Practical Wisdom with Dr. Rick Hanson
Led by psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Rick Hanson, these talks provide a down-to-earth way to develop greater resilience, compassion, and happiness. More at rickhanson.com
Episodes
49 episodes
The Wise Effort of Letting Go of Self
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 evening. If you’d like to...
Equanimity: Inner Freedom with a Heart as Wide as the World
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 evening. If you’d like to...
When Unjust Power Comes at You – and What You Can Do about It
When power comes at us — through authority, intimidation, manipulation, or fear — it can stir old anxiety and self-doubt. So this week I explored how power affects the mind, from personal relationships and childhood conditioning to social hiera...
How to Claim the Power You Do Have (and Disengage Where You Don’t)
We often give away our power by focusing on what we can’t control and getting pulled into stress, overthinking, or other people’s reactions. This week I focused on how to reclaim your power by focusing on where you actually have influence—your ...
How to Balance Caring for Oneself and Caring for the World
When the world feels overwhelming and full of suffering (which seems to happen a lot, these days), it’s easy to feel torn between caring for yourself and caring for others. So this week I explored how to hold both without shutting down or turni...
Life’s Easier When You Surrender to What’s Already Good within You
We often make life harder than it needs to be by pushing, striving, and second-guessing ourselves—but when you learn to trust and surrender to what is already good and wise within you, things begin to feel simpler, steadier, and more at peace.<...
Compassionate Action for Upstream Sources of Suffering
When you look at the state of the world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, helpless, or outraged—and unsure what actually makes a difference. I’ve certainly felt that way myself at times, and lately have been hearing from others that feel similarl...
Wise and Courageous Compassion for Others – and Yourself
When we’re hurt, frustrated, or facing difficult people, it’s easy to swing between passivity and hostility—either saying nothing and shrinking back, or getting pulled into anger, righteousness, and reactivity.This week, I explore how to...
The Personal Benefits of Empathy for “Them”
When we feel hurt, irritated, or caught in conflict with other people, it’s easy to get stuck in resentment, reactivity, or stress. But empathy is not only something we offer others — it can also be a gift to ourselves. In this talk, I explore ...
Exploring Radical Helplessness, Radical Trust, and Radical Acceptance
Many of us carry a quiet sense of helplessness or not mattering enough to others. Even if our childhood was generally loving, early experiences of vulnerability can leave emotional traces that shape how we react today.In this talk, I exp...
You Are Whole and Complete, and There Is Nothing to Add
Often we move through life feeling like we have to keep improving ourselves—fixing flaws, achieving more, becoming someone “better” before we can finally feel at ease. This teaching turns that assumption upside down by inviting you to experimen...
What Matters, and What Doesn’t
In this talk, we explore the profound yet simple distinction between what truly matters in our lives and what is essentially just noise and then reflect on how our brains are naturally wired to fixate on threats and trivialities, often at the e...
Accepting Your Vulnerabilities – Including from Early Childhood
Sometimes we try to open up or soften, but we don’t feel safe enough inside to do it. Our nervous system holds armor — bracing against vulnerability, against the truth that life includes aging, illness, loss, and uncertainty.This is defi...
Welcoming the “Messengers” of Aging, Illness, Death – and Awakening
Aging, illness, and death are realities we all live with, even when we try not to think about them. Often, they show up quietly in the background as worry, grief, fear, or a sense of urgency we can’t quite name.In this talk, I explore a ...
Using Mindfulness When You're Triggered
What should we do when we get triggered — especially by other people? In this talk, I discuss how mindfulness, focused attention, open awareness, and non-clinging help us manage reactivity, reduce rumination, and relate more wisely to ourselves...
Five Ways to Feel Less Anxious
When fear and anxiety feel woven into the fabric of everyday life — from global crises to personal health worries — it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, helpless, or stuck in a loop of dread.So this week I explored how to meet anxiety with min...
How to Trust Yourself
When you’ve been triggered enough times, it’s easy to start living smaller: avoiding certain conversations, second-guessing yourself, and staying inside an invisible cage that looks like caution but feels like contraction. In this talk...
Good Intentions
When you pause and look honestly at your life, it can be hard to know whether you’re living from what truly matters—or just reacting to the world around you. So this week, I explored the nature of good intentions, choice, and values...
Three Ways to Steady Your Mind
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the chaos of modern life, and it’s hard to steady your mind when you’re distracted, stressed, rattled, or ruminating about the things you feel threatened about or resentful of.In this talk, I explored 3...
How “Not Knowing” Dissolves Suffering
When we cling to what we “know,” we often suffer — because we narrow our perspective and can get trapped in a cycle of expectations and disappointments. This prevents us from seeing the true nature of our ever-changing reality, as well as the m...
Finding a Way Forward through Grief
Grief can feel endless — looping, heavy, and hard to escape — especially when losses can’t be fixed. As we will all experience loss at some point, I thought I’d explore how to grieve without getting stuck. If we can pull ourselves out of rumina...
Wisdom for Aging, Illness, and Mortality
Aging, illness, loss, and mortality can quietly haunt us — especially when they touch the people we love or our own bodies. In this talk, I explore how to meet these realities with compassion and wisdom, and how to rest in something deeper than...
Science Says You Need Social Support
When you feel alone with your worries, disconnected from others, or burdened by old patterns you can’t seem to shake, it’s easy to think you’re supposed to handle everything by yourself. But science — and deep wisdom traditions — show that feel...