Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson - Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Forrest Hanson

Latest Episodes:

Dan Harris: Mindfulness, Fear, and Love Without the Cringe Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier, joins Dr. Rick and Forrest for a wide-ranging, open, and personal conversation. They explore dealing with anxiety and fear, sustaining a mindfulness practice, and accepting our nature while leaning into a new version of ourselves. Along the way they talk about the benefits and drawbacks of purely secular approaches to mindfulness, Dan’s recent time with the Dalai Lama, and why an “anti-sentimentalist” like Dan is writing a book about love.

About our Guest: Dan Harris is the author of the best-selling memoir 10% Happier, about a fidgety, skeptical news anchor who finds meditation. He’s also the host of the Ten Percent Happier podcast and the cofounder of the Ten Percent Happier meditation app. For 21 years, he worked at ABC News, where he anchored such shows as Nightline and the weekend editions of Good Morning America.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:05: Dan’s history with panic attacks, and using exposure therapy

6:15: Pros and cons of mindfulness in a secular frame

9:15: Moving away from a purely secular frame

12:10: Dan’s current meditation practice

16:15: Sustaining practice, and the pros and cons of stubbornness

20:15: Passion and purpose without attachment

27:50: Dan’s takeaways from the Dalai Lama

30:45: Caring, sharing, and marking your virtuous moments

33:30: An ‘anti-sentimental’ look at love

44:50: Recognizing personal change

47:55: If you can’t be cheesy, you can’t be free

51:40: Recap

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Dealing with Criticism, Anxiety, and Dysfunctional Family Systems: July Mailbag Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

Forrest and Dr. Rick open up the mailbag and answer questions from listeners. They explore how we can thoughtfully take the input of other people, identify and meet our needs, deal with anxiety and the fear of failure, and approach a conversation about drug use with teenagers. You’ll also learn strategies for reducing nighttime sleep anxiety, creating healthy boundaries, dealing with temperamental differences in a relationship, and finding peace and connection as a single person.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:35: How do process feedback from other people? What helps you accept what's useful...and leave the rest?

11:35: My extended family has gotten very distant. How do families tend to change over time?

23:40: I always feel like I'm about to be punished. What can I do?

33:15: How can we help teens navigate curiosity and peer pressure related to drugs, including psychedelics?

44:15: LIGHTNING ROUND!

45:15: Dealing with anxious thoughts before bedtime.

48:00: Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries.

51:10: My partner has ADHD. How can I encourage them to work on some problematic behaviors while respecting their nature?

56:40: Being at peace with being on our own.

1:00:40: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

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Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

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Simplifying Self-Help: 7 Lessons for a Lifetime of Well-Being Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

There is a lot of complicated advice out there (including on this podcast) for how to improve our well-being. In this episode, Forrest and Dr. Rick simplify the lessons they’ve learned from over 100 experts and 300 episodes. They explore the importance of individual context, focusing on what we can change even among difficult circumstances, the power of acceptance, influencing our attention, taking care of the body, social connection, and how we can identify, accept, and manage our unique needs.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction, and a disclaimer about generalizations

5:50: The belief that things can get better

14:20: How acceptance supports agency

24:55: Being thoughtful about what we consume, and where we place our attention

30:30: Bodily awareness and taking care of the body

36:50: Developing and appreciating strong social connections

41:50: Identifying our wants and needs

44:50: Identifying key values, setting goals, and letting those goals shape our lives

54:30: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Go to healthycell.com/beingwell and use promo code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first order.

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

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How to Become Securely Attached Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode, Forrest and Dr. Rick focus on one of the most common, and most important, questions they get about attachment theory: can we heal our attachment wounds, and become more securely attached?

They explore the basics of attachment theory, whether people can change their attachment style, and how much change is truly possible. They then discuss some common frameworks for change, the power of positive experiences, and how we can break out of the “catch-22” of attachment wounds. The episode ends with practical advice for what an anxiously or avoidantly attached person could do to become more securely attached over time.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:55: An overview of how attachment develops

7:40: Four components involved in changing your attachment style

10:50: The difference between our tendencies and our behavior

12:40: The four stages of growth, and developing “conscious competency”

17:35: Recognizing the ways you’re included, seen, appreciated, liked, and loved

25:00: The role of individual effort, and the real driver of motivation

29:10: What helps anxious people become more securely attached

41:35: And what helps avoidant people

49:55: How to ground ourselves when people are unreliable

55:25: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

InsideTracker gives you the personalized information you need to optimize your healthspan. Get 20% off by going to my special link: InsideTracker.com/beingwell.

Go to healthycell.com/beingwell and use promo code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first order.

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

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Time Management for Mortals with Oliver Burkeman Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

The average human will live for roughly 4000 weeks. Foregrounding this can be a source of stress, leading us to constantly run from one task to another. Or, it can be a source of meaning and purpose, nudging us to focus on what really matters.

In this episode, Forrest is joined by bestselling author Oliver Burkeman for an exploration of what’s really at stake in what we call “time management”. You’ll learn why doing things faster only leaves you with more to do, the hidden payoffs of constant busyness, and how we can live a more fulfilling and enjoyable life by embracing its finite nature.

About our Guest: Oliver Burkeman is a bestselling author and journalist. His most recent book is Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, and prior to that wrote The Guardian column titled, “This Column Will Change Your Life.” He writes and publishes a twice monthly email newsletter called “The Imperfectionist.”

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

0:55: Oliver’s movement towards “anti-productivity”

2:55: Doing fewer things more purposefully

4:55: Looking at your own experience, and the paradoxical notion of perfect efficiency

10:15: The wheel of craving, secondary gains, and grappling with our mortality

15:30: Procrastination and freedom from an ideal result

20:15: The poignancy of limited choice

22:50: Existential crisis, insight, and fulfillment

30:20: Organizing your daily schedule around your top priority

35:55: Frameworks for working within someone else’s schedule

39:45: The allure of middling priorities

41:40: Identifying our wants and needs, and choices that enlarge and diminish us

45:50: Five questions to ask yourself from Oliver’s book

50:00: Suffering from trying to find a solution, and life not being a ‘prologue’

57:35: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Go to healthycell.com/beingwell and use promo code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first order.

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

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Overcoming Procrastination: Unleashing Motivation and Creating a Pursuit Mindset Jun 19, 2023

Show notes

We've all experienced that frustrating feeling of knowing that we should be doing something, and yet struggling to take action. Join Forrest and Dr. Rick as they explore how we can overcome avoidance and procrastination, unlock our motivation, and cultivate a "pursuit mindset."

They discuss intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, why extrinsic motivations aren’t such a bad thing, and how we can use our important values to set better goals and shape our behavior. You’ll learn why procrastination is based on fear, how to orient toward pursuit and see yourself as an agent of change, and the key role “getting good at liking” plays in this process.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:05: Intrinsic vs. external motivation

10:00: Identifying your intrinsic or “noncontingent” motivations

15:00: Self-determination theory (SDT)

19:35: Pursuit and prey orientation

28:25: The psychological function of procrastination

35:35: Learning what you like, and focusing on it

42:25: Meaning, purpose, pleasure, and satisfaction

46:20: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Staying Curious, Embracing Change, and Relating to Media with Michael Krasny Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

Rick and Forrest are joined by award-winning journalist Michael Krasny for an episode focused on how to stay curious, navigate times of transition, and relate to the modern media landscape in healthy ways. They use Michael’s recent experience with “retirement” as a jumping off point to explore how we can embrace change and stay curious before diving into a conversation focused on the modern media landscape. Topics include bothsides-ism, navigating challenging conversations, and finding the balance between what “knowing mind” and “don’t know mind.”

About our Guest: Michael Krasny is the long-time host of the KQED Forum, and has interviewed some of the most prominent figures of the past 50 years, including Maya Angelou, Caesar Chavez, President Jimmy Carter, Carl Sagan, and President Barack Obama. Since retiring from the Forum, Michael has started his own podcast: Grey Matter with Michael Krasny.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:45: What’s helped Michael navigate the transition to a new phase of life

3:45: Michael’s shift in identity post-KQED Forum

5:45: Curiosity and ‘usefulness’

8:10: Preparing for interviews

11:10: How Michael became an interviewer

14:10: Shakespeare characters, the anxiety of influence, and corporal punishment

23:10: How the function of media has changed over time

26:05: Bothsidesism and offering balanced viewpoints

30:40: ‘Always don’t know’, and not being captured by our strengths

33:45: Overpreparation, anxiety, and the role of an interviewer

38:20: The value of spacious conversation vs. discourse through sound bytes

40:30: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BEINGWELL at https://www.oneskin.co/

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Change Your Life: Self-Efficacy, Learned Helplessness, and Growth Mindset Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

If you’re tired of feeling stuck, this one’s for you. Dr. Rick and Forrest explore how we can overcome learned helplessness and change our lives by developing self-efficacy: the ability to influence our environments and control our motivation and behavior. Key topics include why we get stuck, the science of learned helplessness, focusing on effort over talent, creating a growth mindset, and balancing acceptance and agency. You’ll learn how to improve self-efficacy, embrace who you are, and become truly confident in your ability to grow.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:50: Why are we prone to feeling stuck?

4:45: Fear of failure and negativity bias

8:30: Learned helplessness and the dog study

18:05: Difficulties identifying patterns we’re close to

20:00: The biological function of shame

22:55 The connection between our emotions, our body, and our sense of self-efficacy

24:10: Chronic illness and pain, and recognizing what is and is not in your control

26:10: What is a growth mindset?

28:40: Nature and nurture, talent and effort, and our metrics of self-worth

35:00: Rick’s practical tips for improving self-efficacy (complete with soundtrack)

40:20: Creating a coherent self-narrative

42:35: An example from Forrest of claiming agency

46:20: Advice for someone in their late 20s when feeling stuck

51:40: Building on and reinforcing our successes

56:35: Determination

59:35: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BEINGWELL at https://www.oneskin.co/

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome: Self-Doubt, Confidence, and Authenticity May 29, 2023

Show notes

Forrest and Dr. Rick explore how to overcome imposter syndrome, the common psychological experience of self-doubt and feeling like a fraud. You'll learn why even very accomplished, capable people experience imposter syndrome, strategies to break free from the cycle of self-doubt, and how to move away from comparison, embrace authenticity, and believe in yourself. Topics include how to build self-confidence, reframe negative self-perceptions, and find support from mentors and allies.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:15: Defining imposter syndrome, and watching out for “construct creep”

9:25: Where the notion of imposter syndrome originates

11:30: Stages of development, trust, shame, and belonging

13:50: Myths around accomplishment, and when we’re actually good enough

16:30: The typical cycle of imposter syndrome

20:00: Why people get trapped in this cycle

25:00: Moving away from comparison

28:10: Shame about shame, and sharing authentically with others

32:15: What helps us face our fears

36:35: Acknowledging what you are not

40:15: Your locus of control, and how you interpret your experience

49:25: Mentors, role models, and allies

51:50: Recap

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BEINGWELL at https://www.oneskin.co/

Go to BrioAirPurifier.com and use code BEINGWELL to save $100 on a Brio Air Purifier.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Self-Help Fads and Finding What Really Works with mindbodygreen CEO Jason Wachob May 22, 2023

Show notes

There’s an enormous amount of advice out there in the self-help world…and much of it isn’t very good. Jason Wachob, the Founder and Co-CEO of mindbodygreen, joins Forrest and Dr. Rick to separate fact from fiction and clarify what really matters. They explore the importance of finding joy in the well-being journey, simple practices that have stood the test of time, and how we can pursue goals in healthy ways. Specific topics include the importance of high-quality sleep, breathing better, sifting through diet and exercise fads, developing a pursuit mindset, hormetic stress, and finding the things that work for you.

About our Guest: Jason Wachob is the Founder and Co-CEO of mindbodygreen, one of the largest, most influential media brands in the wellness space. He’s also the host of the mindbodygreen podcast, and the co-author of The Joy of Well-Being: A practical guide to a happy, healthy, and long life.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:15: Distinguishing well-being from wellness

3:50: Healthy change is joyful change

7:50: Having a pursuit mindset

11:30: Addressing the main objection to well-being

14:45: Present moment awareness

16:55: Box breathing and sleep

22:10: Jason’s background, and how identity dictates our behavior

32:20: Honoring your inner knowing

37:50: Finding your ‘why’

42:45: Good stress, and finding what works for you

46:40: Vulnerability with others

48:55: Feeling connected to the world

50:50: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

NEW Offering from Rick! Join Rick and 5 world-renowned teachers – including Dr. Gabor Mate, Tara Brach, and Thupten Jinpa – for The Heart of Compassion, a 5-week online program that will teach you how to access, grow, and apply compassion. Head to rickhanson.net/hoc to learn more, and use code BEINGWELL10 for 10% off.

Sponsors:

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices