Rick Hanson's Blog, page 48
September 18, 2020
Meditation + Talk: Calming Reactions to Others
This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 34-minute guided meditation and 38-minute talk and discussion.
I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!
Meditation: Calming Reactions to Others
Download the Audio of this Meditation
Talk: Calming Reactions to Others
September 15, 2020
Change The Channel
What can you do when nothing is working?
The Practice:
Change the channel.
Why?
In response to a previous JOT – Find Stillness – a wise therapist, Betsy Sansby, reminded me that sometimes a person just can’t find any stillness anywhere. Maybe you have epilepsy or chronic pain, or are wildly worried about a child or other loved one, or have been rejected in love or had the bottom fall out financially. In other words, as Betsy put it, like there’s a nest of bees in your chest.
She’s right.
Sometim...
September 13, 2020
Being Well Podcast: Authentic Happiness with Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar
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How can we find happiness even when times are challenging? Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar joins us to explore authentic happiness, accepting difficult emotions, and giving yourself permission to be human.
About our Guest: Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is the bestselling author of six books, founder of the Happiness Studies Academy, and former professor of two of the largest courses in Harvard’s history. Learn more a...
September 11, 2020
Meditation + Talk: Working with Anger in Relationships
This Wednesday Night Meditation included a 40-minute guided meditation and 48-minute talk and discussion.
I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!
Meditation
Download the Audio of this Meditation
Talk: Working with Anger in Relationships
Download the Audio of this Talk
...
September 8, 2020
See Deep Wants
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what are the deepest wants of all?
The Practice:
See deep wants.
Why?
I did my Ph.D. dissertation by videotaping 20 mother-toddler pairs and analyzing what happened when the mom offered an alternative to a problematic want (“not the chainsaw, sweetie, how about this red truck?!”). Hundreds of bleary-eyed hours later, I found that offering alternatives reduced child negative emotion and increased cooperation with the parent.
Pretty interesting (at least to m...
September 6, 2020
Being Well Podcast: How to Change Your Brain
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If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you’ve been given a lot of information about how to improve your mental health by learning new skills, releasing old pain, and generally deepening your knowledge and understanding of both yourself and other people. A major focus of the podcast is giving you great tools, and hopefully teaching you how to use them really well.
But the dirty se...
September 4, 2020
Meditation + Talk: How to Use Anger and Not Let It Use You
This Wednesday Night Meditation, included a 35-minute guided meditation and 50-minute talk and discussion.
I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!
Meditation
Download the Audio of this Meditation
Talk: How to Use Anger and Not Let It Use You
Download the Audio of this Talk
...
September 1, 2020
Accept It
What are you resisting?
The Practice:
Accept it.
Why?
As general clusters that each include a number of specific methods, my Top 5 types of practices (all tied for first place) are:
Be mindful
Love
Take in the good
Go green
Open out
The practices of “go green” helps you get out of the brain’s fight-or-flight, Reactive, “red zone” setting and instead, engage life from its recover-and-refuel, Responsive, “green zone” setting.
In this JOT, we’ll enter into the fifth cluster – open out – by whic...
August 31, 2020
Being Well Podcast: Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma
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What are the consequences of growing up inside an abusive family, and what can we do as adults to heal old wounds? Today we’re joined by Pete Walker, a practicing therapist and expert in Complex PTSD.
About Our Guest: Pete is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area, who specializes in helping adults who were traumatized in childhood. He’s the author of three books, i...
August 28, 2020
Meditation + Talk: Finding Peace and Presence in Daily Life
This Wednesday Night Meditation, included a 35-minute guided meditation and 48-minute talk and discussion.
I hope you find it helpful, and you are welcome to join my free Wednesday Meditations – open to everyone!
Meditation
Download the Audio of this Meditation
Talk: Finding Peace and Presence in Daily Life
Download the Audio of this Talk
...
