Struggling to care about the world without burning out? Learn how to balance compassion for others with caring for yourself.
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
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.
Being Well Podcast: Self-Regulation: How a Little Becomes a Lot with Eric Zimmer
Forrest talks with Eric Zimmer about what healthy self-regulation actually looks like, the gap between insight and action, how shame can derail us, and why most change comes down to small steps taken consistently.
Talk + Meditation: Compassionate Action for Upstream Sources of Suffering
Feeling overwhelmed by the world? Learn how compassion + collective action can turn helplessness into meaningful change.
Avoid The Rush
Be mindful of rushing. See how other people assume deadlines that aren’t actually real, or feel pressured about things that aren’t that important.
Being Well Podcast: The Self-Abandonment Loop: Shame, Self-Criticism, and How to Break Free
Dr. Rick and Forrest discuss how shame and the inner critic fuel self-abandonment and what breaks the cycle.
Talk + Meditation: Wise and Courageous Compassion for Others – and Yourself
How to let go, speak truth, and practice fierce compassion for others and yourself without losing your heart or your strength.
Let It R.A.I.N.
R.A.I.N. is an acronym developed by Michelle McDonald but adapted a bit by me, to summarize a powerful way to expand self-awareness.
Being Well Podcast: Trauma in Relationships: What Actually Helps with Elizabeth Ferreira
Forrest is joined by associate therapist and his fiancée Elizabeth Ferreira for an honest, personal conversation about what it’s actually like to be in a relationship when one partner is living with trauma, complex PTSD, or another ongoing mental health challenge.