Tara Brach

Tara Brach (born May 17, 1953) is an American psychologist and proponent of Buddhist meditation. She set up an Insight Meditation Community in Washington, D.C., a "spiritual community" that teaches and practices Vipassana meditation. The group's Wednesday night meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, which is taught by Dr. Brach, regularly attracts hundreds of people per week.[1] Brach's talks are downloaded free nearly 200,000 times each month by people in more than 150 countries.[2] She has worked with Jack Kornfield and other Vipassana meditation experts.[3] Brach also teaches about Buddhist meditation at many centers for meditation and yoga in the United States and Canada including Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, the Kripalu Center,[4] and the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies.[5]

She has taught the application of Buddhist teachings to emotional healing.[1] In 2003, Brach authored Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, which encapsulated Brach's application of Buddhist teachings such as mindfulness to the psychological process of accepting and healing trauma. In 2013, Brach wrote True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart, offering a practical guide to finding our inner sanctuary of peace and wisdom in the midst of difficulty. Brach is an engaged Buddhist.

Education

Brach received a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California.[1] She wrote a dissertation analyzing how individuals with eating disorders can utilize meditation as a healing technique.

Career

She co-created the Community Dharma Leader 4 Program, that provides aspiring meditation teachers with a 2-year training regime that includes retreats and mentoring, at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.[6] She now holds conferences at conference centers such as Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in conjunction with Kornfield.[7]

She founded the Washington, DC Buddhist Peace Fellowship[8] which is a subsidiary of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Personal life

Brach presently resides in Virginia with her husband, Jonathan Foust, also a yoga and meditation teacher.

Publications

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Adelman, Ken (May 1, 2005). "What I've learned: Tara Brach". Washingtonian. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  2. ↑ Boorstein, Michelle (May 18, 2013). "Meditation guru Tara Brach is calm eye of Washington’s stress-filled storm". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  3. ↑ Publishers Weekly Review Publisher's Weekly review of Radical Acceptance Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Tara Brach". Kripalu.org. Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Tara Brach, PhD". Eomega.org. Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Inc. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Community Dharma Leader 4 Program". Spiritrock.org. Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ "The Gifts of Buddhist & Western Psychology". Eomega.org. Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Inc. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  8. ↑ Washington Buddhist Peace Fellowship About Us Page

External links