The Happy Wanderers

We care about our partners. We also judge them!

Matt and Sunaina share what it means to accept your partner for who they are, and how they’ve learned to move past their judgments to find acceptance, gratitude, and even love for the qualities that they sometimes struggle to face.

Fights are inevitable in every relationship, but we can also use them to create more trust with our partners. Matt and Sunaina explain how to do that with three of their favorite tips to stop fights with your partner.

When Matt was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year, he learned a lot about how scary and isolating pain can be. In this episode of The Happy Wanderers podcast, Matt (who is now cancer free!) and Sunaina talk about how well-meaning words of encouragement added to his pain, and how people can offer support without accidentally causing more suffering.

At the height of the pandemic, moving to Texas seemed like the perfect decision for the Happy Wanderers, so why was Matt so angry about it? In this episode, Matt and Sunaina explore what was really going on underneath Matt’s anger, and why anger feels like a “safe” emotion to express, especially for men, but can often trap us into thinking that fighting and conflict is our only solution.

Recently Matt found himself feeling trapped and on the verge of escalating an argument with his dad. But using the kung-fu powers of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), he was able to redirect his rising emotions into a non-judgmental request that not only avoided the argument but ended up strengthening their relationship.

In this episode of The Happy Wanderers, Matt and Sunaina explore how to ask for what you want in the midst of a challenging situation and how listeners can use this same method to communicate and connect with others--an especially useful skill in these difficult times.

Strong emotions like anxiety, anger, and sadness can sometimes derail us. In this episode, the Happy Wanderers interview Shawn Elliot Russell, who developed crippling anxiety that almost forced him to abandon his dream to create and perform positive hip-hop. He shares a process he developed through years of exploration and experimentation that enabled him to escape his anxiety, which can be used to weather other emotional storms like sadness and embarrassment.

Today, Shawn is living his dream, touring as a hip-hop artist, author, and public speaker (he will be speaking at TEDxMcAllen in Nov 2019!). His picture book, “Be Still, Little Tree, Be Still," is about dealing with difficult emotions by planting your roots and letting the storm pass.

We've all had moments where we look at a loved one and think, "WTF?" It could be something they said or did that makes us feel confused, angry, or hurt, and often disconnected.

In episode 7 of The Happy Wanderers Podcast, Matt and Sunaina share a powerful way to reconnect: by understanding the needs the other person is trying to meet in that moment. Matt and Sunaina share examples of their prior conflicts (juicy!) and how needs can be found underneath (apparently!) bizarre behavior. In an upcoming episode, they'll demonstrate how to use dialogue and empathy to uncover underlying needs and reconnect even in the midst of a "relationship WTF."

Every day we tell ourselves that we "have to" or "should" do certain things, and this thinking can take the joy out of our daily lives. In this episode, Matt and Sunaina chat with Clara Moisello from the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication about how we can view our responsibilities through a more beautiful lens, by seeing how everything we do is to meet an underlying need.

What does it mean when we say, "I love you"? Matt and Sunaina share how these words can be an expression of appreciation for needs being deeply met by another person, and how relationships are only one beautiful way among many to meet our needs.

Matt and Sunaina talk about how to set intentions, instead of resolutions, that can lead to growth and joy. What are your intentions for the week, month, or year?