Self-Directed Brain Change: Rewire Your Neural Pathways for Happiness and Resilience

by Rick Hanson

Positive Neuroplasticity is based on a significant emerging insight from neuroscience: that to keep our ancestors alive, the human brain evolved to cling to negative experiences like Velcro and shrug off the positive ones like Teflon. The good news, teaches Rick Hanson, is that we can retrain our neural structure out of sheer survival mode and into one of greater well-being, mental clarity, and moment-to-moment appreciation. In this practice-focused program, Dr. Hanson teaches us how to:
Shift our evolutionary fear and survival bias into one of taking in the good
Use every positive moment or state to rewire happiness as an enduring neural trait
Work with difficult and painful emotional memories to fill the hole in the heart
Increase and deepen our daily experiences of love, gratitude, and contentment
Build inner resilience in the face of stress and challenging situations, improve our interpersonal relationships, and much more
Is it possible to rewire yourself for happiness? A growing body of evidence from this pioneering neuropsychologist and his colleagues says yes, we can. And with Positive Neuroplasticity, listeners will learn how.

Genres: Self Help

Audio CD

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. His seven books have been published in 33 languages and include Making Great Relationships, Neurodharma, Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, Just One Thing, Buddha’s Brain, and Mother Nurture – with over a million copies in English alone. He's the founder of the Global Compassion Coalition and the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, as well as the co-host of the Being Well podcast – which has been downloaded 23 million times. His free newsletters have 260,000 subscribers, and his online programs have scholarships available for those with financial needs. He’s lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on CBS, NPR, the BBC, and other major media. He began meditating in 1974 and has taught in meditation centers worldwide. He and his wife live in northern California and have two adult children. He loves the wilderness and taking a break from emails.