How to Find Peace in Impermanence

Life can feel like it’s coming at us from all sides—relationships change, plans fall through, our bodies age, and the world keeps shifting under our feet. It’s totally normal to feel uneasy or anxious in the face of all this unpredictability. But what if we could relate to change in a different way—not as something to fear, but as something we can move with, and even find peace within?

This week, I explored one of the Buddha’s most fundamental insights: that everything is in a state of constant change. And not in a dry or philosophical way, but in a deeply practical sense—how seeing this clearly can actually help us suffer less. 

We look at how habitual anxiety takes hold, how to recognize when we’re actually okay in the moment, and how to find stability inside ourselves even when life feels chaotic. There’s also a reflection on how impermanence doesn’t mean everything is meaningless—far from it. In fact, it can help us loosen our grip on what’s hurting us, open more fully to what’s good, and even discover what is unchanging at the core of our being.

You’re welcome to join me live each week for these talks — for free — by signing up at https://rickhanson.com/wednesday-meditations-with-dr-rick-hanson/. We always start with a guided meditation to set the tone for the evening. If you’d like to experience the meditation that accompanied this talk, you can listen to it at: https://rickhanson.com/talk-meditation-how-to-find-peace-in-impermanence/

And if you'd like to check out any of my online programs at https://rickhanson.com/online-courses/, you can receive 20% off by using coupon code PW20 during checkout.