Talks and Meditations from Retreats

There is a deep awareness that emerges in the silence and stillness of retreat. As the mind becomes quiet, we begin to hear the calling of the heart. Below, you will find a selection of talks, guided meditations, and question/answer – Q/A – periods recorded during Tara’s 5- and 7-day residential retreats.

Talks

Meditations

Other Resources

Talks from Retreats

Minting Gold – Embodying the Awakened Heart (Retreat Talk)

Mar 6, 2013

Our core conditioning expresses as both a longing for love and the pain of not trusting we are loveable. This talk explores how we create the experience of separation, and the...

The God Whom I Love is Inside (retreat talk)

Dec 29, 2012

Our suffering arises from unlived life–the fears and loneliness and hurt that we have been unable to digest and include in our heart. This talk explores our conditioning to become dis-embodied and the blessings of spiritual realization that arise as we inhabit our aliveness fully.

Loving the Life Within Us (retreat talk)

Oct 27, 2012

If we don't love the life we consider "self," we will not realize or live from the loving awareness that is our essence. This talk guides us in bringing a kind, accepting...

Be Who You Are (retreat talk)

May 2, 2012

By bringing a surrendering presence to mental, emotional and physical domains, we undo the trance of separation and discover our true nature. This talk explores the practices...

Opening the Lotus of Your Heart (retreat talk)

Feb 22, 2012

Our reaction to life’s stress is to contract, and we live many moments with a tight body, clenched heart and narrowed mind. This talk explores how deepening attention can reconnect us with our natural openness and radiance (from the 2012 Women’s Retreat on 2/3/2012).

The Blessings of Embodied Presence (retreat talk)

Dec 29, 2011

All that we cherish - love, creativity, wisdom and aliveness - becomes available when we come home to an embodied presence. This talk looks at how the two wings of mindfulness...

Our True Nature – Emptiness Dancing (retreat talk)

Oct 12, 2011

Our True Nature - Emptiness Dancing - The most profound question in spiritual life is “who (or what) am I?” This talk explores ways of inquiring into the nature of awareness, and...

Unconditional Love for the Life Within (retreat talk)

Oct 8, 2011

The tyranny of “should” prevents us from living and loving fully. This talk explores how we get trapped in the identity of a flawed self and the ways a wise […]

Remembering Love (retreat talk)

May 1, 2011

Tara taught at the IMCW spring retreat in Reisterstown, MD this week - below is her Monday evening talk. Apologies for the static in the background - it is constant from an air...

Retreat Talk: The Path of Transformation

Dec 29, 2010

Awakening arises out of presence with the changing ground of our lives. This talk explores three key gateways to liberating presence: forgiveness, inner fire (aspiration) and a deep inquiry into […]

Soul Retrieval (retreat talk)

Feb 17, 2010

In many shamanistic cultures, it is believe that when a person is traumatized, the soul leaves the body as a way of protecting itself form intolerable pain. In a ceremony called...

Freedom from Trance

May 5, 2009

We live in the story of being a separate entity, and often, with the felt sense that something is wrong. This talk investigates the genesis of this trance, and the […]

Guided Meditation: Space of Awareness (from Spring 2012 IMCW retreat) (28:52 min.)

This meditation is adapted from a meditation called "Open Focus." Let whatever comes spontaneously to your awareness to be there as you follow along with the questions, which...

Introduction to the Heart Practices (instruction and meditation from retreat) (39:55 min.)

These instructions on the heart practices were given at the IMCW 2012 Spring Retreat. A guided lovingkindness or “metta” meditation to open the heart, call on love, and come home to presence follows.

Introduction to the Heart Practices (35:55 min)

Instructions on the heart practices from the IMCW 2012 Spring Retreat - a guided lovingkindness or "metta" meditation to open the heart, call on love, and come home to presence...

Guided Meditation: Space of Awareness (from Spring 2012 IMCW retreat) (28:52 min.)

This meditation is adapted from a meditation called “Open Focus.” Let whatever comes spontaneously to your awareness to be there as you follow along with the questions, which begin with, “Can you imagine…?”