Strategies for overcoming stress-based illnesses.

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’ needs, and in this episode, she tells us why this approach is so effective. In this episode, you’ll learn: What attunement is and how it affects the dog/human relationship. How the essential HEARTS strategy works for both kids and dogs. Why adopting a parenting perspective with our pets can improve our relationship with them.

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 to better navigate this unusual time. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why we tend to take political discussions personally. How to stay informed without becoming overwhelmed. Setting boundaries on political discussions at work and home.

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-stress, recharge, and develop your inner kindness. In this episode, you’ll learn: What self-compassion is and why it’s so important to practice. Why burnout is so prevalent these days — and what’s causing it. How self-compassion can help alleviate burnout.