The Happiness Lab

Listeners to The Happiness Lab podcast can stream 14 episodes that explore how we decide to be happy, ways to achieve happiness from different perspectives, how to find joy in those around us, using emotions to guide our happiness, creating mental habits to lead to more positive thoughts, how to make choices with ease, and much more. Each episode explores specific challenges we face when truly trying to find happiness in our lives.  With expert guests and cognitive science research, The Happiness Lab aims to provide change in each listener seeking a better path towards a happier life.

Episode Summaries (provided by Apple Podcasts Review):

You Can Change - You can make yourself happier today. Your life circumstances and personality aren't nearly as important as you think in deciding how happy you can be. Dr. Laurie Santos explains how understanding the latest science will point you in the right direction and make you more satisfied with your life. Are you ready to feel better?

The Unhappy Millionaire – How can winning the lottery ruin your life - while contracting an incurable disease feel like 'a gift'? Dr. Laurie Santos hears about dreams come true and nightmares realized; and talks with Dr. Dan Gilbert about why human happiness isn't defined by these major events in the way we all assume.

A Silver Lining – Ice skater Michelle Kwan was all set to win Olympic Gold... but in a major sporting upset she came second. Sharing her story with Dr. Laurie Santos, Michelle lets us in on a key secret to achieving happiness when you're tempted to feel like a loser. 

Mistakenly Seeking Solitude – Technology allows us to bank, shop and dine without talking to another human, but what toll is this taking on our happiness? The inventor of the ATM and the Talking Heads singer David Byrne join Dr. Laurie Santos to explore the ways in which talking to strangers can bring us all genuine joy.   

Caring What You’re Sharing – Sharing a good experience with another human deepens our enjoyment of the moment... but only if we abide by certain rules. Dr. Laurie Santos shows us how we often get 'sharing' wrong and explains how we can all derive more happiness from ice cream, sunsets and a night in front of the TV.

Don’t Think of the White Bear – Once a thought is in our heads, we can't suppress it and trying to only causes us misery. Dr. Laurie Santos explains why our brains work in this way and hears from real people who have confronted and overcome disruptive thoughts and bad memories and found happiness in the process.

Don’t Accentuate the Positive – We often think positive thinking is the best way to achieve our ambitions - but the science shows it holds us all back. Dr. Laurie Santos hears how champion swimmer Michael Phelps imagined the worst to help make his Olympic dreams come true. It's a mental habit that you can learn too.

Choice Overload – We all make thousands of choices each day - and think it means we're in charge of our lives. But making even trivial decisions - about salad dressings, for example - can sap our energy and cause anxiety. Dr. Laurie Santos examines why our society wrongly prioritizes choice over happiness, and meets a woman who junked her wardrobe in a bid to improve her life.

Make ‘Em Laugh – The world's greatest expert on canned TV laugh tracks helps Dr. Laurie Santos demonstrate how the emotions of those around us can make us feel happier or sadder. If happiness is so contagious... can we do more to bring joy to ourselves and our loved ones?

Making the Grade – From school grades to fitness trackers, we're all being ranked and rated on a daily basis. This is having a huge impact on our happiness and preventing us from living our lives to the fullest. Can giving up on grades radically improve our wellbeing?

2020 Bonus: A New Hope – Research shows we all look for moments to make a fresh start - new years, new seasons, new decades. Our optimism about making big, positive changes is strong, but it fades quickly. As we enter 2020, Dr. Laurie Santos asks Wharton's Katy Milkman about the science behind the "fresh start' effect and examines ways we can maintain our new habits beyond January.

2020 Bonus: Grateful Expectations – Grit and determination to change your habits can only get you so far... if you want to be happier you have to stop and think about how nice people have been to you and how nice you can be to them in return. This circle of gratitude - the science suggests - will also make you a better friend to one of the most important people in your life... your future self.

2020 Bonus: Think Yourself Happy (LIVE from Yale) – Really concentrating on the emotions and physical sensations you are experiencing right now can make you happier. Join Yale mindfulness expert Dr. Hedy Kober as she introduces a live audience to guided meditation. She shares her tips on being mindful with Dr. Laurie Santos and explains the new scientific research that shows the benefits of this ancient practice.

2020 Bonus: Sleep When You’re Dead Tired (LIVE with Arianna Huffington) – Business leader Arianna Huffington nearly died because she didn't get enough sleep. She tells Dr. Laurie Santos how this wake-up call changed her attitude to getting enough sack time and shares tips on how we can all prepare ourselves mentally and physically to enjoy the amount of sleep that is vital for us to be healthy, happy and effect in our waking hours.

The Happiness Lab is available to stream on the JMU Counseling Center website, Spotify, iTunes, and at happinesslab.fm. The Happiness Lab is hosted by its creator, Dr. Laurie Santos, a Professor of Psychology and Head of Silliman College at Yale University.