From TEDx to Google and even weekly guided meditations Rick Hanson is creating a big impact in the world. His main topics are neuropsychology, mindfulness, and of course teaching us how to rewire our brains in order to create lasting happiness.

Taking In The Good

You have probably heard the saying, “stop to smell the flowers”. Its context is typically about people taking time to enjoy life even if only for a moment.

Well, Rick Hanson explains more details on why this is important and how you can apply it to actually rewire your brain to be happier. He says if you notice there is something you like or something beautiful you momentarily recognize dive into that experience.

Find our 12 favorite Rick Hanson quotes here!

You should amplify your feelings about the situation and soak into the enjoyment or appreciation of it. Make the feelings last as long as you can with a goal of at least 20 seconds.

Now you may instinctively feel this is good for you and your wellbeing, but there is more to it than first meets the eye. When we focus on taking in the good it may start off intentional, but as we continue to do so we strengthen these neuropathways that were formed during this activity.

This clears the pathway more and more each time and even can bring activity to feel habitual. This technique and teaching can be by itself deeply transformational which is why we have written an entire article to cover it. Of course, here we give you a brief summary of how you can integrate and apply this!

Neuroplasticity

One of the first aspects Rick Covers in this talk (below) Rick gave at google, he hones in on the inner resources we have within the mind. He says any real and lasting change needs to take on a physiological change as well.

Our nervous system is designed to be changed by the information flowing through it and we can use self-directed neuroplasticity to change our brains and our experiences.

However, this is not news to the field of science, but the level at which we change and adjust our bodies is. This is why choosing and committing to habits that make us feel good really do create lasting change that affects more than just turning a state of mind into a trait, but it rewires our brain.

Resilience

It has been found that internalizing moments of wellbeing are one of our primary sources of acquiring resiliency over time! Resilience can be produced specifically by a person’s ability to use the resources available to them.

These resources are pulled from the world, the body, and the mind. To focus on deriving resources from the mind as understood through neuroplasticity we can understand that we can grow these resources and therefore resiliency.

Some of the main tools we can use to grow resources in the minds are through mindfulness, meditation, and the first lesson we covered taking in the good. One of the ways meditation changes the brain’s activity is by creating whole brain synchronization.

If you want to dive into and find out just how meditation creates whole brain synchronization, then click here.