Founders
Rick Hanson Ph.D.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, he teaches at universities and meditation centers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His work has been featured on the BBC and in Consumer Reports Health, U.S. News and World Report, and other major magazines.
Dr. Hanson’s most recent book is Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (with Rick Mendius, M.D.; Foreword by Dan Siegel, M.D. and Preface by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D.), which has been praised by numerous scholars, therapists, and teachers, including Tara Brach, Ph.D., Roger Walsh, Ph.D., Sharon Salzberg, and Fred Luskin, Ph.D, and is being published in ten languages.
An authority on self-directed neuroplasticity, he edits the Wise Brain Bulletin, and his articles have appeared in Tricycle Magazine, Insight Journal, and Inquiring Mind. His Your Wise Brain blog is on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major websites, and he also has a weekly e-newsletter, Just One Thing. He has a chapter – 7 Facts about the Brain That Incline the Mind to Joy – in Measuring the Immeasurable, as well as several audio programs with Sounds True. His first book was Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships (Penguin, 2002)
Dr. Hanson is currently a trustee of Saybrook University, and a member of the Board of the Tricycle Foundation. He also served on the board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center for nine years, and was President of the Board of FamilyWorks, a community agency. He began meditating in 1974, trained in several traditions, and leads a weekly meditation gathering in San Rafael, CA. He enjoys rock-climbing and taking a break from emails. He and his wife have two children. For more information, please see his full profile at www.RickHanson.net.
You can find him on the social web at http://www.facebook.com/BuddhasBrain and http://www.YouTube.com/BuddhasBrain. You can contact him at drrh@comcast.net
Rick Mendius, M.D.
Rick Mendius, M.D., is a neurologist, author, and teacher. He trained at UCLA as an epileptologist under Jerome Engel and as a neurobehaviorist under Frank Benson and Jeff Cummings. He has been on the teaching faculty of UCLA, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Stanford University. His meditation practice began in the 1980s with Shinzen Young in Los Angeles, and continues at Spirit Rock with Jack Kornfield, Phillip Moffitt, Ajahn Amaro, and Ajahn Sumedho.
Rick leads a weekly meditation class at San Quentin Prison, and teaches daylongs at Spirit Rock, Sati Center, and other organizations. He has authored numerous articles for the Wise Brain Bulletin, and he has a particular interest in the long-term effects of meditation on aging, and in longitudinal research on contemplative practice. He played an instrumental role in Buddha’s Brain, and co-authored Meditations to Change Your Brain.
With Dr. Hanson, he co-founded the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. Rick’s daughters, Courtney and Taryn, and his son, Ian, are three of his main teachers and companions on the path.
You can contact Rick at jrichardmendius@aol.com
