From the Blog

Intimacy and autonomy are independent dimensions, and it is their combination that counts. The qualities in each category, imperfectly summarized by a single word, characterize both types of individuals and, more importantly, states of mind we all transit: Integrated...

Resources for Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

The following excerpt is from chapter one of my book - Hardwiring Happiness. You’ll find helpful guidance to deepen your understanding and practice with the material in the book with the reading guide -  //rickhanson.net/books/reading-guides#Hardwiring-Happiness. A...

Intimacy and autonomy are channels for expressing your natural goodness. For example, being kind toward someone naturally involves both an affinity with that person and a certain autonomy for the kindness to be genuine. Besides its obvious rewards in everyday life,...

Do you express the intention as a goal or as something already realized? This gets at a recurring question, even a debate, in Buddhism (and also in psychology and in some religions): Is it about progressing toward an enlightened state, or is it about uncovering the...

Q: So today I had a “bad moment” – got stressed and upset about a work situation. My first thought was to let go of the negative thoughts that were running in my brain by actively taking in the good. Then I wondered if that meant I was running away from (ignoring or...

The major brain regions that support emotional processing include the limbic system – particularly the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus – and the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), nucleus accumbens, and insula. Technical note: there are two...

This practice – From Idea to Embodied Experience– from page 92 in my book - Hardwiring Happiness – helps thoughts about a good fact become good feelings, sensations, desires and actions related to it: Be aware of your body as well as the good fact. Soften and open...

Love tends to join and hate to separate, but joining is not the same as love, and separation is not hatred. Sometimes the most loving thing a person can do is take a step back: that’s distance in the service of attachment. And it’s not loving to join in invasive or...

Q: Is there any evidence that just reading the words which describe an experience will bring activity to the corresponding part of the brain? A: There is a lot of fMRI research in which the prompt to the subject in the scanner is reading a text. Many of the texts used...

Once your intentions are clear, the next question is: How to express them? There are many ways, including: As thoughts in your mind As an image In writing As a collage with words and images Through physical expression, posture, movement, dance As a sense of being When...

Q: What does it mean to be enlightened – does it mean being free of suffering? Once a person reaches the first phase, can you “lose” enlightenment? A: People define enlightenment differently. I like the expression: sudden awakening, gradual cultivation, sudden...