Rick Hanson

Mindfulness brings insight and wisdom—and the best way to increase your mindfulness is through meditation

Intentions are a form of desire. Desire per se is not the root of suffering; craving is. The key is to have wholesome intentions without being attached to their results.

Essentially, modern life takes the jumpy, distractible “monkey mind” we all started with and feeds it steroids.

Relaxation drains away anxiety like pulling the plug in a bathtub.

If I know one thing for sure, it’s that you can do small things inside your mind that will lead to big changes in your brain and your experience of living... You really can nudge your whole being in a better direction every day. When you change your brain, you change your life.

What flows through your mind sculpts your brain. Thus, you can use your mind to change your brain for the better—which will benefit your whole being, and every other person whose life you touch.

Each of us has two wolves in the heart, one of love and one of hate. Everything depends on which one we feed each day.

The brain is the primary mover and shaper of the mind. It’s so busy that, even though it’s only 2 percent of the body’s weight, it uses 20-25 percent of its oxygen and glucose.

As you go through your day, there’s a kind of lizard-squirrel-monkey brain in your head shaping your reactions from the bottom up.