How can we grow more resilience? Hanson says, “The question becomes: How do you get your brain to change for the better in a challenging world so that you actually hardwire more patience, more confidence, more happiness and other factors of resilient wellbeing into your own nervous system? The take-away point is that you really can do it. You use everyday experiences, including the small experiences of daily life, to change your brain for the better in ways that are durable so that the residues of your experiences stay with you and you take them with you wherever you go.” Here Hanson describes the different stages of the HEAL Process. First, you must notice an experience when you have it. In order to install the experience in your brain you must enrich it and absorb it. Finally, you may link a positive and negative experience together making the positive one the more potent of the two. He gives many examples of how to do this. He assures us that that core of our being is “calm strength.” It is the background of who we are; it is a fundamental quality, the “wallpaper of our mind.” This dialogue is filled with practical wisdom to support us in growing calmness and well-being so we may be more effective in our lives.
