Rick Hanson's Blog, page 108
May 30, 2014
Friday Favorite
Here’s a fun video highlighting some key insights from the truly wonderful Fred Rogers. Enjoy!
The post Friday Favorite appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.
May 29, 2014
Eat Right
Are you nurturing your body?
The Practice:
Eat right.
Why?
[Note: This JOT is adapted from Mother Nurture .]
The easiest and usually most effective way to replenish your body is through good nutrition.
Most of us have a diet that is very different from the one that we are adapted to through millions of years of evolution – a diet of mainly vegetables, fruits, nuts, and meat. Humans first started eating whole grains and dairy foods like cheese only ten thousand years ago or so – a blip on the evolut...
May 26, 2014
Evolutionary Neurobiology of Shame
Have you ever scolded a dog and seen him or her look guilty?
Obviously, animals do not have the elaborated textures of thoughts and feelings that humans do. But our emotions, even the most subtle ones, have their roots in our ancient evolutionary history. By understanding that history better, we do not reduce our feelings to animal instincts, but instead find illuminations from our past that paradoxically give us more choices in manifesting ourselves as fully human.
We can find two sources of s...
May 23, 2014
May 21, 2014
Turn Anger into a Peaceful Heart
Are you feeling cross?
The Practice:
Turn anger into a peaceful heart.
Why?
[Note: This JOT is adapted from Mother Nurture , a book written for mothers - focusing on typical parenting situations and gender differences that are experienced by many, though not all, mothers and fathers, and by parents in same sex relationships. Parenting is a complex subject, plus it intertwines with larger issues of gender roles and the long history of mistreatment of women; obviously society should do a better job...
May 19, 2014
The Importance of Taking In Positive Experiences
Today we don’t gather our own food, fight off wild animals, or live in caves. And yet we’re equipped with stone-aged brains. With practice, however, we can change our brains, and our lives, for the better. Here’s why it’s important to take in positive experiences:
Negative experience is registered immediately: helps survival.
Positive experiences generally have to be held in awareness for 5 – 10 – 20 seconds for them to register in emotional memory.
Negative experiences trump positive ones: A si...
May 16, 2014
Friday Favorite
Nature’s beauty can be easily missed — but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day. (Filmed at TEDxSF.)
The post Friday Favorite appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.
May 12, 2014
What is the Mind?
What is the reason for the remarkable complexity, speed, activity, and evolution of the brain? It is the mind.
By “mind,” I mean the flows of information within the brain; a synonymous term is “mental activity.” Much as the function of the heart is to move blood around, the function of the brain is to move information around.
The standard view among psychologists and neurologists is that most – if not all – subjective, immaterial states of mind have a one-to-one correspondence with underlying o...
May 11, 2014
Parent From the Same Page
Are you working together?
The Practice:
Parent from the same page.
Why?
[Note: This JOT is adapted from Mother Nurture , a book written for mothers - focusing on typical parenting situations and gender differences that are experienced by many, though not all, mothers and fathers, and by parents in same sex relationships. Parenting is a complex subject, plus it intertwines with larger issues of gender roles and the long history of mistreatment of women; obviously society should do a better job of s...
May 9, 2014
Friday Favorite
I thought you might enjoy these murals adapted from my presentation on Positive Neuroplasticity at the Hudson Institute of Coaching earlier this month. They were illustrated by Nancy Turner, Graphic Recorder/Facilitator, phrases@fuse.net.
The post Friday Favorite appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.
