Introduction to Mindfulness: The Power of Heart Presence – Part 1
NOTE - Tara offers a meditation you can use as a practice during this introduction series: Mindfulness Meditation—Intimacy with our Inner Life. Whether you are new to meditation or an experienced practitioner, the foundational teachings of mindfulness—heart presence—offer a timeless medicine for navigating these challenging times. This fresh introductory series invites you to bring alive ancient practices in ways that are directly relevant to the emotions and reactivity arising in today’s world. You’ll be guided to discover an inner refuge—a way to meet your personal life and our collective world with greater presence and wisdom, courage and love. In this first session, we explore what makes mindfulness truly transformational: the flow of effective training, the power of aspiration, how to use the breath as a home base, and the attitudes that support a steady, strong, and liberating practice. As poet W. S. Merwin writes, “Little breath, breathe me gently, row me gently, for I am a river I am learning to cross.”
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56:59
Mindfulness Meditation—Intimacy with our Inner Life
NOTE: Tara invites you to use this 15-minute meditation to help nurture a steady and strong practice during her upcoming Introduction to Mindfulness series. Mindfulness Meditation, also known as Vipassana or insight meditation, is a practice of cultivating non-judging attention to our moment-to-moment experience. We begin by gently relaxing through the body and resting attention on the breath—or another sensory anchor—allowing the mind to settle. From this grounded presence, we open to whatever arises: sensations, emotions, sounds, or thoughts, meeting each with clarity and kindness. The intention is to wake up from the trance of thinking and return, again and again, to the aliveness of immediate experience. Over time, this practice helps us develop a steady heart amidst change and brings deep insight into the nature of reality.
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15:09
Devotion: Grounds of a Path with Heart, Part 2
In this two-part series, we reflect on the power of devotion as a gateway to awakening that reconnects us with what we love most deeply. Together, we’ll look at how prayer and heartfelt longing can open us to the intrinsic experience of belonging we yearn for. Especially in these times of fear and division, cultivating our natural devotion helps us soften, remember our true nature, and realign with love. In Part 2, Tara explores: Devotion as a living expression of our deep longing to belong—to love, to truth, to something larger than the small self. The power of prayer as a sacred bridge between our vulnerability and the grace of an awakened heart. The importance of conscious prayer—rooted in presence, sincerity, and a willingness to listen for the wisdom that guides us home. How the practices of longing, expressing, and receiving open us to grace, healing, and connection with all of life. How prayer becomes a devotional path—awakening our hearts, deepening compassion, and inspiring courageous action in the world.
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Meditation: Relaxing into the Flow (25:03 min)
In this guided meditation, we are invited to rest in the aliveness of the present moment. Beginning with a reflection on intention, the practice guides attention through the body—softening, sensing, and allowing life to flow just as it is. With mindful awareness of breath, sound, and sensation, we reconnect with the heart and release into presence. A closing chant and a poem by Rumi deepen the invitation to surrender and come home to the wholeness of being.
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25:03
Devotion: Grounds of a Path with Heart, Part 1
In this two-part series, we reflect on the power of devotion as a gateway to awakening that reconnects us with what we love most deeply. Together, we’ll look at how prayer and heartfelt longing can open us to the intrinsic experience of belonging we yearn for. Especially in these times of fear and division, cultivating our natural devotion helps us soften, remember our true nature, and realign with love. In this talk, Tara explores: The essence of devotional practice as a gateway to belonging and spiritual awakening. How longing and sincere intention can guide us back to our true nature. Prayer as the bridge between longing and belonging The difference between substitutes for love and true aspirations that arise from presence. Tracing desire inward as a practice to reconnect with the source of love and aliveness.
Tara Brach, Ph.D is an internationally known meditation teacher and author of bestselling Radical Acceptance and True Refuge. Tara shares a weekly guided meditation and talk that blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices. The podcast addresses the value of mindfulness meditation and self-compassion in relieving emotional suffering, serving spiritual awakening and bringing healing to our world.
Ireland