H.E.A.L. Practice from Dr. Rick Hanson aka “Ballet for the Brain”
H.E.A.L. is a practice that can help bring you into the present moment. According to psychologist Rick Hanson, this practice is an opportunity to increase the good in your life and reduce the strength of negative experiences.
The H.E.A.L. Steps
- – Have a positive moment Notice and acknowledge positive experiences
- – Enhance it Savor and enrich the experience
- – Absorb and appreciate it Let the goodness sink in deeply
- – Link positive and negative material Connect positive experiences with challenges (this is a more advanced practice – wait a month or two)
Detailed Instructions
- – Have a positive moment (or glimmer). Begin by noticing a positive moment. (e.g. feeling close to a friend or enjoying the beauty of nature.)
- – Enhance it. Savor the experience. Notice all the details to make it as rich as possible using each of your five senses. Sustain this practice for 12-20 seconds.
- – Absorb and appreciate it. Absorb and appreciate how the moment of kindness, beauty, or joy has arrived perhaps even in the midst of anxiety, depression, loss or grief.
Important: Strengthen the Memory
Recall this positive memory 2 more times for 12-15 seconds within an hour to deepen its impact and strengthen the neural pathways. For example, you might have the positive experience – set your timer for 20 minutes – 2 times in a row to setup your practice routine.
- – Link positive and negative material.Link positive and negative material – This optional fourth step involves holding the positive experience in the foreground and lightly bringing up something difficult in the background. If the difficult thought becomes stronger just drop it and stay in the positive. Over time this practice allows the positive to help heal and reduce the impact of the negative. (Please practice the first 3 steps daily for a few weeks before attempting the linking practice.)
BENEFITS
According to Dr. Hanson, this practice, which he also calls “taking in the good” offers three kinds of benefits:
- It grows specific inner strengths, such as determination, calm, stress hardiness, compassion, happiness, and self-worth.
- It develops qualities such as mindfulness and kindness toward oneself.
- It can gradually sensitize the brain so that it converts positive experiences more rapidly and efficiently into neural structures. (This counters our tendency to negatively sensitize the brain.)
REFERENCES
Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Lasting Inner Strength and Peace. New York: Harmony Books, 59-75.