From the Blog
Writings on Well-Being Dr. Rick Hanson
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Feed the Mouse
When you feel fed – physically, emotionally, conceptually – you naturally let go of longing, disappointment, frustration, and craving. The hungry heart gets a full meal; goals are attained and the striving for them relaxes; one feels lifted by life as it is. What a relief!
Feeling fed also helps you enjoy positive emotions such as pleasure, contentment, accomplishment, ease, and worth. As researchers have shown, these good feelings reduce stress, help people bounce back from illness and loss, strengthen resilience, draw attention to the big picture, and build inner resources. And when your own cup runneth over, studies have found that you’re more inclined to give to others; feeling good helps you do good.
Being Well Podcast: Disorganized Attachment: Heal By Embracing Your Needs
Dr. Rick and Forrest explore disorganized, or “fearful,” attachment, a complex style that occurs when emotional intimacy and distance both feel uncomfortable, and typically arises based on difficult life experiences.
Meditation + Talk: The Quiet Strength You Already Have Inside
Feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or like you’re not enough? Learn how to stop striving, trust your inner wisdom, and tap into the quiet strength already in you.
Being Well Podcast: Living with Depression | Dr. Scott Eilers
Forrest is joined by clinical psychologist Dr. Scott Eilers to explore how he both treats and lives with chronic depression.
Meditation + Talk: Four Ways to Deal with Life’s Challenges Without Suffering Them
Struggling with stress, regret, or overwhelm? Learn four powerful ways to calm your mind, stop overthinking, and find real peace—backed by brain science.
See What’s Likable
Liking feels good, and it encourages us to approach and engage the world. We’re wired to like some things, but our liking or disliking depends greatly on what we pay attention to and our own perspective.
Being Well Podcast: Live Show: Yung Pueblo on Relationships, Change, and Mindfulness
Forrest is joined by poet and author Diego Perez – better known as Yung Pueblo – for a live conversation recorded at City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco.
Meditation + Talk: Engaged Buddhism – Including Today
Explore how engaged Buddhism connects inner healing with outer change—practical ways to face systemic suffering with wisdom, compassion, and courage.
Enjoy Now
Since it’s always now, now is eternal. The present moment is continually passing away, so relax and be open to this moment. Not planning, not worrying, not lost in thought.
Being Well Podcast: How to Change Your Personality with Olga Khazan
Forrest is joined by someone who’s actually tried most of the things we talk about on the podcast – journalist and author Olga Khazan – to discuss how to change your personality.
Meditation + Talk: How to Turn a Corner . . . for the Better
How can we let go of old hurts and turn a corner in our lives? Learn simple, heartfelt ways to heal, move forward, and find more peace inside.
See the Big Picture
The tree or the forest? See the big picture. The vast majority of human acts each day are constructive: making meals, tending to children, saying hello, restraining anger, completing tasks, planting seeds, teaching, healing, nurturing, cooperating
Being Well Podcast: Emotionally Immature Parents: How They Shape Us, and How to Heal – with Dr. Lindsay Gibson
Dr. Lindsay Gibson joins Forrest to explore emotional immaturity, the consequences of growing up with emotionally immature parents, and what we can do to change those patterns in adulthood.
Meditation + Talk: Three Ways to Live with Loss
Grief is inevitable—but with compassion, support, and steady presence, we can live well through loss. Explore five practices for healing and resilience.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Try to understand what causes you to feel fault, resolve it and move on. Inner criticism tears you down. Commit to skillful corrections. Take a big breath and very deliberately name to yourself three strengths or virtues you have and let them sink in.
Being Well Podcast: Self-Concept: The Secret to Changing WHO You Are
Forrest and Dr. Rick Hanson explore how self-concept, the invisible architecture of who we are, shapes our lives.
Be Benevolent
Liking feels good, it encourages us to approach and engage the world. Know what benevolence feels like in your body, heart, and mind, and realize that it is natural and normal. Appreciate some of the benevolence that buoys you along. Most people are fair-minded, empathic, cooperative, compassionate, and kind: in a word, benevolent.
Being Well Podcast: Linking: The Secret to Rewiring Painful Memories
Forrest and Dr. Rick explore one of his most powerful psychological tools: linking. Over time, linking can help us rewire the brain, softening the impact of painful memories.
See the Good in Others
See the good in others—it’s a simple but very powerful way to feel happier and more confident and become more loving.
Being Well Podcast: How to Get On the Same Team: Relationship Conflicts Mailbag
Dr. Rick and Forrest answer questions focused on navigating common relationship conflicts, focusing on situations where people need to find a middle path between different needs.
Buddha’s Brain: Preface to the Fifteenth Anniversary Edition
Discover the newly written preface to the 15th anniversary edition of Buddha’s Brain—a heartfelt look at the book’s origins and its enduring impact.