Rick Hanson's Blog, page 18

Meditation + Talk: Not-Knowing in Your Relationships

This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 34-minute meditation and a 48-minute talk and discussion about Not-Knowing in Your Relationships.

I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!

Meditation: Not-Knowing in Your Relationships 

Download the Audio of this Meditation

Talk: Not-Knowing in Your Relationships  ...

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?

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. This is a sustainable equilibrium in which the body refuels and repairs itself, and the mind feels peaceful, happy, and loving. I call this th...

Being Well Podcast: Discovering Your Wants and Needs

What do you actually want? In this week’s episode of the Being Well Podcast, we talk about the wants and needs we all have — and especially those that we find difficult to identify. Listen and reflect to discover your own wants and needs, and take practical steps to achieve meeting those needs.

LISTEN

Everyone has wants and needs, but many peopl...

Meditation + Talk: Trusting Yourself

This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 36-minute meditation and a 54-minute talk and discussion about Trusting Yourself.

I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!

Meditation: Trusting Yourself

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Talk: Trusting Yourself

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...

Being Well Podcast: Healing Trauma in a Toxic Culture with Dr. Gabor Maté

Renowned physician Dr. Gabor Maté joins Rick and Forrest on this episode of Being Well to explore the many problems for our body and mind that arise out of our modern culture, and what we can do to meet our needs, heal ourselves, and become more whole. They discuss our increasing separation from one another, issues with aspects of the medical model, the true nature of addiction, the developmental needs of children, the myth of “normal,” and recovering from traumatic e...

Meditation + Talk: Trust, Mistrust, and Deep Trust

This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 35-minute meditation and a 46-minute talk and discussion about Trust, Mistrust, and Deep Trust.

I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!

Meditation: Trust, Mistrust, and Deep Trust 

Download the Audio of this Meditation

Talk: Trust, Mistrust, and Deep Trust  ...

Speak Truly

What’s in your heart to say?

The Practice:
Speak truly.

Why?

It’s been said that the most powerful tool for physical health is a fork (or spoon) since the choices you make with it determine the good or bad things you put into your body.

In the same way, perhaps the most powerful tool for your mental health – and certainly for the health of your relationships – is your tongue. Thousands of times each day, it (or your fingers on a keyboard: same thing) offers the good word or the bad one...

Meditation + Talk: Love and Power

This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 35-minute meditation and a 24-minute talk and discussion about Love and Power.

I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!

Meditation: Love and Power

Download the Audio of this Meditation

Talk: Love and Power

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...

Meditation + Talk: Joining and Separating in Your Relationships

This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 35-minute meditation and a 54-minute talk and discussion about Joining and Separating in Your Relationships.

I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!

Meditation: Joining and Separating in Your Relationships

Download the Audio of this Meditation

Talk: Joining and Separating in Your Relationships  ...

Feel Already Full

Is there enough?

The Practice:
Feel already full.

Why?

One slice of the pie of life feels relaxed and contented. And then there is that other slice in which we feel driven and stressed. Trying to get pleasures, avoid pains, pile up accomplishments and recognitions, and be loved by more people. Lose more weight. Try to fill the hole in the heart. Slake the thirst, satisfy the hunger. Strive, strain, press.

This other slice is the conventional strategy for happiness. We pursue it for four...