From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
Talk + Meditation: Science Says You Need Social Support
Science shows feeling supported makes you healthier and happier. Learn how to recognize, receive, and grow the support already around you.
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Notice You’re All Right Right Now
The brain’s default setting of apprehensiveness wears down well-being, and feeds anxiety and depression. And it’s based on a lie. Learn how to access a fundamental sense of alrightness, even when getting things done.
Just One Thing – Be Curious
This is an excerpt of pages 134-137 from the book Just One Thing.
Find Strength
To make your way in life, you need strength, determination, and grit. Fortunately, inner strength is not all or nothing. You can build it, just like a muscle.
Take Pleasure
When you find pleasure in life, you are not pushing away things that are hard or painful. You are simply opening up to the sweet stuff that’s already around you—and basking, luxuriating, and delighting in it.
Just One Thing – Take in the Good
This is an excerpt of pages 17-21 of the book Just One Thing
Just One Thing – Table of Contents
This is the table of contents for the book Just One Thing.
Introduction – Using Your Brain to Change Your Mind
This is an excerpt of pages 1-10 from the book Just One Thing.
What Do You Mean, “Self?”
Psychology, neuroscience, and spiritual practice all have an interest in what in the world the self is – if it’s anything at all – and so it’s helpful to know what we mean when we use that word, since it actually can mean quite a few different things.
Foundations of Mindfulness
When your attention is steady, so is your mind: not rattled or hijacked by whatever pops into awareness, but stably present, grounded, and unshakable. You can train and strengthen your attention just like any other mental ability.
Rick discusses several topics regarding mindfulness applied to relationships.
How to Stick with Your Virtues and Good Purposes
Tips for how to stay on course, strong and motivated, as you reclaim your right to good health and self-esteem.
Compassion and Assertion
Compassion and assertion work together as the two wings that get any relationship off the ground and keep it flying. They support each other, and they both nourish the wolf of love.
Two Wolves in the Heart
In our hearts, there are two wolves: a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. Our happiness and well-being all depends on which one we feed each day.
The Self-Transforming Brain
When your mind changes, your brain changes, too. As a result, even fleeting thoughts and feelings can leave lasting marks on your brain, much like a spring shower can leave little trails on a hillside.
Taking in the Good
Your mind is built from the experiences you have. The flow of experience gradually sculpts your brain, thus shaping your mind.
Good Intentions: Neurological, Contemplative, and Practical Perspectives
The first question regarding intention is, for what? All the great wisdom traditions of the world, and all the great moral philosophers, have grappled with this question.
Gratitude
Practicing gratitude is an especially beneficial way to counter painful emotions and stress. Here are some thoughts and exercises about being grateful.
Relaxed and Content, Part 2
Learn about the long-term results effects of chronic sympathetic nervous system activation, a simple but comprehensive strategy for dampening the sympathetic nervous system and fueling the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system and more.
Relaxed and Content, Part 1
In this article, you’ll get a crash course in your own nervous system and how the PNS fits into it, mixed with lots of ways you can use to activate your own PNS.
How to Take in the Good
This is a brief article outlining the basic steps of training your brain to retain positive experiences.
Neuroscience Perspectives on Spiritual Practices
Here is a list of several insights on spiritual practice from a neuroscience perspective.