From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
Talk + Meditation: Good IntentionsÂ
When the world feels morally confusing—or you’re hard on yourself for not being perfect—this talk explores how to reconnect with your good intentions, clarify your values, and live from the deeper goodness already moving through you.
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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...
Hardwiring Our Children’s Happiness
I’ve used taking in the good with young people in therapy and also spoken with parents and teachers who have used it with their own children or students. As with an adult, there are four ways to offer the HEAL steps to a child, while naturally adapting them to the...
Turning a Negative Nelly Into a Positive Polly
I’ve been talking about ways to Hardwire Your Happiness on the blog lately. So I thought it would be great to give you a sense of how it feels to take in the good. If you are someone who usually focuses on the negative experiences in the world you can turn that...
How to Build a Happier Brain – Atlantic Article Tweet
Here's my latest article in The Atlantic - "How to Build a Happier Brain" - http://t.co/vHQ4IpAaPW — Rick Hanson (@drrhanson) October 24, 2013
HH NYT List Announcement Twitter
https://twitter.com/drrhanson/status/392086589091766272
Hardwiring Happiness: Being for Yourself, and the Three Ways to Practice with Your Mind
This is the second talk in the series on “Hardwiring Happiness”, based on my book of the same name. This talk was given at the San Rafael Meditation gathering on September 18, 2013.
Part II of a two-part talk on how to use the mind to change the brain to change the mind based on the theme of my book, Hardwiring Happiness. This talk was given at the San Rafael Meditation gathering on September 11, 2013.
Part I of a two-part talk on how to use the mind to change the brain to change the mind based on the theme of my book, Hardwiring Happiness. This talk was given at the San Rafael Meditation gathering on September 11, 2013.