Every year on March 20 — the International Day of Happiness — the Sustainable Development Solutions Network releases its World Happiness Report. This week, host Paula Felps sits down with Live Happy co-founder and CEO Deborah Heisz to talk about how we’re faring when it comes to happiness, what we learned from this year’s report and why it appears that our happiness is improving. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What kind of “happiness” the report is talking about and how we gauge it. 
• Why the U.S. is improving in happiness and what is holding us back.  
• How the past few years have encouraged us to become more altruistic. 

We know that pets and happiness go hand-in-hand (or maybe hand-in-paw), but did you know that your pet could also improve your brain health as you age? This week, Brittany Derrenbacher, a therapist and founder of The Healing Collective KY in Louisville, explains how pets can change how we age and help keep our brains and bodies healthy throughout our lifetime.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The different ways that pets help keep us mentally sharp.
• What the latest research says about pet ownership and aging.
• How we can use our pets to create happiness for the older people in our lives.

When acclaimed jazz vocalist Allegra Levy became a parent, she began noticing that the lyrics of classic children’s songs didn’t fit in today’s world of equity and inclusion. As a mother, she was concerned about what messages children were getting from the music and as a musician, she didn’t want to raise her child with songs that had been musically “dumbed down.” So she began writing her own jazz-tinged children’s music with a positive spin on mental well-being. The result is a new album, Songs for You and Me, and in this episode she talks about the importance of experiencing music as a family.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How the pandemic inspired her to rethink children’s music.
• Why children need to hear more inclusive music.  
• What parents can do to use music as a tool for learning and creativity.

Burnout is a common problem for women today, but it’s also something that isn’t openly discussed. This week’s guest, Dr. Mary Sanders, is on a mission to empower women over 40 to bounce back physically, emotionally and energetically from the stresses of balancing work and life. She’s here to talk about what burnout is, why it’s so prevalent today and how an integrative approach can help you overcome it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Some of the warning signs that you’re experiencing burnout.
• Why burnout is so common among women right now.
• How practices like meditation and mindfulness help ease the symptoms of burnout.

This week, we are celebrating International Women’s Day, which is a time to acknowledge the diversity and achievement of women. As part of that celebration, we’re talking to Texas businesswoman Linda Allen, who has made it her mission to make women feel seen by supporting them both in their careers and their personal achievements. In this episode, she explains why it’s so important for us to lift up the women around us and how it can change them — and the world they live in. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why a single simple interaction can be so impactful.
• What happens when women begin to feel seen and heard.
• How to adjust our mindset to be more supportive of other women.