Practical Wisdom with Dr. Rick Hanson

So often we struggle with life’s challenges—reacting with stress, craving, or grasping—only to find ourselves adding suffering on top of difficulty.

In this talk, I explore the Buddha’s essential teachings on dukkha (suffering), sukha (well-being), and tanha (craving)—and how to navigate them skillfully so we can live with greater resilience, peace, and joy.

We’ll look at how pain becomes suffering, how pleasure can sometimes backfire, and most importantly, how to find the kinds of happiness that don’t depend on craving or clinging.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-how-to-face-challenges-without-suffering/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

We can’t stop life from bringing pain—loss, disappointment, aging—but we can stop piling extra suffering on top of it. 

In this talk, I explore timeless Buddhist wisdom and practical psychology for meeting life’s “golden winds” without being blown away by them. Learn how to recognize the difference between pain and the suffering we create, work with craving and clinging, and rest in the natural state of peaceful, openhearted happiness that’s already within you.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-why-we-suffer-and-how-to-stop-adding-to-the-pain/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

Feeling isolated, burdened, or unseen? In a world that often feels fragmented and exhausting—with anxiety, stress, and a subtle sense that you’re not quite enough—you may long to feel more supported, connected, and grounded.

So this week I invite you to shift from striving to be loved to being carried by love—not imaginary, but foundational. This kind of living transforms ordinary experiences: the events of your day might stay the same, but how you feel through them—and how they affect you—can change dramatically. In this talk, I share:

• How to identify the felt sense of being carried, not left to push forward alone
• Practices that encourage love to open through you
• How to shift from a top‑down, “must act on it” stance to a more receptive, grounded belonging
• How life’s persistent gifts—evolutionary forces, the natural world, kindness from others, and consciousness itself—are ever-present supports

When enough individuals begin to be lived by love, personal lives transform—and collective change becomes possible. In a world teetering between justice and strife, being lived by love isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-how-to-feel-lived-by-love/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

So often, we feel torn between striving for change and surrendering to what is. We can get stuck trying too hard, or give up entirely. 

So this week, I explore how to find a wise balance between deliberate intention and choiceless awareness, and how to grow lasting inner strengths like compassion, kindness, joy, and equanimity. These are qualities we can practice—not just admire.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-compassion-kindness-joy-and-equanimity/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

Life can feel like it’s coming at us from all sides—relationships change, plans fall through, our bodies age, and the world keeps shifting under our feet. It’s totally normal to feel uneasy or anxious in the face of all this unpredictability. But what if we could relate to change in a different way—not as something to fear, but as something we can move with, and even find peace within?

This week, I explored one of the Buddha’s most fundamental insights: that everything is in a state of constant change. And not in a dry or philosophical way, but in a deeply practical sense—how seeing this clearly can actually help us suffer less. 

We look at how habitual anxiety takes hold, how to recognize when we’re actually okay in the moment, and how to find stability inside ourselves even when life feels chaotic. There’s also a reflection on how impermanence doesn’t mean everything is meaningless—far from it. In fact, it can help us loosen our grip on what’s hurting us, open more fully to what’s good, and even discover what is unchanging at the core of our being.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-how-to-find-peace-in-impermanence/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

When life feels uncertain, chaotic, or painful, our minds scramble for answers. We try to make sense of things we may never fully understand. We cling to being right, to figuring it out, to knowing for sure… but what if real freedom comes from loosening that grip?

There is a deep value in not knowing—not as a failure, but as a profound refuge. Certainty can become a trap, but if we can rest in openness and curiosity, and embrace “beginner’s mind”, we can bring relief, humility, and insight to our relationships with others and ourselves.

Give yourself the permission to not always know. There’s grace and wisdom in that.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-the-joy-in-not-knowing/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

So many of us are quick to dismiss our own pain—or the pain of others. We might tell ourselves to “move on” or wonder why someone else is still upset.

But the truth is, suffering deserves respect. When we minimize pain, it often makes it worse—and avoidant patterns can keep us stuck.

That’s why it’s important to face what hurts with compassion and strength – so we can release what no longer serves, and receive the inner resources that help us heal. These include resilience, self-compassion, and the courage to stay present with what’s difficult—without falling into shame, judgment, or superiority.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-respecting-and-relieving-suffering/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

We all want to feel seen, respected, and appreciated—but so often, we’re overlooked. Feeling unappreciated can be quietly painful—and surprisingly common. Our efforts go unnoticed, our sincerity unacknowledged, and over time it can really wear us down and even cause resentment toward those we care about.

So this week I explored the deep human need for appreciation—not as ego-stroking, but as a vital nutrient in relationships, work, and personal growth. 

Appreciation is more than just “being nice”—it’s a powerful practice that supports lasting inner strength. There's also a lot of science, psychology, and Buddhist teachings behind generosity and appreciation: how they help us grow, feel connected, and internalize positive experiences.

So get comfy and listen in to find out how to offer these gifts skillfully and what to do when your efforts aren't recognized or returned.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-the-power-of-appreciation-and-how-to-get-more-of-it-from-others/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

This week I'd like to focus on something both personal and practical: What is a core practice that you return to when things go sideways? When you're overwhelmed, irritated, frustrated, or just worn out? What’s the thing that centers you and brings you back to who you really are?

In this episode, I explore how even our healthiest desires—those driven by love, purpose, or care—can quietly pull us away from that inner home base. We often get caught up in doing good, striving for goals, or helping others… and still find ourselves exhausted, contracted, or discontent. Why? Because even wholesome desires can seduce us into over-efforting and losing touch with the deeper peace that’s always available.

Here are the timecodes for some of the highlights:
00:00 - How to recognize your own core practice in daily life
10:35 - The difference between healthy desire (chanda) and craving (tanha)
17:15 - How “doing the right thing” can still lead to stress and burnout
27:13 - What it means to relinquish effort for the sake of a greater happiness
34:51 - How to return again and again to contentment, presence, and ease

This is a reflection on how to stay connected to what really matters—without getting caught in the endless push to do more. The goal isn’t to suppress your good intentions, but to hold them with wisdom, and rest more often in that quiet place of being already full.

This is also an invitation to come back home to yourself—to the deeper kind of happiness that’s available not when everything goes your way, but when you let go in wise and loving ways.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-the-seductions-of-healthy-desires/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

Let’s be honest—these days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, reactive, and worn down. Whether it’s the relentless news cycle, a difficult interaction, or just your own mind revving up again, it can feel like calm and happiness are out of reach.

So in this episode, I unpacked some of the biological machinery underneath our stress and reactivity—and offered practical ways to work with it. I talked about how your nervous system gets rattled (it’s not your fault!), and how small shifts in awareness, social connection, and even the way you look at the world can help you settle down, open up, and feel more content and effective in daily life.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/meditation-talk-how-to-calm-the-biological-machinery-of-stress-and-suffering/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.