Show notes
In today's episode, I'm speaking with Dr, Rick Hanson Ph.D. Rick describes himself as a neuropsychologist and is also a New York Times bestselling author and Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. His books have been published in 29 languages with 900,000 copies being sold in English alone. He's lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. What all of that comes down to is that he is an expert when it comes to the brain and how it responds to various events and behaviors. This includes grief and loss, which is what we talk about a lot in this conversation.
One of the first things I noticed about Rick in preparation for our time together was that he has such a systematic easy to follow approach to his teachings as well as his calm nature. I started our conversation by asking him about where he thinks that calm came from originally to which he credits some of it to his parents.
We also talk about how he explains the process of loss in the brain and why it might be that dealing with loss is harder for some brains than others. Rick shared some of the ways that we can move through loss and grief in a more resilient way including self-soothing, community, meaning making, and finding comfort in knowing that everyone suffers loss.
"There is something weirdly freeing and calming that happens when we locate our own losses within the tapestry of so many torn threads in the human fabric." ~ Dr. Rick Hanson
Rick shares so eloquently his knowing of the Divine and particularly the feeling of coming home.
He talks about what it feels like to come home through your breath and that when you come home to your body and emotions you develop more capacity and ease in all parts of your life. He feels that this process and ability to come home is the bridge between the brain and the deeper, felt sense of knowing we wish for everyone. Rick talks about the idea that all sickness at the core, is homesickness. When we lose someone we love, we can experience a kind of homesickness because we lose the sense of where and who we are and our world literally feels turned upside down.
There is something about the way he brings all the worlds together, scientific and spiritual, that is so profound and helpful. I hope you will listen to this. This conversation helped me to see my own experience of loss in a different way and I'm so grateful. When I asked him what he'd like everyone listening to take away from the conversation, his answer was simple yet so healing and beautiful. It was this, "You are good already." It's true. Without striving or pushing or accomplishing or anything else. Just as you are, you are good already. We can lose so much in our lifetimes, but Rick hopes you are able to hang onto this Truth that can never be taken away from you ~ you are good already.
I hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr. Rick Hanson as much as I did. Please share it with your friends and family, and be sure to tag me if you share it on social media so that I can say thank you. I'm @christinarasmussen7 on Instagram and @ChristinaRasmussen2014 on Facebook.
If you are needing support during this pandemic, I invite you to join my free Facebook Group that I have created for you. It is so important to me that we are ready to exit the Waiting Room when it's time to re-enter our new lives on the other side of this.
More About Dr. Rick Hanson
Rick Hanson, PhD is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. His books have been published in 29 languages and include Neurodharma, Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha's Brain, Just One Thing, and Mother Nurture – with 900,000 copies in English alone.
His free weekly newsletter has 180,000 subscribers and his online programs have scholarships available for those with financial need. He's lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on the BBC, CBS, NPR, and other major media. He began meditating in 1974 and is the founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. He loves wilderness and taking a break from emails.
You can connect with him via his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
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