Confidence can be difficult to maintain in the face of challenges. Buddhism offers insight into the forces that shape our self-perception and well-being.
Rick Hanson
Author / Psychologist
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Biography
Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist, Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. His seven books have been published in 33 languages, and include Making Great Relationships, Neurodharma, Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, Just One Thing, Buddha’s Brain, and Mother Nurture – with over a million copies in English alone. He's the founder of the Global Compassion Coalition and the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, as well as the co-host of the Being Well Podcast – which has been downloaded over 25 million times. His free newsletters have over 260,000 subscribers and his online programs have scholarships available for those in need. He’s lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on CBS, NPR, the BBC, and other major media. He began meditating in 1974 and has taught in meditation centers worldwide. He and his wife live in Northern California and have two adult children. He loves the wilderness and taking a break from emails.
Articles
Enjoy The Freedom Not To
If you can’t say “no” – to others, and yourself – then your “yesses” will lose their meaning and power. The “freedom not to” gives you a feeling of ease.
Being Well Podcast: Psychological Defenses: How to Understand (and Change) Your Mind and Behavior
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how our psychological defenses shape our actions, influence our relationships, and affect our overall well-being.
Meditation + Talk: 7 Practices for Dealing with Regrets
We all have regrets. Meditate on Resting in Contentment and Releasing Craving. Then learn 7 Practices for Dealing with Regrets.
Feel Whole
When you open to the whole of your experience you feel more at home in yourself. With moments of practice that add up over time, you feel more like a whole person, less fragmented. As this happens, you feel more fed and fulfilled – and more connected, more entwined with the world as whole.
Being Well Podcast: The Fawn Response: People Pleasing, Self-Abandonment, and Standing Up for Yourself
Dr. Rick and Forrest finish their series on the stress responses with the fawn response, which is an appeasement strategy where we try to manage stressful situations by giving others what they want.
Meditation + Talk: Healing Regrets
Regret can be a heavy burden. As we reflect on our mistakes and regrets, it’s essential to explore our underlying good intentions and embrace openheartedness.
Enjoy Sobriety
Enjoy healthy self-control, a centered enjoyment of life, and inner freedom. Think of sobriety in terms of the big picture, and in the context of a life well-lived. Sobriety is a gain – of health, self-respect, unclouded mind, peace with others and bliss.
Being Well Podcast: Elizabeth Ferreira: How to Create a Secure Relationship
Somatic trauma therapist Elizabeth Ferreira joins Forrest to explore how we can create a secure relationship.
Meditation + Talk: Love Refuses to Despair
Learn how to apply the wisdom of the Dharma to personal and global challenges. Meditate on Letting Go of Preoccupations and Resting in what’s good.
Enjoy Four Kinds of Peace
“Peace” can sound sentimental or clichéd but it’s what most of us long for. When you experience peace, enjoy it, let it sink into you, weaving its way into your brain so it increasingly becomes the habit of your mind.
Being Well Podcast: Becoming Self-Confident, Learning Healthy Relationship Skills, and Trusting Yourself: June Mailbag
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how to deal with chronically negative people, managing avoidant tendencies that get in the way of us finding a great relationship, and becoming self-confident.