Live Happy Now

Musicians on Call With Katy Epley

Music has the power to help us heal, and that’s why one Musicians on Call delivers music where it might be needed most: the hospital. This volunteer organization connects musicians with hospitals to provide live and recorded music to patients. In this episode, host Paula Felps is joined by Katy Epley, executive vice president at Musicians on Call, to learn how this program came about and how it has changed the lives of both patients and the musicians who perform for them. In this episode, you’ll learn: The physical, emotional, and mental benefits of experiencing live music in a hospital setting. How this program has changed the landscape for accessing live music in the hospital. How to get involved with Musicians on Call.

Enduring the Loss of Love With Clare Mackintosh

Enduring the Loss of Love With Clare Mackintosh Grief and loss are an inevitable aspect of love, and this week, best-selling author Clare Mackintosh sits down with host Paula Felps to discuss her new book, I Promise It Won’t Always Hurt Like This. Written years after the death of her son, it’s filled with important insights about love, loss, and the journey to healing — and shares hope for those who are walking through a painful time.   In this episode, you’ll learn: Why grief and love are two sides of the same coin. The importance of understanding grief before losing someone. How writing about grief can help with healing.

Embracing Self-Love with Brittany & Sarah

This week, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, so today, we want to talk about the greatest love of your life — yourself. In this episode, host Paula Felps is joined by Brittany Derrenbacher and Sarah Pavey of The Healing Collective in Louisville, Kentucky. In their practices, Brittany and Sarah teach clients how to discover a deep lasting love for themselves, and they also hold workshops on creating self-love vision boards. Today, they’re sharing some insights on how self-love improves our lives and our relationships and offer some tips for starting your own self-love practice. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why self-love is the foundation of all our relationships. How practicing self-love changes the way you interact with others. Simple ways to begin practicing self-love.

Rethinking Your Relationship With Dr. Julia DiGangi

It’s February, which means the message of love and Valentine’s Day is all around us. But did you know this is the make-or-break time for many couples? This week, host Paula Felps welcomes Dr. Julia DiGangi, a neuropsychologist and author of Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power. She’s here to discuss some common mistakes we make in our relationships and how we can improve those relationships by learning more about what our brains – not our hearts – are doing to complicate things. In this episode, you’ll learn: The three styles of attachment and how they affect your relationships. How the patterns in your brain affect how you respond to your partner. Why self-love is a vital part of every relationship.

Building Love With Maria Baltazzi

As we approach February, our minds turn to love. For the next few weeks, Live Happy Now will look at the many ways love shows up in our lives and how we can create more of it. To kick it off, host Paula Felps talks with Maria Baltazzi, author of Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct and Produce the Life You Want. In her book, Maria outlines eight happiness essentials and, not surprisingly, one of them is love. In this episode she talks about some of the practices we can use to build more love into our lives. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to use journaling to build more love in your life. Using photography to retrain your brain to look for love. How a loving kindness meditation can create more love for yourself and others.

Launch Your Awakening Adventure With Steve Taylor

Throughout January, we’ve been sharing practices that can help you create habits that increase your wellbeing. And now, it’s time for an adventure! This week, host Paula Felps talks with Steve Taylor, a best-selling author and senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University in England. Steve has devoted his life to investigating spiritual awakenings for himself and others and his new book, The Adventure: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Awakening, provides a roadmap to walk through practices to help you embark on your awakening journey.  In this episode, you’ll learn: Why awakening is the greatest adventure any of us will ever experience. The eight qualities of wakefulness and why they matter. How embracing our mortality improves our spiritual awakening. 

The 3-Minute Meditation with Richard Dixey

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. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why meditation is so good for us. How learning to meditate for just three minutes a day can transform us. Simple practices to begin your meditation journey.

How Animals Help Us Heal with Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

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. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why animals are such experts at helping us heal from trauma. How working with abused animals has had a profound effect on Dr. Jo’s life. What a day on Selah Carefarm is like.

Create a Humor Habit for 2024 With Paul Osincup

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. In this episode, you’ll learn: What humor does for your mental health. The value of finding your Humor Homie. How to become hardwired for humor.

Take an Inner Field Trip With Leesa Renee Hall

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. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to go on an inner field trip. How going on this journey is helpful to your mental health. Why self-reflection is such a powerful tool for healing.