How is ancient wisdom influencing and advancing modern science to improve public health and happiness? How are scientists being able to tell that stress accelerates the aging process, cutting short the deeply purposeful lives we were meant to live? How can we bring more grace in not just our epic moments but in our everyday moments of stress as well?Listen to some powerful insights on how to master stress and cultivate more joy in our lives, and how this impacts our present and our future, from renowned health psychologist, Elissa Epel, in an exclusive conversation with Dr. Hitendra Wadhwa on Intersections Podcast.Elissa Epel is a renowned health psychologist, and an international expert on stress, well-being, and optimal aging. She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where she is Vice Chair of Psychology and directs the Aging Metabolism Emotions Center. She studies the environmental, psychological, behavioral, and social factors that impact cellular aging (such as telomeres, inflammation, and mitochondria), and how self-care practices such as meditation and positive stress can promote psychological and physiological thriving. She uses science as a north star, guiding us in the context of other sources of contemplative wisdom. Elissa co-wrote the New York Times best-seller The Telomere Effect with Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn (translated into 30 languages) and recently also released her new book, The Stress Prescription. Her research has been featured in venues such as TEDMED, 60 minutes, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and science documentaries.In this episode, Elissa reveals:Some fundamental truths about joy, health and happiness, as derived from ancient wisdom and validated by modern scienceHow chronic stress leads to accelerated aging, impairing our ability to deeply connect with our own selves and the world around us and to live with meaning and purposeHow to be more graceful in not just epic moments of stress, but in everyday momentsThe relationship between joy and suffering, and the antidote to chronic stressThe capacity of the human spirit to recalibrate and renew itself in every moment of life