Tara Brach

What becomes possible when we learn to imagine from presence rather than fear?

In Part 1 of this series, Tara explores spiritual imagination as a powerful capacity for healing, transformation and awakening. When we are caught in stress, fear or limiting beliefs, our imagination contracts and reinforces a world of separation. Yet when grounded in mindful presence, imagination can open us to new possibilities—to our basic goodness, our capacity to change and our potential to create a more loving world.

Through teachings, stories and guided reflections, Tara explores how mindfulness, prayer and imagination can help us loosen the grip of old narratives, heal self-judgment and envision new ways of relating to ourselves and others. We discover how learning to trust what is deepest in us can bring wise hope, resilience and greater freedom to our lives.

Ultimately, spiritual imagination invites us to sense beyond who we have believed ourselves to be and begin living from the love, awareness and goodness that are already here.

In this talk, Tara explores:

✨ Spiritual imagination as a pathway to healing and transformation ✨ Moving from fear-based thinking toward possibility and wise hope ✨ Trusting our basic goodness ✨ Using mindfulness and prayer to awaken imagination ✨ Healing limiting beliefs and self-judgment ✨ Imagining more loving relationships and a more compassionate world

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, Tara Brach invites us into an embodied practice of metta—loving-kindness—awakening a felt sense of openness, warmth and care throughout the body.

Beginning with the image of a smile, we soften the eyes, face, throat, heart and body, allowing this spirit of friendliness to gradually permeate our whole being. As we deepen into presence, we learn to bring this same loving attention to places that feel wounded, blocked or in need of healing.

This meditation offers a simple and nourishing pathway back to an embodied, kind presence—a way of meeting whatever is here with greater space, tenderness and acceptance. We close by resting in the shared field of loving awareness and offering the prayer that all beings everywhere may be held in loving-kindness and live from an awake and loving heart.

This practice is especially supportive for cultivating self-compassion, metta, mindfulness, emotional healing, nervous system relaxation and a more loving relationship with ourselves and our lives.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What would it mean to truly trust the goodness that lives within you?

In this talk, Tara Brach explores what she calls "trusting the gold"—awakening from the stories of deficiency, fear and separation that keep us from recognizing our deepest nature. We may spend much of our lives trying to improve ourselves, earn approval or finally become "enough," while overlooking the loving awareness that is already here.

Tara explores how our early experiences of nurturing and belonging shape our capacity to trust ourselves, and how mindfulness and compassion can help heal the places that feel unworthy, unsafe or unloved. Through the practice of RAIN and what she describes as a "U-turn," we learn to step out of familiar stories, turn toward our vulnerability with care, and discover the wakeful presence beneath them.

Ultimately, trusting the gold means learning to recognize and rest in the awareness, goodness and love that are intrinsic to who we are.

In this talk, Tara explores:

- Awakening from the trance of unworthiness

- How early conditioning shapes self-trust

- RAIN, self-compassion and "spiritual reparenting"

- Moving beyond limiting stories and beliefs- Recognizing our intrinsic goodness

- Resting in loving awareness and true nature

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, Tara Brach invites us to relax out of the thinking mind and return to the living presence of the moment. Through a gentle body scan, awareness of breath, sound and sensation, we begin to sense the aliveness that is always here—and to rest more fully in reality.

As the mind naturally wanders into thought, we practice letting go and opening again to the changing river of experience. Whatever arises—ease or discomfort, sorrow, fear or peace—can be met with kindness and allowed to belong.

This meditation offers a pathway to embodied presence, inner stillness and the natural awareness that holds all of life. It closes with a loving-kindness prayer for our own well-being and for the peace and freedom of all beings.

This meditation can support:

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What would your life be like if you were no longer at war with your imperfections?

In this talk, Tara explores Radical Acceptance as a pathway out of self-judgment, shame and the trance of unworthiness. Rather than believing that acceptance will keep us from changing, we discover the opposite: when we stop making ourselves wrong for what we feel and who we are, we create the conditions for genuine healing and transformation.

Through stories, reflection and the practice of RAIN, Tara explores how we can meet our imperfect, conditioned selves with honesty and compassion while remembering the deeper goodness that is our true nature. Radical Acceptance doesn't mean becoming passive or ignoring harmful patterns—it allows us to respond to ourselves, others and our world from greater wisdom, clarity and love.

In this talk:

✨ Making peace with our imperfections ✨ Healing self-judgment and the trance of unworthiness ✨ Understanding Radical Acceptance as a path to change ✨ Using RAIN to meet shame, anger and difficult emotions ✨ Remembering and trusting our basic goodness

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Just as a cup is full with water, this body is filled with awareness. As we sense the awareness inside the body, and the awareness that listens to sounds beyond the body, we discover the continuous space of awareness that includes, and gives rise to this entire creation. Opening in this way allows for homecoming to wholeness and freedom.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

How do we keep our hearts open when we've been deeply hurt? How do we respond to injustice without becoming consumed by anger? And how can we love without trying to control or change another?

In this final installment of the Ask Me Anything series, Tara responds to questions about some of the most challenging places on our spiritual path. She explores how tending our own wounds can open the way to forgiveness, how we can stay awake to the suffering of our world without losing touch with joy, and how meeting the fear and grief beneath anger can reconnect us with compassion.

Whether we are facing injustice, conflict or struggles with those we love, the invitation is to act with clarity while remembering our shared humanity—and to trust the healing power of seeing the goodness in one another.

In this talk, Tara explores:

✨ Navigating forgiveness after deep hurt ✨ Finding joy amid suffering and injustice ✨ Keeping a soft heart in difficult times ✨ Moving beyond anger and othering ✨ Parenting with compassion rather than judgment

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we explore the possibility of finding an inner refuge of calm—a presence that can hold whatever is moving through our lives.

Beginning with the breath, we gradually soften tension through the body and settle into a relaxed, awake presence. As thoughts, emotions or physical discomfort arise, the invitation is not to resist or control our experience, but to acknowledge what is here and allow each wave to come and go.

Like the depth of the ocean that remains present beneath the movement of the surface, we can discover an inner stillness spacious enough to include the changing currents of life. Each time we notice that the mind has wandered and return to the immediacy of breath, body and sound, we deepen the pathway home.

This meditation offers practices for relaxation, mindfulness, emotional regulation and returning to presence in times of stress or uncertainty. We close by resting in this inner refuge and offering a prayer or blessing to ourselves and our world.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

How do we return to presence when we're overwhelmed? How do we heal the trance of unworthiness, navigate difficult relationships, set healthy boundaries—and find compassion without abandoning ourselves?

In Part 2 of this Ask Me Anything series, Tara responds to questions from listeners about some of the most tender and challenging places in our lives. Together, we explore practical ways to come home to presence when emotions take over, how RAIN and self-compassion can help loosen deeply conditioned patterns, and how community and small moments of mindfulness can support us when life feels like too much.

We also look closely at relationships: what happens when someone we love is struggling and we cannot change them; how inner healing can transform the way we relate to a partner; and how we might meet betrayal, hurt and conflict with wisdom and care.

A central theme is the practice of a "strong back and soft front"—learning to set clear, courageous boundaries while keeping our hearts open. Compassion does not mean allowing harm, bypassing our wounds or forgiving before we are ready. Sometimes love asks us to protect ourselves, create distance and allow accountability. From that ground of safety and truth, genuine healing and compassion can unfold.

We close with a guided reflection for bringing mindful awareness to conflict, tending our own vulnerability and listening inwardly for what love is asking of us.

In this talk: • Returning to presence during overwhelm • RAIN and the trance of unworthiness • Self-compassion and emotional healing • Mindfulness in difficult relationships • Healing after betrayal • Healthy boundaries and clear communication • "Strong back, soft front" • Compassion without enabling harm • Forgiveness, safety and accountability • Working skillfully with conflict and reactivity

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided body scan meditation, we explore a simple and nourishing pathway into presence—awakening awareness through the living sensations of the body.

Beginning with a gentle softening of the eyes, face and shoulders, we gradually move awareness through the hands, heart, belly, legs and feet, sensing the aliveness that is already here. As the meditation unfolds, we widen our attention to experience the whole body as a field of sensation, allowing the breath and this moment to be just as they are.

When the mind wanders, we practice simply relaxing back into presence—again and again choosing a relaxed, receptive attentiveness. We close by bringing kindness to our own being and allowing that care to widen outward toward all beings.

This meditation can support relaxation, embodied awareness, mindfulness, nervous system settling and a deeper sense of presence in daily life.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

How much joy do you experience in your life? Joy is part of our natural human capacity—along with the grief, fear, and sorrow that arise in response to the losses and suffering of our lives and our world. Yet habits of thought and feeling can cut us off from joy, even when it is available to us.

Opening to joy takes intention—and it can be cultivated. In this conversation with beloved teacher and Awakening Joy author James Baraz, we explore what joy really is, why it matters, what gets in the way, and the practices that help us become more available to it. We also look at finding joy in difficult times, and how joy can deepen our resilience, connection, and engagement with life.

For more information about James Baraz and is current programs, visit https://awakeningjoy.info

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What if happiness is not something we need to create or strive for, but something we discover when we soften and let go?

In this guided meditation, we awaken through the body, inviting the energy of a smile into the eyes, heart, belly and whole field of awareness. As we relax habitual tension and release the effort to control our experience, we begin to sense the aliveness and openness that are already here.

The practice guides us to rest back into presence—meeting sensations, sounds and thoughts with a receptive awareness. Again and again, we discover that the pathway to happiness can be surprisingly simple: relaxing our grasping and allowing ourselves to be fully here.

This meditation is especially supportive for:

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What becomes possible when we truly listen—to ourselves, to one another and to the life around us?

In part 2 of this two-part series, we'll continue to explore listening as a profound spiritual practice and a pathway to intimacy, compassion and healing. When we feel genuinely heard, our defenses can soften, our hearts can open and something that has been blocked begins to flow again.

Together, we'll look at what gets in the way of deep listening, along with practices for cultivating a more receptive presence: setting an intention for understanding and connection, listening inwardly to our own experience, and learning to listen to others with what Saint Benedict called the "ears of the heart."

Especially in a time of distraction and division, deep listening can become a radical expression of care. As we learn to quiet ourselves and listen beneath the words, we create the conditions for greater understanding, connection and healing—in our relationships and in our world

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we cultivate an embodied sense of acceptance, kindness and care—learning to meet each moment with a friendly, allowing presence.

Beginning with the breath and a relaxed, awake awareness, we explore the felt sense of an inner smile, allowing its warmth to move through the face, heart, belly and whole body. This embodied friendliness becomes a way of making room for whatever is here, without pushing away our experience or holding on to it.

As thoughts, emotions or tension arise, the practice invites us to soften, open and return to a heart-space that can include it all. Rather than needing this moment—or ourselves—to be different, we discover the peace that comes from meeting life with acceptance and care.

As poet Dorothy Hunt writes, "Peace is this moment without judgment."

This meditation is especially supportive for cultivating mindfulness, self-compassion, loving-kindness (metta), emotional healing, inner peace and embodied presence.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What becomes possible when we truly listen—to ourselves, to one another and to the life around us?

In part 1 of this two-part series, we'll explore listening as a profound spiritual practice and a pathway to intimacy, compassion and healing. When we feel genuinely heard, our defenses can soften, our hearts can open and something that has been blocked begins to flow again.

Together, we'll look at what gets in the way of deep listening, along with practices for cultivating a more receptive presence: setting an intention for understanding and connection, listening inwardly to our own experience, and learning to listen to others with what Saint Benedict called the "ears of the heart."

Especially in a time of distraction and division, deep listening can become a radical expression of care. As we learn to quiet ourselves and listen beneath the words, we create the conditions for greater understanding, connection and healing—in our relationships and in our world.

In this talk, you will:

✨ Discover how deep listening can create greater intimacy, understanding, and connection ✨ Recognize the habits—distraction, fear, reactivity, and hidden agendas—that keep us from truly hearing one another ✨ Learn to listen inwardly with mindfulness and self-compassion so we can be more present with others ✨ Explore how listening with an open, undefended heart can bring healing to our relationships ✨ Practice cultivating a receptive presence that helps us listen more deeply to ourselves, each other, and our world

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we turn attention inward and come into intimate presence with the life that is here. Beginning with the body, breath and sensations, we gradually open into the spacious awareness that holds all experience.

As we soften habitual tension and allow thoughts, emotions and sensations to arise and pass, we discover the tender wakefulness that is always here. Like waves held by the ocean, our changing experiences belong to awareness but do not define who we are.

As we close, we are invited to rest in that open, loving presence—and to remember that beneath the changing forms of our lives, awake awareness is our true home.

This meditation is especially supportive for:

✨ Relaxing physical and emotional tension ✨ Cultivating embodied mindfulness and presence ✨ Meeting difficult emotions with tenderness ✨ Resting in open awareness ✨ Remembering our shared belonging and essential nature

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What does it truly mean to say Namaste?

In this talk, we'll look at the deeper invitation behind this ancient greeting—not merely as a gesture, but as a living practice of recognizing the sacred essence within ourselves and one another. When we learn to look beyond fear, judgment, and the stories we carry about ourselves and others, we begin to remember our shared basic goodness. When we pause long enough to truly see one another, we nourish the possibility of compassion—not only in our relationships, but in the collective heart of humanity.

Together, we'll explore: -The deeper meaning of Namaste -Seeing beyond the "small self" and conditioned identity -Awakening to our shared basic goodness -Transforming judgment through mindful awareness -Bringing compassion into difficult relationships -Living with greater reverence, belonging, and love

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation invites you to come home to the simple aliveness of this moment. Through mindful breathing, softening the body, and resting in the awareness that is already here, we discover that presence is not something we create—it is our true home. As we gently release the momentum of thinking, we begin to recognize the quiet wakefulness that is always available beneath the changing flow of sensations, emotions, and thoughts. Each time we return to the immediacy of "here," we strengthen the pathway home to ourselves. This practice offers a refuge for times of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, or uncertainty, reminding us that freedom begins by simply arriving—fully and compassionately—in this moment.

In this meditation you'll explore: - Mindful breathing as a portal to presence - Relaxing the body with awareness - Resting in witnessing awareness - Returning gently from distraction without judgment - Cultivating inner peace and embodied presence

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What is the difference between having goals and living from aspiration? How do we respond when fear takes over? What if self-compassion feels impossible? How do we forgive ourselves, navigate profound grief, heal from trauma, or rediscover joy in practice?

In this first Ask Me Anything session, Tara responds to heartfelt questions from our global community, exploring many of the challenges that touch us most deeply. Together we investigate how mindfulness and compassion help us meet fear, shame, loss, trauma, illness, and uncertainty—not by escaping our experience, but by discovering the awareness and love that can hold it all.

These reflections are offered as practical guidance and as an invitation to trust the innate wisdom and tenderness that live within each of us.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

When we pause and gently return to the living experience of this moment, we begin to discover a refuge that has always been here. This guided meditation invites you to relax the body, soften the heart, and awaken to the vibrant aliveness that is present beneath the constant stream of thinking. Together we'll practice using the breath and the body as a home base—learning to meet whatever arises with kindness, openness, and an accepting "yes." As we become more intimate with our present-moment experience, we begin to realize that true peace isn't found by changing this moment, but by fully inhabiting it. Whether you're new to meditation or a longtime practitioner, this practice offers a gentle pathway to greater presence, inner ease, and a deeper sense of belonging to life.

In this meditation you'll explore: • Relaxing deeply into the body and breath • Using the body as an anchor for mindful awareness • Meeting thoughts and emotions with compassion instead of resistance • Returning again and again to the aliveness of the present moment • Resting in the spacious awareness that is always here

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

The stories we believe shape the life we experience—but they are not the truth of who we are.

In Part 2 of Stories That Imprison Our Heart, we explore how fear-based narratives create separation, anxiety, and suffering, and how mindfulness allows us to recognize these stories without becoming trapped inside them. When we learn to meet the vulnerable feelings beneath our thoughts with compassionate awareness, we begin to rediscover the freedom, wisdom, and love of our true nature.

In this talk you'll discover: -Why our thoughts are maps of reality—not reality itself -How fear-based stories create suffering in our relationships and inner life -The practice of recognizing limiting narratives with mindfulness -Why healing comes from meeting the emotions beneath our stories with compassion -How presence reveals the innate goodness and belonging that no story can diminish

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, you're invited to discover the breath as a refuge—a steady anchor that can return you, again and again, to the aliveness of this moment. As we soften the body, awaken the heart, and gently release the habit of being lost in thought, the simple rhythm of breathing becomes a portal to presence, peace, and belonging.

Together we'll explore: -How intentional breathing helps calm the nervous system and quiet the busy mind -Relaxing the body through mindful awareness and compassionate presence -Meeting difficult emotions with kindness rather than resistance -Returning to the breath whenever attention wanders -Opening the heart through loving-kindness and shared intention for all beings Whether you're new to meditation or a longtime practitioner, this practice offers a simple yet profound way to reconnect with your natural awareness and inner ease.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Much of our suffering begins not with reality itself, but with the stories we believe about ourselves, others, and the world. In this first talk of a two-part series, I explore how unconscious narratives—shaped by fear, conditioning, and past experience—can imprison the heart and keep us feeling separate, defensive, or unworthy. Through mindfulness and compassion, we can begin to recognize these stories, loosen their grip, and awaken to the freedom of our true nature.

In this talk, Tara explores:

- How fear-based stories shape our identity and relationships

- Why the "storytelling mind" is both essential and limiting

- Recognizing the unconscious beliefs that create suffering

- The healing power of mindful awareness and self-compassion

- How love helps us release old narratives and rediscover belonging

This teaching offers practical reflections for anyone longing to move beyond self-judgment, heal old conditioning, and live with greater freedom, authenticity, and connection.

May this exploration support you in seeing beyond the stories that keep the heart small, and in remembering the boundless awareness and love that are your deepest nature.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

When life feels overwhelming, our first instinct is often to tighten, resist, or try to control what is unfolding. Yet true freedom begins when we discover the courage to soften and allow this moment to be just as it is. Inspired by the timeless teachings of mindfulness, this guided meditation offers a gentle pathway into presence through the practice of letting go—not by pushing experience away, but by releasing the resistance that keeps the heart contracted.

Together, we'll explore: - Letting go of repetitive thoughts and returning to presence - Releasing physical tension and softening the body - Opening beyond emotional armoring into an undefended heart - Resting in the spacious awareness that holds all experience - Discovering the peace that naturally arises when we stop resisting life

As Ajahn Chah reminds us, "If you let go a little, you'll have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you'll have a lot of peace." This meditation is an invitation to experience that peace for yourself. Whether you're seeking stress relief, emotional healing, deeper mindfulness, or a way to reconnect with your natural presence, may this practice help you come home to the awareness and love that are always here.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Fear is part of being human. We can't stop life's waves from coming—but we can learn how to meet them with awareness, compassion, and courage. In this talk, I explore how meditation helps us awaken from what I call "worrier pose"—the habitual patterns of anxiety, overthinking, and contraction that keep us from living with an open heart.

Together we'll explore how fear becomes less an obstacle and more a doorway to awakening, and practices—including RAIN—that help us move from identifying with fear to resting in the larger awareness that can hold it all. Rather than trying to eliminate fear, we can learn to relate to it with presence, kindness, and a deep sense of belonging.

As we learn to turn toward fear with mindful presence instead of resistance, we discover that what we truly are is larger than any wave of anxiety. Beneath fear is an awake, loving awareness that has the capacity to hold every experience with wisdom and compassion.

In this talk Tara explores:

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Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Support Tara's Work: If you find value in these talks and wish to support their continuation, please consider making a donation. Your generosity helps us keep these teachings available to all. Visit: https://www.tarabrach.com/donation/

Stay connected to Tara:

▪️Website: tarabrach.com

▪️YouTube: /@tarabrach

▪️Facebook: /tarabrach

▪️Instagram: @tarabrach

▪️Threads: @tarabrach

One of the great gifts of mindfulness is discovering that we can always begin again. In this guided meditation, I invite you to return to the aliveness of the present moment through the breath, the body, and the simple recognition: "Know that you're here."

Together we'll gently relax the body, awaken embodied awareness, and practice returning whenever the mind wanders. Rather than judging ourselves for drifting into thought, we discover that each moment of noticing is another opportunity to come home to presence.

As awareness opens, we begin to sense the spaciousness that holds every sound, sensation, and breath—revealing the natural peace and wakefulness that are always available. Whether you're beginning a meditation practice or deepening an existing one, this meditation offers a nourishing refuge—a way of returning, again and again, to the living presence that is your true home.

In this meditation you'll explore:

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Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Support Tara's Work: If you find value in these talks and wish to support their continuation, please consider making a donation. Your generosity helps us keep these teachings available to all. Visit: https://www.tarabrach.com/donation/

Stay connected to Tara:

▪️Website: tarabrach.com

▪️YouTube: /@tarabrach

▪️Facebook: /tarabrach

▪️Instagram: @tarabrach

▪️Threads: @tarabrach

Physical pain is part of being human—but suffering arises from how we relate to it. In this talk, I explore how mindfulness and compassion can transform our relationship with pain, helping us move from fear and resistance toward freedom, presence, and peace. Whether you're living with chronic pain, recovering from illness, navigating emotional suffering, or simply meeting the inevitable challenges of life, this teaching offers practical guidance for discovering greater spaciousness and resilience. Rather than waiting for life to be free of discomfort, we can learn to inhabit this moment with an open heart.

Drawing from Buddhist wisdom, personal experience, and guided mindfulness practices, we'll explore how pain can become not an enemy, but a doorway into awakening. In this talk we'll look at: - The difference between pain and suffering - How resistance intensifies physical and emotional pain - The Buddhist teaching of the "second arrow" - Mindfulness practices for working with chronic pain - How awareness, kindness, and spaciousness reduce suffering - Practical ways to meet discomfort with compassion instead of fear - Ways that pain can become a portal to presence, healing, and freedom When we stop fighting our experience and begin meeting it with mindful presence, we discover a larger awareness that can hold even life's greatest challenges. In that openness, pain no longer defines us—it becomes part of the dance of being fully alive.

The Buddha taught that one of the most powerful ways to begin meditation is by gladdening the mind—remembering what we love, resting in gratitude, and opening to the goodness that is already here. In this guided meditation, I invite you to awaken a gentle smile throughout the body and heart, allowing appreciation, ease, and spacious awareness to naturally emerge. Together we'll explore how a simple shift toward gratitude can soften habitual contraction, calm the nervous system, and reconnect us with the aliveness of the present moment. As awareness opens like the vast sky, we discover that beneath the changing flow of thoughts, emotions, and sensations is an awake, loving presence that is always here. In this meditation you'll explore:

Whether you're new to meditation or an experienced practitioner, this practice invites you to come home to the peace, presence, and loving awareness that is your true nature.

Many of us carry a deep sense that something is wrong with us—that we are not enough, not lovable, or somehow disconnected from belonging. Yet beneath these conditioned beliefs lives a natural capacity for healing, wisdom, and love.

In this talk, I explore the practice of Spiritual Reparenting—bringing the qualities of mindful awareness and compassion to the wounded places within us. Through stories, reflections, and practical guidance, we discover how to meet our fears, shame, loneliness, and unmet needs with the same presence and care that every child longs to receive.

Together we'll explore: ✨ Why feeling truly seen and loved is essential for healing and awakening ✨ How early wounds create patterns of separation, self-judgment, and reactivity ✨ The transformative question: "Where does it hurt?" ✨ How mindfulness and compassion help us reconnect with our deepest belonging ✨ Ways to offer ourselves the loving presence that allows healing to unfold naturally

This talk is an invitation to move beyond the trance of separation and remember the truth of who we are: connected, awake, and held within a larger field of love. As we learn to meet ourselves with understanding and kindness, we become more able to bring that same healing presence to our relationships and to our world.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What if the peace and presence you long for is already here—closer than you imagine?

In this guided meditation, we explore the practice of awakening an intimate presence with life as it is. Through mindful awareness of the body, breath, heart, and senses, we gently release habitual striving and return to the living reality of this moment. As we soften into a receptive awareness, we discover a natural spaciousness that can hold whatever arises with kindness and ease.

This meditation invites you to: ✨ Relax into embodied awareness and presence ✨ Cultivate a gentle, friendly attention toward your inner experience ✨ Sense the aliveness of the body from the inside out ✨ Rest in the stillness and openness of awareness itself ✨ Deepen trust in the loving presence that is your true nature

Whether you're new to meditation or a longtime practitioner, this practice offers a pathway home—to the intimacy, peace, and awake heart that are always here.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What helps us widen our circles of care and awaken a more inclusive, compassionate heart?

As we navigate political division, collective uncertainty, and personal challenges, mindful awareness and spiritual imagination can help us stay connected to love without being overwhelmed by the suffering we witness.

Drawing from mindfulness, compassion practices, personal stories, and timeless wisdom teachings, Tara explores how we can move beyond fear, reactivity, and "othering" toward a deeper experience of our shared humanity.

This talk is an invitation to reconnect with the truth of our belonging—to ourselves, to one another, and to the living world. When we deepen our attention and allow our hearts to be touched, we become part of weaving a more loving future.

In this talk, you'll learn:

-How fear and stress fuel division, blame, and "othering" -Why opening to suffering can deepen wisdom and compassion -The role of mindfulness in staying present without becoming overwhelmed -How spiritual imagination helps us envision and create a more loving world -Practices for recognizing the vulnerability and goodness in others

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation invites us to reconnect with the aliveness that is here in this very moment by bringing a kind and mindful attention through the body. Moving slowly from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, we explore how awareness can soften habitual tension, deepen presence, and reveal the vibrant field of sensations that make up our embodied experience.

As we rest in receptive awareness, we discover that the body is not a problem to solve but a gateway to presence, healing, and inner freedom. Even areas that feel numb or disconnected can become doorways to greater intimacy with life when met with patience and curiosity.

Through mindful attention, we begin to sense the body as a living field of changing sensations—an ever-unfolding expression of awareness itself. This simple practice can help us come home to the presence, peace, and wakefulness that are always available beneath the busyness of the mind.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Most of us know what it is like to feel emotionally reactive—hurt by others, overwhelmed by circumstances, horrified by what is unfolding in our world, betrayed by our own body, hijacked by our mind. In those moments, we can become identified with a small and vulnerable self—a victim self who feels at the mercy of forces larger than us.

In this talk, we will examine how we become trapped in this often unconscious pattern, personally and collectively, and how it leaves us fearful, isolated, and cut off from our natural power. We'll then explore how the wings of mindfulness and compassion can carry us beyond that trance, revealing the freedom, love, and aliveness of our true nature.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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 with a beautiful poem from poet Danna Faulds.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In a recent conversation on Tami Simon's podcast Insights at the Edge, Tara and Tami reflected on themes from The Courageous Heart Workbook: Choosing to Love in Perilous Times. As many know, Tami is an exceptional interviewer, and the dialogue opened into questions that feel deeply relevant for these times.

What does it mean to be bodhisattvas—to be awakening beings and caring beings—in a world marked by uncertainty and division? What is being asked of us now?

The conversation touched on the deeper meaning of courage, the relationship between spiritual practice and engagement with the world, and the ways spirituality can sometimes become a means of avoiding what most needs our attention and care. It also explored how we can actively choose love, recognize our shared basic goodness, and shift from the busyness of the mind into a more awake and connected heart.

It was a rich and heartfelt exploration, offering reflections and practices to support a more open, courageous, and engaged way of being in our world.

Pick up your copy of The Courageous Heart Workbook at your favorite bookseller, or order online here.

Listen to more from Insights at the Edge with Tami Simon

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, Tara invites us to discover the healing power of a listening presence—an awake and receptive awareness that allows us to come home to the aliveness of this moment. Together, we'll explore how listening deeply—to sounds, sensations, the breath, and the heart—can soften the grip of habitual thinking and reconnect us with the peace, openness, and tenderness that live beneath the surface of our busy minds. As we rest in a relaxed and alert attention, we begin to sense the simple miracle of being here. Again and again, we gently return from distraction to presence, cultivating a compassionate awareness that can hold our experience with kindness and ease. This meditation concludes with an invitation to awaken the heart's natural capacity for care, extending our wishes for well-being to ourselves and all beings.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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 how equanimity—the spacious, awake presence that can hold life just as it is—is an essential foundation for love, compassion, and joy to fully flourish.

Drawing from Buddhist teachings on the Brahmaviharas, we reflect on how equanimity is not indifference or passivity, but a courageous openness that allows us to stay present with pain without hardening into blame or fear. Through stories, poetry, guided reflection, and practical meditation instruction, she invites us to discover the freedom of becoming "the ocean" that can hold all the changing waves of experience with compassion and care.

In this talk, you'll discover:

This talk is especially supportive for anyone seeking emotional balance, mindfulness, self-compassion, spiritual awakening, healing relationships, and finding peace in uncertain times.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we explore the healing power of embodied presence—awakening through the living intelligence of the body and relaxing into the spacious awareness that is always here. Together, we gently soften habitual tension, reconnect with the aliveness flowing through the heart and body, and rediscover the stillness that holds all experience with tenderness and care.

Through mindful attention to sensation, breath, and sound, this meditation invites you to step out of the trance of thinking and return to the fullness of the present moment. As awareness opens, we begin to sense the deep peace, compassion, and belonging that emerge when we say "yes" to life just as it is.

This meditation is a supportive practice for:

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

In this talk, Tara explores:

• How the "if-only" mind keeps us leaning forward, chasing happiness in the future, rather than discovering the aliveness and freedom available right here, right now • How the trance of "something is wrong" contracts our hearts, and the deep, compassionate presence that can free us to love life just as it is. • The power of mindful presence—how pausing, softening, and truly receiving this moment allows joy to naturally arise. • How gladdening the mind—through gratitude, love, and wonder—can shift our set point for happiness and awaken a deep trust in the unfolding of life.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation invites you into the living presence that is always here—an awake awareness that can hold the changing waves of sensation, emotion, and thought with tenderness and ease. As we soften into the moment, we discover a natural peace and loving awareness that is not separate from life, but intimately connected with all beings.

Whether you are new to meditation or deepening an established mindfulness practice, this reflection can support healing, emotional balance, inner peace, and spiritual awakening.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

In this talk, Tara explores

✨the all-inclusive nature of compassion in awakening our hearts and embracing all beings with care and presence. ✨ how evolutionary conditioning limits compassion, yet reveals our brain's natural wiring for empathy and connection. ✨ the common blocks to compassion, like fear, stress, and busyness, which pull us into a trance of disconnection. ✨ the essential role of self-compassion and kindness toward ourselves in deepening our ability to care for others. ✨ how to make compassion a lasting trait, by fully feeling and savoring moments of care so they shape who we are.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Discover the essence of lovingkindness in this first talk of Tara'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

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In the midst of a world that often feels like it's coming apart, what does it mean to truly flourish? Drawing on his new book Born to Flourish, Richard Davidson joins Tara Brach to explore the science and practice of well-being—how awareness, connection, insight, and purpose can be cultivated, and how flourishing may extend beyond the individual into a more compassionate, connected world.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation offers a pathway to quieting our mind and calming anxiety. We begin with long deep breathing, and with the breath, engage the image of a smile and relax through the body. Then we practice resting in relaxed awareness, allowing waves of thoughts, feelings and sensations to come and go. The meditation ends with a beautiful verse from poet Philip Booth.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this talk, we explore how compassion can arise in the midst of conflict—within our lives and in the larger world. In a conversation with Paul Gilbert, moderated by Rick Hansen, we reflect on how our evolutionary conditioning—especially the brain's threat system—fuels fear, shame, and the reflex to see others as "other."

Drawing on Buddhist psychology, we look at how a sense of separation and the stories of blame keep us caught in reactivity—and how we can begin to shift out of reactivity into presence, understanding, and care. This talk includes a guided reflection for working with conflict, helping us contact the vulnerability beneath anger, reopen the heart, and widen the circle of belonging.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

If we can recognize thoughts as thoughts, it becomes possible to open from virtual to living reality. This meditation guides us in awakening the senses and discovering the freedom - the awake space of Being that is beyond the confines of thoughts.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Tara is joined by two longtime friends and wonderful teachers, Devon and Nico Hase, to explore their recent book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership. This refreshingly real and relatable book offers guidance for anyone wanting to deepen love in their relationships. Drawing from their own lived experience—with humor, humility, and insight—Devon and Nico reveal how partnership can be both challenging and profoundly transformative.

In this conversation, they explore what truly supports a deep and loving partnership: how to meet conflict and reactivity, how practice comes alive in everyday moments, how to bring mindful presence into sexuality, and how reflecting on impermanence can deepen intimacy. While centered on intimate partners, the teachings speak to the whole field of our relationships.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this talk, we'll explore the deep evolutionary and spiritual currents that shape our lives—the pull of fear and separation, and the quiet, persistent call toward love, compassion, and belonging. Drawing on stories, reflections, and contemplative practices, this talk invites us to remember that caring is our true nature, even when it feels distant or obscured.

Through mindful awareness and heart-centered practices, we begin to sense how our awakened heart calls us—through both the pain of disconnection and the longing for love. As we learn to turn toward our inner experience with kindness, we naturally widen our circles of compassion and deepen our capacity to meet others with presence and care.

In this talk, Tara explores:

✨ How compassion is the foundation of human connection and collective healing ✨ The two forces within us: fear-based reactivity and the call of the awakened heart ✨ Why "caring about caring" is itself a doorway to love and transformation ✨ Practices for turning toward vulnerability and deepening empathy (including Tonglen) ✨ How widening our circles of compassion can help heal both personal and global suffering

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we are invited into a gentle, receptive presence—listening not only to sound, but to the living experience of our body and heart. Through mindful awareness of breath, sensation, and the changing flow of experience, we begin to soften into a deeper intimacy with life just as it is.

As attention opens and relaxes, this practice supports us in meeting whatever arises—pleasant or difficult—with tenderness and compassion. We learn to listen beneath the surface, allowing the heart to reveal its longings, fears, and quiet wisdom. In this listening presence, there is healing, lightness, and a sense of coming home to ourselves.

This meditation includes a reflective reading from John O'Donohue, reminding us of the heart's deep sensitivity and the transformative power of truly listening within.

This meditation is suitable for: ✨ Beginners and experienced meditators ✨ Reducing stress, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm ✨ Cultivating self-compassion and inner calm ✨ Deepening body awareness and present-moment presence ✨ Anyone seeking to reconnect with the wisdom of the heart

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world, and whether a spiritually rooted movement for collective liberation is quietly emerging in our time. This dialogue is an invitation to reimagine activism as an expression of love, belonging, and courageous presence.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Starting with scanning through the body and awakening the senses, we then rest in presence, with the breath as a home base. The meditation invites an openness to whatever arises, and a gentle kind attention if we encounter physical or emotional pain. We end with a prayer that includes our own being and all beings.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this conversation, Tara is joined by Mohsen Mahdawi—Palestinian refugee, Buddhist practitioner, and courageous voice for justice—whose life bridges worlds that are so often held apart. Growing up in a refugee camp and later emerging as a student leader and advocate for Palestinian dignity, Mohsen brings a rare integration of spiritual depth, clarity and dedication to societal transformation. Together they explore how inner awakening can ground fearless activism, what it means to stand for justice amid profound asymmetry of power, how to resist dehumanization in a polarized world, and whether a spiritually rooted movement for collective liberation is quietly emerging in our time. This dialogue is an invitation to reimagine activism as an expression of love, belonging, and courageous presence.

Learn more about Mohsen's work at: http://www.mohsen-mahdawi.com

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Listening is an ideal template for awareness itself - it is naturally receptive, open and awake. This meditation invites a deep listening to and feeling our lives, and opens us to the realization of the flow of changing experience and the background awareness that is the source of our Being.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

How can the simple act of asking a sincere question awaken us from the trance of our habitual thinking? In this talk, Tara Brach explores the transformative power of spiritual inquiry—a practice that guides us beyond our stories and into direct, embodied awareness of what is truly happening within us.

Through reflection, teachings from Buddhist wisdom traditions, and guided inquiry, Tara invites us to investigate questions like "What is happening inside me right now?" and "What am I believing?" These questions help reveal the beliefs and emotional patterns that keep us stuck and open the doorway to greater freedom, compassion, and presence.

You'll also learn how inquiry supports the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture)—a powerful method for meeting fear, self-doubt, and emotional suffering with mindful awareness and kindness. By bringing curiosity to our inner life, we begin to loosen the grip of limiting beliefs and rediscover the spacious awareness that is our true nature.

In this talk, Tara explores:

• How spiritual inquiry helps awaken us from the "interpreted world" of thoughts • Questions that deepen mindfulness and self-awareness • Using inquiry within the RAIN meditation practice • How investigating beliefs can free us from fear and self-judgment • Opening to the mystery and aliveness of present-moment awareness

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This guided meditation includes a full body scan, and the recognition of the formless awareness that includes and is the source of all experience. By recognizing that awareness we discover the silence and stillness that is the ground of all experience.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Part I - In spiritual life, inquiry arises from our deep yearning to understand reality, and it involves bringing an interested, engaged attention to our immediate experience. These two talks explore how inquiry serves emotional healing by focusing on difficult "stuck" places, how inquiry enables us to become more intimate and understanding of others, and in the deepest way, how inquiry can reveal the deepest truth of what we are…our true nature. The talks include several guided reflections that can enrich your meditation practice and serve spiritual awakening.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation begins with collecting attention with the breath, and awakens us to the experience of aliveness and inner space by scanning the body. We then open to receive all the senses in awake awareness, and to inhabiting that boundless receptive awareness that is our home.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Shifting our relationship with fear is central to the evolution of consciousness. Our suffering arises when our thoughts, feelings and sense of identity are shaped by fear. As we learn to attend to fear with mindfulness and care, we discover the vast tender presence that has room for the waves, and can fully cherish this life.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

We spend many moments in a trance, time traveling to the past and future, lost in a virtual reality. This meditation helps us collect our attention with our breath, awaken through the body, and open the senses. We then rest in the wakeful openness that includes changing experience, aware of the mystery and vividness of being Here.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

As humans face the darkness of fear, violence, and division, something else is also stirring: an awakening field of courage, care, and connection.

This talk explores the primitive survival strategies that keep us in trance and the evolutionary currents of awakening that return us to belonging. Through reflection and practice, we are invited to nurture the river of love and justice moving through our world, and to step forward—together—into beloved community.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation awakens the senses with a mindful scanning of the body, establishes an anchor for presence, and invites us to arrive again and again, deepening the pathway home. When difficult or intense experience arises, the practice is to learn to open to what is here with a clear, allowing and kind attention (a favorite from the archives).

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

While it's natural to try to control our life experience, our chronic controlling cuts us off from presence and obscures the loving awareness that is our essence. This series of talks explores how we can let go in four key domains of controlling: clinging to thoughts, resisting feelings, holding tight to beliefs and armoring our heart.

We look at how egoic controlling manifests individually and as a society; the process of awakening from exclusive identification with a separate ego/self; what it means to die into a larger reality and the similarities of psychedelics and meditation in the process of letting go.

The gift of releasing the grip of controlling is true freedom; inhabiting the intrinsic beauty of our beings, and having our lives be an expression of creativity, wisdom and love.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we explore how true peace and happiness arise not from controlling life, but from gently opening to it. When we meet our moment-to-moment experience with tenderness and awareness, the heart naturally softens into ease.

This practice begins by awakening presence in the body and senses—feeling the breath, sensations, and sounds as they are. From there, we widen into a spacious, kind awareness that includes the changing flow of thoughts, emotions, and experience. Rather than pushing away or judging what arises, we learn to rest in a welcoming heart.

This meditation supports:

✨ Mindfulness and embodied presence ✨ Emotional healing through non-judgment ✨ Self-compassion and inner peace ✨ Nervous system regulation ✨ Living with greater openness and love

We close with a short verse from poet Dorothy Hunt, "Peace Is This Moment Without Judgment," reminding us that freedom is found right here—in allowing life to be just as it is.

________________

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Support Tara's Work: If you find value in these talks and wish to support their continuation, please consider making a donation. Your generosity helps us keep these teachings available to all. Visit: https://www.tarabrach.com/donation/

While it's natural to try to control our life experience, our chronic controlling cuts us off from presence and obscures the loving awareness that is our essence. This series of talks explores how we can let go in four key domains of controlling: clinging to thoughts, resisting feelings, holding tight to beliefs and armoring our heart.

We look at how egoic controlling manifests individually and as a society; the process of awakening from exclusive identification with a separate ego/self; what it means to die into a larger reality and the similarities of psychedelics and meditation in the process of letting go.

The gift of releasing the grip of controlling is true freedom; inhabiting the intrinsic beauty of our beings, and having our lives be an expression of creativity, wisdom and love.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation begins with a period of relaxing and collecting our attention with intentional long, deep breathing. We then deepen embodied presence, and widen to the awareness that includes sounds, sensations, feelings, breath, and all experience. When the mind drifts from this open, awake awareness, we gently return, re-relaxing and resting in an easeful, alert presence. Recorded at Tara's Wednesday night class, the meditation ends with a sense of melting into community – relaxed and alert.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What might change if you were three degrees friendlier than you are now? Not more accommodating or self-sacrificing, but authentically friendlier—to your inner life, with others, and in how you meet the world. In this talk, I explore what friendliness actually is, why it so often shuts down under stress, and how small, accessible practices can bring it back online—and, over time, uplevel your friendliness quotient.

As our hearts become more friendly, we become more inwardly free. Our everyday interactions grow more alive, engaging, and surprisingly heart-opening. And finally, friendliness can offer just the kind of global warming we most need in these times.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation establishes a gentle and caring presence through bringing the image and felt sense of a smile to various domains in the body. We then settle with the breath, and practice relaxing with whatever arises, letting life be just as it is. The underlying intention is to regard all experience with a clear, interested and friendly attention. The gift is a homecoming to our naturally loving presence.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This meditation awakens a receptive attention to the senses, starting with physical sensations and opening to sound. Then we sense how open awake awareness is receiving the moment to moment arising and passing life. In the final part of the practice, we explore how awake awareness is receiving the experience of our heart and offer blessings to our inner life and all living beings.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

What if hope is not something we cling to—but a capacity we can cultivate? In this talk, we'll explore how hope becomes a healing and liberating force when it is rooted in awareness, trust, and compassionate action. The mature expression of hope includes three interwoven elements: the aspiration to awaken our full potential, a trust in the possibility of that unfolding, and the energy to engage in service to life.

We'll also look at why hope matters so deeply on the spiritual path, how it can support emotional healing and resilience, and how to recognize its shadow forms—when hope turns into striving or denial. Through mindful reflection, we discover how to nourish a hope that is spacious, embodied, and aligned with love.

This teaching is offered for anyone seeking guidance in staying open-hearted and engaged during uncertain and painful times.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

The mature expression of hope includes three elements: the aspiration for manifesting our full potential, a trust that this is possible, and an energy that engages to serve this unfolding. In this talk, we explore the importance of hope on the spiritual path, its shadow side, and how we can nourish hope through these three elements in a way that serves inner freedom and the healing of our world.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

We cut off from our aliveness when we are lost in thoughts and on auto pilot. This meditation arouses a receptivity to sensation from "the inside out," opens the awareness to sound, and then invites a full resting in receptive, dynamic presence (from the archives).

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this talk, we'll explore what it truly means to find refuge—not through controlling life, but by coming home to the living truth of our experience.

Our deepest refuge—the source of peace, safety, and freedom—is discovered through direct realization of reality itself. Drawing on the Buddhist understanding of refuge, we explore three timeless and archetypal gateways:

• Awareness (Buddha) — the wakeful presence that knows our experience • Truth (Dharma) — the wisdom that liberates us when we see clearly • Love (Sangha) — the tenderness and belonging that arise through connection

Through short guided reflections, we practice opening to each of these portals, allowing refuge to become a lived and embodied experience rather than an abstract idea.

This talk is especially supportive if you are:

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, Tara Brach invites you to step out of the trance of incessant thinking and return to the living presence of your body, breath, and awareness.

As we move through life identified with thought, we can lose touch with the aliveness, vastness, and mystery of Being. This practice offers a gentle pathway to inhabit your energetic form—sensing the vibrancy of life moving through you—while also resting in the boundless, formless stillness that is the source of all experience.

This meditation is especially supportive if you're seeking: • Relief from overthinking and mental fatigue • A deeper sense of embodied presence • Connection with stillness, awareness, and source • Mindfulness meditation for inner peace and awakening

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This talk explores how to see past the mask of personality and glimpse the sacred goodness shining through each person we meet. As we become mirrors of this goodness, we help one another trust the divine essence that connects us all.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

This practice guides us to a receptive, kind presence by starting with listening, and moving through a body scan. We then rest in an open awareness, responding to whatever arises with a gentle attention.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

The portal to presence is awakening through the body from the inside out, and then opening to include sound in field of aliveness. This reveals the awake space that everything's happening in; the space that lets everything be, just as it is. It's in that full allowing that we discover the center of now, that pure still presence that is the very source of our being. The meditation ends with an offering of prayer as that presence is experienced in the domain of the heart.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

While we can't change our past, we have the capacity in this moment to remember our deepest intention and seed the future. Intention can become the compass of our heart, guiding and creating our life experience.

In these two talks we explore how we awaken mindfulness of intention and how, when we are caught in habits that create suffering, we can find our way home to the deep intention that heals and frees us. The two talks include reflections and practices that can bring the power of intention alive in your life.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

While we can't change our past, we have the capacity in this moment to remember our deepest intention and seed the future. Intention can become the compass of our heart, guiding and creating our life experience.

In these two talks we explore how we awaken mindfulness of intention and how, when we are caught in habits that create suffering, we can find our way home to the deep intention that heals and frees us. The two talks include reflections and practices that can bring the power of intention alive in your life.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this guided meditation, we explore the power of intention—the quiet inner compass that reconnects us with our sincerity, our longing, and the truth of our own hearts. Through gentle breath awareness, a relaxing full-body scan, and an invitation to listen deeply inward, this practice helps us arrive in presence and remember what truly matters.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

In this week's talk, we explore the heart practice of generosity—a teaching at the very center of the Buddhist path and a medicine so deeply needed in our world.

Together, we reflect on the two patterns that shape our lives: the tightening of grasping—the sense of not enough—and the natural ease that arises when we open our hearts and offer our care. When we become more mindful of giving, even in small and spontaneous ways, we reconnect with our innate goodness and with the love that flows through all of life. And, as we let go of the habits that create separation and reflect on the goodness within and around us, we discover the joy of a generous heart.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

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…?"

(adapted from Open Focus Meditations led by Les Fehmi, Ph.D.)

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

As anxiety, division, and digital distance numb our hearts, we risk losing our ability to truly feel the lives of others. In this talk, we'll explore how compassion arises when another becomes real to us — when we can imagine their inner world and sense our shared belonging. Through reflections, stories, and the Tibetan practice of tonglen, we'll learn how to transform suffering into care, and re-open the relational pathways that let us act from love.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Collecting, unifying and opening the mind, we begin with a listening attention, noticing sounds that are here. Relaxing open and letting sounds wash through. With the same receptivity to sounds, listen to and feel the aliveness of the body. Listening to the breath as if you're listening to the voice of a quiet loved one – really close in, tender attention – and including the background sounds. Not pushing away anything – a very open and relaxed, receptive attention.

Our introduction music is from "Opening" by Adrienne Torf, © 2025 ABT Music

Retreat - Morning Instruction - RAIN - Q and A (2016-08-27) - Tara gives morning instruction on retreat including R.A.I.N. (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nourish), then responds to questions from retreatants. Includes a question on resourcing when working with trauma. Recorded at the 2016 IMCW Women's Retreat.

Trusting Our Hearts (2016-04-06) - Trust in our basic goodness directly effects our capacity for intimacy with others, creativity and living fully. This talk explores the ways that our caregivers and culture undermine that trust, primarily by giving us messages that we are "not enough" or flawed. We then explore the meditation practices that remind us of our loving hearts, and of the goodness that expresses through others. This remembrance is what nourishes a liberating quality of trust in ourselves and in our life.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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 Instructions and Guided Meditation from Retreat (2016-08-27) - Tara gives morning instructions about how to deepen our meditation, then leads us in a guided meditation.

Reflection: Your Future Self - Accessing the Wisdom of Your Heart (2016-08-24) - When we are cut off from our natural love and wisdom, there's a way home. This meditation guides us to a visit with our future self, and reveals a pathway to our awakened, evolved consciousness. The more we practice this pathway, the more we realize and trust the loving awareness that is always and already within us.

(from the full talk: https://www.tarabrach.com/your-future-self/)

Letting Go: The Freedom of Awake Awareness (2016-08-31) - We know we need to let go of harmful habits like obsessive worry, blame and over consuming to experience true well-being, yet much of the time we are stuck and judge ourselves for being out of control. This talk explores what's so difficult about letting go and how we can't will it but we can be willing. We then explore the shift to awake awareness that enables a natural dissolution of clinging and resistance, and the deep peace and freedom of letting be.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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: Awakening Our Energy Body (2016-08-31) - This meditation scans the body and directly invites the awakening of key energy centers (chakras) in our body. We then rest in the openhearted awareness that includes this ever changing creative flow of aliveness.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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

Your Future Self: Turning Towards Your Awakened HeartMind (2016-08-24) - Our lives are shaped by our evolutionary past - the fears and wants that arise from a separate self sense - and the pull of our evolutionary potential - our awakened heart and mind. This talk explores the power of these pulls, and the teachings and reflections that make us most available and responsive to the calling of our future self.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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: Coming Home to Openhearted Awareness (2016-08-24) - 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.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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

How Hope Can Heal and Free Us - Part 2 (2016-08-17) - The mature expression of hope includes three elements: the aspiration for manifesting our full potential, a trust that this is possible, and an energy that engages to serve this unfolding. In this talk, we explore the importance of hope on the spiritual path, its shadow side, and how we can nourish hope through these three elements in a way that serves inner freedom and the healing of our world.

Reflection: "When you're feeling most alive and present, what's going on? What are you doing? What do you love? Take a moment to take one thing that you know you really love - imagine it - sense yourself engaged in what you love. What's going on inside you that makes this so precious? Sense who you are when you're doing what you love. Know that this is another pathway to belonging - to your heart - to aliveness. This is a pathway to living with the sense of possibility in every moment."

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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: Receiving Life in Open, Awake Awareness (2016-08-17) - This meditation awakens a receptive attention to the senses, starting with physical sensations and opening to sound. Then we sense how open awake awareness is receiving the moment to moment arising and passing life. In the final part of the practice, we explore how awake awareness is receiving the experience of our heart and offer blessings to our inner life and all living beings.

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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

How Hope Can Heal and Free Us - Part 1 (2016-08-10) - The mature expression of hope includes three elements: the aspiration for manifesting our full potential, a trust that this is possible, and an energy that engages to serve this unfolding. In this talk we explore the importance of hope on the spiritual path, its shadow side, and how we can nourish hope - through these three elements - in a way that serves inner freedom and the healing of our world.

"We close with a simple prayer this evening, that all beings might remember the depth of their longing – that deep aspiration for love, for aliveness. That all beings may trust the heart and consciousness that's always and already here. And that we may live from the depth and fullness of who we are." ~ Tara

Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks 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

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