Rick Hanson Quotes

People will do more to avoid a loss than to acquire a comparable gain

In effect, the negativity bias is tilted toward immediate survival, but against quality of life,

Neurons that fire together, wire together.

One way to focus and express kind intentions is through these traditional wishes, which you can think, write down, or even sing: May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be happy. May you live with ease.

Therefore, you can use your mind to change your brain to benefit your mind — and everyone else

Mindfulness helps you open up to the deeper layers of yourself.

There are three fundamental phases to psychological and spiritual growth: being with difficult material (e.g., old wounds, anger); releasing it; and replacing it with something more beneficial.

Well-being comes from meeting our needs, not denying them. When we experience that our needs are sufficiently met, the body and mind enter the “green zone” Responsive mode, and there is a sense of peace, contentment, and love. When needs feel unmet, we’re disturbed into the fight-flight-freeze “red zone” Reactive mode, and there is a sense of fear, frustration, and hurt.

when you know that your practices are actually changing your brain, you’re more likely to keep doing them.

Mindfulness just means being fully aware of something, in the moment with it, and not judging or resisting it.

Being for yourself simply means that you care about yourself. You wish to feel happy instead of worried, sad, guilty, or angry. You want people to treat you well instead of badly. You want to help your future self — the person you’ll be next week, next year, next decade — to have as good a life as possible.

Every human being has three basic needs — safety, satisfaction, and connection — that are grounded in our ancient evolutionary history.

Try to see the big picture. Whatever has happened is probably a short chapter in the long book of your life.

Things go much better if you slow them down. Give yourself — and the other person — the gift of time: time to take a breath or two, figure out what the other person is really saying, allow the first waves of fight-or-flight reactions to pass through your body, and recognize and restrain impulsive words and actions that you’ll regret later. Those extra seconds before you speak help others feel less like they’re on the receiving end of a rat-a-tat-tat barrage of words and emotional intensity. And the extra seconds give them time to reflect and be less hijacked themselves.

Mental resources like determination, self-worth, and kindness are what make us resilient: able to cope with adversity and push through challenges in the pursuit of opportunities. While resilience helps us recover from loss and trauma, it offers much more than that. True resilience fosters well-being, an underlying sense of happiness, love, and peace. Remarkably, as you internalize experiences of well-being, that builds inner strengths which in turn make you more resilient. Well-being and resilience promote each other in an upward spiral.