A selection of books about the brain and buddhism referenced throughout The Wise Brain blog postings.
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 15 million times. His free newsletters have over 260,000 subscribers and his online programs have scholarships available for those i 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
The Neurology of Awakening
Learn the methods of the Neurology of Awakening, as well as a list of nutritional supports for inner peace presented at the follow-up workshop on Awakening Your Brain.
Empathy for a Partner
It is often true that parents wish their partners understood them more. Here we explore empathy for a father.
Giving Is Good: Generosity from Everyday, Buddhist, and Evolutionary Perspectives
Giving is the first of the ten “paramis” or perfections of a Bodhisattva, a highly Awakened person who postpones his or her ultimate enlightenment to bring all beings to liberation. You can read this article within a Buddhist framework or simply for its reflections on the deeply human, widespread, and everyday matter of giving.
Getting a Father to Help More with the Baby
Many new fathers – not all, to be sure – love their children enormously . . . but from a safe distance. Here we’ll discuss a variety of ways to get dad more involved with the baby.
The Brain in Lust and Love
The marvelous human capabilities for understanding each other, and feeling understood, developed in the brain over millions of years. Learning about these can help you understand and work better with your own empathic capabilities.
Relax your Body
Most people these days feel pretty stressed. Plus often worried or angry about one thing or another, such as finances, their job, the health of a family member, or a relationship on the rocks.
Empathy: A Key Relationship Skill
Fundamentally, empathy is a skill, like any other, and you can get better at it. And much the same, you can ask your partner to get better at it, too! Getting better at empathy will only help a person become a better parent.
Two Wolves in the Heart: The Evolution of Empathy and Aggression, Of “Us” and “Them”
Learn about the origin of the best and the worst characteristics of human beings . . . and how to nurture the good that lies inside every heart.
Speaking from Your Heart
Here are some questions that you can use as a checklist to help yourself communicate authentically and skillfully – so that the outside you show the world more closely matches your insides.
Intimacy and Autonomy
Most people want both closeness and independence. Intimacy and autonomy in all their forms: your course in life is shaped by how well you regulate their dance in your mind, and their expression in your relationships.
True Love
Sometimes two people seem like they’re just an inch away from falling in love again – but somehow it never quite clicks and they keep on slowly drifting apart. In this column we explore the foundations of marriage and ways to show that your partner truly matters to you.