Meditation: The Presence Beyond Thoughts (17:33 min.)

Meditation: The Presence Beyond Thoughts (17:33 min.)

We spend many life moments in a trance of thinking. This meditation awakens the senses through a body scan, and attention to sound. We then rest in the presence that can come alive in the gap between thoughts—the presence that is our true home. Ten thousand flowers in...
Tara Talks: Healing the Fear Body, Healing the World (4:50 min.)

Tara Talks: Healing the Fear Body, Healing the World (4:50 min.)

When we are contracted in the fear body, we cannot be touched by the world around us. We lose our sense of belonging to this moment, to each other, to the earth. When we find ourselves living in the body of fear, it is a call to deepen attention. What’s between me and...
Part 2  – The Jewel in the Lotus: Cultivating Compassion

Part 2 – The Jewel in the Lotus: Cultivating Compassion

The compassion that arises from mindful awareness can heal our inner wounds, interpersonal conflict and the suffering in our world. These two talks focus on cultivating self-compassion and compassion for others. They look at the blocks to compassion and accessible...
Meditation: Whole Body Breathing (21:25 min.)

Meditation: Whole Body Breathing (21:25 min.)

This guided meditation includes a body scan and invites the receptivity and letting-go of whole body breathing. Once we have awakened the vitality and presence throughout the body, we have access to the formless dimension, the awareness that is our source.
Worrier Pose – Finding Freedom from the Body of Fear (retreat talk)

Worrier Pose – Finding Freedom from the Body of Fear (retreat talk)

While fear is a natural part of our make up, many of us suffering when the “on” button gets jammed. This talk looks at how our fears generate habitual patterns of physical tension, anxious thinking, emotions and behaviors; and how this constellation prevents us from...
Meditation: Resting in Awake Awareness (18:53 min.)

Meditation: Resting in Awake Awareness (18:53 min.)

This practice opens with a body scan, employing the image and felt sense of a smile to awaken awareness through the body. We then open to all the senses, and rest in the awareness that includes this changing life.
Part 1 – The Jewel in the Lotus: Cultivating Compassion

Part 1 – The Jewel in the Lotus: Cultivating Compassion

The compassion that arises from mindful awareness can heal our inner wounds, interpersonal conflict and the suffering in our world. These two talks focus on cultivating self-compassion and compassion for others. They look at the blocks to compassion and accessible...
Meditation: Relaxing Back into the Mystery (18:27 min.)

Meditation: Relaxing Back into the Mystery (18:27 min.)

All true meditation guides us back to presence, and the mystery that is our source. In this guided meditation we awaken the senses, collect with the breath, and when lost in thought, practice relaxing back into the aliveness and awareness that is always here. We close...
Part 2: Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom

Part 2: Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom

The Buddha said, “I would not be teaching this (a path of awakening) if genuine happiness and freedom were not possible.” While this is our potential, we each have deep conditioning to get stuck in feelings of fear, deficiency and separation from others. These talks...
Transcript: The Sacred Pause

Transcript: The Sacred Pause

~~ A Talk Given by Tara Brach, PhD on September 30, 2015 Listen and watch: The Sacred Pause Download in PDF: The Sacred Pause (PDF) Namaste and welcome. I was moved by a NPR story this week that I wanted to share with you. It was about a trauma team at the University...
Part 1: Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom

Part 1: Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom

The Buddha said, “I would not be teaching this (a path of awakening) if genuine happiness and freedom were not possible.” While this is our potential, we each have deep conditioning to get stuck in feelings of fear, deficiency and separation from others. These talks...
Meditation: Coming Home with the Breath (14:48 min.)

Meditation: Coming Home with the Breath (14:48 min.)

Our breath is always available as a pathway back to presence. This simple meditation guides us to relax and awaken in the body, and then establishes the breath as a home base for our attention. Our practice is to notice when the mind becomes distracted, and gently...
The Sacred Pause

The Sacred Pause

Transcript now available: The Sacred Pause  CC ~ When we are lost in the trance of doing, our lives are on automatic, and contracted by sense that something’s wrong or missing. This talk explores the challenges of learning to pause, and the blessings that arise...
Ten-Minute Basic Meditation (10 min.)

Ten-Minute Basic Meditation (10 min.)

Tara offers a short introductory meditation with a body scan, bringing focus to the breath and sounds, then resting in awareness in silence for the final 3.5 minutes ~ from the first morning instructions at the fall 2015 Insight Meditation Community of Washington...