Tara Brach

(retreat talk) Namaste - Seeing the Sacred that Lives through All Beings (2015-04-23) - The trance of separation is part of our evolutionary heritage, but not the end of the story. This talk explores how several key trainings of the heart can evolve and awaken our capacity to realize connectedness, and the sacredness that shines through this living world.

Meditation: Forgiving Ourselves and Others (2015-04-19) - a guided heart practice from the 2015 IMCW Spring Retreat

2012-03-28 - Attend and Befriend: Healing the Fear Body - Our fear management strategies--versions of fight/flight-- contract our body and mind, and separate us from others. As we learn to pause and contact the bodily fear with a gentle, mindful awareness, our sense of being enlarges. We rediscover our belonging to presence, love and life.

2015-04-29 - Investigating Reality - Beyond an Interpreted World - The skillful use of inquiry - asking questions in a way that energizes and focuses our attention - brings what is hidden into the light of awareness.  This talk explores the healing that arises as we investigate the unseen, unfelt parts of our psyche, and the freedom discovered as we look into the very essence of who we are.

2015-04-20 - Meditation: Vipassana witih Instruction - Morning guided meditation and instruction from the 2015 IMCW Spring Retreat

2015-04-20 - Retreat Talk - Loving Yourself into Freedom - The most basic truths we forget, and one is this: if we don't love ourselves, we can't love life.  In the most basic way, attending to and embracing our inner life reveals the nature of reality. This talk looks at the genesis of self-aversions and several pathways that open us to the loving presence that is our source.

2015-04-22 - Meditation - Letting Life Be, Just As It Is - from morning instructions at the IMCW 2015 Spring Retreat

2015-04-15 - True Happiness - Realizing Well Being - Well being is the deep contentment that arises from a relaxed, wakeful presence. This talk explores the beliefs and habits that contract us away form presence, and several key ways we can nourish our natural capacity for happiness. Your support will enable us to continue to offer these talks freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider of...

2015-04-15 - Meditation: Relaxing, Smiling, Being Here

2015-04-08 - Three Liberating Gifts: Part 3 - Looking in the Mirror - This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness.  In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path.  The first is the capacity to fo...

2015-04-08 - Meditation: Coming Home to the Senses

2015-04-01 - Three Liberating Gifts: Part 2 - Inner Fire - This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness. In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path. The first is the capacity to forgive, to let...

2015-04-01 - Meditation: Listening to and Feeling Life

2015-03-25 - Three Liberating Gifts: Part 1 - Forgiveness - This 3 part series is based on a teaching story from the Upanishads that shows our potential to awaken from an ego-based trance and discover the full luminosity and freedom of our natural awareness.  In each class we'll explore one of the three gifts considered as essential on the spiritual path.  The first is the capacity to forgive, to...

2015-03-25 - Meditation: Relaxing Back into Presence

2015-03-18 - Freedom from Fear-Based Beliefs - This talk looks at how we get imprisoned in fear based, limiting beliefs. We then explore key meditative steps that help release these veils and reveal the fullness and goodness of our essential being.

2015-03-18 - Meditation: Awakening from the Dream

2009-08-26 - Genuine Acceptance - Our capacity to accept this life is key to our freedom, yet there are many misconceptions about acceptance: People wonder, if acceptance makes us a doormat in relationships? Isn't acceptance akin to resignation? Doesn't it make us passive when what is needed is action? This talk explores some of the misunderstandings about acceptance and offers teachings on the na...

2011-11-09 - Meditation - Discovering Inner Space - By imagining the space inside the body, we discover the continuous space of awareness that is the source and essence of all aliveness.

2015-03-04 - Sure Heart's Release - The pathway to our awaken heart includes deep recognition of our barriers to love, and as we open, the courage to express our love. This talk includes a reflection and practice that can support us in inhabiting our full capacity for loving presence.

2015-03-04 - Meditation: Open Wakeful Presence

2015-02-25 - From Dragons to Schmoos - Meeting Life with Compassionate Presence - The trance of unworthiness is sustained by our aversion to the dragons - the difficult emotions and related behaviors that are a deeply conditioned part of the human experience. In this talk we explore the awakening that is possible as we recognize our reactive patterns and instead of judgment, offer a loving and hea...

2015-02-25 - Meditation: Resting in Wakeful Presence - This meditation begins with a body scan, then guides us to a feeling of open presence.

2015-02-18 - Part 2: Basic Elements of Meditation Practice - This two-part series offers a clear and fresh understanding of practices that cultivate mindful awareness. The first class examines our attitude towards practice and gives guidance on posture, establishing an anchor for attention, and learning to concentrate and collect the mind - “coming back.”  The second class focuses on the practice...

2015-02-18 - Meditation: Body Scan - Living Presence