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
61 episodes
How to Feel That You’ve Done Enough – and Are Enough
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 recognizing that, in importa...
How to Stop Ruminating
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 the contentment and peace t...
Bows and Vows
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 pulled in directions that d...
Letting Go of Fear, and Resting in Peaceful Confidence
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...
The Sweet Power of Kindness, Compassion, and Happiness for Others
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 heart—kindness, compassion,...
Positive Emotions as Key Steps in the Path of Awakening
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 happiness — that the Buddh...
The Powerful Combination of Concentration and Insight
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 isn’t just a nice meditation...
Insightful Freedom from Craving
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 suffering—and how loosen...
How to Use Fear and Not Let It Use You
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...
Keys to Personal and Global Evolution with David Sloan Wilson
It’s easy to feel stuck in the same patterns—repeating old reactions, circling in the same thoughts, and wondering why real change is so hard. In this talk, we explore how Darwin’s insights into evolution—variation, selection, and retention—can...
How to Let Go
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...
How to Be Calmer . . . Now
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...
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...