{"id":17616,"date":"2014-03-30T18:07:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T01:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/\/new\/\/?p=17616"},"modified":"2016-04-11T12:23:37","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T19:23:37","slug":"hardwiring-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/hardwiring-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"How to train your brain to be happy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"#\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18014\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-18014\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/happiness-hardwiring-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Beach woman drinking cold drink beverage having fun at beach par\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Ultimately, aren&#8217;t we all just looking for happiness? \u00a0It may be expressed as peace, contentment, or a sense of love. \u00a0Sadly, our brain that is a velcro for the BAD works against us. \u00a0How can retrain our brain to be happy? \u00a0Join CJ as she talks to NY Times best-selling author, Dr. Rick Hanson, about his book &#8220;Hardwiring Happiness&#8221; to learn how to train your brain to more contentment, calm, and confidence.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BJR3LknDV1o\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/widget\/?showId=25229902&amp;episodeId=26952444\" width=\"398\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>Show Highlights:<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>Segment 1: How does our experiences shape our brain? \u00a0What are the 3 operating systems in the brain and what is it looking for? What is the HEAL method?<\/li>\n<li>Segment 2: \u00a0A real-life scenario- How to turn around an awful day to a happy experience?<\/li>\n<li>Segment 3: Listener questions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Blog post by our guest<\/h1>\n<p>by Rick Hanson at\u00a0http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>Down deep, do you feel at ease?<br \/>\n<em>The Practice:<\/em><br \/>\nPet the lizard.<br \/>\n<em>Why?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always liked lizards.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up in the outskirts of Los Angeles, I played in the foothills near our home. Sometimes I\u2019d catch a lizard and stroke its belly, so it would relax in my hands, seeming to feel at ease.<\/p>\n<p>In my early 20\u2032s, I found a lizard one chilly morning in the mountains. It was torpid and still in the cold and let me pick it up. Concerned that it might be freezing to death, I placed it on the shoulder of my turtleneck, where it clung and occasionally moved about for the rest of the day. There was a kind of wordless communication between us, in which the lizard seemed to feel I wouldn\u2019t hurt it, and I felt it wouldn\u2019t scratch or bite me. After a few hours, I hardly knew it was there, and sometime in the afternoon it left without me realizing it.<\/p>\n<p>Now, years later, as I\u2019ve learned more about\u00a0<a title=\"Foundations of Mindfulness - An Excerpt from Buddha's Brain \" href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/wp-content\/files\/bbexcerpt177-184.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">how the brain evolved<\/a>, my odd affinity for lizards has started making sense to me. To simplify a complex journey beginning about 600 million years ago, your brain has developed in three basic stages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reptile \u2013 Brainstem, focused on\u00a0avoiding\u00a0harm<\/li>\n<li>Mammal \u2013 Limbic system, focused on\u00a0approaching\u00a0rewards<\/li>\n<li>Primate \u2013 Cortex, focused on\u00a0attaching\u00a0to \u201cus\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course, the brain is highly integrated, so these three key functions \u2013 avoiding, approaching, and attaching \u2013 are accomplished by all parts of the brain working together. Nonetheless, each function is particularly served by the region of the brain that first evolved to handle it. This fact has significant implications.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in terms of avoiding harm, the brainstem and the structures just on top of it are fast and relatively\u00a0<em>rigid<\/em>. Neuroplasticity \u2013 the capacity of the brain to learn from experience by changing its structure \u2013 increases as you move up both the evolutionary ladder and the layered structures of the brain.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, if you want to help yourself feel less concerned, uneasy, nervous, anxious, or traumatized \u2013 feelings and reactions that are highly affected by \u201creptilian,\u201d brainstem-related processes \u2013 then you need many,\u00a0<em>many<\/em>\u00a0repetitions of feeling safe, protected, and at ease to leave lasting traces in the brainstem and limbic system structures that produce the first emotion, the most primal one of all: fear.<\/p>\n<p>Or to put it a little differently, your inner iguana needs a LOT of petting!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>How?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>To begin with, I\u2019ve found it helps me to appreciate how scared that little lizard inside each one us is. Lizards \u2013 and early mammals, emerging about 200 million years ago \u2013 that were not continually uneasy and vigilant would fail the first test of life in the wild: eat lunch \u2013 don\u2019t\u00a0<em>be<\/em>\u00a0lunch \u2013 today.<\/p>\n<p>So be aware of the ongoing background trickle of anxiety in your mind, the subtle guarding and bracing with people and events as you move through your day. Then, again and again, try to relax some, remind yourself that you are actually alright right now, and send soothing and calming down into the most ancient layers of your mind.<\/p>\n<p>Also soothe your own body. Most of the signals coming into the brain originate inside the body, not from out there in the world. Therefore, as your body settles down, that sends feedback up into your brain that all is well \u2013 or at least not too bad. Take a deep breath and feel each part of it, noticing that you are basically OK, and letting go of tension and anxiety as you exhale; repeat as you like. Shift your posture \u2013 even right now as you read this \u2013 to a more comfortable position. As you do activities such as eating, walking, using the bathroom, or going to bed, keep bringing awareness to the fact that you are safe, that necessary things are getting done just fine, that you are alive and well.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout, keep taking in the good of these many moments of petting your inner lizard. Register the experience in your body of a softening, calming, and opening; savor it; stay with it for 10-20-30 seconds in a row so that it can transfer to implicit memory. (For more on how to take in the good and defeat the innate negativity bias of the brain \u2013 whose unfortunate default setting is to be Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones \u2013 go to\u00a0<a title=\"Taking in the Good\" href=\"http:\/\/voices.yahoo.com\/taking-good-8666527.html?cat=72\" target=\"_blank\">this link<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Some have likened the mind\/brain to a kind of committee. Frankly, I think it\u2019s more like a jungle! We can\u2019t get rid of the critters in there \u2013 they\u2019re hardwired into the brain \u2013 but we can tame and guide them. Then, as the bumper sticker says, they wag more and bark less.<\/p>\n<p>Or relax, like a lizard at ease in the sun.<\/p>\n<h1>About our Guest<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/42-happiness-can-train-brain-happy\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17617\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-17617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hanson_th-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Hanson_th (1)\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and New York Times best-selling author. His books include\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/books\/hardwiring-happiness\"><em>Hardwiring Happiness<\/em><\/a>,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/books\/buddhas-brain\"><em>Buddha&#8217;s Brain<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/books\/just-one-thing\"><em>Just One Thing<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/books\/mother-nurture\"><em>Mother Nurture<\/em><\/a>. Founder of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wisebrain.org\/wellspring-institute\" target=\"_blank\">Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom<\/a>, and on the Advisory Board of the<a href=\"http:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/author\/rick_hanson\/\" target=\"_blank\">Greater Good Science Center<\/a>\u00a0at UC Berkeley, he&#8217;s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. He has several\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/multimedia\/audio\/store\">audio programs<\/a>\u00a0and his free Just One Thing\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rickhanson.net\/writings\/just-one-thing\">newsletter<\/a>\u00a0has over 100,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n<p>#hardwiring happiness, happiness, how the brain works,<span style=\"color: #222222;\">rick hanson phd,\u00a0dr rick hanson,buddha brain,\u00a0rick hanson,neuroscience of happiness,\u00a0buddha books,how to train your brain,\u00a0<\/span>rick hanson just one thing,rick hanson meditation,dr rick hanson<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ultimately, aren&#8217;t we all just looking for happiness? \u00a0It may be expressed as peace, contentment, or a sense of love. \u00a0Sadly, our brain that is a velcro for the BAD works against us. \u00a0How can retrain our brain to be happy? \u00a0Join CJ as she talks to NY Times best-selling author, Dr. Rick Hanson, about<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[491,268,488,64,56],"tags":[132,269,270,271,272],"yst_prominent_words":[5492,4997,2149,3970,5494,5499,1394,2947,5491,5496,3724,5493,5497,5500,5501,5495,5489,5498,1681,5490],"class_list":["post-17616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happiness","category-home-page","category-neuroscience","category-self-awareness","category-show-archives","tag-happiness","tag-how-the-brain-works","tag-how-to-train-your-brain","tag-neuroscience-of-happiness","tag-rick-hanson-meditation"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/happiness-compressed.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17616"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22802,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17616\/revisions\/22802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17616"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fireitupwithcj.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=17616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}