Struggling with boundaries or overcommitment? Learn the power of “no” to reclaim space for what matters, assert your needs, and find peace and clarity.
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 eight books have been published in 33 languages and include Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha’s Brain, Resilient, Neurodharma, Just One Thing, Making Great Relationships, A Happy, Healthy Mom, 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 30 million times. He offers free newsletters, and his online programs have scholarships available for those with financial needs. 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
See Progress
If you don’t see progress in your own life, then you will feel stagnant, or declining. Learn to notice the things that are improving all around you.
Meditation + Talk: Radical Equanimity and Wise Speech
Discover radical equanimity: practical tools to stay calm, centered, and connected—even when life’s chaos and challenges push your buttons.
Being Well Podcast: Why We Don’t Change (and what you can do about it) with Dr. Ross Ellenhorn
Dr. Ross Ellenhorn joins the Being Well Podcast to explore our resistance to change, and the many good reasons we might have to stay just as we are.
Being Well Podcast: Now What? What to Do When Things Fall Apart
Forrest and Dr. Rick explore a practical framework for navigating life’s most challenging transitions, including what to do when things fall apart.
Meditation + Talk: The Good That Is Still True
Feeling overwhelmed or downhearted by life? Explore simple, practical ways to face challenges, find the good, and build resilience with wisdom and compassion.
Being Well Podcast: How to Make Good Choices: A System for Decision Making
Forrest and Rick Hanson explore how to make good choices by developing a reliable system for making choices that aligns with your values and goals.
Meditation + Talk: BLACK EARTH WISDOM: Afro-Indigenous Ecological Thought and Practice
Leah Penniman weaves ancestral wisdom, mindfulness, and stories to explore humanity’s bond with the Earth, inspiring healing, gratitude, and ecological care.
Minimize Painful Experiences
Painful experiences range from subtle discomfort to extreme anguish – and there is a place for them. Sorrow can open the heart.
Being Well Podcast: Rethinking Productivity with Cal Newport
Cal Newport joins the podcast to explore slow productivity, deep work, and how we can achieve more by doing less.
“Us” All “Thems”
Finding common ground with every person – especially those you fear or are angry with or who are simply very different from you – builds bridges among us, widens circles, and allows us to live together in peace.
Meditation + Talk: 4 Ways We Can Respond After the Election
Feeling unsettled? Remember: be kind to yourself, protect your peace, stay informed, and focus on what you can control. Find comfort in connection & small joys.