Just One Thing
Simple Practices from Dr. Rick Hanson
Foundations of Relationships
Be at Peace with the Pain of Others
Being at peace with others’ pain helps us be supportive of their pain.
Lived By Love
Encourage love in all its forms to flow through you. Implicitly, and more fundamentally, this practice means a relaxed opening into the love – in a very very broad sense – that is the actual nature of everything.
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.
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.
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.
See the Person Behind the Eyes
Everyone longs to be seen, known, to have our hopes and fears acknowledged. Can you see behind the mask a person wears?
See Beings, Not Bodies
When we encounter someone, the mind summarizes and simplifies tons of details. Though fast and efficient this process has lots of problems. As our ancestors evolved, rapid sorting of friend or foe was very useful but is it still.
Relax Needless Fear Around Others
People don’t care what you’re doing – you are just a bit player in their own personal drama. Or if they do care, it’s a passing feeling.
Love Freely
Love is in our nature, woven into our DNA. Love is a natural wellspring inside us all. It doesn’t need to be pushed or pumped. It needs to be released.
Cultivate Goodwill
Ill will creates negative qualities, whereas goodwill creates positive qualities. As a social and loving species on the planet, we have the wonderful ability and inclination to connect with others, be empathic. But we are also aggressive.