Acceptance is the foundation of wisdom and inner peace. It is easy to accept life’s beautiful things. It is the hard things in life that are hard to accept. The sweet spot is both by accepting the fact that they are what they are.
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
Being Well Podcast: Mentalization-Based Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder with Robert Drozek
Forrest is joined by psychotherapist and author Robert Drozek to discuss mentalization-based treatment (MBT) and the tools that can help us develop more flexibility and curiosity around our assumptions.
Talk + Meditation: When Unjust Power Comes at You – and What You Can Do about It
Rick Hanson explores how to recognize unjust power, release needless fear, and reclaim your attention with a peaceful, steady heart.
Love the World
Humanity has great power for good and ill. As the earth heats up, as species go extinct and resources decline, it is critically important that a fourth major motivation guide our thoughts, words, and above all, deeds: Love the world.
Being Well Podcast: Why You Can’t Stop Overthinking (and What to Do about It)
In this episode of the Being Well Podcast, Dr. Rick and Forrest discuss why overthinking becomes a self-reinforcing habit, and why insight alone rarely helps.
Talk + Meditation: How to Claim the Power You Do Have (and Disengage Where You Don’t)
Feeling helpless? Learn how to reclaim your power by focusing your attention, energy, and actions where you can truly make a difference.
Being Well Podcast: Trauma Therapy: What It’s Really Like with Dr. Jacob Ham and Elizabeth Ferreira
In this very special episode, Dr. Jacob Ham and associate therapist Elizabeth Ferreira join Forrest to discuss their trauma therapy work.
Talk + Meditation: How to Balance Caring for Oneself and Caring for the World
Struggling to care about the world without burning out? Learn how to balance compassion for others with caring for yourself.
Relax Needless Fear Around Others
People don’t care what you’re doing – you are just a bit player in their own personal drama. Or if they do care, it’s a passing feeling.
Being Well Podcast: 6 Lessons from Existential and Transpersonal Psychology
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore the lessons we can learn from two of Humanistic psychology’s more challenging branches: existential and transpersonal psychology.
Talk + Meditation: Life’s Easier When You Surrender to What’s Already Good within You
Life feels hard when you override your inner wisdom. Learn how trusting what’s already good within you brings clarity, ease, and peace.
Pet the Lizard
The brain is highly integrated, so these three key functions – avoiding, approaching, and attaching – are accomplished by all parts of the brain working together.