When we’re having difficulty, we typically tense up our body and mind, and armor our heart. This practice offers a pathway of relaxing that tension and tasting the peace that comes from resting in presence.

The gift of meditation is awakening to the vast, radiant ever-creative beingness that is beyond the confines of a constricting self-sense. This talk explores how awake awareness can directly meet the clench of selfing - the thoughts, emotional tensions and core self-sense. When this occurs there’s a spontaneous releasing into the full love, wakefulness and aliveness of our being. 

When we fully inhabit our body, we discover the space and wakefulness of awareness itself. In this meditation, we rest in this open awareness, and when the attention narrows into thoughts, we practice relaxing back into the openness that includes passing sounds, sensations and feelings. We close with a brief offering of lovingkindness to our own hearts and our world (with community OMs - no bell at end).

In the face of violence, hatred and loss, how do we handle the reactivity we feel? Our own anger, hatred and fear? These two talks offer guidance and practice in letting our own vulnerability be a portal to responding - to ourselves, each other and our world - with courageous, wise hearts.

In the face of violence, hatred and loss, how do we handle the reactivity we feel? Our own anger, hatred and fear? These two talks offer guidance and practice in letting our own vulnerability be a portal to responding—to ourselves, each other and our world-- with courageous, wise hearts.

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.

During times of great collective stress, it’s common to get gripped by waves of anxiety and fear. This guided meditation, an adaptation of the Tibetan tonglen practice, helps us reconnect with our spiritual heart, the sea of love and light that can hold even the most painful waves in our lives.

Thich Nhat Hanh said “no mud, no lotus.”  How might anger, hatred and delusion—the mud of these times-- give rise to a growing compassion and wisdom in our world?  In this talk we look directly at the angst surrounding the US elections, and explore several powerful teachings and practices that can serve as the catalyst for profound transformation, an evolving of wisdom and love, in our collective consciousness.

Love is often abstract, and not fully alive. In this practice, with the supportive image and felt sense of a smile, we are guided to awaken loving in our body, mind and whole being.

This conversation includes what turned Tara toward a path of compassion in her early life, the evolution of the RAIN practice to include nurturing/compassion, the spiritual dimensions of self-compassion, and the role of compassion in these current times.

This was initially recorded live for those in Kristin’s membership community and includes several question/responses. For more information about Kristin’s community, visit: https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-community/?utm_source=newsletter+&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Tara_Brach

Vipassana, also known as insight meditation, is training in bringing a clear, mindful attention to our moment-to-moment experience. We begin by relaxing through the body and then resting attention with the breath – or some other sensory anchor – and allowing the mind to settle. Then we open to whatever is predominant or calling our attention – sensations, emotions, sounds – meeting each arising experience with a clear, kind attention. The gift of this process is discovering balance in the midst of the changing flow, and gaining deep insight into the nature of reality.

Most of us value honesty yet are not aware of how regularly we avoid facing what’s difficult inside us, and how we are less than truthful with others. This talk explores the practice of radical self-honesty as the grounds of being more honest with others, and bringing more love and freedom to our lives. 

Taking in the Goodness: Rumi said, “Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness.” This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others.

Gratitude arises when we are in sacred relationship with life—present, open and receptive. This talk explores how central gratitude is to our physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and then looks at the ways we can directly gladden our minds with gratitude. We end with a guided meditation that includes sharings from the group. The audio includes a poem of blessing by John O’Donohue with a brief cut from Robert Gass – Om Namaha Shivaya (from the archives).

When our body and mind is relaxed, we become filled with a very awake, dynamic quality of presence. This meditation guides us in relaxing, opening our senses and resting in the vastness and inherent freedom of our own natural awareness.

In a world where the pace and magnitude of change is beyond anything ever experienced by humans, we are being called to cultivate the qualities of calm, inner balance and a steady, wise heart. These two talks look at the conditioning that fuels our emotional reactivity, and the practices that cultivate equanimity, resilience and a full, openhearted presence. We dedicate to these practices for the sake of our own freedom, and the wellbeing of all beings.

This guided practice begins with a conscious breath that relaxes the body and mind, and then a body scan to awaken to the aliveness of the present moment. We then open into the natural awareness that includes the changing flow of sounds, feelings and sensations, and practice “relaxing back” when the mind gets lost in thought.

In a world where the pace and magnitude of change is beyond anything ever experienced by humans, we are being called to cultivate the qualities of calm, inner balance and a steady, wise heart. These two talks look at the conditioning that fuels our emotional reactivity, and the practices that cultivate equanimity, resilience and a full, openhearted presence. We dedicate to these practices for the sake of our own freedom, and the wellbeing of all beings.

This meditation invites relaxation and ease. We begin with a long deep breathing that helps calm the body and mind. Then we release tensions that might be held in the body, and settle our attention in a receptive way with the breath. The intention is to discover the relaxed wakefulness that expresses our natural being.

Our habitual ways of avoiding pain keep us from experiencing intimacy with our inner life and with each other. This short talk and guided meditation offers instruction in saying “yes” to the life we encounter. As we release resistance, we discover the creativity, wisdom and love that express our truest nature (a reflection from the archives).

Listen to the full talk: Saying “Yes” – Meeting Your Edge and Softening. 

When we are suffering, we are believing something untrue - usually a limiting story about who we are. This talk explores the roots of our self-doubts, and the teachings and practices that remind us of our basic goodness - the loving awareness that is our source (given at the Fall 2019 IMCW 7-Day Silent Retreat - 2019-11-06). 

In a divided, reactive, and violent world, how do we embrace love and joy? How do we genuinely include our opponents in our hearts? What gives us the courage to bring our whole being into serving and savoring? And what is our vision for a new world?

In this fresh and profoundly relevant conversation, Tara Brach and Valarie Kaur explore the challenges and potential of these turbulent times. Valarie, a Sikh activist, filmmaker, civil rights lawyer, and author, shares insights from her powerful books, including See No Stranger and her recent works, World of Wonder and Sage Warrior. Together, Tara and Valarie reflect on:

How Revolutionary Love can be a guide in times of division and despair.

• Valarie’s ancestral teachings on surviving apocalyptic times with courage.
• The role of joy, music, and community in building resilience and connection.
• Forgiveness, reconciliation, and transforming anger into meaningful action.
• Visioning a new world while staying rooted in hope, presence, and love.

Learn more about Valarie and the Revolutionary Love project at www.revolutionarylove.org .

This guided meditation helps us find ease and wakefulness in our body and mind. With the breath as our home base, we offer a gentle and full attention to the changing waves. We close with a beautiful poem, “Walk Slowly,” by Danna Faulds.

We all need ways to guide our attention that allow us to find wisdom, love and freedom in the midst of our lives. This talk reviews three archetypal gateways—Buddha/awareness, Dharma/truth, and Sangha/loving community. Through teachings, guided meditations and a traditional refuge ritual, we engage together in bringing alive these pathways to healing and peace.

In this video, Tara explores:

• Spiritual practice as a journey of remembering our inherent goodness and reconnecting to what truly matters.
• The Three Refuges—Buddha (awareness), Dharma (truth), and Sangha (community)—as pathways to peace and belonging.
• The difference between false refuges, like seeking approval or blame, and true refuge found in presence and self-compassion.
• How the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) transforms challenging emotions into spacious awareness.
• The power of widening our circles of belonging through vulnerability, active listening, and embracing shared humanity.

This meditation calls on the image and felt sense of a smile as we scan through the body, and invites a receptive and caring presence, as we open our attention to the changing flow of life.

In this guided meditation we begin with a body scan, and rest in awareness with our senses awake. The key practice is to recognize when the mind immerses in virtual reality, reawaken our senses, and surrender again and again into the immediacy, vibrance and mystery of living presence.

Drawn from Tara’s book, Radical Compassion (2020), these three talks explore how the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) awakens the active, embodied caring that heals and frees our hearts. Through the framework of this practice, we look at how we can reconnect with the gold of our true nature, navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and love. 

In Part 1, Tara explores:

• How the RAIN practice weaves mindfulness and compassion to release self-judgment and awaken our hearts.
• The story of the "golden Buddha" as a metaphor for discovering our inner radiance beneath protective layers.
• The shift from "I" to "We" as an essential movement toward connection and wholeness.
• The importance of self-compassion in transforming the trance of unworthiness and reconnecting with our true nature.
• Practical ways to bring mindful presence to our daily lives and relationships, creating space for healing and growth. 

Our habit is to try to manage our experience from a mental control tower. This meditation awakens us through the body, and then invites us to rest in that vast presence that includes the changing flow of life. When we inhabit that openness, there’s a natural arising of peace, wakefulness and tenderness.

Drawn from Tara’s book, Radical Compassion (2020), these three talks explore how the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) awakens the active, embodied caring that heals and frees our hearts. Through the framework of this practice, we look at how we can reconnect with the gold of our true nature, navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and love.

In Part 2, Tara explores:

• How unmet needs and emotional reactivity block authentic connection in relationships.
• The "limbic controller" and its strategies, such as blame, avoidance, and pretending, that create distance in relationships.
• The transformative power of the RAIN practice in healing relational patterns and fostering deeper intimacy.
• The importance of recognizing the "goodness behind the mask" in ourselves and others to bridge separation.
• Stories and reflections that illustrate the healing potential of Radical Compassion in even the most challenging relationships.

Drawn from Tara’s book, Radical Compassion (2020), these three talks explore how the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) awakens the active, embodied caring that heals and frees our hearts. Through the framework of this practice, we look at how we can reconnect with the gold of our true nature, navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and love. 

In Part 3, Tara explores:

• How the RAIN practice fosters compassion and connection by dismantling barriers to belonging.
• The three primary blocks to compassion: self-centered attention, creating a "bad other," and fear of overwhelm.
• How "stealth metta" and the mantra "We are friends" can soften our habitual biases and awaken kindness.
• The transformative power of seeing the "goodness behind the mask" in ourselves and others.
• The practice of Tonglen - breathing in suffering and breathing out care, to transform pain into a source of strength and connection.

This guided meditation practice brings attention to the continuous space within and around the body, and the aliveness of sound, sensation and feeling that lives through us. While it’s natural for attention to get distracted, the pathway home is a relaxing back into presence – the awake space that is aware of this changing life.

While meditation is widely practiced in today’s world, many miss the opportunity to tap into its profound potential to awaken the heart and mind. Beyond its surface benefits, meditation can guide us to the radiant light, boundless love, and pure awareness that is our true nature. This reflection explores how we often lose touch with the deeper possibility meditation offers, and guides us in approaching practice and daily life in a way that opens us to the timeless freedom and awakening of a Buddha.

In this week’s talk, Tara explores:

• Ways that deepening our meditation practice can help us navigate personal and collective challenges with greater ease.
• The power of mindful presence to awaken compassion and build resilience in the face of difficulty.
• Self-compassion as an essential practice for healing and reconnecting with our inner goodness.
• The transformative role of spiritual community (sangha) in nurturing belonging and shared purpose.
• How the practices of mindfulness and self-compassion can help us awaken from habitual reactivity and find a greater sense of connectedness and freedom.

Lovingkindness becomes full when it is energetically experienced in our bodies. This meditation guides us in awakening the receptivity, warmth and openness of metta through our body, and then invites us to rest in the space of loving presence, as we open to whatever arises.

Discover the essence of lovingkindness in this first talk of Tara Brach's series, "Present Heart: The Universal Expressions of Love." This series delves into four primary qualities of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

In Part 1, Tara explores the nature of lovingkindness — how it can be blocked by our habitual patterns, and how we can nurture and fully realize this innate capacity through mindful practices and understanding. ❤️

What You’ll Learn:

• Understanding the nature of lovingkindness and its role in spiritual growth
• Recognizing the habitual patterns that block the expression of love
• Learning practical techniques to cultivate and deepen lovingkindness
• Insights on how lovingkindness can transform your relationship with yourself and others

This meditation guides us to awaken to our senses through scanning through the body and then listening to sounds. When distracted by thoughts we relax open again and again, learning to rest in the formless awareness that includes sounds, sensations and all passing experience. 

Many recognize that love is the antidote to the suffering in our divided world, yet finding the path to an open heart can feel more challenging than ever. This talk explores the full spectrum of love—both tender and open, as well as fierce, protective, and engaged. When we cultivate this courageous love, we are able to hold even those we see as enemies in our hearts. In its true form, this love is not passive or soft. As Martin Luther King Jr. described, it is a powerful soul force, capable of bringing healing and liberation to all beings.

In this talk, Tara explores:

• how mindfulness serves as a powerful tool for cultivating compassionate awareness
• the importance of unarming our heart as a pathway to Radical Acceptance,
• the deep connection between courage and an awake heart
• the true connection that arises when we fully arrive in the moment.
• the power of the “sacred pause”—how presence allows us to open to love in difficult times

This guided practice helps us come into our senses through a body scan. We then rest in the awareness that is listening to and feeling the changing flow of experience. When the mind drifts, the return is a relaxing back to our senses, and to the sea of awareness that includes and experiences the waves of life. 

Compassion – the tender resonance of heart – awakens as we allow ourselves to be touched by our shared vulnerability.

This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding.

This meditation scans through the body, and awakens attention to the open, inclusive awareness that all life arises in. We then explore experiencing that openness in the region of the heart, saying yes to life and including whatever is here with unconditional presence.

Joy blossoms in the moments our hearts open boundlessly to reality, to the 10,000 joys and sorrows. This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding.

We arrive in presence by deepening attention in the body; relaxing and awakening through a body scan. That presence deepens as we bring our attention to the space of awareness that includes the changing flow of sounds, sensations and feelings. In that wholeness of formlessness and form, we discover our natural being - open, awake and tender.

Part 4: Equanimity - unfolds as we find a wise balance and spaciousness in the midst of this living, dying world.

This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart: lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In each talk we explore the habitual patterning that blocks our full realization of these innate capacities, and the understandings and practices that nurture their unfolding.

In this talk, Tara explores:

• A Heart Ready for Anything – Practical reflections and meditations to cultivate equanimity in relationships and daily life.
• The Wisdom of Equanimity – How balance and spacious awareness free us from reactivity and deepen our capacity for love.
• Equanimity as the Ground for Compassion – The role of equanimity in keeping love from contracting into attachment and compassion from turning into pity.
• Navigating Emotional Waves – The metaphor of the ocean and waves to cultivate presence amidst life’s inevitable challenges.
• The Shadow Side of Equanimity – How indifference can masquerade as equanimity and the importance of staying engaged with life.

In daily life we often leave ourselves, get lost in thoughts, and cut off from a direct, openhearted experience of our life. This meditation reconnects by opening all the senses, turning towards the awareness that is here, and resting in the awakened heartspace that includes and tenderly holds our moment to moment experience (a special favorite from the archives).

Many agree that this is the most unpredictable and dangerous time we’ve ever lived through. How do we hold what is unfolding, and respond with courage and clarity?  In this talk we reflect on the ways we become spiritual warriors dedicated to freeing ourselves from the inner domination of fear (hatred, delusion) and freeing our world from external forms of tyranny. In this talk, Tara explores:

• The roots of tyranny and fear—how unprocessed fear fuels aggression, domination, and the rise of authoritarianism.
• The power of belonging—why remembering our interconnectedness can empower resistance against oppression.
• Inner freedom as a path to outer change—how mindfulness and heart-centered practices dismantle fear and awaken courage.
• The role of the spiritual warrior—cultivating presence, compassion, and truth to stand against inner and outer oppression.
• Taking action from love, not fear—how small, heartfelt acts contribute to collective healing and justice.

Listen to audio: https://www.tarabrach.com/talk-freedom-from-inner-and-outer-tyranny/

This meditation begins with a body scan, and then we practice opening to and relaxing with our changing experience. The sitting closes with a beautiful poem by Danna Faulds, "Just for Now."

Fear is a universal human experience, but when it dominates our inner world, it can trap us in a sense of separation and suffering. In this profound talk, Tara Brach introduces how the transformative power of the RAIN meditation can help us face fear with courage and compassion. By bringing mindfulness and loving awareness to fear, we can move beyond its grip and reconnect with the boundless freedom of our true nature.

What You’ll Learn:

• Understanding Fear: How fear arises and creates a sense of separation.
• The Power of RAIN: A step-by-step guide to using RAIN meditation to work with fear.
• Awakening Awareness: Discovering the boundless love and presence that holds all emotions, including fear.

Highlights:

• Gain tools to transform fear into a gateway for healing and spiritual awakening.
• Explore the compassionate practices that lead to a fearless heart.
• Learn how to navigate fear with mindfulness and loving awareness.

Why Listen? This talk is an invitation to step out of fear’s grip and into the freedom of open-hearted living. Whether you’re dealing with personal fears or navigating collective challenges, Tara’s guidance offers a powerful path toward inner peace and resilience.

This meditation establishes a kind attention by bringing the imagery and felt sense of a smile into the body scan and then, with the breath as a home base, opens the attention to changing experience. We end with a brief loving kindness reflection.

Fear is a universal human experience, but when it dominates our inner world, it can trap us in a sense of separation and suffering. In this profound talk, Tara Brach introduces how the transformative power of the RAIN meditation can help us face fear with courage and compassion. By bringing mindfulness and loving awareness to fear, we can move beyond its grip and reconnect with the boundless freedom of our true nature.

What You’ll Learn:

• Understanding Fear: How fear arises and creates a sense of separation.
• The Power of RAIN: A step-by-step guide to using RAIN meditation to work with fear.
• Awakening Awareness: Discovering the boundless love and presence that holds all emotions, including fear.

Highlights:

• Gain tools to transform fear into a gateway for healing and spiritual awakening.
• Explore the compassionate practices that lead to a fearless heart.
• Learn how to navigate fear with mindfulness and loving awareness.

Taking in the Goodness: Rumi said, “Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness.” This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others.

Buddhist psychology and the Western oriented field of positive psychology agree: How we pay attention determines whether we live primarily in fear and judgment, or happiness and peace. This two part series explores the teachings, practices and attitudes that enable us to live a meaningful life with a heart that is “happy for no reason.”

In this talk, Tara explores:

• the essential role of happiness in times of crisis—how choosing joy becomes a radical act of resilience and healing.
• the trance of negativity and how mindfulness helps awaken our innate capacity for presence, gratitude, and inner freedom.
• how positive psychology and Buddhist teachings together point us toward “happiness for no reason”—a deep sense of belonging and well-being.
• the power of intention—how consciously choosing to flourish shifts us from survival mode into love, connection, and aliveness.
• daily practices like gratitude and loving-kindness as pathways to true well-being and a heart ready for anything.