Welcome to Episode 308 of Live Happy Now.

Whether we realize it or not, all of us have certain rituals that help us feel grounded and connected.

What if we could learn how to use those rituals to improve our well-being?

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and today we're talking with Jan Stanley, who specializes

in helping others live happier lives through the creation of habits, practices, and rituals.

She's here to talk about how adopting an intentional ritual can help reduce anxiety and can

even help manage the grief and disruption created by the pandemic.

Jan, welcome to Live Happy Now.

Thank you so much, Paula.

So great to be with you and to be back at Live Happy.

It has been way too long since we have talked to you.

So I'm really excited to be able to talk to you today.

Thank you.

And the excitement and the pleasure is all mine.

You know, as I was preparing for this interview, I was thinking about the first time that I saw you.

And it was at the Canadian Positive Psychology Association conference.

And you were talking about rituals.

I still remember that talk so well, even though there were like

80 talks that we went to that week. But I remember that because you completely changed the way

that I saw things because of your talk on rituals. So to begin with, can you tell us what you mean

when you talk about rituals? Absolutely. So looking historically, when you think about ritual,

they're as old as the human experience, really. And when historians or cultural anthropologists

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