Do you see the good in everyone? Outlook is the ability to savor positive experiences\u2014from enjoying a coffee break at work to seeing kindness in every person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know something about the circuitry in the brain which underlies this quality of outlook,\u201d says Davidson, \u201cand we also know, for example, that individuals who suffer from depression, they show activation in this circuitry but it doesn\u2019t last\u2014this activation is very transient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas resilience requires thousands of hours of practice, research suggests \u201cmodest doses\u201d of loving-kindness and compassion meditation<\/a> can impact outlook\u2014Davidson mentions a recent study<\/a> where individuals who had never meditated before received 30 minutes of compassion training over two weeks. \u201cNot only did we see changes in the brain but these changes in the brain actually predicted pro-social behavior,\u201d says Davidson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a loving-kindness practice from developmental behavioral specialist and mindfulness author Mark Bertin, MD<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n