Category Archives: Fear

Fear, Guided Meditations, Pandemic

Short Talk and Guided Meditation: Bringing RAIN to Fear (13:32 min.)

In this practice we explore how the mindfulness and compassion of RAIN can free us from the grip of fear. This is an excerpt from the full talk: Facing Pandemic Fears with an Awake Heart.

NOTE: meditation in audio starts at 3:19.

Listen En-Français: https://www.tarabrach.com/reflexion-guidee-amener-rain-a-la-peur/
Listen and watch in English below:

Photo credits: Re Guillemin

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Fear, Guided Meditations, Meditations that Free the Heart, Pandemic

Guided Meditation for Times of Pandemic: “Calling on Your Awakened Heart” (23:44 min.)

In the midst of difficulty we need access to our deepest wisdom and love. This guided meditation calls forth this loving presence by opening to the heart and spirit of whatever being in our life we most experience as calm, wise and compassionate.

How do we find that inner place of calm in the midst of the storm?

And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.

Lynn Ungar 3/11/20, Pandemic

In French: Méditation pour en temps de Pandémie: Invitez votre cœur éveillé

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Fear, Pandemic, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

Facing Fear (Part 2) – Awakening Your Fearless Heart

Fear is a natural and universal part of our incarnation, and, when it goes on overdrive, we get imprisoned in the suffering of separation. These two talks explore how the RAIN meditation can help us face fear, and discover the boundless loving awareness that includes but is not contracted by currents of fear.

In the deeps are the violence and terror of which psychology has warned us. But if you ride these monsters deeper down, if you drop with them farther over the world’s rim, you will find what our sciences cannot locate or name, the substrate, …the unified field: our complex and inexplicable caring for each other, and for our life together here. ~ Annie Dillard

Life’s water flows from darkness.
Search the darkness don’t run from it.

Night travelers are full of light,
and you are, too; don’t leave this companionship. ~ Rumi

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Fear, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

Working with Trauma: Tara Interviews Jim Gordon, MD

The Transformation, by Jim GordonDr. Jim Gordon is author of the new book, The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma. In this interview with Tara, he talks about his work with populations around the globe struggling with trauma, and some of the most powerful practices that can be done on our own in healing trauma. Jim’s non-profit organization is the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC – CMBM.org.

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Fear, Pandemic, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

Facing Fear (Part 1) – Awakening Your Fearless Heart

Fear is a natural and universal part of our incarnation, and, when it goes on overdrive, we get imprisoned in the suffering of separation. These two talks explore how the RAIN meditation can help us face fear, and discover the boundless loving awareness that includes but is not contracted by currents of fear.

It’s the heart that begins to sense that if we want to be free, we have to come into presence. We have to face what’s here and we need to do it with the help and support of each other. ~ Tara

The mind creates the abyss. The heart crosses over it. ~ Sri Nisargadatta

How did the rose ever open up its heart and give to this world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of light against its being, otherwise we all remain too frightened. ~ Hafez (Daniel Ladinsky, translation)

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Anger, Fear, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

Part 1 – The Answer is Love:  Evolving out of “Bad Other”

These two talks address the inquiry: How do we awaken from the contempt and hatred that causes so much suffering in our world? The first talk looks at how we can use the practices of mindfulness and compassion to decondition our habits of self-blame and self-hatred, as well as the importance of helping each other defuse the trance of unworthiness. The second talk extends the use of these practices to situations where we’ve locked into external “bad othering.” These times need our deepened dedication to love: By intentionally arousing compassion for ourselves and others, we directly contribute to the evolution of consciousness in our world.

Listen and view Part 2 here.

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In!”
~ Edwin Markham

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Fear, Relationships, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

The Courage to Love – Part 1

The gateway to full intimacy and love is our capacity to open to vulnerability. These two talks look at our ways of avoiding vulnerability, and offer guidance in learning to contact and transform our fears into awake and loving presence.

We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are
when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved
and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed
and beneath every sadness is the fear that there will not be enough time…
Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world
but to unglove ourselves so that the door knob feels cold
and the car handle feels wet
and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being
soft and unrepeatable.

~ Mark Nepo, from The Book of Awakening

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Fear, Talks: Audio & Video, Videos

Transforming Two Fears: FOF and FOMO

[CC] ~ Two common fears can block us from our full potential – fear of failure (FOF), and fear of missing out (FOMO). This talk explores how to meet these fears with mindful presence, and discover within them the essence energies of loving awareness and full aliveness (a favorite from the archives).

Note – This talk is dedicated to Tim Ferriss, who turned me on to the phrase FOMO. Tim exemplifies the creative aliveness of FOMO energy when it’s living through someone who’s dedicated to being awake, caring and real. Check out his interview with Tara at: https://youtu.be/pXNEM4wjSmE and his podcast at fourhourworkweek.com/podcast/.

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Fear, Sleep, Talks: Audio & Video

Part 2 – Healing Anxiety – How Meditation Frees Us

Anxiety and the fear of failure is a pervasive suffering around the world. It is also increasing—along with the pace of life, over-consuming, addiction, noise, polarization and fears for our planet. How do we calm ourselves in a way that brings inner freedom and serves the healing of our larger world? These two talks explore the power of awareness in evolving ourselves beyond the anxiety that grips and confines our lives – part 2 includes working with sleep issues.

Listen: Part 1 – Healing Anxiety – How Meditation Frees Us

Meditation: Relaxing by Day, Sleeping at Night (no bell at end) (14:23 min)

Visit Community Wisdom on Sleep

Now close your eyes
Sleep

Shut out the world from the dark sweet freshening
of your quiet hearts
Lie loose in the deep waters
Do not be afraid to
give yourselves up to drowning in undefended rest

A.R. Ammons
The Watch

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Fear, TaraTalks

Tara Talks: When Fear is No Longer the Enemy (6:01 min.)

When we are identified with the body of fear, our survival strategies take over. It takes courage to step out of this conditioned reactivity and come into direct contact with how the fear feels in our bodies. The identification loosens when we pause and bring kindness to the life that’s right here.

Listen and watch the full talk: Attend and Befriend: Healing the Fear Body

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