Sometimes we try to open up or soften, but we don’t feel safe enough inside to do it. Our nervous system holds armor — bracing against vulnerability, against the truth that life includes aging, illness, loss, and uncertainty.

This is definitely something I’ve experienced, so this week I explore how to resource yourself first — to feel steady enough to lower your guard — and how vulnerability itself can become a doorway into peace, love, and freedom. When we stop compensating for old wounds and instead welcome our vulnerability with compassion, we discover something deeper that was never wounded at all.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-accepting-your-vulnerabilities-including-from-early-childhood/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

Aging, illness, and death are realities we all live with, even when we try not to think about them. Often, they show up quietly in the background as worry, grief, fear, or a sense of urgency we can’t quite name.

In this talk, I explore a classic Buddhist teaching known as the four heavenly messengers—aging, illness, death, and the possibility of awakening—and how we can relate to them in ways that reduce suffering and support a full, meaningful life.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks—for free—by signing up here. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it here.

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.

What should we do when we get triggered — especially by other people? In this talk, I discuss how mindfulness, focused attention, open awareness, and non-clinging help us manage reactivity, reduce rumination, and relate more wisely to ourselves and others.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks—for free—by signing up here. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it here.

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.