Pretty simple, this one: track down one of your afflictive emotions, shame, for example, to its root. "I should have . . . ," might lead to "If I don't _____, she won't like me, she might . . . ," and that might lead to the fear that loneliness will . . . you get the idea; let it have its say and it will fade, eventually even disappear. Many of these worrisome feelings originate here, where they can be unraveled with some mindfulness.

It’s alarmingly easy, once you get past the embarrassment of seeing your skulking little Gollum ego in the mirror.