(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) Meditation can empower us as we learn to access our potential for stability, strength and openness. This meditation calls on the image of a mountain as we awaken our body and mind to a full, vibrant presence.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) The more we trust that our awareness and heart are awakening, the more we find ease, grace and true empowerment in our lives. This talk explores two pathways of deepening our sense of belonging and trust: direct presence with the pain of separation, and turning toward the loving presence that is increasingly manifesting through these human forms.

” … we need people who are able to respond from the heart – not from an angry or egoic reactivity, but from real wisdom.”

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) This meditation cultivates a gentle, wakeful presence in the body, with the “smile down” and then guides us to resting in a home base of sensations or the breath. We then open to whatever arises with a clear and inclusive attention, saying Yes to the life that is here.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) By connecting with your future self, this reflection guides you in accessing the deep wisdom and unconditional love of your own awakening heart.

“I returned to the river. I returned to the mountains. I begged – I begged to wed every object and creature. And when they accepted, God was ever present in my arms. And He did not say, ‘Where have you been?’ For then I knew my soul – every soul – has always held him.”

Excerpt from: When I Was the Forest – Meister Eckhart

NOTE: this reflection from the closing of Tara’s talk: Trusting Our Awakening Heart

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) We can either repeat old fear based patterns, or our suffering can awaken us to a deeper wisdom and greater love. This talk explores four principles in relating to difficulty that move us towards healing and freedom - both personally and as a society.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) It’s natural that our attention wanders, and the more we relax back, the more that becomes our habit…returning to presence. This meditation opens with conscious breathing and awakening through the body. We then rest in open awareness, and when the attention drifts, guide ourselves to rest our minds, over and over, in the aliveness and presence that is right here.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) As individuals and societies, we are pulled by both the insecurity of our evolutionary past, and by our awake heart, our capacity for mindfulness and compassion. This talk explores the ways we can listen to and respond to the call of our awake heart, by training ourselves to open to vulnerability (our own and others) and widen the circles of compassion.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) 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.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) One of the pervasive expressions of trance is identifying with a limited and separate sense of self. This talk contrasts the self-trance to our intrinsically open, awake and loving awareness. We then explore how the mindfulness and self-compassion in the RAIN practice can directly dissolve trance and reconnect us to our true nature.

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) In this meditation we engage a relaxed and alert attention by scanning through the body, opening to sound, and resting in the awareness that includes all the senses. This presence is stabilized with the use of a home base, for many the breath, and reminders to “relax back” when the mind naturally drifts.