Hardwiring happiness
by Hanson, Rick (Psychologist) · first published 2013
67% recommend33% neutral
"SEE THROUGH THE LIES YOUR BRAIN TELLS YOU Why is it easier to ruminate over hurt feelings than it is to bask in the warmth of being appreciated? Your brain was wired this way when it evolved, primed to learn quickly from bad experiences, but not so much from the good ones. It's an ancient survival mechanism that turned the brain into Velcro for the negative, but Teflon for the positive. Life isn't easy, and having a brain wired to take in the bad and ignore the good makes us worried, irritated and stressed, instead of confident, secure and happy. Every day is filled with opportunities to buil
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For more of the science behind approaches like this check out the first four chapters of 'Hardwiring Happiness' [0] and try the exercises listed in the book. It sounded like fluff when I first came across it but so far it's helped me relate to perhaps unsavoury mind states in more healthy ways. [0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385347316/
on “How to Stop Negative Thoughts in 180 Seconds Without Meditating” ↗…Mindfulness seems to work faster for me since I can use meditation to quickly clear out negative thoughts rather than trying to reason about them over time as with CBT. For mindfulness, I'd highly recommend Hardwiring Happiness, which goes into depth about using neuroplasticity (the ability to rewire the brain) to pave more positive neural paths using mindfulness techniques. I'm sure both CBT and mindfulness are good approaches…
on “Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head” ↗…how am I showing up for the activity. How mindful am I? What's my intention? Perhaps most importantly, is the sense of gratitude actually being felt in my body? If you don't mind self-help type books, 'Hardwiring Happiness' by Rick Hanson is a fairly accessible resource that stresses the importance of the somatic side of this type of work. The tl;dr is that if more parts of the mind pay _sustained_ attention to the embodied…
on “Repetitive negative thinking associated with cognitive decline in older adults” ↗I'm starting Hardwiring Happiness. If you've read it, what did you think, and did it impact your life? How so?
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗