Rick Hanson's Blog, page 123
June 6, 2012
See What’s Likable
What’s to like?
The Practice:
See what’s likable.
Why?
Liking feels good, plus it encourages us to approach and engage the world rather than withdraw from it.
Your brain continually tracks whether something is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In essence, is it a carrot, a stick, or safely ignored? Naturally, we like – we enjoy – what’s pleasant, dislike what’s unpleasant, and wish what’s neutral would get pleasant pronto.
Natural opioids – pleasure molecules – are released when you see things yo...
May 29, 2012
Be Home
What’s your deepest nature?
The Practice:
Be home.
Why?
Throughout history, people have wondered about human nature. Deep down, are we basically good or bad?
Recently, science is beginning to offer a persuasive answer. When the body is not disturbed by hunger, thirst, pain, or illness, and when the mind is not disturbed by threat, frustration, or rejection, then most people settle into their resting state, a sustainable equilibrium in which the body refuels and repairs itself and the mind feels pe...
May 20, 2012
Rest Your Weary Head
Are you thinking too much?
The Practice:
Rest your weary head.
Why?
The traditional saying that’s this week’s practice has been sinking in for me lately. Thoughts have been swirling around like a sandstorm about work, things I’ve been reading, household tasks, finances, concerns about people, a yard that needs mowing, loose ends, projects, etc. etc. The other day I told my wife: “I’m thinking about too many things.” Know the feeling?
By “head” I mean the cognitive aspects of experience such as pla...
May 11, 2012
Gift Yourself
Who’s left off your gift list?
The Practice:
Gift yourself.
Why?
Can you remember a time when you offered a gift to someone? Perhaps a holiday present, or a treat to a child, or taking time for a friend – or anything at all. How did this feel? Researchers have found that giving stimulates the same neural networks that light up when we feel physical pleasure, such eating a cookie or running warm water over cold hands. Long ago, the Buddha said that generosity makes one happy before, during, and af...
May 8, 2012
Enjoy Now
When are you?
The Practice:
Enjoy now.
Why?
There’s a profound and miraculous mystery right under our noses: this instant of now has no duration at all, yet somehow it contains all the causes from the past that are creating the future. Everything arising to become this moment vanishes beneath our feet as the next moment wells up. Since it’s always now, now is eternal.
The nature of now is not New Age or esoteric. It is plain to see. It is apparent both in the material universe and in our own ex...
April 26, 2012
Find What’s Sacred
What’s precious to you?
The Practice:
Find what’s sacred.
Why?
The word, sacred, has two kinds of meanings. First, it can refer to something related to religion or spirituality. Second, more broadly, it can refer to something that one cherishes, that is precious, to which one is respectfully, even reverently, dedicated, such as honesty with one’s life partner, old growth redwoods, human rights, the light in a child’s eyes, or longings for truth and justice and peace.
Both senses of the word touch...
April 19, 2012
Avoid The Rush
What’s the hurry?
The Practice:
Avoid the rush.
Why?
As I was meditating this morning, our cat hopped up in my lap. It felt sweet to sit there with him. And yet – even though I was feeling fine and had plenty of time, there was this internal pressure to start zipping along with emails and calls and all the other clamoring minutiae of the day.
You see the irony. We rush about as a means to an end: as a method for getting results in the form of good experiences, such as relaxation and happiness. Han...
April 12, 2012
Find Your North Star
Where are you headed?
The Practice:
Find your North Star.
Why?
I recently did a meditation retreat (at Spirit Rock, wonderful place, including for workshops). One evening as we walked out of the hall after the last sit, I was feeling rattled and discombobulated. (One of the benefits of a retreat – though it can be uncomfortable – is that it stirs up of the sediments of your psyche, which can muddy your mental waters for awhile.)
I looked up at the stars shining brightly in the cold clear night, a...
March 21, 2012
Cling Less, Love More
Are you getting rope burn?
The Practice:
Cling less, love more
Why?
As a rock climber and a parent, I know some physical kinds of clinging are good – like to small holds or small hands!
But clinging as a psychological state has a feeling of tension in it, and drivenness, insistence, obsession, or compulsion. As experiences flow through the mind – seeing, hearing, planning, worrying, etc. – they have what's called a "hedonic tone" of being pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. It's natural to like ...
March 1, 2012
Pay Attention
Is your mind wandering?
The Practice:
Pay attention.
Why?
Moment to moment, the flows of thoughts and feelings, sensations and desires, and conscious and unconscious processes sculpt your nervous system like water gradually carving furrows and eventually gullies on a hillside. Your brain is continually changing its structure. The only question is: Is it for better or worse?
In particular, because of what's called "experience-dependent neuroplasticity," whatever you hold in attention has a...
