Are you eager to explore the benefits of mindfulness and its potential to enhance your emotional well-being? If so, you’re in for a treat! In this review, I’ll walk you through the entire online course Meditation and Psychotherapy by Tara Brach. This comprehensive program is specifically designed to teach you all about the practice of mindfulness and its integration with therapy to nurture mental health.
Under the expert guidance of Tara Brach, the course unfolds across nine sessions, packed with over eight hours of insightful video content. You will learn the practical techniques for applying mindfulness in both your personal life and your job, gaining invaluable wisdom that extends far beyond the course. Before we proceed to the course curriculum, let’s learn a bit more about your teacher.
Tara Brach – Your Teacher
Tara Brach has been teaching meditation for a long time, starting in 1975. She also runs workshops and meditation retreats in various places in North America and Europe. She has a PhD in psychology. Tara is the one who started the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW). She is the author of books like Radical Acceptance, True Refuge, and Radical Compassion. Together with Jack Kornfield, she offers a program to certify mindfulness teachers. People from more than 50 countries have joined this program. Tara’s podcasts, where she talks and leads meditations, are super popular and get downloaded over three million times every month.
A Breakdown of the Course Curriculum
This course spans nine sessions. Tara Brach helps participants find emotional well-being, self-acceptance, and inner peace. Through mindfulness and compassion practices, individuals learn to overcome suffering, embrace self-acceptance, and live joyfully with purpose. Let’s study each session in detail to gain a deeper understanding.
Session One: Discovering Our True Nature
This session focuses on understanding mindfulness and its importance in recognizing our true selves. We’ll explore how mindfulness can be helpful in professional settings and learn practical tips for incorporating it into our daily lives. Through a guided exercise, we’ll connect with our aspirations and motivations, setting the stage for personal growth.
Key points:
- Exploring the essence of mindfulness through guided practice
- Identifying common obstacles to living in the present moment
- Recognizing the sources of our suffering and how to address them
Session Two: The RAIN Practice: Finding Clarity in the Chaos
In our busy lives, it’s easy to get lost in our thoughts, leading to a disconnect from the present moment. This session explores the challenges of staying focused and introduces the RAIN technique—a four-step process to navigate through life’s challenges with mindful attention. We’ll focus on the first two steps, Recognizing and Allowing, through guided practices and insightful stories.
Key points:
- Asking “Can I be here now?” to start healing
- Using guided practices to quiet the mind
- Learning from a Buddhist story about facing difficulties
- Trying the Yes Meditation to embrace acceptance
Session Three: Waking Up to Reality
We often get lost in a world that doesn’t reflect the truth of the present moment. This session focuses on recognizing and breaking free from this illusion of the “small self,” which makes us feel incomplete or flawed. By continuing to explore the RAIN technique, we’ll learn to identify and overcome the patterns that keep us stuck in this trance-like state.
Key points:
- Understanding the ways we avoid facing pain
- Asking important questions to uncover our limiting beliefs
- Hearing a story of how RAIN helped someone
- Trying a guided practice to connect with the present moment through our bodies
Session Four: Embracing Yourself with Kindness
In this session, we’ll look into how our suffering often comes from believing negative things about ourselves or feeling disconnected. We’ll continue our journey of breaking free from this limited view of ourselves, focusing on the process of growth and dis-identification, including forgiveness and self-compassion.
Key points:
- Recognizing how shame affects us
- Trying a practice to forgive ourselves for past events
- Understanding that seeking pleasure and avoiding pain can be ways we care for ourselves
- Doing a guided practice to be kinder to ourselves
Session Five: Understanding Your Thoughts and Beliefs
In this session, we’ll focus on becoming aware of our thoughts and going deeper to understand them better. Using the Investigating part of the RAIN technique, we’ll explore where our thought patterns come from. We’ll also talk about how dealing with trauma can make it hard to change our beliefs.
Key points:
- Exploring the different levels of our thoughts
- Learning how taking a pause can create space for new ideas and choices
- Finding ways to tap into our inner strength to heal from trauma
- Trying a guided meditation to let go of limiting beliefs
Session Six: Finding Comfort in Tough Times
When we’re scared or hurt, we usually try to escape or find comfort outside of ourselves. But in this session, we’ll learn a different way: finding refuge within ourselves. Through a practice called metta, or lovingkindness, we’ll discover how to open our hearts to support ourselves through tough times.
Key points:
- Finding a connection to ease fear
- Understanding prayer as a way to feel connected
- Learning to see the good in ourselves and others, even when it’s hard
- Using metta meditation to feel whole
- Trying a guided practice to find a safe and comforting space within ourselves
Session Seven: Understanding Forgiveness
Sometimes, when we feel hurt by someone, we create an unrealistic image of them in our minds. This session explores why we do this and how it affects us. Tara shares real stories to help us understand, and we’ll talk about how forgiveness works. Plus, we’ll try two guided practices to help us let go of these unrealistic ideas and open our hearts.
Key points:
- Learning why forgiveness can be hard
- Understanding that forgiveness takes willingness, not just wanting to do it
- Trying lovingkindness and compassion meditations to soften our hearts
Session Eight: Embracing Being Present
In this session, we’ll talk about the final step of the RAIN technique called Nurture. This step helps us let go of our ‘small self’ and just be present. Tara will share tips on teaching mindfulness to others, like how much effort to put in and what to do when things get tough. We’ll also talk about the importance of having a supportive community and how a special vow can help us stay committed to our practice.
Key points:
- Understanding your true self beyond your worries
- Finding support in a community
- Learning about a special Bodhisattva vow that can keep you on track
- Trying a guided reflection to connect with being present
Session Nine: Embracing Life’s Ups and Downs
As we journey through mindfulness, we learn that life is a mix of good and bad experiences—what Buddhism calls the “10,000 joys and sorrows.” This session focuses on the importance of grieving and understanding how we react to tough times. We’ll also talk about finding joy in life and how every experience can help us grow.
Key points:
- Learning to accept difficult situations without reacting strongly
- Understanding that everything in life changes, which helps us focus on what’s important
- Reflecting on what brings us happiness to build a positive mindset
- Trying a guided practice to find peace in a loving presence
What You’ll Receive by Enrolling in This Course
- 9 Video Sessions + 3 Bonuses:
- Over 22 hours of valuable teachings on Meditation and Psychotherapy.
- 2 Pre-Recorded Q&As with Tara Brach:
- Tara answers important questions from students in these recorded sessions.
- Lifetime Access:
- You can download and keep all the course materials for future reference.
Plus, as a BONUS: 14 Hours of Teachings as a Gift to You
- The Roots of Buddhist Psychology:
- Jack Kornfield shares over eight hours of insights into Buddhism’s ideas about inner growth and happiness.
- Mindfulness and Psychotherapy:
- Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh talks about finding and nurturing inner peace throughout the day.
- Mindfulness Meditation:
- Tara Brach guides you through nine effective meditation sessions to cultivate forgiveness, manage stress, and more.
How Much Does This Course Cost:
Currently, there’s a special offer available. The regular price for the course is $347, but right now it’s discounted to $247. That means if you take advantage of this offer you can save $100!
The great thing is, if you’re not satisfied with the course or it doesn’t meet your expectations, you can get a full refund within one year of purchase. So, you can try out the course risk-free for an entire year.
Final Words
To sum it up, Tara Brach’s Meditation and Psychotherapy online course is all about helping you feel better emotionally, accept yourself, and find peace inside. With nine carefully designed sessions and over 22 hours of helpful teachings, you’ll learn practical ways to handle life’s ups and downs with mindfulness and kindness. You’ll have access to the course materials forever, along with bonus content like Q&A sessions and extra teachings from experts. Plus, there’s a special discount and a one-year money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk.
It’s a great time to start this journey toward a happier life. Don’t miss out on this chance to invest in yourself and make positive changes. Join today and see how mindfulness and therapy can transform your life.
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