Tara Brach

The Sacred Art of Listening - Just as presence is the heart of meditation, so deep listening is at the center of all conscious, loving relationships. This talk explores how our wants and fears block listening, ways we can deepen our capacity for listening, and the healing that unfolds when we truly feel heard by another (a special talk from the archives). Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks and meditations freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With gratitude and love, Tara

Meditation: Listening to Life - The attitude of meditation is one of engaged listening – a relaxed, receptive yet intimate attention. This meditation explores how we can listen to sounds, listen to and feel sensations, and then relax back into the ocean of awareness that includes and perceives the changing waves. In this relaxing back, we realize the peace and freedom of inhabiting our wholeness and essence (from the archives).

Spiritual Reparenting (a favorite from the archives) - When we are not sufficiently nurtured in childhood, we are inclined toward anxiety, depression, addiction and other forms of suffering. In a deep way, we do not feel at home with others. We are disconnected from our own body, heart and spirit. This talk explores how meditation offers “spiritual reparenting” as we learn to bring interest, understanding and love to our own inner vulnerability. This process of healing extends to our relationships with others and our larger society – by reaching out to widening circles with interest and care, we bring increasing harmony and peace to our world. “That question: Where does it hurt? We need to address it to everyone, if we really want to understand each other.” Ruby Sales Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks and meditations freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With gratitude and love, Tara

Meditation: Relaxing Back into Living Presence - When we are lost in thoughts our mind contracts, our body tightens and we disconnect from true openheartedness. The pathway home is through “relaxing back” and reopening our attention to our senses, relaxing through our body, and gently contacting the felt sense in our heart. By repeatedly relaxing back, we become increasingly familiar with the vibrancy, tenderness and openness of true presence.

Living with Courageous Presence (2019-02-06) - The essence of courage is to willingly feel our vulnerability; this is what allows us to respond to life with an undefended, wise heart. This talk explores the ways we resist opening to vulnerability, and three key steps in cultivating a courageous presence. Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks and meditations freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With gratitude and love, Tara

Meditation: The Practice of RAIN (2019-02-06) - The acronym RAIN - Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture - guides us in bringing mindfulness and compassion to difficult emotions. With practice, we can find our way home to open hearted presence in the midst of whatever arises.   Free download of Tara's 10 min meditation: "Mindful Breathing: Finding Calm and Ease" when you join her email list.

Earth's Crisis: On the Edge of the Roof (from the Archives) - NOTE: Due to the unusually windy and cold weather, we had to cancel class on January 30, 2019. Tara selected this talk from the archives for the podcast as especially appropriate. This talk views the ecological dis-ease of our planet through the lens of our evolutionary unfolding. We explore the egoic trance that has precipitated the destruction of our environment, and the inner practices of presence that enable us to respond from love and wisdom.

Meditation: Collecting, Unifying and Opening the Mind (a favorite from the archives) - We begin with a listening attention, relaxing open, letting sounds wash through. Scanning through and feeling the aliveness of the body, listening to the breath. Not pushing away anything - a very open and relaxed, receptive attention. Sensing what's happening in this present moment. Closing by sensing all in the foreground and in the background - that alert inner stillness, that light of awareness, that which is our deepest, formless nature. Free download of Tara's 10 min meditation: "Mindful Breathing: Finding Calm and Ease" when you join her email list.

Without Anxiety About Imperfection - featuring special guest, Haemin Sunim, with Tara Brach (2019-01-23) - Internationally known Buddhist teacher and writer, Haemin Sunim, talks about his new book - Love for Imperfect Things. Then, he and Tara talk together and respond to questions. Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks and meditations freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With gratitude and love, Tara

Meditation: Living Loving Awareness (2019-01-23) - By bringing our full attention to the aliveness in the body, we can open to the experience of interior space and the space that includes all sensations and sounds. This then allows us to perceive continuous space filled with the light of awareness. This meditation attunes us to these dimensions of awareness: continuous open space, heart space and full aliveness. We end with a Zen poem that invites us to rest in this living, loving awareness, and know it as home. Free download of Tara's 10 min meditation: "Mindful Breathing: Finding Calm and Ease" when you join her email list.