1. RESILIENT
How To Grow An Unshakable Core Of Calm, Strength, And Happiness
Rick Hanson, PhD with Forrest Hanson
Lynne H. Moller, RN, CSN & Heidi Wrobel, RN, CSN

2. Are you master of your mind?

3. Are you master of your mind? Scoring
You have a lot of skill and dexterity – even mastery – with your mind
You’re currently somewhat skillful with your mind. You could be good at one of the three ways to engage the mind – letting be, letting go, letting in – but not so comfortable or capable with the other two.
Currently, you are not very comfortable or capable with the three ways to engage your mind: the three types of psychological practice. There’s lots of opportunity here!
Are you master of your mind? Scoring

4. Our Three Brains Name Location Primary Function Brain one
Reptilian Brain
Brain stem and cerebellum
Survival instinct
Brain Two
Limbic system (old Mammalian Brain)
Wrapped around brain one, includes the amygdala and hippocampus
Feelings and memory formation
Brain Three
Primate/Human Neocortex (“Thinking” Brain)
Outside surface around brain two
Language, reasoning, logic and forward planning
Our Three Brains

5. Our nervous system Autonomic Nervous system Balance Sympathetic NS
Activated during stress
Parasympathetic NS
Allows us to rest and digest. Decreases the sense of stress
Our nervous system

6. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s capacity to learn – and thus change itself
Repeated experience can change the way the brain works
Neurons that fire together wire together
Inactive synapses wither away through neuronal pruning (use it or lose it)
Neuroplasticity

7. Positive Neuroplasticity
Positive neuroplasticity vs. positive thinking “…we need to focus on the good facts of life, let them become good experiences, and then help these experiences really sink in.” - Rick Hanson
Cultivating Positive Neuroplasticity
Help positive events become positive experiences.
Take them in (“savor” them)
Let them soak into you, registering them deeply in emotional memory and becoming a permanent part of you.
Positive Neuroplasticity

8. How can we change our brain for the better
How can we change our brain for the better

9. Velcro for the Negative
Fight or flight instincts were critical for survival.
Our bodies (and brains) react more intensely to negative stimuli than to equally strong positive ones. •
We generally learn faster from pain than pleasure.
Velcro for the Negative
Your brain is like Velcro for the negative experiences and Teflon for the positive.
Negativity Bias

10. Rewiring the Brain Equanimity involves:
• Not reacting to your reactions
• Not reacting to the limbic system
• Parasympathetic activation to dampen SNS
Some outcomes:
Steadiness of mind, spacious awareness, & tranquility
Positive emotions may have direct, positive physiological effect on health and longevity. The optimistic individual is more likely to practice habits that enhance health and to enlist social support.
Rewiring the Brain

11. HEAL by Taking In The Good
1. Have a positive experience. Notice it or create it. 2. Enrich the experience through duration, intensity, multimodality, novelty, personal relevance. 3. Absorb the experience by intending and sensing that it is sinking into you as you sink into it. 4. Link positive and negative material. [optional]
HEAL by Taking In The Good

12. There’s a tipping point that separates those who flourish from those who languish: 3 positive emotional experiences for 1 negative emotional experience (3:1) - Barbara Fredrickson
Given the negativity bias of the brain, it takes an active effort to internalize positive experiences and heal negative ones. When you tilt toward what’s positive, you’re actually righting a neurological imbalance. Rick Hanson
Positivity Ratio

13. Story vs Phenomena Perceiving and conceiving Power of the Story
Perceiving Phenomena: what happened. Does not change no matter who tells the story
Conceiving the Story: changes depending on who interprets the facts. Creating life comparisons
Much of how we act and react to things today is a direct result of something that happened in our past. Letting our past mandate out present is common.
Power of the Story
Can become a self-fulfilling prophecy
Can foster limiting beliefs
Can prolong unnecessary pain and suffering. “SHOULDS” are part of the story.
Story vs Phenomena

14. WHAT IS YOUR STORY VS PHENOMENA?

15. A state of being when your body and mind are in the same place at the same time, on purpose, without judgement or over-reaching.
Mindfulness

17. “Fleeting thoughts, feelings, etc
“Fleeting thoughts, feelings, etc. leave behind lasting marks on your brain – much like a spring shower leaves little tracks on a hillside – which form the tendencies and views that make us suffer, or lead us to happiness. This means your experience really, really matters.”
- Rick Hanson and Rick Mendius, 2007
Mindfulness

18. Meditation is placing focuses attention on an act such as movement, breathing, eating or sitting with observations of any mental or physical sensations that arise.
Formal – Meditation is the only thing you are doing
Informal – Both doing and noticing – E.g.,When you wash dishes, you are washing the dishes
Meditation

19. Foundations of Well-Being. “Are You the Master of Your Mind. ” FWB
Foundations of Well-Being. “Are You the Master of Your Mind?” FWB.RICKHANSON.NET
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Updated thinking on positivity ratios. American Psychologist, 68(9),
Hanson, R. & Mendius, R. (2007) Buddha’s Brain: The New Neuroscience and the Path of Awakening. Inquiring Mind.
Hanson, R., & Mendius, R. (2009). Buddha's brain: The practical neuroscience of happiness, love, & wisdom. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Hanson, Rick and Forrest Hanson. “Resilient”. Harmony(2018).
Seligman, M.P. and Csikszentmihaly, M.(2000). Positive Psychology: An Introduction. American Psychologist. 55(1): 5-14.
Resources