Dr. Rick Hanson

Any questions so far? Keep going. You're on a roll. Okay. So you're exactly right. How do we foster in ourselves or those we care about more beneficial? I prefer beneficial to positive because sometimes a beneficial state of being is healthy remorse. or open-hearted sorrow, or being real about something that's painful to look at and hard, but you really need to look at it inside yourself.

So how do we foster beneficial states and beneficial traits? What's the actual how of that? And what's going on in the machinery under the hood? That's what you're getting at. So operationally, we're talking about reduce. I'm going to use the word bad, not morally, but pragmatically here. Reduce the bad, grow the good. Less sadness, less unnecessary sadness, fear, anxiety, and shame.

So how do we foster beneficial states and beneficial traits? What's the actual how of that? And what's going on in the machinery under the hood? That's what you're getting at. So operationally, we're talking about reduce. I'm going to use the word bad, not morally, but pragmatically here. Reduce the bad, grow the good. Less sadness, less unnecessary sadness, fear, anxiety, and shame.

So how do we foster beneficial states and beneficial traits? What's the actual how of that? And what's going on in the machinery under the hood? That's what you're getting at. So operationally, we're talking about reduce. I'm going to use the word bad, not morally, but pragmatically here. Reduce the bad, grow the good. Less sadness, less unnecessary sadness, fear, anxiety, and shame.

The four major negative emotions, so-called negative. Less of that, less crippling anxiety, less negative rumination, less of that, and more sense of underlying well-being that's resilient, even as you deal with the challenges of life. So what's going on in your brain?

The four major negative emotions, so-called negative. Less of that, less crippling anxiety, less negative rumination, less of that, and more sense of underlying well-being that's resilient, even as you deal with the challenges of life. So what's going on in your brain?

The four major negative emotions, so-called negative. Less of that, less crippling anxiety, less negative rumination, less of that, and more sense of underlying well-being that's resilient, even as you deal with the challenges of life. So what's going on in your brain?

So on the negative side, we have a brain that is already biased toward negative learning because that helped our ancestors survive. So, and that very much involves, I'll jump into it now. Actually, I got to do it. Sorry, bear with me. Brain evolved like a house, three floors, okay? There's the brainstem, the subcortex, and then the cortex sitting on top, all right?

So on the negative side, we have a brain that is already biased toward negative learning because that helped our ancestors survive. So, and that very much involves, I'll jump into it now. Actually, I got to do it. Sorry, bear with me. Brain evolved like a house, three floors, okay? There's the brainstem, the subcortex, and then the cortex sitting on top, all right?

So on the negative side, we have a brain that is already biased toward negative learning because that helped our ancestors survive. So, and that very much involves, I'll jump into it now. Actually, I got to do it. Sorry, bear with me. Brain evolved like a house, three floors, okay? There's the brainstem, the subcortex, and then the cortex sitting on top, all right?

So what we're trying to do is tune that brain more positively. Problem is, the lower regions of the brain are hard to train. They're very reptilian, very automatic, right? And so it takes a certain amount of effort to change them for the better. So essentially, someone who is unhappy, let's say, a lot of the time is

So what we're trying to do is tune that brain more positively. Problem is, the lower regions of the brain are hard to train. They're very reptilian, very automatic, right? And so it takes a certain amount of effort to change them for the better. So essentially, someone who is unhappy, let's say, a lot of the time is

So what we're trying to do is tune that brain more positively. Problem is, the lower regions of the brain are hard to train. They're very reptilian, very automatic, right? And so it takes a certain amount of effort to change them for the better. So essentially, someone who is unhappy, let's say, a lot of the time is

is often having an overreactive subcortical region of the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the basal ganglia that's tilted and tuned in a negative direction toward negative emotion and trapped in certain loops, sometimes motivationally as well in terms of what people want and the rewards they're seeking that are negative.

is often having an overreactive subcortical region of the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the basal ganglia that's tilted and tuned in a negative direction toward negative emotion and trapped in certain loops, sometimes motivationally as well in terms of what people want and the rewards they're seeking that are negative.

is often having an overreactive subcortical region of the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the basal ganglia that's tilted and tuned in a negative direction toward negative emotion and trapped in certain loops, sometimes motivationally as well in terms of what people want and the rewards they're seeking that are negative.

And for that person, there's not enough cortical, prefrontal, top-down regulation of that negative stuff, right? And also, there's a lack of the positive. There's not enough production or activity related to healthy opioids, natural opioids that are the well-being chemicals in the brain, or other little slippery small molecules called peptides, such as oxytocin.

And for that person, there's not enough cortical, prefrontal, top-down regulation of that negative stuff, right? And also, there's a lack of the positive. There's not enough production or activity related to healthy opioids, natural opioids that are the well-being chemicals in the brain, or other little slippery small molecules called peptides, such as oxytocin.

And for that person, there's not enough cortical, prefrontal, top-down regulation of that negative stuff, right? And also, there's a lack of the positive. There's not enough production or activity related to healthy opioids, natural opioids that are the well-being chemicals in the brain, or other little slippery small molecules called peptides, such as oxytocin.

There's an underproduction of that. And What we're trying to do basically with people is to increase top-down regulation of negative factors, A. B, we're also trying to really promote more emotional learning of that which is positive so that there's more of a tilting in effect in the brain toward healthy opioids, you know, in general, oxytocin in particular.