In every life, reminders arrive about what’s really important. While it’s good advice not to sweat the small stuff, we also need to nurture the large stuff.
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
Being Well Podcast: Anxious-Avoidant Relationships, Narcissism, and Insight to Action: Mailbag
Dr. Rick and Forrest open up the mailbag to answer questions about complex situations where good process really matters, including anxious-avoidant relationships.
Talk + Meditation: Getting Better At Pleasure! A Taxonomy of the Many Buddhist Joys
Discover the Buddha’s 5 kinds of happiness—from fleeting pleasures to lasting peace—and learn why some joys burn out while others bring freedom.
Make The Offering
Try considering your contributions as offerings, particularly the little things. Listen to your heart for offerings calling to be expressed. Maybe it’s the offering of never speaking out of anger, or really starting that novel, or determining to give love each day.
Being Well Podcast: Limerence: The Psychology of Romantic Obsession with Brandy Wyant
Forrest and therapist Brandy Wyant discuss limerence, an intense and often one-sided state of romantic obsession.
Talk + Meditation: How to Face Challenges without Suffering
Learn how to meet life’s challenges with strength and clarity—reducing stress, letting go of struggle, and finding peace even in hard times.
Meditate
Meditation is to the mind what aerobic exercise is to the body.
Being Well Podcast: Mingyur Rinpoche: A Meditation Master on Anxiety, Awareness, and Awakening
Dr. Rick and Forrest are joined by Mingyur Rinpoche, a renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher, to explore calming anxiety with awareness, relaxing unhealthy wanting, and finding a deeper sense of our innate goodness.
Talk + Meditation: The Power of One Connection
Sometimes one compassionate glance or word can change everything. Discover the power of connection with Lakiba Pittman.
Put No One Out of Your Heart
It may feel necessary to distance yourself from another person for a while or forever but you never have to put anyone out of your heart.
Being Well Podcast: 9 Lessons from the Great Minds of Psychoanalysis
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore the evolution of psychoanalysis after Freud, highlighting key ideas from figures like Adler, Klein, Winnicott, and Hillman.
Talk + Meditation: Why We Suffer—and How to Stop Adding to the Pain
Learn how to face life’s changes and challenges without adding extra suffering, using Buddhist wisdom and practical tools for inner peace.