Practical Wisdom with Dr. Rick Hanson

Sometimes our anxiety is trying to tell us something important about a real threat, something we need to take care of, or someone we love. The trouble comes when anxiety keeps going long after it’s useful, turning into...

Most of us know, at least in principle, that it’s good to have healthy boundaries. The hard part is actually setting them — and then holding onto them when other people push back, get upset, or simply keep doing what...

Good boundaries aren’t about pushing people away. In fact, they can help us feel closer, more open, and more at ease with the people we care about. When you know where you stand, what you’re responsible for, and what...

This week, I was joined by Melvin McLeod, editor-in-chief of Lion’s Roar and author of The Complete Path of Mindfulness, to explore what mindfulness can become when we see it as much more than a meditation technique...

So much of the mind is leaning into the future—anticipating what will happen, planning what we’ll do, worrying about what could go wrong, and getting attached to how we or other people are supposed to become. In this...

Impatience can be a surprisingly powerful source of stress, frustration, and conflict—especially when we’re waiting for something to change, dealing with difficult people, caring for someone we love, or simply wishing...

Many of us spend our lives quietly believing we need to do more, achieve more, or become more before we can finally feel at peace. What if the peace you’ve been searching for doesn’t come from becoming more—but from...

Even when nothing is particularly wrong, the mind can keep generating something else to want, solve, compare, worry about, or figure out. All that mental activity can be exhausting—and it can keep us from recognizing...

Many of us move through life reacting to circumstances without pausing to consider what we’re truly devoted to. When we lose touch with our values and deepest intentions, it’s easy to feel scattered, disconnected, or...

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the...

We often think of kindness and compassion as gifts we offer other people. But what if they were also among the most powerful ways to heal ourselves? In this talk, I explore three transformative qualities of the...

Many of us think of meditation and inner practice as serious, even grim work. But what if joy itself is part of the path? In this talk, I explored four emotionally positive states — gladness, rapture, tranquility, and...

We all know what it’s like to feel scattered, stuck in our own mental loops, unable to actually move through the hard stuff. What the Buddha was pointing to with “right concentration” is that a settled, unified mind...

Do you ever feel caught up in striving, worrying about how you’re doing, or trying to become a better version of yourself? In this talk, I explore an early Buddhist teaching on how craving and self-identification create...

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the...