Imagine the positive making contact with the negative, sifting down into frustrated places inside, perhaps reaching down into experiences of failure … - Rick Hanson

In a way, empathy is a kind of mindfulness meditation focused on someone else’s inner world.

Linking is a powerful method. The brain learns through association, and when two things are held in awareness at the same time, they affect each other. The key is to make sure that what’s beneficial stays more prominent than what’s painful or harmful. Then the positive will purify the negative, rather than the negative contaminating the positive.

We develop mental resources in two stages. First, we need to experience what we want to grow, such as feeling grateful, loved, or confident. Second — critically important — we must convert that passing experience into a lasting change in the nervous system.