From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
Being Well Podcast: How to Feel Your Feelings with Simone Saunders
Forrest talks with trauma therapist Simone Saunders about how to go from knowing your patterns to being able to do something about them when things get intense.
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Being Well Podcast: From Insight to Action: How to Face the Fear You Keep Avoiding
Dr. Rick and Forrest continue last week’s conversation on avoidance coping, this time focusing on how to face the fear you keep avoiding and move from insight into meaningful action.
Talk + Meditation: The Sweet Power of Kindness, Compassion, and Happiness for Others
The more we rest in kindness, compassion, and joy for others, the less they become something we practice—and the more they become who we are.
Bless
To blissful is to see what is tender and beautiful, and wish well. Look for good things in others. Know what the act and attitude of blessing feel like, and take in the experience to call upon it in the future.
Being Well Podcast: Breaking the Avoidance Loop: Why You Keep Repeating the Same Patterns
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how avoidance fuels these patterns, and how we can break the avoidance loop by updating our expectations and predictions about the future.
Talk + Meditation: Positive Emotions as Key Steps in the Path of Awakening
The Buddha didn’t just tolerate joy — he prescribed it. Gladness, rapture, tranquility & happiness are essential steps on the path to awakening.
Do Freely
There’s a way to relate to the endless To Do list that’s freer and less burdened. When we “do freely” we refresh in having a sense of choice.
Being Well Podcast: The Secret to Happiness: How to Feel Loved with Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky
Forrest is joined by one of the world’s leading happiness researchers, Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, to discuss the real secret to happiness: feeling loved.
Talk + Meditation: The Powerful Combination of Concentration and Insight
A scattered mind can’t cut through suffering. Concentration gives your mindfulness the power to actually move you toward freedom and inner peace.
Be Helpful
Do not underestimate the impact of a small deed. We all know that the needs in this world are great. And so are the opportunities to make a big difference to the ones we touch.
Being Well Podcast: How to Repair: The Key to Successful Relationships
Dr. Rick and Forrest focus on the key to successful relationships: repair – what it looks like, why it’s so hard, and how to do it well.
Talk + Meditation: Insightful Freedom from Craving
Rick Hanson explores an early Buddhist teaching on self, craving, and liberation—and how to find peace without losing yourself.
Come to Center
When feeling scattered, collect and concentrate your thoughts and feelings. Return to the reliable rewards of feeling already full. Savor pleasure, move, lift your eyes to the horizon, enjoy art, feel the core of your body, and come into the present moment.
Being Well Podcast: Healthy Conflict: The Most Important Relationship Skill We Don’t Learn
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore why conflict feels so hard, how childhood shapes our conflict patterns, what healthy conflict and repair look like, how emotional flooding affects the brain and body, and the research behind what predicts relationship success.
Talk + Meditation: Coming Home to Yourself: Self-Compassion as the Foundation for Healing
Lakiba Pittman explores self-compassion, personal growth, and the small moments that guide us back to our truest selves.
Beware of Anger
Anger can alert you to threats, but also harm your health and relationships. In small and passing quantities, anger can be like medicine, but in large and lasting quantities it poisons the mind and relationships.
Being Well Podcast: The Gut-Brain Connection: Anxiety, Depression, and Wellness Fads with Dr. Trisha Pasricha
Forrest is joined by neurogastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasricha for a conversation about the gut-brain connection, including how gut health impacts our mood and mental health.
Talk + Meditation: Equanimity as an Expression of Love
Learn how equanimity helps us stay openhearted through life’s joys and challenges without getting caught in reactivity.
Be Amazed
Look for opportunities to amaze yourself as you will find them all around you.
Being Well Podcast: Right Effort: When to Push and When to Let Go with Yung Pueblo
Forrest is joined by author, meditator, and friend Diego Perez, also known as Yung Pueblo, for a conversation about right effort, the balance between pushing through and letting go, and the death of nuance in the age of social media.
Talk + Meditation: Three Things You Can Really Count On In Turbulent Times
When life feels shaky or uncertain, what can you truly rely on? Explore how good intentions, learning, and wisdom can help us find stability in an uncertain world.
Accept Difficulty
When things are difficult, we often add a lot of unnecessary frustration, anxiety, and self-criticism by resisting the difficulty of them – often with an underlying attitude of “it shouldn’t be this way.” Find more peace by accepting difficulty instead of getting aggravated by it.