From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
Being Well Podcast: How to Make Good Choices: A System for Decision Making
Forrest and Rick Hanson explore how to make good choices by developing a reliable system for making choices that aligns with your values and goals.
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Being Well Podcast: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu
On today’s episode, Forrest is joined by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. They explore the history and current state of psychedelic research, their subjective effects, the necessity of the “trip,” how psychedelics work in the brain, why researchers are so interested in these substances, and what a psychedelic-assisted therapy session looks like.
Meditation + Talk: A Spacey Ecstatic Riff on Everything Is Relationship
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, Dr. Rick Hanson offered a meditation and talk on A Spacey Ecstatic Riff on Everything Is Relationship.
Feed the Mouse
When you feel fed – physically, emotionally, conceptually – you naturally let go of longing, disappointment, frustration, and craving. The hungry heart gets a full meal; goals are attained and the striving for them relaxes; one feels lifted by life as it is. What a relief!
Feeling fed also helps you enjoy positive emotions such as pleasure, contentment, accomplishment, ease, and worth. As researchers have shown, these good feelings reduce stress, help people bounce back from illness and loss, strengthen resilience, draw attention to the big picture, and build inner resources. And when your own cup runneth over, studies have found that you’re more inclined to give to others; feeling good helps you do good.
Being Well Podcast: Relating to Death, and Living a Better Life
On today’s episode of Being Well, Forrest and I talk about coming to terms with mortality, the reality of our limited time, and how we can use that knowledge to refine our focus and live a more fulfilling life.
Meditation + Talk: Being Nature
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, Dr. Rick Hanson offered a meditation and talk on Being Nature.
See What’s Likable
Liking feels good, and it encourages us to approach and engage the world. We’re wired to like some things, but our liking or disliking depends greatly on what we pay attention to and our own perspective.
Being Well Podcast: Changing Your Relationship to Shame
Shame is one of the most complex and difficult emotions we experience on a regular basis, and one that can have seriously negative impacts on our sense of self-worth and ability to experience healthy connection with others.
Meditation + Talk: Compassion in Society: Embodying the Changes We Want to See
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, guest teacher Lakiba Pittman covered the topic of Compassion in Society: Embodying the Changes We Want to See.
Enjoy Now
Since it’s always now, now is eternal. The present moment is continually passing away, so relax and be open to this moment. Not planning, not worrying, not lost in thought.
Being Well Podcast: The Grieving Brain with Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor
On today’s episode we’re joined by one of the world’s leading researchers on grief, Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor. We explore why grief is such a unique and intense emotion, how grief works in the brain, the problems with generalized models like the “five stages of grief,” and how we can learn to live with loss.
Meditation + Talk: Presence Infused with Heart
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, guest teacher Caverly Morgan covered the topic of Presence Infused with Heart.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Try to understand what causes you to feel fault, resolve it and move on. Inner criticism tears you down. Commit to skillful corrections. Take a big breath and very deliberately name to yourself three strengths or virtues you have and let them sink in.
Being Well Podcast: How to Make Learning STICK
We dive into Rick’s recently published study on our capacity for deliberate growth. We talk a bit about the neurological components of learning, how the study worked, and what the practical takeaways are to help us make learning stick.
Meditation + Talk: Cultivating a Wholehearted Practice
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, guest teacher Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison covered the topic of Cultivating a Wholehearted Practice.
Be Benevolent
Liking feels good, it encourages us to approach and engage the world. Know what benevolence feels like in your body, heart, and mind, and realize that it is natural and normal. Appreciate some of the benevolence that buoys you along. Most people are fair-minded, empathic, cooperative, compassionate, and kind: in a word, benevolent.
Being Well Podcast: Understanding Borderline Personality Tendencies
We look at what to do when borderline tendencies show up in our lives even at sub-clinical levels. We discuss how to cultivate a healthy amount of sensitivity and tolerance to distress, how to regulate and nurture ourselves, and how to navigate relationships with others when they exhibit borderline tendencies.
Talk + Meditation + Discussion: Equanimity and Letting Go
In this Wednesday Night Meditation, guest teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo covered the topic of Equanimity and Letting Go.
See the Good in Others
See the good in others—it’s a simple but very powerful way to feel happier and more confident and become more loving.
Being Well Podcast: Rediscovering Your True Self: Parentification and the “Gifted Child”
When a child is particularly emotionally intelligent, and a parent is particularly emotionally vulnerable, an inversion of the typical relationship can occur where the child devotes themselves to meeting the parent’s needs rather than the other way around.
Meditation + Talk: Opening to Deep Peace and Unconditioned Love
This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 31-minute meditation and a 44-minute talk and discussion, with guest teacher Stephen Snyder.Stephen Snyder began daily meditation and retreat practice in 1976. He was authorized to teach in 2007, and he is the author of...
Tune Into Others
Imagine being aware of the surface behavior of the people around you but oblivious to their inner life while they remain unmoved by your own.