Key Scientific Papers
This collection of scientific papers was created by the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom.
How to Hardwire Your Brain for Happiness
We can outwit our brain’s negative circuitry and tilt ourselves toward the good in life. The inner strengths we all need to cope with life and enjoy it – strengths like resilience, positive emotions, confidence, and feeling loved – are based on underlying neural...Creating Lasting Happiness in the New Year
The old-fashioned saying that “practice makes perfect” is true for one’s well-being and relationships. Picking just one thing to think about or do in your mind each day helps make the practice easier. Keep it simple. But stick with it. For example, drawing on a few...12 Good Things
Keeping with tradition, each year I offer a list of Twelve Good Things. I’ve paired each good thing with a fundamental inner strength: Learning, Mindfulness, Love, Resilience, Contentment, Integrity, Self-Worth, Courage, Social Intelligence, Motivation, Wisdom,...Neurodharma: A New Way of Healing
I was a speaker at the Meditative Praxis conference at the University of Hong Kong in August 2013, where I interviewed on “Neurodharma: A New Way of Healing”. Here’s the video:Gratitude and the ‘Buddha Brain’
A “buddha brain” is one that knows how to be deeply happy, loving, and wise. We develop ourselves in this way by cultivating wholesome qualities and uprooting unwholesome ones. In a sense, we plant flowers and pull weeds in the garden of the mind –...Simple Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday
The holidays are a time of year when our stress-levels tend to rise, despite our desire to enjoy the season and the people in our lives. So I’d like to offer you a few simple tips for taking care of your body, emotions, thoughts and actions, to minimize holiday stress...The Mindfulness Movie
The Mindfulness Movie is a powerful and fascinating exploration of the essence and modern applications of mindfulness practices.Love
“Love is a deep, powerful, often intense feeling of affection, caring, sweetness, and commitment. It is usually applied to others, though it is possible to feel love for the natural world, humanity as a whole, God (in whatever way you experience or imagine this), and oneself. Whether you feel loved or feel loving, love is love, whether it’s coming in or going out. When you’re resting in love, any knots of longing or clinging can loosen and fall away.”
*Excerpted from, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence