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Speaker 1: Pushkin.

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Speaker 2: In northern California, fires are fairly common.

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Speaker 1: This psychology PhD student Michelle Hasty Thompson.

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Speaker 2: And so when I heard that there was a fire,

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Speaker 2: it didn't seem that close, and so was nothing that

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Speaker 2: caused me any concern. It's like, oh, okay, another fire, whatever,

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Speaker 2: that's what we do here.

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Speaker 1: But Michelle's calm attitude on that fateful November morning in

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Speaker 1: twenty eighteen wouldn't last. She was getting her son Rome

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Speaker 1: ready for his usual daycare drop off when she noticed

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Speaker 1: that the sky was a bit darker than usual. With

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Speaker 1: her husband already at work on the other side of town,

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Speaker 1: Michelle called to compare notes and figure out how concerned

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Speaker 1: they should be.

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Speaker 2: You know, do I need to evacuate? Is this serious?

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Speaker 2: He said, no, I'm on my way to you. You

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Speaker 2: stay there fires on this side of the town, so

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Speaker 2: you're fine.

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Speaker 1: But then Michelle got an unexpected notification's daycare was closing

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Speaker 1: for the day because of the fire.

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Speaker 2: I was like, well, this must be serious that the

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Speaker 2: daycare close, And then I looked outside. It was about

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Speaker 2: nine am and it was black as midnight. I mean

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Speaker 2: there was no light in the whole sky and it

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Speaker 2: was eerily quiet.

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Speaker 1: Home alone with her two dogs and a young toddler.

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Speaker 1: Michelle began to panic and.

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Speaker 2: All I could hear was pro paane tanks exploding. But

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Speaker 2: there was no sirens, there was no evacuation warnings, there

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Speaker 2: was no text coming through, there was no communication as

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Speaker 2: to what was going on. But my body kind of

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Speaker 2: said you need to go.

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Speaker 1: She called her husband back and he's like, I'm on

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Speaker 1: my way.

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Speaker 2: I said, I don't know. I don't feel safe. I'm

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Speaker 2: just going to take Rome and the dogs and get

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Speaker 2: out of here. And so he said, just, you know,

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Speaker 2: grab the contents of the safe and grab some of

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Speaker 2: my paintings because he's an artist. And that is literally

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Speaker 2: all I grabbed, nothing else, and I got out of

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Speaker 2: there as quickly as possible. It was very scary.

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Speaker 1: Michelle corrowed the dogs into the car, buckled in her son,

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Speaker 1: and began driving out of town.

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Speaker 2: I'm at the bottom of the town and I looked

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Speaker 2: up and it was just straight cars as far as

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Speaker 2: you can see. My sister in law was only thirty

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Speaker 2: minutes behind me, and she sent me a picture and

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Speaker 2: the fire was on the road. What I just drove on,

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Speaker 2: traveling that quickly turns out the fire completely trapped everybody

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Speaker 2: in the town, so I was very lucky to get

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Speaker 2: out when I did.

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Speaker 1: The fire would later become known as the Campfire, the

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Speaker 1: deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. It burned

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Speaker 1: for two weeks straight, destroying nearly all of Michelle's town

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Speaker 1: of Paradise, California. More than fifty thousand people were displaced,

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Speaker 1: and over eighty people lost their lives.

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Speaker 2: I got out and I was safe, but my husband

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Speaker 2: and my in laws were all trapped all day. I

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Speaker 2: had no idea if they were going to make it out. Luckily,

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Speaker 2: everybody did and we were all safe. But we did

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Speaker 2: lose everything. We lost all of our homes. We were renters,

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Speaker 2: so no insurance because they don't give you insurance and

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Speaker 2: fire towns, and it was a really difficult process to

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Speaker 2: rebuild from that.

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Speaker 1: How do you cope when you and all your family

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Speaker 1: and friends have lost everything, when the town that you

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Speaker 1: loved and called home is now gone, when you need

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Speaker 1: to start life over and build a totally new community

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Speaker 1: from scratch, would you turn to religion or philosophy. Well,

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Speaker 1: Michelle turned to an unexpected solution, one that she knew

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Speaker 1: could help her find connection and community during this tough time.

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Speaker 1: What was Michelle's unexpected coping mechanism. Well, it was cornhole. Yes,

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Speaker 1: you heard that right, cornhole.

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Speaker 2: Beanbag sas beedbag tas Okay, yeah, and so it really

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Speaker 2: is like there's a board with a hole and you're

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Speaker 2: trying to get the bean bag in the hole.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Michelle, who goes by the Instagram handle of cornhole Niche,

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Speaker 1: is more than just a fan of cornhole. The lawn

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Speaker 1: game is also the topic of her psychology PhD dissertation.

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Speaker 1: In her thesis, Michelle argues that cornhole is a surprisingly

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Speaker 1: powerful way to create connection and community, a benefit she

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Speaker 1: experienced firsthand long before she lost everything in that Paradise fire.

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Speaker 2: Cornhole was the thing, Like our garage was open, everybody

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Speaker 2: came over, we threw bags.

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Speaker 1: Cornhole was Michelle and her husband's go to activity for

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Speaker 1: bonding with old friends and connecting with new ones.

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Speaker 2: It just breaks the eyes, you know, not just sitting

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Speaker 2: staring at each other hoping conversation comes up. And so

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Speaker 2: it made it easy to kind of invite people, Hey,

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Speaker 2: you want to come over and throw some bags? And

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Speaker 2: so I've really found it to be that sort of

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Speaker 2: connector in all different aspects of life.

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Speaker 1: And so with a new home to settle into, a

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Speaker 1: new routine to adjust to, and a new community to

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Speaker 1: get to know, Michelle and her husband knew they could

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Speaker 1: rely on this one familiar tool.

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Speaker 2: We built new boards and got some bags, and then

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Speaker 2: when we would be out, we would invite people to

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Speaker 2: come play cornhole with us. And then ultimately we decided

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Speaker 2: to start our own club because there wasn't one in

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Speaker 2: our county.

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Speaker 1: Turns out, Michelle wasn't the only person in the area

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Speaker 1: who was stoked about cornhole.

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Speaker 2: Our very first night of our very first cornhole club,

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Speaker 2: where we don't have a big community here that we know,

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Speaker 2: we had sixty people. We were like, WHOA, that's a

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Speaker 2: lot of people that came and they don't even know

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Speaker 2: who we are. We built that club up to over

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Speaker 2: one hundred people on a Wednesday night weekly, so it

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Speaker 2: got really big and it created this entire family. We

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Speaker 2: definitely felt like we had our people very quickly after

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Speaker 2: our very tragic situation where we completely lost everything, and

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Speaker 2: it would be really easy to get stuck in that

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Speaker 2: and isolate yourself and just feel like, why did this happen?

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Speaker 2: To me and why was my town taken? And why

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Speaker 2: was my community taken? And it was easy just to go, Okay, well,

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Speaker 2: this is our new friends, our new family, our new community,

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Speaker 2: and we're thriving.

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Speaker 1: All thanks to an outdoor game with a goofy name.

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Speaker 1: But is tossing bean bags really all that different from

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Speaker 1: any other social activity? Michelle certainly thinks so, and in

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Speaker 1: this final episode of the Happiness Lab season on Creative

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Speaker 1: Ways to Cope, we'll find out why. If you've ever

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Speaker 1: been to a backyard barbecue or college tailgate, you might

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Speaker 1: already know how cornhole works. For those of you who haven't,

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Speaker 1: here's a quick rundown. The game involves a pair of

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Speaker 1: wooden boards, each with a circular hole near the top,

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Speaker 1: and a set of four square bean bags. Are simple

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Speaker 1: tassa bag toward the board, aim for the hole, and

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Speaker 1: score points if the bag lands on the board, or

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Speaker 1: even better, if it falls through the hole. The name

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Speaker 1: cornhole comes from what used to fill the bags. Yes,

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Speaker 1: back in the day, it was dried corn kernels. I

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Speaker 1: don't know they still sell like that, but they did.

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Speaker 1: When we first started. We would lean them outside and

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Speaker 1: the rats would eat them. And we have to keep

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Speaker 1: replacing them over and were and over. It was a

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Speaker 1: whole thing. The origin story of cornhole is still hotly debated.

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Speaker 2: There are so many stories. I honestly have no idea

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Speaker 2: which one is true.

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Speaker 1: One popular theory traces cornhole back to fourteenth century Germany.

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Speaker 1: Some even suggest the game's roots go all the way

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Speaker 1: back to antiquity, but the version of cornhole we know

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Speaker 1: today seems to have emerged from Cincinnati, Ohio in the

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Speaker 1: mid nineteen hundreds.

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Speaker 2: You're going to find it in the places that have

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Speaker 2: a lot of land and maybe not a lot of

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Speaker 2: stuff to do.

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Speaker 1: Michelle's entry into the sport that would later change her

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Speaker 1: life started off unremarkably enough. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I think I started just like everybody else, at someone's backyard,

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Speaker 2: just at a barbecue or a party, and never really

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Speaker 2: thought much of it because I was horrible, So you

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Speaker 2: don't think, oh, I'm gonna like make this my career.

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Speaker 2: It's just this fun thing that you do, right, And

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Speaker 2: I didn't really get into it until my husband was

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Speaker 2: really into it and I realized if I didn't start playing,

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Speaker 2: I was never gonna see him. So that's when I

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Speaker 2: actually started competing. Was to connect with him, and also

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Speaker 2: it was something to do in that sort of elusive

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Speaker 2: five to eight pm right like after work you just

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Speaker 2: mostly would watch TV or something like that, but he

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Speaker 2: would want to go outside and throw bags, and it

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Speaker 2: got us in that, you know, side by side type

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Speaker 2: of configuration to have conversation. So that was a way

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Speaker 2: that we really connected.

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Speaker 1: At first, Michelle just played casually, but a few tips

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Speaker 1: from her spouse got her thinking more competitively, and.

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Speaker 2: I saw an instant change in my results, and I thought, wow,

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Speaker 2: if I can see an improvement that quickly with a

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Speaker 2: little tweak, that means I might actually be able to

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Speaker 2: get good at this.

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Speaker 1: And it turns out some people are really good at cornhole.

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Speaker 1: One of the things I did not realize, embarrassingly maybe

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Speaker 1: until I get interested in your work, is that this

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Speaker 1: isn't just like the kind of thing people do in

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Speaker 1: their backyards. This is actually a professional sport.

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Speaker 2: You're not alone, and I'm not alone. Okay, Yeah, I

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Speaker 2: travel all the time, so I always talk to people

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Speaker 2: at the airport and they're like, I'm sorry, what you're

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Speaker 2: going to be on ESPN? Excuse me.

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Speaker 1: The game started getting a lot of attention in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty for a rather obvious reason.

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Speaker 2: So the boards are going to be twenty seven feet apart,

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Speaker 2: so that's quite a distance of ways. So this really

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Speaker 2: sets it up to explode during COVID because it's naturally

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Speaker 2: socially distanced. So it was one of the only sports

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Speaker 2: on TV in twenty twenty for a period of time there,

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Speaker 2: which is how it grew so fast. It was just

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Speaker 2: the four players out there, and then you have your

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Speaker 2: two broadcasters obviously set aways, and that's the only people

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Speaker 2: in the room. Really.

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Speaker 1: The big leagues of beanbags, as it were, are run

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Speaker 1: by the ACL, the American Cornhole League ACL. Pro players

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Speaker 1: earn sponsorships and compete in tournaments all over the world.

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Speaker 2: What it elevates to that next level is when you

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Speaker 2: start to see all the craziness these pros can do.

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Speaker 2: They push, they cut, they roll, they air mail.

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Speaker 1: For the uninitiated like me, these are all just advanced

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Speaker 1: techniques for getting the bag into the hole.

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Speaker 2: I mean they block. And I think what's fun about

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Speaker 2: the game in terms of a spectator is it does

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Speaker 2: have defense. You can play an entire defensive game. You

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Speaker 2: can just try to force your opponent to miss, and

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Speaker 2: I think that's a fun way that the game gets

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Speaker 2: really interesting to watch and you get to see all

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Speaker 2: the different strategy.

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Speaker 1: And Michelle was especially excited to help cornhole players master

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Speaker 1: one particular aspect of strategy, the psychological side of the game.

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Speaker 2: I did food psychology. I worked with the mental part

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Speaker 2: of weight and food, so obviously coming from the world

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Speaker 2: of psychology, it didn't take long for me to realize

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Speaker 2: that this was more mental than physical once you get

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Speaker 2: past the initial mechanics. Similar to golf, right, it's a

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Speaker 2: slow paced game, and as you know, the more time

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Speaker 2: you have to think, the more dangerous the mind can be.

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Speaker 2: As opposed to a reactionary sport. Right, you're playing football,

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Speaker 2: basketball time to think. You completely rely on training. You

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Speaker 2: don't have a choice. Well, as much as I tell

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Speaker 2: my cornhole players to rely on their training, their brain

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Speaker 2: can take over and be like, well, I better make

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Speaker 2: this bag. If I don't make this bag, it's gonna

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Speaker 2: be bad. I'm gonna lose like all that stuff. So

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Speaker 2: the mental perspective became really interesting to me, and I

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Speaker 2: basically started just applying the same things I was teaching

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Speaker 2: people with Weight and Food to cornhole. It's about presence,

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Speaker 2: it's about mindfulness. It's about breathing, body awareness. You're thinking,

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Speaker 2: you're limiting beliefs, all of that. All the things I

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Speaker 2: taught there, I just brought over here.

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Speaker 1: And so your path to taking part in the sport

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Speaker 1: was not just kind of helping cornhole players play better

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Speaker 1: at using your psychology training. You also became a cornhole announcer.

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Speaker 2: Tony steps up to the board. He looks like he's

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Speaker 2: going to start off with a block. That's a perfect

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Speaker 2: block right in front of the hole. It's funny because

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Speaker 2: you know, as a kid, I did musical theater as

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Speaker 2: a seven year old. I wanted to be a singer

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Speaker 2: that died quickly, but I definitely loved being in front

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Speaker 2: of a microphone. So it's going to make it harder

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Speaker 2: for Mark to be able to slide his bag in

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Speaker 2: and could kick off right. Bag kicks off right. Tony

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Speaker 2: should be able to clean this up, get to I

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Speaker 2: like to perform like that's the theater geek and me still,

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Speaker 2: and so I always saw myself being on a mic

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Speaker 2: or in front of people. I like to speak things

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Speaker 2: like that. Never did I think to be a commentator.

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Speaker 2: But I had started a girl's cornhall podcast and acl

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Speaker 2: heard it and then asked me to come on board

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Speaker 2: because they need a female voice, and that's kind of

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Speaker 2: where it went from there, and the sideline reporting came

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Speaker 2: after that.

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Speaker 1: Seems like you've become a bit of a big celebrity

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Speaker 1: in a very tiny world.

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Speaker 2: That's exactly it, in a very small world.

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Speaker 1: But Michelle got more than small world glory out of

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Speaker 1: her love of the sport. When we get back from

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Speaker 1: the break, we'll dig into the surprising psychological benefits of

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Speaker 1: cornhole and why what looks like a simple lawn game

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Speaker 1: might be the key to greater presence play and even

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Speaker 1: self compassion. The Happiness Lab will be right back. A

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Speaker 1: recent poll from the American Psychological Association found that seventy

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Speaker 1: six percent of US adults are so stressed that it's

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Speaker 1: affecting their health, leading to things like headaches, fatigue, anxiety, depression,

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Speaker 1: and trouble sleeping. I know that when I hit a

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Speaker 1: point of extreme stress, I just want to shut off

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Speaker 1: my brain, and that's when I tend to reach for

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Speaker 1: mindless scrolling, even though I know that it usually amplifies

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Speaker 1: my stress rather than fixing it. But researchers have found

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Speaker 1: that there's one powerful way to reduce stress that we

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Speaker 1: often forget about. That stress remedy is simply having fun.

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Speaker 1: Professional American Cornhole League announcer Cornhole Niche aka Michelle Thompson

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Speaker 1: is writing her PhD dissertation on the psychological effects of

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Speaker 1: cornhole and fun is something that she thinks about a lot.

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Speaker 2: So going back to when I was in the wellness community,

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Speaker 2: I would work with mostly middle aged women and they

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Speaker 2: came to me because they were struggling with weight and

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Speaker 2: they try everything and nothing was working. They were eating healthy,

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Speaker 2: they were moving the weight wooden budget. And I would

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Speaker 2: work with them and I would immediately notice what was

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Speaker 2: lacking was play, hobbies, social, all of that. It was

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Speaker 2: like their life was just about maybe their families, their work,

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Speaker 2: and the obsession with their bodies and being thinner and

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Speaker 2: being fit. It's so easy to get sucked into that

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Speaker 2: external world when you don't have all that passionate stuff happening,

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Speaker 2: the soulful hobbies, if you will. But I didn't have

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Speaker 2: a solution back then. I just knew they needed it.

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Speaker 2: So that's why when I first started cornhole, I was like,

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Speaker 2: this is it. Instead of focusing on every calorie you

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Speaker 2: burn and everything you eat and what your body looks like.

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Speaker 2: You're going into a room with people and you're just

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Speaker 2: having fun on a Wednesday night. Don't put all your

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Speaker 2: energy into obsessing about your body. Go have some fun.

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Speaker 2: Put all the energy to trying to throw the bag

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Speaker 2: in the hole, fly out theer.

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Speaker 1: It makes sense that Michelle made this connection. Psychologically speaking,

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Speaker 1: the most effective fun activities tend to be ones that

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Speaker 1: are social, a little physical, maybe a tad thrilling. Our

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Speaker 1: usual mindless scrolling doesn't qualify as fun in any of

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Speaker 1: these senses, And unlike screen time, true fun tends to

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Speaker 1: get us out of our heads. That low stakes challenge

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Speaker 1: of trying to land a beanbag into a hole can

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Speaker 1: help us snap out of negative self talk. Michelle seemed

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Speaker 1: so confident that cornhole was the ultimate solution to stress,

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Speaker 1: I had to check it out myself. My husband Mark

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Speaker 1: and I drove to Burlington, Massachusetts, where the Boston Cornhole

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Speaker 1: group was having their weekly tournament. All right, look at this, Oh,

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Speaker 1: this is like where it's happening. There's a bunch of

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Speaker 1: people here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know about our chances.

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Speaker 1: Mark and I did end up playing more on that later,

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Speaker 1: but we also had the chance to speak with some

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Speaker 1: of the local competitors, and a lot of them mentioned

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Speaker 1: that stress relief was their main reason for showing up

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Speaker 1: week after week. Some players even used cornhole to cope

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Speaker 1: with big life changes. Take one guy, Matt. He started

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Speaker 1: playing cornhole after joining the military and moving very far

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Speaker 1: away from home, all the way to Kuwait.

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Speaker 3: So I was deployed overseas with the army and the

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Speaker 3: USL ran cornwall tournaments every Thursday. It was a great

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Speaker 3: like reliever. It's honestly probably what I looked forward to

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Speaker 3: every week. It was very hot, the boards are very sticky.

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Speaker 3: It was like one hundred thirty degrees, so a little

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Speaker 3: bit different playing back in New England, but but yeah,

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Speaker 3: that's how I got into it.

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Speaker 1: So the stress relieving fun of the game is one

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Speaker 1: big psychological benefit. But Michelle argues that cornhole can also

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Speaker 1: make players more present.

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Speaker 2: You cannot play your best game if you're not present.

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Speaker 2: Probably my favorite part because I was a yoga teacher

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Speaker 2: for many years now. Let's not beat around the bush.

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Speaker 2: There is a component of cornhole that is connected to alcohol.

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Speaker 2: I know, we can't pretend that's not there. I know

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Speaker 2: that's not the healthiest component of cornhole.

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Speaker 1: I heard it's called throwing juice is the stressing aiming juice.

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Speaker 2: Aiming juice a juice, that's what my co collitator calls it.

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Speaker 2: So that's there, and I always tell people, Look, the

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Speaker 2: mindless state is going to be when you're consuming alcohol

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Speaker 2: and that's okay, that's what you want to do that night,

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Speaker 2: and you don't care about throwing your best. You just

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Speaker 2: want to have a few beers and throw bags, and

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Speaker 2: that's the night you want. You can have that. But

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Speaker 2: if you want to really compete, you cannot successfully do

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Speaker 2: that if you are not in the flow or the

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Speaker 2: play state, and both of those states require presence. You

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Speaker 2: have to be in the body. You have to be

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Speaker 2: aware of when your nervous system changes because it impacts

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Speaker 2: your physiology. And when you're in a game, an accuracy game,

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Speaker 2: if your physiology changes by a teeny tiny amount, your

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Speaker 2: bag is going to go somewhere else, not center.

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Speaker 1: You've also talked about how cornhole can be a way

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Speaker 1: to practice being kinder to ourselves. What do you mean

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Speaker 1: by that?

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Speaker 2: You know, as humans we're sort of meaning making machines.

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Speaker 2: So I use cornhole as a way to teach my

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Speaker 2: players not to make so much meaning out of things,

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Speaker 2: because immediately what they do is they, let's say they

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Speaker 2: miss a bag. Ugh, that means I'm off. That means

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Speaker 2: I'm horrible at this. Oh, that means I lost it.

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Speaker 2: And so I've taught them don't make meaning out of it,

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Speaker 2: because the truth is, even our top pros don't make

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Speaker 2: every bag in the hole every game. You're not going

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Speaker 2: to make every bag in the hole. But once you

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Speaker 2: make meaning out of it, well, that means I'm off,

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Speaker 2: and then they can spiral. So if we can stop

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Speaker 2: making meaning out of everything, we're going to play a

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Speaker 2: lot better. And guess what, that's pretty helpful for life

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 1: I got to see this helpful aspect of cornhole firsthand,

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Speaker 1: because even with the addition of a little aming juice,

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Speaker 1: I was pretty bad at my first cornhole attempt. I

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Speaker 1: played three rounds of games and hit the board like twice,

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Speaker 1: which was embarrassing enough. But cornhole tournaments aren't played solo.

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Speaker 1: When you show up, you get randomly paired with another player,

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Speaker 1: and my unfortunate first partner was George, who happened to

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Speaker 1: be a very very experienced player. As I continued to

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Speaker 1: with shot after shot, my meaning making mind went into overdrive.

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Speaker 1: It kept shaming me, saying that George was going to

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Speaker 1: be pissed. But when I chat with him afterwards, I

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Speaker 1: learned that all that self criticism was completely unfounded. George,

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Speaker 1: as it turns out, was totally chill about it. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for you, my partner.

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Speaker 4: Sure help you to do any comments on my cour

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Speaker 4: just you know, it takes some practice, and you know,

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Speaker 4: like anything else, it's you get to kind of feel

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Speaker 4: like it's going to go in, as opposed to when

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Speaker 4: you get too stressed, and I think it's very psychological.

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Speaker 1: Psychologists called these kinds of irrational thoughts cognitive distortions, things

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Speaker 1: like jumping to conclusions, catastrophizing, or all or nothing thinking,

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Speaker 1: And when you're thinking distorted thoughts like these, it's very

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Speaker 1: relieving to realize that your brain is lying to you. Eventually,

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Speaker 1: I switched from George to other partners, and I continued

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Speaker 1: to play like crap, but it quickly became clear that

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Speaker 1: no one seemed to care about my performance as much

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Speaker 1: as my inner critic did, And with that realization I

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Speaker 1: could finally relax and start having some fun. My husband

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Speaker 1: had a similar takeaway how'd you do.

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Speaker 3: Well?

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Speaker 5: I won the game I played against you, But other

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Speaker 5: than that, I've had a great learning experience.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, good.

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Speaker 1: And so it's not just making meaning though. We can

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Speaker 1: also use cornhole to kind of watch how we change

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Speaker 1: over time. You've talked about how cornhole really is a

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Speaker 1: growth sport and that can help us promote something that

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Speaker 1: we definitely know is good for happiness. This idea of

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Speaker 1: a growth mindset, like I might not be perfect, but

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Speaker 1: I'm getting better over time. I have time to improve.

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Speaker 1: Is this something you've seen in the players that you've

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Speaker 1: worked with.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So if you come into the room and you

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Speaker 2: think I'm never going to be good at this, then

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Speaker 2: you're basically going to be set up for failure, right,

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Speaker 2: But then you walk into this room and every single

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Speaker 2: person in the room says, I was there, that's how

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Speaker 2: I threw too. You're good, You're fine. Hey, just try

417
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Speaker 2: kind of doing this with your hand and you see

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Speaker 2: those immediate changes and you realize, oh, my goodness, if

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Speaker 2: I actually put time into this, I might actually get better.

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Speaker 2: And if I can get better, then I can get

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Speaker 2: to a point where at least I can compete with

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Speaker 2: the people in this room, and I think as humans

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Speaker 2: we love that opportunity for quick growth.

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Speaker 1: And this idea of competition I think gets to another

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Speaker 1: benefit of cornhole, which is a kind of healthy way

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Speaker 1: to exert our competition muscles a little bit. Yeah, definitely.

427
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Speaker 1: I am someone who dreams big and dreams often. Maybe

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Speaker 1: other entrepreneurs can relate to this. I was like, obsessive

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Speaker 1: about competing in my business.

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Speaker 2: How going to be better? I can get more clients,

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Speaker 2: I can make more money, like just obsessive about it.

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Speaker 2: But it can be very toxic and unhealthy for me

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Speaker 2: to have a goal and then obsess about that goal

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Speaker 2: so much that I can't be present. I can't be

435
00:20:47,836 --> 00:20:51,276
Speaker 2: with my family, I can't stop thinking about achieving, and

436
00:20:51,516 --> 00:20:53,796
Speaker 2: that is not a healthy place for my mind, or

437
00:20:53,796 --> 00:20:55,316
Speaker 2: my body or the people around me.

438
00:20:55,516 --> 00:20:57,116
Speaker 1: But cornhole is a spot where you can kind of

439
00:20:57,156 --> 00:20:59,396
Speaker 1: get that kind of competition in a healthier way.

440
00:20:59,636 --> 00:21:01,756
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the reason why it works for cornhole

441
00:21:01,876 --> 00:21:04,396
Speaker 2: is because it's easy to keep it to that space,

442
00:21:04,436 --> 00:21:06,876
Speaker 2: at least for me. So if it's a you know,

443
00:21:06,916 --> 00:21:09,916
Speaker 2: a Wednesday night and I'm playing in a competition, I

444
00:21:09,956 --> 00:21:12,996
Speaker 2: can channel all that there if I want, And then

445
00:21:13,036 --> 00:21:15,436
Speaker 2: when I get home, it's over, a.

446
00:21:15,316 --> 00:21:18,476
Speaker 1: Healthy form of competition, a form of stress relief through

447
00:21:18,476 --> 00:21:21,636
Speaker 1: play and fun, an evening activity that gets you outside

448
00:21:21,676 --> 00:21:24,636
Speaker 1: and keeps you mindful and present. All of these features

449
00:21:24,676 --> 00:21:27,596
Speaker 1: of cornhole can offer a meaningful boost to our well being,

450
00:21:28,196 --> 00:21:31,596
Speaker 1: especially when times are tough. But there's still one huge

451
00:21:31,596 --> 00:21:34,396
Speaker 1: benefit of cornhole that we haven't touched on, the one

452
00:21:34,436 --> 00:21:38,396
Speaker 1: Michelle says matters most. We'll hear about that benefit, plus

453
00:21:38,436 --> 00:21:41,276
Speaker 1: a few more takeaways from my own cornhole adventure, when

454
00:21:41,276 --> 00:21:49,796
Speaker 1: the Happiness Lab returns. If you're a fan of the

455
00:21:49,796 --> 00:21:53,236
Speaker 1: Happiness Lab, you've probably already heard that social connection is

456
00:21:53,396 --> 00:21:56,836
Speaker 1: vital for happiness. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, a

457
00:21:56,836 --> 00:21:59,436
Speaker 1: longitudinal study of human health and well being that's been

458
00:21:59,476 --> 00:22:02,956
Speaker 1: ongoing for eighty six years, has found that strong relationships

459
00:22:02,996 --> 00:22:05,916
Speaker 1: are the single biggest predictor of long term mental and

460
00:22:05,956 --> 00:22:10,236
Speaker 1: physical health. Unfortunately, building those strong relationships in the modern

461
00:22:10,276 --> 00:22:13,556
Speaker 1: world can feel pretty tough, but not if you show

462
00:22:13,596 --> 00:22:16,396
Speaker 1: up at a cornhole tournament. When I visited that Boston

463
00:22:16,396 --> 00:22:19,156
Speaker 1: cornhole group, I quickly realized just how easy it is

464
00:22:19,196 --> 00:22:22,156
Speaker 1: to strike up a conversation with a total stranger when

465
00:22:22,196 --> 00:22:25,076
Speaker 1: you're tossing bags. Right beside them. I mean, there's not

466
00:22:25,116 --> 00:22:26,876
Speaker 1: a lot of spaces right now where I can show

467
00:22:26,956 --> 00:22:29,196
Speaker 1: up and just meet people, you know, from all of

468
00:22:29,236 --> 00:22:31,916
Speaker 1: the Massachusetts with all kinds of different backgrounds.

469
00:22:32,196 --> 00:22:34,396
Speaker 5: It's almost like networking, but you don't have to put

470
00:22:34,396 --> 00:22:36,956
Speaker 5: the effort in because you're next to somebody, so you

471
00:22:37,076 --> 00:22:40,076
Speaker 5: kind of are forced to do it, but not in

472
00:22:40,116 --> 00:22:42,756
Speaker 5: a bad way, in a good way. And chatting you

473
00:22:42,876 --> 00:22:44,676
Speaker 5: just chatted, Yeah, because you're next to each other for

474
00:22:44,716 --> 00:22:46,036
Speaker 5: ten fifteen minutes at a time.

475
00:22:46,516 --> 00:22:49,276
Speaker 1: I have had more interesting conversations with more interesting people

476
00:22:49,316 --> 00:22:51,716
Speaker 1: at cornhole than I'd had in a while, which made

477
00:22:51,756 --> 00:22:53,996
Speaker 1: me especially surprised to hear that lots of the folks

478
00:22:54,036 --> 00:22:56,716
Speaker 1: I spoke with at the event the bottom themselves as introverts.

479
00:22:57,156 --> 00:22:59,996
Speaker 1: This is my opponent who demolished me, ruined my score.

480
00:22:59,716 --> 00:23:02,396
Speaker 2: On the bottom for something like this.

481
00:23:02,996 --> 00:23:06,716
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sorry, but even after expressing his reserve, this

482
00:23:06,756 --> 00:23:08,996
Speaker 1: player stuck around and chatted with me for a while.

483
00:23:10,196 --> 00:23:13,236
Speaker 1: There's something about cornhole that makes connecting with total strangers

484
00:23:13,356 --> 00:23:17,636
Speaker 1: feel easier. Academic cornhole expert Michelle Thompson has seen this

485
00:23:17,716 --> 00:23:20,036
Speaker 1: benefit play out across all kinds of players.

486
00:23:20,356 --> 00:23:22,756
Speaker 2: Probably my favorite thing about cornhole is the way that

487
00:23:22,796 --> 00:23:26,476
Speaker 2: it connects people, but I didn't realize how powerful it

488
00:23:26,476 --> 00:23:28,516
Speaker 2: could be. And there was a player. He was a

489
00:23:28,556 --> 00:23:31,356
Speaker 2: teenager who would come to our club and he was

490
00:23:31,516 --> 00:23:34,356
Speaker 2: very shy, and he would come with his dad every

491
00:23:34,356 --> 00:23:37,956
Speaker 2: single week. And in terms of the average cornhole player,

492
00:23:37,996 --> 00:23:40,636
Speaker 2: he didn't necessarily fit the mold of what you would expect.

493
00:23:41,036 --> 00:23:44,756
Speaker 2: He was a little bit eccentric, and when he started playing,

494
00:23:45,236 --> 00:23:49,036
Speaker 2: he got fairly good, fairly quickly. And then he pulled

495
00:23:49,076 --> 00:23:52,116
Speaker 2: my husband aside and he told him that cornhole saved

496
00:23:52,116 --> 00:23:54,796
Speaker 2: his life. And the story that he shared was that

497
00:23:55,196 --> 00:23:57,596
Speaker 2: he didn't have a lot of friends, and he wasn't

498
00:23:57,676 --> 00:23:59,836
Speaker 2: super connected to his dad because they didn't have a

499
00:23:59,836 --> 00:24:03,196
Speaker 2: lot of things in common. And when they started coming

500
00:24:03,236 --> 00:24:05,596
Speaker 2: to this club, not only did he connect more with

501
00:24:05,676 --> 00:24:09,716
Speaker 2: his father, he found this family that completely accepted him

502
00:24:09,716 --> 00:24:13,396
Speaker 2: exactly as he was. It didn't matter that he's interested

503
00:24:13,436 --> 00:24:16,036
Speaker 2: in other things that we're not interested. It didn't matter

504
00:24:16,436 --> 00:24:19,076
Speaker 2: that everybody there was probably twice his age. None of

505
00:24:19,116 --> 00:24:21,476
Speaker 2: that mattered. And now it's really fun to watch him

506
00:24:21,516 --> 00:24:24,476
Speaker 2: because he's older now, so he's taken jobs out of

507
00:24:24,476 --> 00:24:27,196
Speaker 2: town and he'll come back and play whenever he's in town,

508
00:24:27,236 --> 00:24:30,996
Speaker 2: and he's just a completely different person. He's won one

509
00:24:31,076 --> 00:24:34,716
Speaker 2: hundred percent himself. It just seems like he's so comfortable

510
00:24:34,716 --> 00:24:36,276
Speaker 2: in his skin, and that was not the way it

511
00:24:36,356 --> 00:24:37,396
Speaker 2: was when he first started.

512
00:24:37,556 --> 00:24:39,836
Speaker 1: And the seems in part because cornhole is this unique

513
00:24:39,876 --> 00:24:42,756
Speaker 1: sport when it comes to kind of connecting with other individuals,

514
00:24:42,756 --> 00:24:45,756
Speaker 1: talk about the ways that cornhole uniquely allows us to connect.

515
00:24:46,036 --> 00:24:48,156
Speaker 2: The way that most of these clubs set it up

516
00:24:48,236 --> 00:24:51,676
Speaker 2: is it's a swap, which means you're randomly paired with

517
00:24:51,716 --> 00:24:54,516
Speaker 2: four people and you play a game with each person,

518
00:24:54,876 --> 00:24:57,156
Speaker 2: and so you have four different partners. That's four different

519
00:24:57,156 --> 00:25:01,316
Speaker 2: connections that you build and you're working together. Now you

520
00:25:01,356 --> 00:25:03,756
Speaker 2: also have your opponent directly next to you that you're

521
00:25:03,756 --> 00:25:06,836
Speaker 2: probably talking to as well. And so now you've met

522
00:25:06,876 --> 00:25:10,436
Speaker 2: eight people, right, your partners and these different opponents. And

523
00:25:10,476 --> 00:25:12,396
Speaker 2: then you have a partner going into bracket and that's

524
00:25:12,476 --> 00:25:15,636
Speaker 2: another person. Now you're playing multiple games with this person,

525
00:25:15,956 --> 00:25:18,996
Speaker 2: so you build this relationship, this connection, not to mention

526
00:25:19,236 --> 00:25:22,276
Speaker 2: all the time in between games that you can connect

527
00:25:22,316 --> 00:25:25,356
Speaker 2: with these people. So you have to make friends, even

528
00:25:25,396 --> 00:25:27,956
Speaker 2: if you're sort of shy and sit in the corner

529
00:25:27,956 --> 00:25:30,476
Speaker 2: in between games. You have to play with and against

530
00:25:30,476 --> 00:25:33,356
Speaker 2: someone every time you walk up to the board, and that,

531
00:25:33,476 --> 00:25:36,596
Speaker 2: to me is what makes it so special. Is so

532
00:25:36,836 --> 00:25:39,556
Speaker 2: much time to connect in an environment. And so many

533
00:25:39,556 --> 00:25:42,516
Speaker 2: people have said, you know, I have social anxiety, I

534
00:25:42,556 --> 00:25:46,316
Speaker 2: am uncomfortable in these environments, and it still works. With cornhole,

535
00:25:46,316 --> 00:25:47,516
Speaker 2: They're able to overcome that.

536
00:25:47,796 --> 00:25:50,076
Speaker 1: And it seems like being able to overcome that allows

537
00:25:50,116 --> 00:25:52,396
Speaker 1: for something else to develop that super good for happiness,

538
00:25:52,436 --> 00:25:54,956
Speaker 1: which is the sense of community. Talk about the kind

539
00:25:54,996 --> 00:25:58,796
Speaker 1: of community that gets built, especially when people have cornhole clubs.

540
00:25:59,116 --> 00:26:02,276
Speaker 2: The community is like nothing I've ever seen. Once again,

541
00:26:02,316 --> 00:26:05,036
Speaker 2: as is someone who geeks out on psychology, this is

542
00:26:05,076 --> 00:26:07,836
Speaker 2: the stuff that like I can't help, but notice this

543
00:26:07,876 --> 00:26:11,276
Speaker 2: community comes to get there for everybody. I mean, we've

544
00:26:11,316 --> 00:26:14,196
Speaker 2: done cancer fundraisers, like someone who's in chemo, and the

545
00:26:14,196 --> 00:26:16,156
Speaker 2: people in the room don't even know the person and

546
00:26:16,196 --> 00:26:19,476
Speaker 2: they're more than willing to contribute to make this person

547
00:26:20,036 --> 00:26:22,516
Speaker 2: have an easier time and that really tough time in

548
00:26:22,556 --> 00:26:25,876
Speaker 2: their life. My brother in law unfortunately passed away a

549
00:26:25,876 --> 00:26:29,156
Speaker 2: couple of years ago unexpectedly, and the entire cornhole all

550
00:26:29,196 --> 00:26:31,916
Speaker 2: the clubs in the area came together to raise money

551
00:26:31,956 --> 00:26:35,436
Speaker 2: for his kids, my nephew, my niece, and my in

552
00:26:35,556 --> 00:26:37,876
Speaker 2: laws showed up to this tournament and they were blown

553
00:26:37,916 --> 00:26:39,356
Speaker 2: away at the amount of people that were in the

554
00:26:39,436 --> 00:26:42,036
Speaker 2: room and how they were all coming together to support

555
00:26:42,476 --> 00:26:46,156
Speaker 2: them and us. And I've just never seen anything like it.

556
00:26:46,636 --> 00:26:48,556
Speaker 1: We know that doing nice things for other people and

557
00:26:48,596 --> 00:26:51,196
Speaker 1: having these communities like especially during really tough times, can

558
00:26:51,236 --> 00:26:53,436
Speaker 1: be so important, but so many of us just kind

559
00:26:53,436 --> 00:26:55,676
Speaker 1: of lack this community, you know, so if something bad happens,

560
00:26:55,676 --> 00:26:58,036
Speaker 1: we don't have anyone to support us. But also means

561
00:26:58,236 --> 00:27:00,156
Speaker 1: if other people are going through tough times, we don't

562
00:27:00,156 --> 00:27:03,516
Speaker 1: have as obvious mechanisms to support them either. It seems

563
00:27:03,516 --> 00:27:05,196
Speaker 1: like one of the things that Cornhole is doing is

564
00:27:05,236 --> 00:27:07,636
Speaker 1: it's creating the kind of thing that the political scientist

565
00:27:07,716 --> 00:27:10,236
Speaker 1: Robert Putnam talked about, is a place right this place

566
00:27:10,276 --> 00:27:12,676
Speaker 1: that's not home or work, where you can get together

567
00:27:12,796 --> 00:27:16,756
Speaker 1: and form these relationships that cut across so many different things,

568
00:27:16,836 --> 00:27:19,836
Speaker 1: but kind of become a really serious community in your life.

569
00:27:20,036 --> 00:27:23,036
Speaker 2: Yeah, not just local communities are super important. There's a

570
00:27:23,036 --> 00:27:25,436
Speaker 2: lot of research on that, but I have found that

571
00:27:25,476 --> 00:27:29,116
Speaker 2: it extends so far beyond the local, and I know

572
00:27:29,396 --> 00:27:32,276
Speaker 2: that I could literally move anywhere in the US, and

573
00:27:32,316 --> 00:27:35,796
Speaker 2: I would have an instant family everywhere I go, and

574
00:27:35,876 --> 00:27:37,796
Speaker 2: it makes it so that there's no fear. It's like

575
00:27:37,836 --> 00:27:40,396
Speaker 2: we can move anywhere and we would have friends no

576
00:27:40,436 --> 00:27:41,156
Speaker 2: matter where we go.

577
00:27:41,516 --> 00:27:43,196
Speaker 1: This idea of a family, I think gets to another

578
00:27:43,276 --> 00:27:46,436
Speaker 1: social benefit of cornhole, it seems, which is that, in

579
00:27:46,476 --> 00:27:49,796
Speaker 1: a funny way, it really promotes belonging. The slogan of

580
00:27:49,836 --> 00:27:53,996
Speaker 1: the American Cornhole League is anyone can play, anyone can win.

581
00:27:54,476 --> 00:27:56,756
Speaker 1: Like it's just a like super inclusive sport.

582
00:27:57,276 --> 00:28:00,116
Speaker 2: Yeah. That's another thing that's super unique about it is

583
00:28:00,156 --> 00:28:03,716
Speaker 2: the inclusivity because the rule is just get the bag

584
00:28:03,756 --> 00:28:06,596
Speaker 2: to the board. You don't have to be athletic, you

585
00:28:06,676 --> 00:28:09,716
Speaker 2: don't have to have any experience playing any other I've

586
00:28:09,716 --> 00:28:13,676
Speaker 2: never played sports ever, so I'm a theater girl, right.

587
00:28:13,756 --> 00:28:16,556
Speaker 2: I had no athletic training and was able to pick

588
00:28:16,636 --> 00:28:18,956
Speaker 2: up this game. The cool thing is because it is

589
00:28:18,996 --> 00:28:22,316
Speaker 2: a one pound bag, there's no limitations to who can play.

590
00:28:22,396 --> 00:28:26,236
Speaker 2: So we have, for example, under eighteen players competing in

591
00:28:26,236 --> 00:28:29,876
Speaker 2: the pro field against adults. I've seen players throw on crutches.

592
00:28:30,236 --> 00:28:32,396
Speaker 2: I mean, we have players that have no arms throw

593
00:28:32,436 --> 00:28:36,196
Speaker 2: at their feet. Dayton Weber is a quadruple amputee. He

594
00:28:36,356 --> 00:28:39,156
Speaker 2: was a pro for many years. He's that good. So,

595
00:28:39,516 --> 00:28:41,716
Speaker 2: I mean, what sport can you think of where a

596
00:28:41,796 --> 00:28:44,956
Speaker 2: quadruple amputee you would be competing with people with no

597
00:28:45,036 --> 00:28:49,036
Speaker 2: disabilities at the same level. Literally anybody can play, So

598
00:28:49,596 --> 00:28:51,156
Speaker 2: now all of a sudden, you get to compete and

599
00:28:51,196 --> 00:28:53,156
Speaker 2: there's no limitations or boundaries to that.

600
00:28:53,716 --> 00:28:56,316
Speaker 1: It might seem cheesy, but I did get that feeling

601
00:28:56,316 --> 00:28:59,676
Speaker 1: of inclusivity. At the Boston Cornhole tournament. There were people

602
00:28:59,716 --> 00:29:03,836
Speaker 1: of all ages competing with totally different backgrounds, education levels,

603
00:29:03,876 --> 00:29:07,396
Speaker 1: political affiliations, but everyone just seemed to get along.

604
00:29:07,636 --> 00:29:12,956
Speaker 2: It has a different socioeconomic demographic then maybe some other sports. Right,

605
00:29:13,116 --> 00:29:15,996
Speaker 2: A set of boards you can get very inexpensive or

606
00:29:16,036 --> 00:29:19,236
Speaker 2: you can make them yourself. And bags are very inexpensive

607
00:29:19,356 --> 00:29:20,956
Speaker 2: if you don't want to go pro level, if you

608
00:29:20,996 --> 00:29:24,156
Speaker 2: just want any bags to throw. And so it's just

609
00:29:24,276 --> 00:29:26,316
Speaker 2: very easy to get started in it, and it doesn't

610
00:29:26,316 --> 00:29:28,956
Speaker 2: have the same barriers that I would say like golf does.

611
00:29:29,116 --> 00:29:32,316
Speaker 1: Right, several of the players I met in Burlington made

612
00:29:32,356 --> 00:29:32,916
Speaker 1: the same point.

613
00:29:33,116 --> 00:29:38,036
Speaker 5: Maddie g who plays are usually here, what is he like? Fourteen?

614
00:29:39,236 --> 00:29:41,916
Speaker 5: He's better, He's like one of the top players and

615
00:29:41,996 --> 00:29:45,076
Speaker 5: wait till he grows up and like I don't gain

616
00:29:45,196 --> 00:29:49,196
Speaker 5: some muscle and strength. But yeah, all ages can play.

617
00:29:49,556 --> 00:29:54,716
Speaker 5: All you need is some grass, but a lot cheaper

618
00:29:54,756 --> 00:29:56,916
Speaker 5: than a set of golf clubs. For sure.

619
00:29:57,716 --> 00:30:01,036
Speaker 1: Cornhall was starting to sound like the world's most ideal sport,

620
00:30:01,436 --> 00:30:03,996
Speaker 1: but Michelle is willing to admit they're like everything else.

621
00:30:04,196 --> 00:30:05,156
Speaker 1: It has its flaws.

622
00:30:05,516 --> 00:30:07,916
Speaker 2: You know, it's not always perfect. I don't want to

623
00:30:07,916 --> 00:30:09,996
Speaker 2: make it sound like every person that plays cornhole is

624
00:30:10,316 --> 00:30:13,076
Speaker 2: the best ever, right. I work really hard to make

625
00:30:13,076 --> 00:30:15,916
Speaker 2: sure that our club is inclusive and that we're so

626
00:30:16,476 --> 00:30:18,596
Speaker 2: warm and welcoming to new players. And I know that

627
00:30:18,636 --> 00:30:21,236
Speaker 2: a lot of club directors feel that same way because

628
00:30:21,276 --> 00:30:24,516
Speaker 2: we want to continue growing. We're all so nerdy about

629
00:30:24,516 --> 00:30:26,476
Speaker 2: cornhole that we want the entire world to play it

630
00:30:26,516 --> 00:30:28,436
Speaker 2: with us, because we're like, you're missing out. You got

631
00:30:28,476 --> 00:30:29,956
Speaker 2: to get over here and play with us. It's too

632
00:30:29,996 --> 00:30:32,236
Speaker 2: fun for you not to. We're trying to tell everybody

633
00:30:32,276 --> 00:30:34,796
Speaker 2: you're screaming from the rooftops, come play cornhole with us.

634
00:30:34,876 --> 00:30:36,876
Speaker 2: I promise you're going to fall in love.

635
00:30:37,516 --> 00:30:40,076
Speaker 1: What's some advice that people can use to get started?

636
00:30:40,156 --> 00:30:42,356
Speaker 1: If this discussion has peaked their interest in sort of

637
00:30:42,356 --> 00:30:43,556
Speaker 1: being a cornhole beginner.

638
00:30:43,956 --> 00:30:46,956
Speaker 2: I hope it has, and if it has, whether you're

639
00:30:46,996 --> 00:30:49,396
Speaker 2: going for a local tournament or you just want to

640
00:30:49,396 --> 00:30:52,956
Speaker 2: get equipment, I definitely recommend the acl dot com so

641
00:30:52,996 --> 00:30:54,636
Speaker 2: you can put in where you live and it'll show

642
00:30:54,676 --> 00:30:57,276
Speaker 2: you all the different events there. There's also a forum

643
00:30:57,356 --> 00:30:59,476
Speaker 2: called Addicted to Cornhole and you can go in there

644
00:30:59,516 --> 00:31:02,516
Speaker 2: and say I live here, is or any clubs nearby?

645
00:31:02,916 --> 00:31:05,956
Speaker 2: You'll get tons of comments. Is an extremely active community,

646
00:31:06,196 --> 00:31:08,796
Speaker 2: and obviously you can build your own boards if you want,

647
00:31:09,276 --> 00:31:11,436
Speaker 2: you know, on a budget, and I've even seen people

648
00:31:11,476 --> 00:31:13,796
Speaker 2: make their own bags, so you know, whatever you're got

649
00:31:13,796 --> 00:31:16,556
Speaker 2: to do to get to get started, I'd recommend giving

650
00:31:16,596 --> 00:31:18,916
Speaker 2: it a go. And it gets kids off screens, it

651
00:31:18,956 --> 00:31:22,956
Speaker 2: gets couples playing together, it brings families together. It's a

652
00:31:22,996 --> 00:31:25,116
Speaker 2: way to make friends because you could, like I said earlier,

653
00:31:25,116 --> 00:31:26,876
Speaker 2: you can bring them over to your house. Let's throw

654
00:31:26,916 --> 00:31:29,996
Speaker 2: some bags. It's an easy way to get started.

655
00:31:30,396 --> 00:31:32,916
Speaker 1: I hope today's episode inspired you to give this long

656
00:31:32,916 --> 00:31:35,116
Speaker 1: game a chance. My husband and I had such a

657
00:31:35,116 --> 00:31:37,596
Speaker 1: blast at Boston Cornhall that we're planning to go back,

658
00:31:37,956 --> 00:31:40,476
Speaker 1: and we're hoping to bring some friends. If you're in

659
00:31:40,516 --> 00:31:43,516
Speaker 1: the area, you should drop by. Just promise not to

660
00:31:43,516 --> 00:31:45,556
Speaker 1: be annoyed if you get stuck with me as a partner.

661
00:31:46,236 --> 00:31:49,116
Speaker 1: But if you're still not convinced that an elevated beanbag

662
00:31:49,156 --> 00:31:51,956
Speaker 1: toss competition is for you, there's still plenty to take

663
00:31:51,996 --> 00:31:55,236
Speaker 1: away from today's show. First, having fun is one of

664
00:31:55,276 --> 00:31:58,476
Speaker 1: the most powerful tools we have for reducing stress and

665
00:31:58,556 --> 00:32:02,116
Speaker 1: doom scrolling doesn't count. Get outside with other people and

666
00:32:02,196 --> 00:32:05,636
Speaker 1: do something that's a little thrilling. Second, try to recognize

667
00:32:05,676 --> 00:32:08,916
Speaker 1: when cognitive distortions are holding you back and find ways

668
00:32:08,916 --> 00:32:12,396
Speaker 1: to counter your inner critic. My throwing partner George wasn't

669
00:32:12,396 --> 00:32:14,996
Speaker 1: mad at me for missing, and the people you're convinced

670
00:32:15,036 --> 00:32:19,156
Speaker 1: are judging you, odds are they're not either. Third, acknowledge

671
00:32:19,196 --> 00:32:22,196
Speaker 1: the little wins and celebrate your personal growth, whether that's

672
00:32:22,196 --> 00:32:24,916
Speaker 1: small improvements with a new hobby or simply making it

673
00:32:24,916 --> 00:32:28,316
Speaker 1: through an event that triggered your social anxiety. And finally,

674
00:32:28,516 --> 00:32:31,636
Speaker 1: find a third place somewhere that's not work and not home,

675
00:32:31,716 --> 00:32:34,756
Speaker 1: where you can spend time and build community. It doesn't

676
00:32:34,796 --> 00:32:37,996
Speaker 1: have to be a cornhole league in Burlington, Massachusetts. It

677
00:32:37,996 --> 00:32:40,836
Speaker 1: could be a community theater a yoga studio, or a

678
00:32:40,916 --> 00:32:44,196
Speaker 1: Dungeons and Dragons group, whatever it is, try to carve

679
00:32:44,236 --> 00:32:46,316
Speaker 1: out time each week to show up and get to

680
00:32:46,316 --> 00:32:49,556
Speaker 1: know someone new. This marks the end of our series

681
00:32:49,596 --> 00:32:52,956
Speaker 1: on creative coping, and since it's summer and I've got

682
00:32:52,956 --> 00:32:55,196
Speaker 1: a new game to play, the Happiness Lab will be

683
00:32:55,236 --> 00:32:57,636
Speaker 1: taking a bit of a break, but not to worry

684
00:32:57,716 --> 00:32:59,556
Speaker 1: because we'll be back in a few weeks with our

685
00:32:59,596 --> 00:33:02,596
Speaker 1: next season of The Happiness Lab would be doctor Laurie

686
00:33:02,636 --> 00:33:07,036
Speaker 1: Santo's