love

From Judgment to Self-Compassion (retreat talk) (2018-12-30) – When we’ve turned on ourselves with blame and aversion, it’s very difficult to arouse self-compassion. This talk looks at the role of nurturing in freeing our hearts, and offers practice in…

Meditation: Awakening the Heart – Giving and Receiving Loving Blessings – Our hearts awaken as we express and receive love in an embodied, conscious way. This guided practice brings our attention to dear ones in our life, and explores how we discover d…

Three Core Capacities in Loving Fully (2018-12-19) – This talk looks at three ways of awakening our hearts—seeing goodness, feeling appreciation as a bodily experience, and expressing our care. We are then guided in developing each of these capacities …

Part 2 – Healing Anxiety – How Meditation Frees Us (2018-12-12) – Anxiety and the fear of failure is a pervasive suffering around the world. It is also increasing—along with the pace of life, over-consuming, addiction, noise, polarization and fears for…

Three Attitudes that Nourish a Liberating Practice – A key spiritual inquiry is, “In this moment, what most serves awakening?” Rather than a particular style of meditation practice, it is our way of relating to our experience – our attitude – that free…

Part 1 – Healing Anxiety – How Meditation Frees Us (2018-11-28) – Anxiety and the fear of failure is a pervasive suffering around the world. It is also increasing—along with the pace of life, over-consuming, addiction, noise, polarization and fears for…

Authentic Thanks Giving (2018-11-21) – How do we awaken our natural capacities for gratitude and generosity? This talk explores the pathways of honest presence and purposeful cultivation, and offers several  reflections that guide us in contacting and …

Survival of the Nurtured – Our Path to Belonging (2018-11-14) – We flourish when nurtured with love and understanding. Yet for so many, the violence of our society and lack of attuned caretakers has severed trust and belonging. This talk explores how m…

Part 2 – The Jewel in the Lotus: Cultivating Compassion (2018-11-07) – The compassion that arises from mindful awareness can heal our inner wounds, interpersonal conflict and the suffering in our world. These two talks focus on cultivating self-compass…

Part 2 – Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom (2018-10-17) -The Buddha said, “I would not be teaching this (a path of awakening) if genuine happiness and freedom were not possible.” While this is our potential, we each have deep conditioning to get stuck…

Part 1: Rewiring for Happiness and Freedom – The Buddha said, “I would not be teaching this (a path of awakening) if genuine happiness and freedom were not possible.” While this is our potential, we each have deep conditioning to get stuck in feelings …

Meditation: Coming Home with the Breath – Our breath is always available as a pathway back to presence. This simple meditation guides us to relax and awaken in the body, and then establishes the breath as a home base for our attention. Our practice is …

The Sacred Pause – 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 when step out of our…

Ten-Minute Basic Meditation Practice – Tara offers a short introductory meditation with a body scan, bringing focus to the breath, sounds, then resting in awareness ~ from the first morning instructions at the 2015 IMCW fall retreat. (a favorite from t…

Part 2: Impermanence – Awakening Through Insecurity – From the view of the separate self, this existence is inherently uncertain, and we are profoundly vulnerable. Our habitual reaction to insecurity fuels separation, and limits our capacity to live an…

Part 1: Impermanence – Awakening Through Insecurity – From the view of the separate self, this existence is inherently uncertain, and we are profoundly vulnerable. Our habitual reaction to insecurity fuels separation, and limits our capacity to live an…

Discovering the Power of Prayer (2018-08-15) – We all know the pain of separation and have a longing for connection. When we silently listen to and contact the depth of that longing, we are at the root of transformational prayer. This talk looks at wha…