American psychologist and Buddhist meditation teacher Tara Brach writes in Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (2003):

The intimacy that arises in listening and speaking truth is only possible if we can open to the vulnerability of our own hearts. Breathing in, contacting the life that is right there, is our first step. Once we have held ourselves with kindness, we can touch others in a vital and healing way.