Rick Hanson's Blog, page 94
October 3, 2015
Love Freely
How do you love?
The Practice:
Love freely.
Why?
In my early 20’s, I went through Rolfing, a form of deep-tissue bodywork, and I nervously anticipated the 5th session, the one that goes deep into the belly. But instead of gobs of repressed emotional pain, what poured out was love – waves and waves of love that I’d pushed down due to embarrassment, fears of closeness, and my struggles with my mother.
It felt fantastic to let love flow freely. Compassion, empathy, kindness, liking, affection, c...
September 26, 2015
Feel Whole
What’s left out?
The Practice:
Feel whole.
Why?
When I look back on mistakes I’ve made – like dumping my anger on someone, making assumptions in haste, partying too much, losing my nerve, being afraid to speak from my heart – in all cases a part of me had taken over. You know what I mean. The parts of us that have a partial view, are driven by one aim, clamp down on other parts, really want to have a particular experience or to eat/drink/smoke a particular molecule, yammer away critically,...
September 19, 2015
Be Mind Full of Good
What’s in your mind?
The Practice:
Be mind full of good.
Why?
It’s kind of amazing: right now, what you think and feel, enjoy and suffer, is changing your brain. The brain is the organ that learns, designed by evolution to be changed by our experiences: what scientists call experience-dependent neuroplasticity.
Neurons that fire together, wire together. This means that each one of us has the power to use the mind to change the brain to change the mind for the better. To benefit oneself and...
September 7, 2015
Dr. Rick Hanson on Bulletproof Radio
I was recently interviewed on the Bulletproof Radio podcast by Bulletproof founder Dave Asprey! Bulletproof Radio is one of the top health podcasts on iTunes, they have over half a million followers. We discussed how to get the best out of meaningful experiences, practicing mindfulness, understanding what happiness really is and how to achieve it.
If you’ve never heard of Bulletproof, it’s a life-hacking organization focused on personal optimization and reaching a state of high-performance. D...
September 5, 2015
Drop the Load
Are you doing too much?
The Practice:
Drop the load.
Why?
You may have seen the old Mickey Mouse movie in which he is working at a conveyor belt in a factory. More and more widgets come at him that he has to handle, and he gets increasingly frazzled as he struggles to keep up.
Do you ever feel the same way? Think about all the dishes, emails, meetings, reports, drives, calls returned, laundry folded, children tucked into bed, friends comforted, errands run, etc. etc. Most of a person’s tasks,...
September 4, 2015
Rick’s Picks: This mesmerizing video shows how incredibly vast space really is
The video below shows just how huge our galaxy is. Pretty astonishing!
The post Rick’s Picks: This mesmerizing video shows how incredibly vast space really is appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.
September 3, 2015
Rick Hanson on the Art of Charm Podcast
I was recently a guest on The Art of Charm podcast (one of the most popular shows on iTunes!) to discuss the power of Taking in the Good and the ways we can build more confident brains. I had a great conversation with AoC founder Jordan Harbinger, I hope you enjoy it.
Follow the link below to check it out:
http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/rick-hanson-taking-in-the-good-episode-437/
The post Rick Hanson on the Art of Charm Podcast appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.
September 1, 2015
Questions about the Negativity Bias
I receive a lot of questions about the negativity bias and how to over come it.
Here are a few:
“Is the brain still evolving? Even though we have a brain sculpted by Stone Age experiences, is the brain in any way advancing into a more highly evolved version of itself?”
“What thoughts or suggestions do you have for helping me calm my brain rather than go into fearful mind states when there are sudden unfamiliar sounds?”
“What is one practice we can adopt in our everyday lives to overcome our n...
August 21, 2015
Back to Basics
What’s fundamental?
The Practice:
Back to basics.
Why?
In middle school, I thought it would be cool to play a musical instrument, and picked the clarinet. My wise parents rented one rather than buying it, and I started practicing. (In the garage because it sounded pretty screechy.) After a week or two of doing scales, I got bored and picked my way through a couple easy songs. But after a few more weeks, I couldn’t go further because I hadn’t laid a foundation with scales and similar exercise...
August 14, 2015
Wake Up To Good News
Are you exaggerating sticks while downplaying carrots?
The Practice:
Wake up to good news.
Why?
“Tell the truth.” It’s the foundation of science, ethics, and relationships.
But we have a brain that evolved to tell lies to help us survive. As I’ve written before, over several hundred million years our ancestors:
* Had to avoid two kinds of mistakes: thinking there’s a tiger in the bushes but actually all is well, and thinking all is well but actually there is a tiger about to pounce. The cost...
