We are continuing our happiness booster series in this episode. One of the happiness boosters is to focus on positive experiences rather than things, and I particularly want to focus on play in this episode. I will discuss some surprising and very significant facts about play which the author Stuart Brown discusses in his book "Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul." Get ready to make more room for play in your life, and learn why playful activities not only bring joy but also success and more.

My guest in this episode will be Ulli Allmendinger who is a long-time friend of mine with a Master’s Degree in Ayurvedic Sciences, the ancient Indian healing system. She conducts personalized lifestyle and diet consultations and offers Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking workshops in her area – Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has her own line of organic Ayurvedic energy bars and has published her cookbook Sattva: Ayurvedic Energy Snacks for Body & Soul. Ulli will inform us about the best dietary and lifestyle guidelines for the spring. This season is a great time to support our digestion and our immune system as many of us might deal with allergies or colds. At the same time, we will look ahead to the summer and how to prepare our bodies for the warmest season.

As part of the happiness booster series that I started two weeks ago on my blog, I am continuing with another element of happiness that I find very important: the experience of flow. We will talk about the definition of "flow", why it is key for a fulfilled day and how we can find it and invite it more into our own personal and work lives.

In this episode I will discuss the importance of focusing on our strengths instead of our shortcomings. We are often taught to fix in ourselves what is not working well but how well does this approach work? How about looking at what we are good at, what works well in our personal and professional lives, and how we can generate more power and ideas by doing so?

I invite you to share your insights, questions and reflections to this topic during the show.

How do you live out your creativity in your life? How much time do you allow yourself for creative endeavors? And how do you deal with your inner critic when being creative? I have invited Diana Meade, a creativity coach, self-taught artist and writer to talk to us about the importance of creativity for our lives and how we can unleash our creativity through energy techniques. Diana helps women claim their creativity using the body’s energy to ignite the creative spark. Diana made her living painting for seventeen years. After discovering energy techniques, she realized that her struggles with the creative process could be lessened or eliminated. Many of the blocks that stood in her way dissolved and she has been able to take more creative risks and enjoy the creative process much more ever since. She now shares her own experiences with the women she works with, and we have the pleasure of benefiting from her insight in this episode.

I have invited Judy Kaplan for this episode who is a sister coach and Myers Briggs Type Indicator Certified Practitioner. Judy runs wellness and weight management workshops in New York and further works with private clients to achieve their personal goals. Before working as a coach, she spent five years at a leading global law firm in their Learning & Development department, designing and delivering presentation skills, communication skills and team effectiveness courses. Judy will explain to us what kind of assessment the MBTI is. We will then discuss how we can use this and other assessments for personal and professional growth as they help in understanding ourselves better and give us great insight into our qualities and strengths.

My guest in this episode will be Athenee Mastrangelo, a Certified Professional Organizer and Productivity Consultant. She offers organizing and productivity services to individuals and business owners everywhere. Athenee helps her clients develop effective systems to deal with hectic daily schedules, as well as paper and information overload. With her time management, paper organization, and space planning skills she helps them with a customized plan to get organized and stay organized. Athenee and I will talk about how to de-clutter our office and our computers, and she will share tips and tools to make this process fast and easy. Let's "clear the table" so that we can take action on new projects and invite in new opportunities!

We are kicking off the new year with Maryellen Smith, the Reinvention Queen. She is a master of personal reinvention and passionate about helping her clients propel themselves to new heights of success and personal achievement. Maryellen possesses a winning combination of cutting edge ideas and tried and true, step by step information with an unlimited supply of optimism and enthusiasm. She shines as the person to come to when you want to learn how to turn your passion into a paycheck. We will all benefit from the tips and strategies she is going to share with us so that we can set out into a successful, prosperous and exciting year of 2010. Let’s start the year with a new you – aligned with your passions, your values and a renewed sense of what you are able to create for yourself and the world around you.

My guest in this episode will be Ulli Allmendinger who is a long-time friend of mine with a Master’s Degree in Ayurvedic Sciences. She conducts personalized lifestyle and diet consultations and offers Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking workshops in her area – Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has her own line of organic Ayurvedic energy bars and has published her cookbook Sattva: Ayurvedic Energy Snacks for Body & Soul. Ulli will give us insight into the basics of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian healing system. We will further talk about how Ayurveda can help us create greater harmony and balance in our lives. Ulli will share some tips with us that we will be able to incorporate right away – especially great for this busy season that can take a toll on our inner balance.

My guest in this episode will be Steven Dahlberg, Head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination. Steven is dedicated to helping others develop and apply their creativity for their overall well-being. He works with individuals, organizations, businesses, and educational institutions. We will speak about the relevance of creative thinking in uncovering and realizing our purpose in life and career. Steven will give us an insight into the creative thinking process and share useful tips and resources that we can implement in our lives instantly.