Compass of Our Heart

Compass of Our Heart

All of our actions, our entire life experience, arises from the energy of intention.  While it’s natural that our intentions are shaped by egoic wants and fears, when we bring this into conscious, compassionate awareness, we can discover the deep aspiration that...
Relating Wisely with Imperfection

Relating Wisely with Imperfection

Our survival brain reacts to perceived imperfection with aversion and anxiety, and if we are habituated to this reaction, we become imprisoned in the identity of a flawed separate self. This talk explores the healing and transformation that is possible as we learn to...
Awakening Beyond Self

Awakening Beyond Self

Suffering is our call to deepen attention and discover the truth of who we are beyond the identity of a separate, deficient self. This talk examines how thoughts, beliefs and emotions keep us trapped in a confining identity, and two pathways of practice that serve...
Freeing Ourselves by Loving Ourselves (retreat talk)

Freeing Ourselves by Loving Ourselves (retreat talk)

In this human realm, healing and spiritual realization are rooted in awakening a love for the life that is here. This talk looks at our habit of feeling we should be different than we are, and the ways that mindfulness and self-compassion help enable us to not only...
Ten-Minute Basic Meditation Practice (10 min)

Ten-Minute Basic Meditation Practice (10 min)

Tara offers a short introductory meditation with a body scan, bringing focus to the breath and sounds, then resting in awareness in silence for the final 3.5 minutes ~ from the first morning instructions at the fall 2015 Insight Meditation Community of Washington...
Trusting Ourselves, Trusting Life

Trusting Ourselves, Trusting Life

How can we trust in basic goodness when we encounter so much greed and violence within and around us? This talk explores three pathways of practice that enable us to bring a healing attention to our primitive survival conditioning, and cultivate the heart and...
The Sacred Pause

The Sacred Pause

Transcript now available: The Sacred Pause   CC   ~ When we are lost in the trance of doing, our lives are on automatic, and contracted by sense that something’s wrong or missing. This talk explores the challenges of learning to pause, and the blessings that arise...
Meditation: Opening to the Mystery (17:13 min)

Meditation: Opening to the Mystery (17:13 min)

“It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn’t a relay race; that we will all...
Genuine Acceptance

Genuine Acceptance

Our capacity to accept this life is key to our freedom, yet there are many misconceptions about acceptance: People wonder, if acceptance makes us a doormat in relationships? Isn’t acceptance akin to resignation? Doesn’t it make us passive when what is...