From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson

Love Someone
What can you do when there’s nothing you can do? Love Someone. Sometimes something happens. Perhaps your cat takes a turn for the worse, there’s a money problem, or it’s on a larger scale: maybe there’s been an election and you’re grappling with its
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Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled The Three Refuges of Peace, Contentment, and Love. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Neuro-Bhavana
Last April I taught Neuro-Bhavana: The Mindful Cultivation of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom in Our Brains and Our Lives at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, based on my book Hardwiring Happiness. The workshop was recorded and edited into 11 videos, which you can...
The First Noble Truth – The Noble Truth of Suffering
The Four Noble Truths are the most fundamental teaching of the Buddha. Deceptively simple, they actually provide a profound explanation of human unhappiness, both gross and subtle, and how to attain increasingly positive states of mind, from stress relief in daily...
Friday Favorite
I hope you enjoy this very heart-warming and inspirational story about never giving up.
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.
Inhibition Profiles
The inhibition profile of a particular person can be quite nuanced. For example, in terms of attachment theory, a person raised by a “dismissing” parent could worry about asking too much of others, and someone with an “inconsistent” parent –alternately intrusive and...
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson and Will Pye. It’s titled Will Pye – Blessed with a Brain Tumor. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Changing the Machinery of Upset
Let’s consider ways to cultivate more peace of mind – and even its consummation in profound equanimity – by working with the eight gears of the machine of suffering that we explored in this earlier post. (There are other methods, too, that are more specifically...
The Impact of Experiences
Children express what they feel and what they want through their actions, emotions, signals, and, by their second birthday, words. Then people respond, including their parents, teachers, and other children; responses can be active or passive, verbal or nonverbal,...
Friday Favorite
This video needs no explanation - just a few minutes to listen. Enjoy!
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled Thou All Other. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled Mindfulness of Object Relations. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled Realizing You Don’t Need to Feel Frightened, Frustrated, or Hurt. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled Openhearted Peace with the Pain of Others. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.
Emotional Hijacking
In light of the machinery of survival-based, emotional reactivity, let’s look more narrowly at what Daniel Goleman has called “emotional hijacking.” The emotional circuits of your brain – which are relatively primitive from an evolutionary standpoint, originally...
Be Friendly
Friendliness is a down-to-earth approach that is welcoming and positive. Being friendly feels confident and happy, with a positive take on other people, moving toward the world instead of backing away from it.
How Firmly Should You Pursue Your Intentions?
How firmly do you pursue your intentions? Neither too tight nor too loose a rein. As with the balance of the capital city and the provinces, it’s worth considering what your tendencies are and if there is an imbalance. For example, some of us hold onto our goals to a...
Friday Favorite
Here's little perspective for your Friday afternoon. Enjoy!
Patterns of Closeness and Independence
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...
Friday Favorite
Resources for Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
Sila in Relationships
Here is the latest talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It’s titled Sila in Relationships. More information on the San Rafael Mediation group can be found at https://rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group.