Meditation: Open Awareness – Relaxing Back into Presence (19:20 min)
Release Date: 01/30/2025
Tara Brach
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.
info_outlineTara Brach
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: how cultivating a grateful, devoted heart opens us to presence, peace, and joy beyond circumstance. the "infinite field of possibility"—our capacity to incline the mind toward hope, love, and inner freedom. how...
info_outlineTara Brach
This guided meditation, grounded in the practice of Metta, invites us to awaken the heart by softening the body and quieting the mind. We begin with the simple image of a smile—opening to warmth, ease, and presence. With a tender attention, we rest with breath, sensations, and sound—gently returning when the mind drifts. As we offer loving phrases like “May I feel happy” and “May I be free,” we nourish a deep sense of well-being and connection, embracing this life with compassion and an open heart.
info_outlineTara Brach
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,...
info_outlineTara Brach
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.
info_outlineTara Brach
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...
info_outlineTara Brach
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."
info_outlineTara Brach
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...
info_outlineTara Brach
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.
info_outlineTara Brach
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...
info_outlineThis 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.