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

Latest Episodes:

Hedonic Adaptation: Causes, Critiques, and How to Stay Happy Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

We’ve talked on this show about lots of ways we can be happier over time, but one of the hardest things to do is to STAY happy as the events of life wash over us. On today’s episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson explore "hedonic adaptation" - our tendency to return to a stable baseline of happiness - and discuss how we can get off the "hedonic treadmill."

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:25: What is hedonic adaptation?

6:25: Three factors of happiness

9:45: Survey of various research on hedonic adaptation and subjective well-being

19:55: Financial circumstances and relationships

27:35: How to sustain happiness - loving, knowing, growing

38:15: The single most effective intervention to fight hedonic adaptation

41:30: Forrest’s take on how lasting change happens

45:00: Antidote experiences and improving memory

47:50: Can we actually become happier?

51:00: Recap

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

Sponsors:

Visit athleticgreens.com/BEINGWELL to take ownership over your health, and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance!

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.

Take care of your long-term health, and get the probiotic rooted in the latest microbiome science from Pendulum. Visit pendulumlife.com and use code BEINGWELL for 20% off your first month of membership.

Discover your full genetic potential by uploading your existing DNA test results at genomelink.io. No trial period, no credit card, and no hidden fees!

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The Science of "Self" with Dr. Jud Brewer Mar 14, 2022

Show notes

One of the underlying threads that runs through many of our conversations on Being Well is our relationship with our “self”. On this episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson talk with neuroscientist, mindfulness researcher, and bestselling author Dr. Jud Brewer about where we can find the “self” in the brain, and the benefits of relaxing our attachment to it.

About our Guest: Dr. Jud Brewer is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and associate professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences at the School of Public Health and Psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University. He is the executive medical director of behavioral health at Sharecare, and a research affiliate at MIT. His bestselling books include Unwinding Anxiety and The Craving Mind.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:45: What is a “self”?

5:10: Distinguishing consciousness, person, and self

7:25: Can there be a unified sense of self in an everchanging psychological process?

11:50: Selfing and what triggers a sense of “me”

15:20: Evolutionary speculations about the origins of selfing

18:50: Predictive processing and personal associations

21:55: How Jud responds to selfing

28:10: The unicorn metaphor of self and relief in sensory experience

36:45: The experience of addiction and anxiety

40:50: Somatic markers and distinguishing healthy vs. unhealthy desires

41:40: Letting go vs. straining to create a self

45:40: Underlying neurological components of the self

56:30: The fluidity of awareness without self

58:30: When and how does the default mode network become functional?

1:03:00: Neuro-psychedelic research and unlearning

1:07:15: Having a self vs. taking ourselves personally

1:11:00: Recap

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

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Visit athleticgreens.com/BEINGWELL to take ownership over your health, and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance!

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.

Discover your full genetic potential by uploading your existing DNA test results at genomelink.io. No trial period, no credit card, and no hidden fees!

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Supporting Yourself During Difficult Times Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

The tone of this episode of Being Well is a bit different. For context, we recorded it four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It feels like we've had more than our fair share of difficult times over the last few years. Like many people, we wish there were more we could do to support those suffering around the world. Today Dr. Rick and Forrest focus on what we can do, in our mind and in our lives, to relate to the challenging emotions – fear, grief, anxiety, anger, helplessness, and so on – that naturally arise during these times.

The advertising revenue from this episode will be donated to charities dedicated to supporting the people of Ukraine. If you'd like to join us in donating, we’ve included links below to several charities.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

5:10: Anxiety calming exercise

12:40: Pause

18:55: Feel your feelings

23:45: Resource yourself

26:45: Compassion

29:55: Humor

32:00: Get educated

40:35: Make a plan

45:55: Move into action

52:35: Recap

Make a donation to support Ukraine via one of the charities below:
CARE's Ukraine Crisis Fund

United Help Ukraine

Global Giving Ukraine Fund

Rescue.org

A list of charities by subject for supporting the people of Ukraine.

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

Sponsors:

Visit athleticgreens.com/BEINGWELL to take ownership over your health, and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance!

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.

Discover your full genetic potential by uploading your existing DNA test results at genomelink.io. No trial period, no credit card, and no hidden fees!

Connect with the show:

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

Coping with Failure, and Dealing with Disappointment Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

One of the most important skills we can develop is the ability to deal with disappointment and cope with failures big and small. On this episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson discuss what it looks like to experience failure not as falling short, but as an opportunity for growth. They explore cultural narratives around "failure," individual variation in sensitivity, and how to manage the pain of failure, adapt expectations, and develop systems of feedback to allow for a greater sense of ease and purpose.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:00: What do we mean by failure?

5:55: How loss works in the brain and what makes us sensitive to losing

8:30: Managing expectations of success

10:30: Attributional styles

13:10: How some can handle failure with greater ease than others

22:30: Deconstructing old narratives and failure as an opportunity for learning

28:30: Managing the pain of failure and setting up feedback systems

34:20: An example from Forrest’s experience

38:20: Poor decisions, lack of foresight, losing your nerve

40:30: Willingness to take risks

45:00: Defining our notion of success and failure via process vs. outcome

48:20: Recap

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

Sponsors:

Visit athleticgreens.com/BEINGWELLto take ownership over your health, and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance!

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.

Discover your full genetic potential by uploading your existing DNA test results at gemonelink.io. No trial period, no credit card, and no hidden fees!

Connect with the show:

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

Standing Up for What You Believe In with Todd Kashdan Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

There’s a tension we’ve all felt at some point between the benefits of conformity and the desire to be true to ourselves and stand up for what we think is right. On today’s episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson are joined by Dr. Todd Kashdan to explore how we can combine prosocial values with principled insubordination, so we can speak up for others (and ourselves) and maximize our chances of creating meaningful change even in the face of social pressure.

About Our Guest: Dr. Todd Kashdan is Professor of Psychology at George Mason University. He is a leading authority on well-being, curiosity, psychological flexibility, and resilience. He has published over 210 peer-reviewed articles, and is the author of several books including Curious? , The Upside of Your Dark Side, and most recently The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:45: Combining skillful positivity and dissent

7:55: Distinguishing principled insubordination and generic misanthropy

10:05: Four elements of principled insubordination

19:05: Yin and Yang applied to insubordination

21:35: Safe havens and a secure base

26:20: How capable are we of cultivating self-awareness?

32:05: Positive intent, courage, and sitting with discomfort

38:45: Strategies for being a moral and effective dissident

46:40: Navigating societal hierarchies

51:50: Process comments as insubordination

53:00: What Todd does when his kids are insubordinate

58:05: Recap

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

Sponsors:

From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need.

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 legendary 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

The Secret to Solving Most Psychological Problems: Integration Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

We explore a lot of big ideas on this show, and alongside them a lot of specific tactics and frameworks that can support people in growing and changing for the better. This includes everything from how to get the most out of therapy, to how to deal with traumatic experiences, to how to manage a variety of psychological conditions and individual tendencies. There’s a question that underlies all of these domains: how does personal healing actually work?

On today’s episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson discuss the fundamental strategies that allow us to become aware of and integrate all parts of ourselves–those we want to celebrate and expand, and those we’d like to heal and change.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

3:00: Overview of psychological patterns related to healing

7:25: Forrest’s personal journey as a case study

13:15: Rick assessing Forrest’s narrative from a psychologist’s perspective

15:45: Cognizing and other stories we tell to avoid parts of ourselves

20:40: Showing appreciation for our defenses, completing patterns

26:50: Catharsis and ways to reach it

39:15: Practical ways to reclaim and reconnect with parts of yourself

43:45: Playing with the nature of identity/ego

47:00: Self-forgiveness and celebrating what you’re good at

50:05: Recap

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

Sponsors:

Get the probiotic rooted in the latest microbiome science from Pendulum, and use code BEINGWELL for 20% off your purchase.

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 legendary 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

Family Challenges, Financial Risks, and Connecting With a Wounded Inner Child: Mailbag Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

We’re incredibly lucky to have such an engaged and interested group of people listening to the podcast, and because of that we regularly receive a lot of interesting questions via email and social media (links below). On today’s episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson dive into a few of these questions, discussing topics such as: how to manage family relationships, principles for approaching life’s changes, and what kind of therapy Rick actually practices.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:00: Bringing up challenges with family when times are already hard.

11:25: What kind of therapy does Rick practice?

19:15: Taking financial risks to experience life vs. creating financial security

30:00: “Neurons that fire together wire together” explained

34:05: Developing a connection with your inner child/younger self if your childhood was filled with painful experiences

41:40: Managing challenges between your family and your partner

54:15: Recap

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

Have a question for us?

Email: contact@beingwellpodcast.com to submit questions or potential topics you'd like us to explore in future episodes.

Sponsors:

Find the new CBD+ performance gummies and the whole dosist health line-up today at dosisthealth.com. Use promo code BEINGWELL20 for 20% off your purchase.

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 legendary 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

Embracing Uncertainty with Kaira Jewel Lingo Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

Kaira Jewel Lingo, a former Buddhist nun at the Plum Village community under the guidance of Thich Naht Han, joins Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson to explore how we can cultivate trust and equanimity in the face of uncertainty. They discuss the somatic experience of opening to the unknown, taking action as an antidote to anxiety, and how to have equanimity both when things work out...and when they don’t.

About our Guest: Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Buddhist teacher who weaves mindfulness and meditation practice with social justice. At the age of 25, she became a Buddhist nun at the Plum Village community in France under the guidance of Thich Naht Han, where she stayed for 15 years. She became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana/Insight tradition through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Finally, she is the author of We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption.

Recording Note: This episode was recorded before the passing of Thich Naht Han.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:45: Kaira Jewel’s background

2:35: Trust in times of major change

9:10: Two kinds of uncertainty

14:10: Store consciousness and trusting the unknown

18:50: Somatic contraction and expansion

23:05: Responding to the truth of suffering with joyful engagement

30:50: Practicing equanimity

42:10: Defining equanimity

43:30: How to return to center in unstable moments

48:20: Body-based equanimity exercise

50:50: Recap

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

Sponsors:

Find the new CBD+ performance gummies and the whole dosist health line-up today at dosisthealth.com. Use promo code BEINGWELL20 for 20% off your purchase.

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 legendary 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

Creating an Abundance Mindset Jan 24, 2022

Show notes

So many forces in our brains, bodies, and culture move us toward the experience of scarcity – that something is missing, that we don’t have enough, and that we never will have enough. The feeling of scarcity both feels bad in itself, and is also the creator and amplifier of so many other challenges we face.

On this episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson talk about what a scarcity and an abundance mindset is, what some sources of scarcity are, and how we can move to an authentic experience of abundance.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:35: Defining scarcity and abundance

6:45: Why are we biologically predisposed towards scarcity?

17:05: When to relax and expand

20:20: Scarcity at the cultural level

26:20: Critique of promoting an “abundance mindset” and a practical definition

30:45: Orienting to a sense of abundance

38:05: Motivating with punishment vs reward

40:55: Abundance in objectively difficult times

47:15: Specific ways to shift from scarcity to abundance

58:45: A sense of wonder and groundedness

1:01:25: Recap

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

Sponsors:

From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need.

Find the new CBD+ performance gummies and the whole dosist health line-up today at dosisthealth.com. Use promo code BEINGWELL20 for 20% off your purchase.

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 legendary 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 Find Your Passion and Purpose Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

Most people abandon their New Year's Resolutions by mid-January. This often occurs because people make resolutions based on what they feel like they should want, rather than what they actually do want. In other words, their goals and resolutions aren’t in alignment with their purpose.

On this episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson discuss how we can identify and pursue our purpose, and why it’s so valuable to have one in the first place. They explore questions and strategies that can help us develop clarity on what we find meaningful, what our core values are, and how we’d like to spend our time.

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

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

3:00: Why spend time discussing how to have a purpose?

11:00: Nonverbal ways to establish yourself in your purpose

12:50: Ways to be flexible that make purpose accessible

17:45: Fresh starts help us retain freedom in the present

21:20: How to listen to yourself when it's unclear what you want

26:05: Getting feedback from others and abandoning doomed pursuits

32:10: Moving past the inner critic and fear of letting others down

38:10: Five questions to ask yourself

48:15: Soul work and sacredness

50:30: Doing what helps you look at things differently

54:10: Recap

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

Sponsors:

Find the new CBD+ performance gummies and the whole dosist health line-up today at dosisthealth.com. Use promo code BEINGWELL20 for 20% off your purchase.

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 legendary 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

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