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
29 episodes
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...
•
45:33
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...
•
38:57
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...
•
18:35
Thankfulness for What Protects and Nurtures You
When life feels shaky, fast-moving, or overwhelming, it’s natural to look for something steady to rest in. And for most people, there actually is a lot that protects and nurtures you every day — it’s just easy to take it for granted.So t...
•
39:19
Releasing Anxiety with Three Kinds of Insights
Many of us live inside an “invisible cage” made from old fears, guardedness, and habits of staying small. Anxiety shows up not only in dread and worry, but in all the subtle ways we avoid risks, silence ourselves, or brace for what might
•
48:16
Empathy and Engaged Compassion
A lot of us feel overwhelmed these days — flooded by other people’s emotions, worn down by the suffering around us, or confused about how to stay open-hearted without burning out. In this week’s teaching, I talk about the real nature of empathy...
•
24:24
Letting Go of Old Baggage for a Better Future
Many of us carry old regrets — choices we made as children or adults that still weigh on the heart. We replay mistakes, wonder “what if,” and feel guilty long after we’ve done the hard work of learning.So this week, I explored how to hol...
•
34:42
Appreciating Your Own Generosity and Good Intentions
So often we judge ourselves harshly — reacting quickly, closing off, or staying angry even when we “know better.” But beneath every reaction, even the messy or neurotic ones, is a good intention trying to protect or guide us. In this talk, I ex...
•
24:25
Making Your Own Life
Sometimes we can get stuck in our habits or our personal struggles, and we trap ourselves in a cage of our own making. OR, we see others who are unable to move forward and feel inclined to help them, but find they resist efforts to untangle the...
•
48:47
How to Prevent and Release Needless Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal human experience — we all feel anxious or afraid sometimes — but excessive or chronic anxiety can wear us down and be detrimental to our long-term happiness and health. Plus, many of us are anxious about th...
•
46:38
How to Shift Your Thoughts and Feelings about Others
It’s easy to feel hurt, frustrated, or reactive when others let us down — or when we’re caught in old patterns of resentment and blame. But we actually have the power to influence how we see, feel about, and respond to other people. So this wee...
•
38:34
Finding What’s [Reassuringly] Reliable in an Unreliable World
In these turbulent times, it’s natural to feel shaken. Together, we can return to what is truly reliable—our present moment, our good intentions, our capacity to love, the steadiness of awareness, and the enduring ground of nature and the unive...
•
45:17
What to Do When You Get Triggered
In this talk, I explore what it’s like for us when we get triggered—those moments when, all of a sudden, something takes over and we’re flooded with a strong, often old, emotional reaction. We’ll walk through how to recognize we’re triggered, p...
•
31:55
Just Do the Right Thing
So often we get caught in worry, strain, and the constant pressure to do more — to fix everything, to control what we simply can’t. In this talk, I explore how to let go of what’s beyond our power, how to do the “next right thing” even when lif...
•
39:04
How to Face Challenges without Suffering
So often we struggle with life’s challenges—reacting with stress, craving, or grasping—only to find ourselves adding suffering on top of difficulty.In this talk, I explore the Buddha’s essential teachings on dukkha (suffering), ...
•
36:30
Why We Suffer—and How to Stop Adding to the Pain
We can’t stop life from bringing pain—loss, disappointment, aging—but we can stop piling extra suffering on top of it. In this talk, I explore timeless Buddhist wisdom and practical psychology for meeting life’s “golden win...
•
47:50
How to Feel Lived by Love
Feeling isolated, burdened, or unseen? In a world that often feels fragmented and exhausting—with anxiety, stress, and a subtle sense that you’re not quite enough—you may long to feel more supported, connected, and grounded.So this week ...
•
42:44
Compassion, Kindness, Joy, and Equanimity
So often, we feel torn between striving for change and surrendering to what is. We can get stuck trying too hard, or give up entirely. So this week, I explore how to find a wise balance between deliberate intention and choiceless a...
•
32:01
How to Find Peace in Impermanence
Life can feel like it’s coming at us from all sides—relationships change, plans fall through, our bodies age, and the world keeps shifting under our feet. It’s totally normal to feel uneasy or anxious in the face of all this unpredictability. B...
•
43:05
The Joy in Not-Knowing
When life feels uncertain, chaotic, or painful, our minds scramble for answers. We try to make sense of things we may never fully understand. We cling to being right, to figuring it out, to knowing for sure… but what if real freedom comes from ...
•
37:56
Respecting Suffering – Theirs as Well as Yours – and Deliberately Cultivating the Inner Strengths That Relieve It
So many of us are quick to dismiss our own pain—or the pain of others. We might tell ourselves to “move on” or wonder why someone else is still upset.But the truth is, suffering deserves respect. When we minimize pain, it often makes it ...
•
41:01
The Power of Appreciation – and How to Get More of It from Others
We all want to feel seen, respected, and appreciated—but so often, we’re overlooked. Feeling unappreciated can be quietly painful—and surprisingly common. Our efforts go unnoticed, our sincerity unacknowledged, and over time it can really wear ...
•
46:04
The Seductions of Healthy Desires: Getting What You Want Without Burning Out
This week I'd like to focus on something both personal and practical: What is a core practice that you return to when things go sideways? When you're overwhelmed, irritated, frustrated, or just worn out? What’s the thing that centers you and br...
•
39:27
How to Calm the Biological Machinery of Stress and Suffering
Let’s be honest—these days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, reactive, and worn down. Whether it’s the relentless news cycle, a difficult interaction, or just your own mind revving up again, it can feel like calm and happiness are out of reach.
•
34:07