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

Latest Episodes:

Connecting With Your Inner Child Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

One of the common topics on the podcast is developmental psychology: how what happened to us as a child can influence our lives today. Alongside that, there can also be a lot of value in reconnecting with the person we were when we were young, before the world got in the way. This can give us a sense of our true nature, and new ideas for how to become an ever-more-complete version of ourselves out in the world.

Follow this link to watch the conversation on YouTube!

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

Key Topics:

1:10: Uncovering our true nature.

4:20: Our cultural view of children.

7:20: “Feeling down” into younger layers.

13:30: What were you like when you were young?

18:20: A process of contacting your true nature.

25:00: What were your innate desires?

34:00: Compassion for our source.

39:00: Guiding questions, and the layers of self we can access.

43:00: The core needs of most young people.

51:40: Writing a letter to your younger self.

53:00: Recap

Sponsors:

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Fierce Compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

People generally think of self-compassion as a "soft" emotion that helps us comfort, reassure, and nurture ourselves. Today a pioneer in the field of compassion research, Dr. Kristin Neff, joins the show to explore the fierce side of self-compassion, including how it can help us draw healthy boundaries, take necessary action, and stand against injustice.

About Our Guest: Dr. Kristin Neff is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She conducted the first empirical studies on self-compassion almost twenty years ago, and is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. On June 15th she'll be releasing her new book: Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power and Thrive.

Watch our conversation on YouTube here!

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

Key Topics:

1:50: How is fierce self-compassion different from “typical” self-compassion?

5:50: The balance of fierceness and tenderness.

7:45: The importance of fierceness for women.

17:15: Practices that support fierce self-compassion.

20:30: Applying fierce self-compassion internally.

25:40: The harms of traditional gender role socialization.

32:10: What behaviors were you rewarded for?

34:45: Research on the value of self-compassion.

40:40: The impact of self-compassion on motivation.

45:15: Committing to our own well being.

50:45: How men can support women.

55:00: A message to your younger self.

57:15: Recap

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Build healthy habits with Most Days! Download it in the App Store or go to MostDays.com/beingwell for more information.

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How to Make a Big Decision May 31, 2021

Show notes

Some of the most important moments of our lives are crossroads of different kinds. There’s a big decision, and we have to pick one thing over another. Today Dr. Hanson and Forrest explore how to make the important decisions in life.

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

Key Topics:

2:00: Common themes in big decisions.

5:00: Balancing short- and long-term decisions.

10:15: Knowing your own nature, and having different priorities.

17:20: Using analysis to inform intuition.

21:15: Identifying the “parts” of a decision.

22:50: Analyzing costs and benefits.

33:00: Write it down.

36:20: Working backwards.

40:30: Getting clear on what you want.

42:30: Thinking over the long haul.

43:30: The three circles.

45:00: Finding “comps.”

50:30: The calculus of a decision.

59:00: Affective forecasting

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Build healthy habits with Most Days! Download it in the App Store or go to MostDays.com/beingwell for more information.

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Being with Grief with Dr. Joanne Cacciatore May 24, 2021

Show notes

In this conversation from the Life After COVID Summit, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore joins Forrest to help us put the past in perspective, and relate in healthier and more whole ways to the many things we've lost over the past year.

Last weekend Dr. Rick Hanson and Forrest Hanson were joined by 11 world-class experts for a FREE three-day online event to explore how we can recover from old wounds, build key strengths, and create a better future together. Over 10,000 people joined us for the Summit, and we received incredible feedback.

If you missed it, all of the conversations will remain freely available through May 25th. Click here to learn more about the Summit and register now.

Key Topics:

2:00: Mortality salience.

5:00: Putting “little stresses” in context alongside the big ones.

6:40: The problems with “getting back to normal,” and our new opportunities.

12:10: Remember what has happened, and turning toward grief.

15:30: Practices that support us during grief.

20:30: The importance of social support.

26:50: How we can support people who are grieving.

30:15: Should we name the people who are no longer here?

31:55: Understanding the trauma associated with grief.

39:50: Working with anger.

43:40: Using the body as a tool for healing.

48:00: Caregiver fatigue.

53:30: Survival guilt.

57:30: Advice for the future.

59:20: Recap

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

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Build healthy habits with Most Days! Download it in the App Store or go to MostDays.com/beingwell for more information.

Connect with the show:

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

Dealing with Life's Disruptions May 17, 2021

Show notes

Today we’re focusing on a topic that’s been particularly important over the last year: how we can deal more effectively with life's major disruptions. This includes recovering from setbacks, finding the opportunities, and even getting the most out of disruptions that are positive.

Life After COVID Summit: Join Dr. Rick Hanson, Forrest Hanson, and a roster of world-class experts during this FREE three-day online event to explore our life after COVID. Click here to learn more about the Summit and register now.

Key Topics:

0:55: “One mistake after another.”

1:55: Life After COVID Summit.

5:30: The opportunities in major disruptions.

9:00: The impact of social environments on our self-identity.

11:10: The Theory of Positive Disintegration.

13:30: Framing disruption as a normal feature of life.

18:30: Examples of normal disruptions that occur in life.

21:45: The importance of social support.

23:30: Practices to limit the harm during a moment of disruption.

31:15: The necessity of eventually processing the emotion.

36:00: Taking the time you need.

39:15: Moving into action.

42:20: Integrating a disruption.

47:50: Orienting toward change.

52:00: Mindfulness of contraction and expansion.

54:20: Recap

Sponsors:

Build healthy habits with Most Days! Download it in the App Store or go to MostDays.com/beingwell for more information.

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.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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

Meeting Your Internal Family with Susan McConnell May 10, 2021

Show notes

We usually experience ourselves as being one "self," but we all have different characters, different "parts," running around inside our heads. And our relationship with some parts is better than others. Today's guest, Susan McConnell, joins Forrest to explore Somatic Internal Family Systems, a powerful form of therapy that helps us bring those parts together as a unified self.

About Our Guest: Susan is a senior trainer for the IFS Institute, and has taught Internal Family Systems both in the United States and around the world since 1997. She developed the Somatic IFS approach, which is a synthesis of Susan’s forty years of study, teaching, and clinical practice. Her new book Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy, came out late last year.

Key Topics:

3:50: The Internal Family Systems model.

8:00: The Self, and relationships between our parts.

14:30: Common parts that people tend to have.

18:30: The “spiritual bypass.”

22:45: Using the body to become aware of our parts.

30:15: The benefits of somatic psychotherapy.

33:40: The five practices of somatic IFS.

39:15: Unifying the parts.

41:20: The Six F’s for finding protector parts.

Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there.

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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The Heart of Zen with Henry Shukman May 03, 2021

Show notes

Henry Shukman, the guiding teacher of Mountain Cloud Zen Center, joins Rick and Forrest to explore self-transcendent experiences, relaxing self-identification, and the warm heart at the core of Zen practice.

About our Guest: Henry Shukman is a writer, poet, and Zen Master of the Sanbo Zen lineage. He’s published nine books to date which have won numerous awards, and writes regularly for Tricycle, The New York Times and other publications. His most recent book is One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir.

Key Topics:

1:50: How Henry came to meditative practice.

3:30: Henry’s self-transcendent experience.

7:20: How Zen practice has changed Henry’s experience of himself.

10:35: Gradual cultivation, sudden awakening.

14:30: The role of transcendent experiences.

18:50: The importance of virtue.

21:40: Unethical behavior among contemplative teachers.

22:40: The risks of “seeking” self-transcendent experiences.

27:00: A framework that supports awakening.

31:00: Where it’s valuable to rest our awareness.

35:30: Practicing when there’s suffering associated with the container of the body.

41:10: Non-separateness, and relaxing identification with self.

47:15: Fear around not-self.

48:10: “The apple falls away from the tree.”

51:15: Recap

Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there.

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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

The New Normal with Dr. Jennifer Ashton Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Jennifer Ashton joins Rick and Forrest to discuss everything you need to know about the current state of the pandemic. This includes what vaccinated people should feel comfortable doing, the J&J vaccine pause, how to think about risk, and how we can support our mental health during the New Normal.

About Our Guest: Dr. Ashton is the Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News, and has appeared on the ABC Network up to 14 hours a day in order to bring viewers important medical information. She is in regular contact with public health officials, including the Surgeon General and Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Ashton is also the bestselling author of six books, including her recently published book The New Normal: A Roadmap to Resilience in the Pandemic Era.

Key Topics:

3:10: Why can’t we just go back to the “old normal?”

6:10: Being realistic about uncertainty.

7:45: The J&J vaccine pause, and why this is encouraging.

11:15: How to think about risk.

14:30: What should vaccinated people feel comfortable doing?

18:30: What else can we do to support our health right now?

20:25: The communication challenges of the pandemic.

24:40: How to “think like a doctor,” and approach new medical information.

27:30: Respecting the common good with our choices.

33:50: Mental health during a pandemic.

37:00: The RAIN method.

40:20: Compassion, grief, and interconnection.

44:00: The lack of preparation, and hopes for the future.

Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there.

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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

Why We Meditate: Purposes, Methods, and Common Misconceptions Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

What's the "point" of meditation, and how can we build a practice that works for us? In this episode Rick and Forrest clear up some common misconceptions about meditation, explore major forms of meditation, and share how you can get more out of your practice.

Key Topics:

1:15: Forrest’s history with meditation, and some of the benefits of practice.

5:30: What’s the “point” of meditation?

11:30: Skepticism toward narrow views of meditation.

14:10: Do you have to be “spiritual” or “religious” to meditate?

14:45: Three breaths practice.

16:30: Secular vs. spiritual orientations toward meditation.

17:45: The two major tools: insight vs. “calming” meditation.

20:40: Virtue, concentration, and wisdom.

23:20: The tendency to “skip” to insight.

26:30: Why Rick meditates.

32:30: What does it mean to be an “intermediate” or “advanced” meditator?

34:15: What are some of the forms meditation can take?

47:45: Recap

As a quick note, there's a little background noise at some moments during the episode.

Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there.

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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

Working With Your Anxiety Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Over the last year we’ve all been through a lot. In addition to the many major costs, there have been smaller, subtler costs as well, including a pervasive feeling of anxiety. In this episode, Rick and Forrest walk through a normal experience of anxiety and offer some suggestions for how to overcome it.

Key Topics:

3:30: Accepting the presence of anxiety.

6:30: Recognize what’s alright right now.

10:00: Finding heart, and connecting with other people.

18:30: Take action.

26:30: Appreciating the biological part of anxiety.

32:00: Surrendering to what will happen.

37:00: What enables surrender?

41:20: Recap.

Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there.

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 legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic.

Connect with the show:

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

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