Being Well with Dr. Rick Hanson

Today Dr. Hanson begins a new focus on effective communication with an episode on empathy. He gives a quick overview of how empathy functions in the brain before diving into why empathy is so important in our relationships with other people, and how we can be empathic while still maintaining our autonomy!

Today Dr. Hanson walks you through an experiential practice designed to get you in touch with a deeper sense of feeling cared about by others. Just as it’s important to care for other people, it’s also important to feel cared for!

Sometimes it’s great to have just one thing to focus on: a simple theme each week to reflect on and be inspired by. Today on this special "Just One Thing" episode, Dr. Hanson explains the relationship between intimacy and autonomy - and why a strong sense of self is so important to building fulfilling relationships with other people.

Today we’re continuing our new theme focused on building inner strengths related to relationships and effective communication with a wonderful interview with psychotherapist Linda Graham. We focus on the topic of Intimacy, and particularly on how development as a child can impact our relationships later in life. Content from this episode was taken from Dr. Hanson's Foundations of Well-Being program. If you'd like to learn more about the Foundations program follow this link: http://www.thefoundationsofwellbeing.com/

On this episode of Being Well we start a new theme focusing on developing strengths for effective relationships. Today Dr. Hanson zeros in on the balance between two desires that’s fundamental to regulating our needs for closeness and connection to other people, one for intimacy and one for autonomy - or what he refers to as "Me and We." If you’d like more content like this, sign up for our free weekly newsletter here: http://www.rickhanson.net/writings/just-one-thing/

Dr. Hanson explains the concept of “Just One Thing,” and applies it to his technique of Taking in the Good. If you’d like more Just One Thing, sign up for our free weekly newsletter here: http://www.rickhanson.net/writings/just-one-thing/

In today's special bonus episode, Dr. Hanson is interviewed by his son Forrest, who asks him a variety of questions on the importance of happiness, growing up under different conditions, and why it's important to develop inner strengths in the first place.

Dr. Hanson explains how we can actually go about the process of growing the good stuff in your mind and life – especially in the face of the brain’s negativity bias. To do this, we can use a method called “Taking in the Good.” Want more from Dr. Hanson? Check out the free “Just One Thing” newsletter here: http://www.rickhanson.net/writings/just-one-thing/

In this simple audio practice Dr. Hanson continues to explore the material around self-compassion, and developing a deep sense of being “for yourself!”

Many people are much better at being “for others” than they are at being “for themselves.” In this episode Dr. Hanson explains how to develop a fundamental stance of being on your own side.

In this episode Dr. Hanson explains how we can use the attention of the mind to change the physical structures of our brain for the better! This is one of his "big ideas," so it's a key episode to listen to!

This week Dr. Hanson interviews Gretchen Rubin, the bestselling author of the Happiness Project and host of Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Learn Gretchen’s key tips for happiness, what the “bad trance” is and how you can avoid it, and the power of good habits! You can find Gretchen's podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/happier-with-gretchen-rubin/id969519520?mt=2

On this episode of the podcast Dr. Rick Hanson leads you through a simple guided practice designed to get you "on your own side.” He explores a number of ways to cultivate a deep sense of being a friend to yourself – just as you are to many other people in your life.

Welcome to Being Well with Dr. Rick Hanson! On this podcast we’ll learn how to increase our everyday happiness, build inner strengths, and get the most out of life. On our first episode, Dr. Hanson gives an overview of some of the central questions this podcast will try to answer: Why does your brain have what scientists call a “negativity bias”? What does this mean? And what are some of the things we can do to build a happier, healthier brain?