Every Wednesday night Rick Hanson leads a meditation and talk covering various topics. We have compiled a couple of different meditations from him that include releasing anxiety and cultivating feelings of safety.

Who Is Rick Hanson?

He is a neuropsychologist that has written many self-help books, ran seminars, and teaches people how they can rewire their brains to start naturally producing happiness. He has spoken for places such as NASA, Harvard, Google, and Oxford.

As a meditation teacher, he helps people find consistency within their practice, understand how meditation can rewire the brain, and give techniques to help you create a deeper meditation practice.

His most famous books are Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha’s Brain, and Just One Thing. You can find our favorite quotes from these books here!

Reduce Anxiety Rick Hanson Guided Meditation

“Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.” according to the anxiety and depression association of America.

If you are suffering from or experiencing anxiety you are not alone in fact there is a holistic and low-cost treatment available to you, meditation. Learn more about how meditation can treat anxiety.

Meditation, completely accessible, and with no negative side effects can work to cure those with anxiety. This video below Rick will guide you through a meditation to uncover your inner peace.

Cultivating Feelings of Safety Guided Meditation with Rick Hanson

If you are in a heightened state of fear, anxiety, or panic this 5-minute meditation can immediately ground you into the deepest feelings of safety that you can currently feel.

This meditation will help open and stimulate the root chakra which is your energy center that holds your relationship to the physical plane and includes your feelings of security. You can save this meditation for a time when you need it, or you can go ahead and follow along with it now.

Tranquility Guided Meditation with Rick Hanson

This 35-minute meditation brings us to allow tranquility and deep rest to surface within us. The meditation guides us not to force peace, but instead make space for it and simply welcome it.

To begin Rick guides you to activate the parasympathetic nervous system by moving your breath ration to have the exhale longer than the inhale. This helps to move the body into a state of relaxation that will support the mind coming into tranquility.

Understanding Impermanence

In this meditation, Rick guides us to enter fully into the present moment and to accept the impermanence of life. He helps us set the intentions to let go of feeling pressured or pushed to do something.

He guides us to anchor into our stillness and unshakeable peacefulness. For those of you wondering what exactly it means to be present, Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, completely shifted the western world by teaching the meaning of presence.

You can read about his explanation of what it means to be present here.

More Guided Meditations

If you enjoyed these guided meditations, Ram Dass has a famous meditation called The Ocean of Love which you can find and follow here.

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If you’re interested in starting to live a more conscious life, one of the most important practices you can develop is a habit of daily meditation. Even just taking five minutes every morning or evening can have an incredible, long term positive impact on your well-being and overall levels of happiness.

There are many studies that span both modern scientific and research institutes (like Harvard’s positive psychology department or the UCLA mindfulness institute) to ancient spiritual traditions that talk about the incredible power of meditation.

On this site, I’ve compiled a few of my favorite meditations that are freely available across the web. Success with meditation is all about finding the style that’s right for you, so I encourage you to spend some time experimenting with different types of styles.

Don’t feel like you have to force yourself into a lotus position in order to meditate correctly. Meditation can be as simple as taking a few seconds to notice your breath. Viewed more broadly, then, it is something that you can literally do anywhere, at any time.

That said, if you’re going to commit to a consistent meditation practice, it’s best to have a dedicated space in your home where you can sit quietly and comfortably without being disturbed. Try to sit with an erect spine either in a chair or on a mat or meditation cushion. The most important factor is that you are comfortable, which will allow you to help focus and improve your concentration.