Live Happy Now

Using Music to Battle Breast Cancer With Cathy & Marcy

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and that made it the perfect time to sit down with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, best known as the Grammy-winning duo Cathy & Marcy. They have been entertaining audiences for more than 40 years, and when Marcy received a breast cancer diagnosis, they faced it the same way they have faced all of life’s challenges — side by side, with music and humor. The result is the comedic musical All Wigged Out, which has been made into a film and details Marcy’s journey with breast cancer. They sat down with host Paula Felps to talk about how they transformed this health challenge into a musical story of hope and healing to share with the world. In this episode, you'll learn: How they used music to process Marcy’s diagnosis. Why celebrating even small milestones was important to their journey. How they turned the experience into a humorous healing story.

Making Time for Kindness With Dr. Michelle Robin

World Kindness Day is just a month away, but there’s no reason not to start observing it now. This week’s guest is Dr. Michelle Robin, founder of Small Changes Big Shifts, the Big Shifts Foundation, and the 31-Day Kindness Campaign. Launched in 2019, the Kindness Campaign is a free inspirational email adventure that begins October 14. When you sign up, you’ll receive a daily email suggesting an act of kindness that you can do that day, and Michelle tells us what to expect from the campaign and explains what kindness can do for your overall well-being.  In this episode, you'll learn: Why kindness is so good for us — and those we share it with. What happens in our brains when we practice kindness every day. How Michelle’s desire to spread kindness grew into a month-long campaign.

Discover Live Happy’s Halloween Happy Acts

October is one of our favorite months at Live Happy, and this week, you’ll find out how to make this a truly Happy Halloween. Host Paula Felps is joined by Live Happy CEO and co-founder Deborah Heisz and e-commerce marketing manager Casey Johnson to talk about our all-new #HalloweenHappyActs campaign. If you’ve been with us for a while, you already know that every March, we encourage well-being with a month of intentional activities that we call #HappyActs. This year, we’re combining #HappyActs with our favorite holiday to create an entire month of happiness while celebrating the spirit of Halloween. In this episode, you’ll learn: What #HappyActs are — and how to practice them. Why Halloween is the perfect time to explore #HappyActs. How to turn #HalloweenHappyActs into a challenge for greater participation.

Discovering Your Fall Yoga Practice With Kassandra Reinhardt

Fall is a time for turning inward, and this week’s guest, Kassandra Reinhardt, is here to help us learn how to connect with ourselves through yoga. Her newest book, Year of Yoga: Rituals for Every Day and Every Season, helps experienced and novice yogis alike move through the seasons using affirmations and intentions that coincide with the time of year. She’s here to tell us why our practice may change along with the seasons and talk about what affirmations may be particularly helpful as we move into fall. In this episode, you’ll learn: How yoga can help us manage stressful situations Why yoga is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Affirmations to focus on this fall.

Celebrating World Gratitude Day With Louie Schwartzberg

This week, host Paula Felps sits down with renowned cinematographer, director and producer Louie Schwartzberg. Louie is best known for the stunning imagery he creates using time-lapse photography; in films like Fantastic Fungi and the 3D IMAX film Mysteries of the Unseen World with National Geographic, he has shown us the beauty of the world in ways we’ve never seen before. With his new film, Gratitude Revealed, he has created an immersive, awe-inspiring experience that takes us inside the human spirit to explore the wonder, beauty and joy of gratitude. In this episode, you’ll learn: How this film was a natural evolution of his work with nature. What he learned about gratitude while creating this film. Why gratitude is so important to him.

Sound It Out With Dr. Regina Miranda

The right song lyrics can express exactly what you’re feeling, and they can even help kids open up about what’s happening in their lives. With the Sound It Out campaign, parents and caregivers can support emotional wellness in young people by using songs and lyrics to help kids express their feelings. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Regina Miranda, a professor of psychology at Hunter College and one of the advisors for the program, to learn more about it.    In this episode, you’ll learn: What the campaign offers and how it came about. How music supports emotional wellness. How to use the Conversation Starter Pack to talk with kids about their feelings.

Easing Separation Anxiety in Pets With Brittany Derrenbacher

As we all settle into our post-summer routine, certain family members can sometimes get overlooked. This week, therapist Brittany Derrenbacher is back to talk about how a change in routine can affect our pets. Brittany is a certified grief and pet loss specialist, founder of the special needs animal rescue Luna Bell’s Moonbows and owner of Sunshine Healing & Empowerment in Louisville, Kentucky, and she explains why our furry family members are so affected by the end-of-summer change in routine and tells us what we can do about it. In this episode, you’ll learn: How pets are affected when we go back to school and back to work. How small changes in your morning routine can make a big difference. What we can do to make being alone less stressful for pets.

Managing End of Summer Anxiety With Eli Weinstein

We’ve hit the end of summer and for many people, that means dealing with end of summer anxiety. And it’s not just for kids! This week’s guest, Eli Weinstein, is a social work therapist and host of The Dude Therapist podcast, and he’s here to talk about how we all can handle that end of summer anxiety and head into fall with a new game plan for the whole family. In this episode, you’ll learn: What causes end-of-summer anxiety. Why creating a routine helps manage stress. How to find a strategy that works for your family.

Learn How to Ditch the Devices With Florence Ann Romano

As we go back to school, it means kids are spending even more time on their screens. So what’s a parent to do? This week’s guest will tell you! Childcare advocate and author Florence Ann Romano joins us this week to talk about the importance of balancing time on devices. Florence Ann is a big fan of ditching the devices and discovering off-screen play, and she’s here today to talk about how parents can get a handle on their children’s screen time — and maybe even improve their own screen habits. In this episode, you’ll learn: What too much screen time does to developing brains. How to develop learning opportunities without screens. How parents’ screen usage affects their relationship with their children.

Escaping the Comparison Trap With Dr. Ronald Siegel

Whether we admit it or not, most of us spend a lot of time comparing ourselves to others. But what if our true superpower is learning just to be ourselves? This week, host Paula Felps is joined by Dr. Ronald Siegel, a psychotherapist, Harvard psychology professor and mindfulness expert whose latest research looks at what a climate of self-comparison is doing to undermine our happiness. His new book, The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are, looks at the trap of constant self-evaluation and explains how we can learn to let go of our comparison culture and live a more satisfying, happy life. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s natural for us to compare ourselves to others. How social media has amplified the climate of self-comparison. How practices like gratitude and mindfulness help minimize the effects of constant self-evaluation.