The Joyful Soul Project

Gratitude changes everything. When we feel gratitude and appreciation is can improve our health, career and relationship not only with others but with ourselves. A few seconds every day has the potential to complete alter the trajectory of our life if we are only willing to pause for a moment and intentionally feel gratitude. Learn more about gratitude and join Heidi in a challenge that will improve your life.

Do you want to be able to truly help others? Then taking care of yourself is the first step. Eleanor Brown said, "Self care is so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel." Self care is certainly a buzz word right now, and not everybody looks at self care in the same way. Here at The Joyful Soul Project, we believe self-care is simply the pursuit of health, and not just physical health. Taking care of ALL your needs is how you truly become a healthy, happy, and joyful soul. Listen today as Taffy gives 3 concrete ways to start taking better care of YOU!

To celebrate reaching 20 episodes, we decided to do something fun and give you 20 fun facts about each of us. Today on the episode Heidi and Taffy play a little game to help you learn more about the people behind the podcast. Learn some funny, quirky and even embarrassing facts about Taffy and Heidi. We hope you like it.

In Part 2 of my interview with Abby Stephens, Abby talks about how she was able to still have a family and care for her babies despite her paralysis. She teaches us the importance of positivity, faith, and humor, and talks about her ongoing process of learning to accept her body as it is. To learn more about Abby, you can visit her website, abbystephens.net, follow her on Instagram @abspeaks, or like and follow her page Abby Stephens: Motivational Speaker on Facebook.

Today on the podcast, I interview Abby Stephens, who is a mom, professional speaker, humorist, and soon-to-be author. Twenty-two years ago and just a week before her wedding, Abby and her fiance were in a terrible accident that would forever change her life. In Part 1, Abby shares what life was like before the accident, her memories of that day, and what the next few months looked like as she was told she would never walk again. To learn more about Abby, you can visit her website, abbystephens.net, follow her on Instagram @abspeaks, or like and follow her page Abby Stephens: Motivational Speaker on Facebook.

While we can't always control what happens in our life, we can control what we make it mean. It is our thoughts about our circumstances, not the situation itself that determines what makes our experiences positive or negative. We always have the power to choose our thoughts. This episode discusses the power of our thoughts and how we can truly change our thoughts to in turn get the results that we want in our life.

When it comes to your body and health, there are FACTS and then there is DRAMA. Most often, we focus less on the facts and more on all the meaning we are adding to them. So what is really TRUE about your body then? In today’s episode, Taffy discusses this topic, and how important this “TRUTH” is in creating the results in our lives.

Depression is something that we usually only talk about in generalities and statistics. In this episode Heidi shares her life long struggles with depression. It is very real and incredibly vulnerable. By being authentic and sharing her story, Heidi hopes to help other's struggling with similar issues to realize that they are not alone. Listen as Heidi shares her moments of battling suicide, self harm and intense feelings of worthlessness. She will also share ways that have helped her cope with depression.

We are constantly being bombarded with images of what it looks like to be fit and healthy. We create ideas for ourselves of what we SHOULD be doing. But honestly, all of the comparison, guilt, and stress is not helping us create the healthy lifestyle we truly want to live. In today’s episode, Taffy talks about how to get started creating YOUR healthy lifestyle—one that is unique to your life and true to your values.

The average person makes 20,000 decisions every single day. That is incredible. Making decisions is a challenge because we are bombarded with so many options. This choice overload overwhelms our brain and we have a difficult time choosing. We also become paralyzed in our decision making because we are under constant stress. Add in our belief that there is a "perfect" choice and we are stuck in indecision. Indecision is holding you back, it is allowing the outside to create your inside. This episode helps us get unstuck by offering three strategies to make the decision making process easier. Making decisions allows us to live life with intention and become the person we want to be.

This week, Taffy interviews Krystal Cook, an amazing runner with an incredible story. Krystal talks about her experience with battling eating disorders and depression during her teenage and young adult years, and how she was finally able to recover and live a life she loves. She also shares how running has been a huge part of her shift in body image and has helped her maintain a healthy, happy lifestyle. Whether you or someone you love have struggled with eating disorders, or you just love an inspiring story full of “truth nuggets,” this episode is for you!

Why do we help others? There are many benefits of service. When we help other people, we feel better. There have been countless studies that prove when we help someone else it increases our own level of happiness, overall wellness and even improves our physical health. This episode dives into these benefits and talks about why we should help others. This is not a guilt trip for anyone, just some tips on how to live a joyful life. Heidi discusses why we help and then offers some suggestions on how we can serve our fellow man without feeling guilty or inadequate. Heidi refers to several scientific studies. If you are interested in learning more, here are the references. Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: the 'other-praising' emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(2), 105-127. Borgonovi, F. (2008). Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness. Social Science & Medicine, 66(11), 2321-2334. Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The How of Happiness. NY: Penguin Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2010). Cooperative behavior cascades in human social networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(12), 5334-5338. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. & Diener, E. (2005). The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855 Lyubomirsky, S, Sheldon, K M, & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111 - 131 Dunn, E.W., Aknin,L.B. & Norton,M.I. (2008) Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319, 1687 - 1688. Aknin, LB., Barrington-Leigh, C., Dunn, E.W.,Helliwell, J.F., Biswas-Diener, R., Kemeze,I., Nyende, P., Ashton- Janes, C.E. & Norton, M.I. (2010) Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal. NBER Working Paper No. 16415 Luks, A. A. (1988). Helper's high. Psychology Today, 22(10), 39. Moll, J., Krueger, F., Zahn, R., Pardini, M., de Oliveira-Souza, R., & Grafman, J. (2006). Human fronto-mesolimbic networks guide decisions about charitable donation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(42), 15623-15628. Fehr, E., & Camerer, C. F. (2007). Social neuroeconomics: the neural circuitry of social preferences. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(10), 419-427

In today’s episode, Taffy talks about five beliefs she has developed from what she has learned about the body from the scriptures and teachings of the LDS church. Regardless of your religious beliefs, if you want additional understanding about the body, and more motivation to love, respect, and care for it, this episode is for you!

There is so much heartbreak and sorrow in the world. We each are asked to face our own set of difficult circumstances. This week, Heidi offers some suggestions on how to find joy even in the most difficult of times. She takes lessons learned from the book, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, and applies them into our life. If you have ever felt disappointment, despair or doubt, then this is the episode for you.

Today Taffy dives into the Headwinds/Tailwinds phenomenon: what it is, how it hurts us, and how an awareness of it can lead to a more grateful heart and even better health. Also, she talks a little about her experience running the Boston Marathon last week, specifically some of the things that helped her get there and what got her to the finish line.