I'm a 12 year old boy in a 36 year old body

And try to think back to, recall, when that feeling first started, and then imagine meeting myself at an age where I experience that emotion.

Often some memories about the surroundings or events from that time will naturally present themselves. E.g. when meeting my 5-7 year old self it's often around an old bunker that I used to play on.

When connecting to that manipulative 8 year old bastard mentioned in the article, I initially imagined meeting at a dog show(!). But was not able to communicate with that child even when intentionally changing the surroundings to my room, and eventually had to imagine just chilling with a TV show.

I suppose it's a form of self-hypnosis and haven't studied the mechanics of it.