Tara Brach

Tara Brach (born May 17, 1953) is an American psychologist, author, and proponent of Buddhist meditation. She is a senior teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. (IMCW). Brach also teaches about Buddhist meditation at centers for meditation and yoga in the United States and Europe, including Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California; the Kripalu Center; and the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies.

Brach is an Engaged Buddhist, specializing in the application of Buddhist teachings and mindfulness meditation to emotional healing. She has authored several books on these subjects, including Radical Acceptance, True Refuge, and Radical Compassion.

Biography Brach was born in East Orange, New Jersey, to parents Nancy, an advertising professional, and Bill, a civil rights attorney. She was raised Christian Unitarian and is the oldest of four siblings.

She attended Clark University, earning bachelor's degrees in psychology and political science.

Brach became a Buddhist lay priest in 1988. She taught meditation classes In 1998, she founded the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. In 2010, she launched her eponymous podcast, which by 2021 was being downloaded by 2.5 million people each month. Her own meditation teachers included Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield.

Brach resides in Great Falls, Virginia, with her husband, Jonathan Foust, a yoga and meditation teacher and former president of the Kripalu Center.