Tara has been so very generous in her sharing of her wisdom, with a website devoted to free online guided meditations and dharma talks. Here she has given us a taste of her new book by providing the first chapter on her website. She speaks of self-compassion, and a practice that she calls R.A.I.N. This practice leads us through a mindful, present moment self-inquiry, As Tara says "RAIN awakens mindfulness and compassion, applies them to the places where we are stuck, and untangles emotional suffering."and she continues with "we all have the capacity to free ourselves".

Radical Compassion Chapter one
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Susan Piver encourages us all to practice meditation with the assurance that: Your mind will become sharper, Your heart will become softer and the magic of your world will become more apparent
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Tara Brach is an American Psychologist who practices from a Buddhist perspective. She offers weekly talks and meditations. Her message is heart centred and present focussed. 

​I was recently read an article by LaVerna Wilk, who is a marital therapist…and she has summed up one of the most common conflicts in relationships…involving triggers.
She described  an incident that happened between a couple that started with an accident at the woman’s work where someone accidentally moved her chair as she was going to sit down at work, causing her to fall and hit her neck against a desk. As a result, her range of motion was limited and it was very painful for her to turn her head.
After her fall, she and her husband were driving on the freeway and as he was trying to make a last-second lane change, he asked her to check out the passenger side window for cars. She said she felt disregarded because he knew she was in pain, and his request only made it worse.
 “If the roles were reversed, I would have been in the right lane way ahead of time so that I didn’t cause him pain. I was so mad at him,” she told me.
What’s wrong with her complaint?
Not a thing, but what you’re not hearing is her history of feeling like her needs don’t matter and like she is less important than others. As the youngest child from a large family that struggled financially, decisions were always made based on what was best for the larger unit, and her needs were often ignored because the bigger picture was, at times, quite dire. So, she is sensitive to situations where her needs are not acknowledged.
Triggers are normal
Here’s the kicker. This is a trigger for her. Triggers are normal, enduring vulnerabilities from moments in our past that escalate interactions in the present. They are normal because we all have them, and while their impact can be managed, they can rarely be eliminated.
Does this mean her husband did something wrong? Nope.
Is she just being overly sensitive? Nope.
It’s just not his trigger, so it didn’t occur to him that it could be an issue.
Further, when we only know what is happening in one person’s subjective reality, it is pretty easy to feel indignant on their behalf. But here’s the reality about subjective realities: all points of view are valid.
From his perspective, he grew up in a hardworking family where people worked through their pain and didn’t complain. His parents coached his sports teams, drove him to hockey at any ungodly hour of the morning, knew the names and phone numbers of all his friends, and taught him that he could be whatever he aspired to be.
They also yelled a lot and demanded what they wanted or needed. So because she had not clearly stated that being upright in a moving vehicle was causing lots of pain for her and that she really needed him to bubble wrap her in love, it didn’t occur to him that he was asking too much.
Hurt feelings are normal
In the grand scheme of life, this situation feels trivial. So why is it so important for the couple to talk about it? Because when someone’s feelings get hurt in marriage, it doesn’t automatically mean someone did something wrong. It just means feelings got hurt. It’s how couples manage it that matters.
In a perfect world, her husband would have been more careful about his driving and she would have been more clear at the beginning of the drive about her pain. But these things didn’t happen, so her feelings got hurt, then she got contemptuous towards him, and his feelings got hurt.
This is not actually an argument – it’s what we call a regrettable incident. Even the best couples have them.
Masters of Relationships (check out this YouTube link and listen to John Gottman) repair early and often. They remember their partner’s triggers and they respect them. You are not a disaster because you had a regrettable incident, but you might be or become one if you don’t repair. Within every regrettable incident is a conversation the couple still needs to have. We call this a recovery conversation.
All it would have taken for this couple is for one of them to say, “I can see why your feelings got hurt. That wasn’t my intention, and I am sorry it happened. Your feelings matter to me.” This is relationship repair that works.

Brene Brown developed the acronym BRAVING to help people build trust in their relationships

I've summarized her ideas here:

BRAVING

• Boundaries: Are you clear about and respecting each other’s boundaries? No trust without boundaries
• Reliability: Will you do what you say you will? Every single time…and Don't take on too much, so that you  can’t deliver
• Accountability: Are you willing to own your mistakes? And apologize and make amends. When I make a mistake, am I allowed to own it, apologize and make amends.
• Vault: Do you keep what is shared in confidence? Will you hold in confidence what I share w you, Can I  hold in confidence what you share with me. Will you hold in confidence what someone else shares with you?  And I will not share with you what someone else shared w me.
• Integrity: Do you practice your values, rather than just professing them? And encourage me to do the same. Choosing courage over comfort, what’s right over what is fast, easy, fun…
• Non-judgment: Can we fall apart in front of each other and ask for help without being judged? I can fall apart and ask for help without feeling judged by you. Can I ask for help without judging myself? 
• Generosity: Can you assume the most generous thing about the other person’s intent and behaviors, maintaining a positive perspective? And then check in w me. Can you give yourself the benefit of the doubt?

" If you can’t count on yourself, you can’t ask others to give you what you don’t have" or as said by Maya Angelou: “I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves, but say I love you”.

Dan Savage on finding your true love, by accepting and learning to love their quirks...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1tCAXVsClw
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Brene Brown is one of my favourite teachers. An American Psychologist who has dedicated her career to researching vulnerability, perfectionism and shame, Brene walks her talk. Honest and down to earth, her writing hits home every time with little gems of wisdom and big huge reality checks.
​(Click on the image to go to the article)
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