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From the Blog

Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson

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The Mind, the Brain, and God – Part III

In Part I and Part II of this blog series, we discussed the meaning of the words: mind; brain and God, and looked at the interdependence between the mind and the brain. In this last part of the discussion we'll examine the neural correlates and morality and summarize...

The Mind, the Brain and God – Part II

In the last blog post we discussed the meaning of the words mind, brain and God and saw how the mind and the brain are interdependent. In this segment we'll go into the popular arguments for and against God and further into the link between the mind and the brain....

The Mind, the Brain, and God – Part I

With all the research on mind/brain connections these days – Your brain in lust or love! While gambling or feeling envious! While meditating, praying, or having an out-of-body experience! – it’s natural to wonder about Big Questions about the relationships among the...

Is the Mind-Body Problem a Problem at All?

One could rightly ask: How can intangible thoughts affect tangible matter (i.e., the brain)? This question is at the heart of the longstanding “mind-body problem,” and related questions include: How can mind arise from matter? Is mind reducible to matter? Does matter...

A Meditation on Gratitude

Set aside a quiet time during which you can reflect on some of the many things you could be thankful for. As a starting point, you might read the passage below to yourself or out loud, adapting it to your situation as you like. There really is so much to be thankful...

A Caring, Joyful Heart

As you probably know, compassion and lovingkindness are central elements of Buddhism. They arise naturally in response to one of those three fundamental characteristics of existence: interdependence/not-self/emptiness. They are also a beautiful path of spiritual...

The Power of Intention

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