We wait for things to be different in order to feel okay with life. As long as we keep attaching our happiness to the external events of our lives, which are ever changing, we’ll always be left waiting for it.
TARA BRACHWe wait for things to be different in order to feel okay with life. As long as we keep attaching our happiness to the external events of our lives, which are ever changing, we’ll always be left waiting for it.
TARA BRACHFeeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.
TARA BRACHAs we free ourselves from the suffering of ‘something is wrong with me, ‘we trust and express the fullness of who we are.’
TARA BRACHWith mindfulness training we are able to recognize when we get lost in our mental dramas, and bring a kind and nonreactive presence to the feelings that accompany them.
TARA BRACHBy regarding ourselves with kindness, we begin to dissolve the identity of an isolated, deficient self. This creates the grounds for including others in an unconditionally loving heart.
TARA BRACHMindfulness is a pause – the space between stimulus and response: that’s where choice lies.
TARA BRACHFear of being a flawed person lay at the root of my trance, and I had sacrificed many moments over the years in trying to prove my worth. Like the tiger Mohini, I inhabited a self-made prison that stopped me from living fully.
TARA BRACHThe spiritual path is not a solo endeavor. In fact, the very notion of a self who is trying to free her/ himself is a delusion. We are in it together and the company of spiritual friends helps us realize our interconnectedness.
TARA BRACHRadical Acceptance is the willingness to experience ourselves and our lives as it is.
TARA BRACHEven a few moments of offering loving kindness can reconnect you with the purity of your loving heart.
TARA BRACHWhatever you encounter, may that be part of the path.
TARA BRACHSelf-judgment continues to arise – it’s a strong habit – but the fact that I made a conscious commitment to recognize it has helped me stop feeding the story of being unworthy.
TARA BRACHHappiness lies not in finding what is missing, but in finding what is present.
TARA BRACHExtend an act of kindness each day. No one has to know. It can be a smile, reassuring words, a small favor – without expecting something in return.
TARA BRACHThe two wings of mindfulness and kindness will begin to open the heart to more connection with our world.
TARA BRACHThe muscles used to make a smile actually send a biochemical message to our nervous system that it is safe to relax the flight of freeze response.
TARA BRACH