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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!).
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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.
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November is National Gratitude Month, and this year, we decided to look at gratitude through a new lens. Host Paula Felps and Social Media Marketing Manager Casey Johnson went on a quest to find fresh new ways to practice gratitude, and in this episode, they share several unique ways to bring gratitude into your life. They’re here to talk about what they found and how these new practices can help improve your well-being — and they even share ways to get the whole family involved.
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Now that we’ve turned back our clocks, it’s time for shorter days — and for many, that also means the onset of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with world-renowned researcher and psychiatrist Norman Rosenthal, the doctor who was instrumental in identifying SAD and also pioneered light therapy as treatment. His new book, Defeating SAD: A Guide to Health and Happiness Through All Seasons, provides a roadmap for beating this disorder and in this episode, he explains how we can better prepare for the next few months.
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When you’re going on a trip, it’s important to make sure you pack all the essentials. And when you’re starting a journey to well-being, you need to pack the happiness essentials. This week, host Paula Felps talks with Emmy Award-winning television producer, well-being teacher, and author Maria Baltazzi about her new book, Take A Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct and Produce the Life You Want. A world traveler who has developed and produced TV shows around the globe, including the hit reality show Survivor, Maria has truly used the planet as an extraordinary classroom. Her book explores the eight happiness essentials she’s discovered and teaches us how we can use them to improve well-being.
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