Member-only story
A few years ago, I saw an ad in Tricycle Magazine, and booked the event immediately (fully four months in advance), feeling so lucky to have done this before it sold out. Proud of myself for planning ahead. Such a smart girl, me.
When I bought that ticket, I didn’t know that when the day finally came for this event, my then 87-year-old mother-in-law would be in the hospital with her second broken hip. This reverberated through the family. Mrs. T is the last standing member of her generation and a beloved elder. My wife and I were her sole day-to-day caretakers at the time, (my wife shouldering the lion’s share of responsibility), so it was a big deal that this had happened.
Stressed and tired but undaunted, I left for the Friday evening session that preceded the all-day Saturday event, certain that these teachings were exactly what I needed to get me through the coming six months.
Tara Brach is fascinating. She has a wry sense of humor and her insights are profound. In one exercise, just as she was starting, she actually asked everyone to turn ON their cell phones and beepers — which became little mindfulness bells, opportunities to practice, later on in the talk.
She also has an incredibly calm and steady voice but it doesn’t have much dynamic range. It’s almost hypnotic if you combine it with stress and…
