261.1 Free Joy Lab Program Access + Big Updates: New Elements, New Rhythm, New Experiments

April 28, 2026

May is just around the corner and it's Mental Health Awareness Month. At Joy Lab, we believe awareness alone isn't enough. It's a time to actually care for your mental health. So we're offering the full Joy Lab Program free for 30 days (offer ends May 31st). No paywall. No catch. Just a genuine invitation to experiment with more joy.

In this episode, Aimee walks through exactly why now is the right moment to try the Program and shares the exciting updates that make this the best version of Joy Lab yet.

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🎉 The Joy Lab Program is free for 30 days — offer ends May 31st. New Experiments begin May 1st. Head to JoyLab.coach/program to sign up.

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Joy Lab is a nonprofit committed to keeping mental health tools accessible to everyone — ad-free, no paywalls. If these tools have made a difference for you, consider supporting the work at joylab.coach/donate. Even $5 makes a real difference. Can't give financially? Share this episode with someone who needs it. That's its own kind of giving.

About the Joy Lab Podcast: The Joy Lab Podcast is an Ambie-nominated podcast that blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, ease anxiety, and uplift mood. Join Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek for practical, mindfulness-based tools and positive psychology strategies to build resilience and create lasting joy.

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Key moments:

[00:00] — May is Mental Health Awareness Month: a free 30-day offer for the Joy Lab Program (ends May 31st)
[00:30] — Why Joy Lab believes Mental Health Month should be about action AND awareness
[01:00] — A refreshed Program: years of feedback, real impact, and room to improve
[01:15] — New rhythm: three active months + one intentional rest month, and why that cycle matters for mental health
[02:00] — New weekly Experiments: now directly tied to podcast episodes for a more powerful learning loop
[02:30] — New Elements of joy: expanding beyond the original 12 to include more paths to mental health and flourishing
[03:30] — Even non-Program listeners will encounter new Elements through the podcast each month
[03:45] — How to join: head to JoyLab.coach or the show notes link; cancel anytime, no questions asked

Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program.

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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at [email protected]. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Episode Transcript

261-1. Free Joy Lab Program Access + Big Updates: New Elements, New Rhythm, New Experiments
===

[00:00:05] Aimee: Okay, I have something to tell you. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we wanna offer you the Joy Lab Program free for 30 days. The offer ends May 31st.

We are offering this for a few reasons. First, as I noted, it is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we really believe that it is not a month to just talk about how hard mental health can be, it's a month to actually care for your mental health; to maybe try something new. Second, we have refreshed the Joy Lab Program. We've had a lot of folks move through the Program and after several years now we've collected a lot of feedback. Folks have shared the impact of the Program in their lives. It has been great. And we also saw spaces where we could make the Program better. So, we've got some new updates. I wanna share those with you first.

We've added a rhythm to the Program that allows for more breath, you could say. It aligns more with how we move throughout the year. So we'll have three active months of the Program followed by one month of intentional rest where we let the work kind of do its thing in us — to sprout, to root down, to settle into our bones, to really anchor change, and fuel some motivation for the next active session. It really allows for the space needed to kind of honor our natural cycles of activity and rest. It's essential for mental health. This cycle is underappreciated, even fought against, in most aspects of our culture — that cycle of activity and rest — and it is exhausting us. So we wanted to build that in as a way of aligning with that natural rhythm.

So during those active months, we're also adding weekly Experiments in the Joy Lab Program that are tied directly to the Podcast episodes. In the past, our Experiments have been loosely connected to the Podcast episodes, but now you'll listen and then you'll head to your Program to take action. They'll be directly related to each other. It's a more powerful recipe for learning and to create change.

We're also adding new Elements. I'm really excited about this. We've been working through a chunk of 12 Elements for the last few years, and they're really key for mental health. And there are others. There are other inner-states, concepts, principles that are really powerful predictors of good mental health. We wanna include those too, 'cause really, these Elements are just like different paths. There are lots that you can take. Some you wanna walk down several times and, like, really get the lay of the land, kind of master the path. There's others that you walk down once and you're like, "Okay, I'm good there. Maybe I'll come back to that path later." All of them, though, can be paths to your joy. So even if you're not in the Program, you'll have these on the Podcast as well. You'll find these Elements as we work through them each month.

So those are the latest updates I wanted to share with you. I hope you'll join us in the Program. Head to the show notes for the link to sign up, or head to JoyLab.coach and sign up there. This is an invitation. Come join us in the Program. Work on some Experiments. Give it a try, see what happens. If it's not for you, cancel — no questions, no hard feelings. The Podcast is still here for you. But if [the Program] is for you, you'll know pretty quickly, I think, you'll just feel that little spark like, "yeah, I can do this. I can experience joy." I believe all of us can do that. I think it's why we're here, and here's a path for us to choose. So I hope you'll join us. We'll have new Experiments starting May 1st.

[00:04:15] Thanks for joining us!: Thank you for listening to the Joy Lab podcast. If you enjoy today's show, visit JoyLab.coach to learn more about the full Joy Lab program. Be sure to rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

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261.1 Free Joy Lab Program Access + Big Updates: New Elements, New Rhythm, New Experiments

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