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

Being Well Podcast: Everything I Wish I’d Known: A Guide to Personal Growth
In this episode, Forrest focuses on the key lessons from 400 episodes of Being Well, giving you a tailored guide to personal growth.
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7 Facts About the Brain That Incline the Mind to Joy
Your mind and brain are deeply connected—your experiences shape your brain, and your brain shapes your life. Learn how to rewire your mind for lasting well-being.
The Power of Intention
Set clear, wise intentions to shape your life. See the big picture, act with purpose, and stay committed to what truly matters. Small steps create lasting change.
Questions About Self-Awareness
"How does being-awareness relate to our underlying animal nature?" "Is remorse a good thing?" "Is the “Self” real? What’s the nature of the sense of being that remains when parts of the psyche fall away?" These questions about self-awareness are just a sampling of...
Key Scientific Papers
This collection of scientific papers was created by the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom.
How to Hardwire Your Brain for Happiness
We can outwit our brain’s negative circuitry and tilt ourselves toward the good in life. The inner strengths we all need to cope with life and enjoy it – strengths like resilience, positive emotions, confidence, and feeling loved – are based on underlying neural...
Creating Lasting Happiness in the New Year
The old-fashioned saying that “practice makes perfect” is true for one’s well-being and relationships. Picking just one thing to think about or do in your mind each day helps make the practice easier. Keep it simple. But stick with it. For example, drawing on a few...
12 Good Things
Keeping with tradition, each year I offer a list of Twelve Good Things. I've paired each good thing with a fundamental inner strength: Learning, Mindfulness, Love, Resilience, Contentment, Integrity, Self-Worth, Courage, Social Intelligence, Motivation, Wisdom, and...
Neurodharma: A New Way of Healing
I was a speaker at the Meditative Praxis conference at the University of Hong Kong in August 2013, where I interviewed on "Neurodharma: A New Way of Healing". Here's the video:
Gratitude and the ‘Buddha Brain’
A "buddha brain" is one that knows how to be deeply happy, loving, and wise. We develop ourselves in this way by cultivating wholesome qualities and uprooting unwholesome ones. In a sense, we plant flowers and pull weeds in the garden of the mind - which means that we...
The practice of feeling cared about is really good if you’ve felt excluded, left out, hurt, unappreciated, or maybe something didn’t go well in a relationship recently. Or perhaps things are coming up from previous relationships – even going all the back to childhood – in which you felt like you didn’t matter enough to other people.
Simple Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday
The holidays are a time of year when our stress-levels tend to rise, despite our desire to enjoy the season and the people in our lives. So I’d like to offer you a few simple tips for taking care of your body, emotions, thoughts and actions, to minimize holiday stress...
The Mindfulness Movie
The Mindfulness Movie is a powerful and fascinating exploration of the essence and modern applications of mindfulness practices.
“Peace is a global sense of serenity and ease, with no need to struggle with anything. You may be aware of dangers or challenges, but no fleeing or fighting is present in your mind, no fear or anger. Feeling at peace inside, you are peaceable with others.”
*Excerpted from, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence
Love
“Love is a deep, powerful, often intense feeling of affection, caring, sweetness, and commitment. It is usually applied to others, though it is possible to feel love for the natural world, humanity as a whole, God (in whatever way you experience or imagine this), and oneself. Whether you feel loved or feel loving, love is love, whether it’s coming in or going out. When you’re resting in love, any knots of longing or clinging can loosen and fall away.”
*Excerpted from, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence
Dealing with Holiday Stress
What does it mean to have a simple holiday? For me it means having realistic expectations about what you can actually get done, and not over-committing. Alongside, keeping a sense of perspective and humor about the madness of parking lot traffic jams, weird in-law...
Truly Happy Holidays – Spreecast
I did free video broadcast on Monday, November 25 at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern about Truly Happy Holidays. I covered some simple tips for lowering holiday stress, taking in the good this Thanksgiving, and the importance of Vitamin G: Gratitude! The broadcast was also...
“Contentment is a global sense of well-being combined with no wish whatsoever for this moment to be anything other than what it is. Pleasant experiences pass through awareness with no need to hold on to them. You feel fulfilled in your core, with no drivenness, greed, or possessiveness. Feeling full inside, you are generous with others.”
*Excerpted from, Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence
TedXMarin
I'm excited to share my @TEDXMarin talk on #HardwiringHappiness with you today!
Modern Science Meets Ancient Wisdom
In the 21st century, modern brain science and ancient contemplative wisdom are illuminating each other. Besides being fascinating in its own right, this cross-fertilization and growing integration spotlights increasingly effective ways for using your mind to change...
Handling Blocks to Any Inner Practice – Meditation, Yoga, Gratitude, Mindfulness
When you try to change your life for better, sometimes you bump into a block, such as distracting thoughts. Blocks are common. They’re not bad or wrong – but they do get in the way. What works is to explore them with self-acceptance, and see what you can learn about...
The Importance of Gratitude and Gladness for a Happy Life
Gratitude and Gladness Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness about something you have been given. Gladness is a more general sense of feeling pleased, rewarded, delighted, or happy about something, without it necessarily being a gift. Much of the time these two sweet...