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

Latest Episodes:

Staying Sane During Hard Times Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

It’s one thing to use some of the tools that we talk about on this podcast when things feel stable and are going “good enough.” It’s another to apply them when the world feels threatening. Today we’re learning how to have more 'equanimity,' which is what allows us to maintain our composure, presence of mind, and perhaps even wellbeing under challenging circumstances.

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Key Topics:

1:30: How do we define equanimity?

4:00: Psychological experience of equanimity.

4:30: Hedonic tone.

8:00: Brain science behind equanimity.

11:30: Liking and wanting.

14:30: Equanimity in secular Buddhism.

15:30: Equanimity, privilege, and gaslighting.

22:00: Dealing with unfairness.

26:30: Responding to painful experiences in the moment.

30:30: The ‘four foundations’ of equanimity.

35:30: Manage aversion.

37:30: Grow the good.

39:15: Find what endures.

Overcome Anxiety: Let go of anxiety and grow a greater sense of calm strength with Rick's Dealing with Anxiety program, which offers 5 powerful practices for managing stress and worries. Save 10% with coupon code BEINGWELL.

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.

Sponsors:

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Maximize Productivity with Mindfulness Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

How can we be more productive, and improve our ability to focus on the things we really care about, without it becoming a source of stress? Chris Bailey, who TED described as "possibly the most productive person you could ever meet," joins us to explore how to get your brain to focus.

About our Guest: Chris is the bestselling author of Hyperfocus and The Productivity Project, and his website A Life of Productivity has a small army of devoted readers. Chris' wonderful TED talk, How to Get Your Brain to Focus, touches on many of the topics we explore in this episode.

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

Key Topics:

3:15: What does it mean to be productive?

5:00: A year of productivity.

7:00: What is the goal of productivity?

10:45: Defining success, and the Rule of Threes.

15:30: Our negative attitudes toward productivity.

18:30: Defining and finding intentionality.

22:40: Productivity benefits of meditation.

31:20: Finding fulfillment and working calmly.

36:15: Maintaining focus and productivity during challenging times.

41:30: The TV and your attention.

49:00: How to build our capacity for focus.

Sponsors:

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Children, Trauma, and Racism with Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

How have children experienced this year's challenges, and how can we get better at talking with them about race and racism?

Today we’re focusing on trauma, resilience, and effective coping, and particularly on the unique challenges experienced by young people and their parents.

About our Guest: Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith is a child clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and issues of race. She is a senior fellow of Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and is both a professor and the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Wright Institute.

Here's Allison's wonderful article on parenting during overwhelming times that I referenced during our conversation.

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

Key Topics:

2:25: Honoring the small challenges alongside the big ones.

5:30: What challenges are children facing this year?

7:30: How are children processing our challenges differently from adults?

9:50: Helping children manage this time.

11:30: Finding hope, and having things to look forward to.

13:30: Signs of PTSD, and listening to our children.

16:30: How can we get better at talking to kids?

21:00: How children are processing racial violence.

24:10: Talking with children about racial violence.

28:00: Bias, implicit and otherwise.

34:30: How does bias find its way into the virtual classroom?

37:05: What are we privileging in different spaces?

42:00: The first time a kid experiences or perpetrates racism.

48:30: Creating a family mission statement.

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!

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Angry and Content Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

How can we maintain contentment, calm, or inner peace, while still aiming high, pursuing good goals, and experiencing natural frustration and anger? And is contentment even a good goal when there's so much injustice out in the world?

Rick's Course: If you'd like to learn how to change your brain for the better, check out Rick's Positive Neuroplasticity Training. It's a six-week online course that will teach you how to beat your brain's negativity bias, and have more confidence, compassion, and inner peace. Use coupon code BEWELL50 at checkout for $50 off the purchase price.

Key Topics:

1:45: Why contentment matters.

4:30: Can we be content when things are hard?

6:00: Being skeptical of the “wanting mind.”

8:30: How can we return to contentment when moved from it?

12:10: What’s wrong with being driven? Does contentment make us lazy?

16:20: Self-actualization and taking action from a place of fullness.

19:00: Staying content while performing basic tasks.

21:50: Contentment vs. complacency.

25:20: Content while hurt or angry.

29:30: How to build contentment when times are tough.

35:00: Can we be content and afraid?

46:00: Recap

Sponsors:

Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/BEINGWELL and get a free trial of their Premium Membership.

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

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

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

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Authentic Happiness with Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar Sep 14, 2020

Show notes

How can we find happiness even when times are challenging? Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar joins us to explore authentic happiness, accepting difficult emotions, and giving yourself permission to be human.

About our Guest: Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar is the bestselling author of six books, founder of the Happiness Studies Academy, and former professor of two of the largest courses in Harvard’s history. Learn more about his Certificate in Happiness Studies program here. Use the code HAPPY for a 10% discount.

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

Key Topics:

2:45: Unhappiness in spite of success.

4:15: How do you define happiness?

5:50: Combining self-actualization with in-the-moment happiness.

8:45: Accepting our painful emotions.

10:10: Giving ourselves permission to be human.

19:10: What did students learn in Tal’s courses that they didn’t expect?

22:30: How to make hard personal choices.

28:00: Authenticity and comparison.

30:15: Does pursuing happiness actually make you unhappy?

36:10: Creating lasting change.

40:10: Happiness as a business value-add.

43:00: Managing expectations.

46:00: The Happiness Studies Academy.

Sponsors:

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

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

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How to Change Your Brain Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

Today, we're exploring the single most important skill we will ever teach on this podcast: How to change the brain in lasting ways.

The dirty secret of the personal growth industry, and self-help and psychology more broadly, is that most of what we learn doesn't stick. So, what can we do to achieve the ‘holy grail’ of personal growth – lasting change in our hearts, minds, and behaviors?

Rick's Course: If you'd like to learn more about how to change your brain for the better, check out Rick's Positive Neuroplasticity Training. It's a six-week online course that will teach you how to beat your brain's negativity bias, and have more confidence, compassion, and inner peace. Use coupon code BEWELL50 at checkout for $50 off the purchase price!

Key Topics:

3:30: What is neuroplasticity?

8:00: The power of deliberate practice.

9:30: Meditation and the brain.

12:45: Why is it so hard to change? The negativity bias.

19:45: Human exceptionalism and energy conservation.

23:00: An experiential example.

30:30: How to change deep-seated issues.

36:45: The Positive Neuroplasticity Training.

39:15: Changing self-concept to change behavior.

49:00: Participating in who you are becoming.

Sponsors:

Want fresh, delicious, simple dinners delivered right to your doorstep? Check out HelloFresh, America’s #1 meal kit, and use code beingwell90 to get $90 off including free shipping!

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

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

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

Connect with the show:

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

Complex PTSD and Developmental Trauma with Pete Walker Aug 31, 2020

Show notes

What are the consequences of growing up inside an abusive family, and what can we do as adults to heal old wounds? Today we're joined by Pete Walker, a practicing therapist and expert in Complex PTSD.

About Our Guest: Pete is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area, who specializes in helping adults who were traumatized in childhood. He’s the author of three books, including Complex PTSD : From Surviving To Thriving. It’s a practical, user-friendly self-help guide to recovering from the lingering effects of childhood trauma, and to achieving a rich and fulfilling life as an adult.

Pete has a variety of resources on his website, including his 13 Steps of Emotional Flashback Management.

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

Timestamps:

3:00: What distinguishes CPTSD from PTSD?

5:55: CPTSD as “developmental trauma disorder”

8:55: Presence of the bad vs. absence of the good.

11:40: The importance of empathy.

13:35: “They’re crazy or I’m crazy,” and the consequences of that.

17:10: Healthy anger.

19:00: Becoming a support to yourself.

21:30: Stages of recovery.

25:00: Corrective emotional experiences.

27:30: The lifelong process of recovery.

32:10: Reparenting and the inner child.

34:45: Managing the relationship with our family of origin.

41:30: Forgiveness.

44:30: The inner critic and internalized abusers.

48:30: A message to your younger self.

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.

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Psychological Safety with Dr. Amy Edmondson Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

What makes for a great team – whether personal or professional – and how can organizations and individuals create a more psychologically healthy environment?

Many of us have been fortunate enough to be on a really great team…and most all of us have probably been on a bad one. So, what makes for a great team – whether personal or professional – and is it as simple as just being good at your job, or is there more to it than that? It turns out one of the key factors is called psychological safety, which we'll be learning about today with the help of a world-class expert.

About our Guest: Dr. Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, where she studies teaming, psychological safety, and organizational learning. She’s the author of six books, including her most recent book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth.

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

Key Topics:

2:00: What is psychological safety?

7:15: How does psychological safety relate to personality?

11:45: Stress and high performance.

14:00: Me vs. We

17:30: Psychological safety vs. psychological abuse.

22:00: Creating a safe group environment.

27:00: Accepting responsibility.

31:30: Psychological safety in virtual environments.

34:00: Giving good feedback.

37:30: Just one thing.

41:30: A message to your younger self.

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.

Connect with the show:

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Real Change with Sharon Salzberg Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

Sharon Salzberg, one of the most prominent teachers of mindfulness in the West, joins us to discuss how we can create real change in our hearts, minds, and lives.

About our Guest: Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation, a world-renowned teacher and NY Times bestselling author. Her 11th book, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, comes out September 1st. She's also the host of the fantastic Metta Hour podcast.

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

Key Topics:

2:45: Sharon’s experience over the last few months.

4:30: Feeling the breath.

6:20: Sitting with painful feelings.

7:15: Turning toward the good, and metta.

10:15: “Mindfulness to change the world.”

13:30: Key skills from Real Change.

18:00: Dealing with burnout and overwhelm.

24:30: Grief.

28:00: Effective compassion vs. empathic overwhelm.

33:00: Generosity, and giving to fill your own cup.

36:00: Metta.

38:00: Kindness toward difficult people.

40:00: Doing what you can.

42:00: Patience, and putting wins on the board.

45:00: A message to your younger self.

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

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Key Skills for Great Relationships Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

In part two of our conversation, we explore some of the key psychological skills that lead to a truly great relationship informed by 35 years of couples counseling experience.

The Relationships Workshop: Join Rickfor a live, online relationship workshop that will teach you how to have more fulfilling, effective, and joyful relationships than ever before. Follow the link to learn more, and podcast listeners can enter code BEWELL50 at checkout for $50 off the purchase price!

Key Skills:

3:00: Give your full attention.

6:30: Tune into your body.

7:20: Cultivate interest.

11:00: How can we know if we’re actually empathic?

13:00: Your attention is yours.

16:00: Accepting some level of discomfort.

17:45: Getting comfortable with people wanting things from you.

21:00: Three stories of relating.

22:30: Fulfilling relationship tasks.

24:30: Changing our relationship to criticism.

30:30: Chronic giving, and setting firm boundaries.

37:30: Cultivating a stronger sense of self.

44:30: Talk about what matters.

50:50: The desire to be found.

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

Sponsors:

Want fresh, delicious, simple dinners delivered right to your doorstep? Check out HelloFresh, America’s #1 meal kit, and use code beingwell90 to get $90 off including free shipping!

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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