Skillful Means Podcast

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We're kicking off the new year with an exploration of the ways in which we can capture the energy and freshness of a new calendar year to every day moments, creating new beginnings whenever we need them. Topics include:

• how temporal landmarks, like a new year, pull us out of the ordinary
• how walking meditation teaches us how to start over in the present moment
• and we can train up the capacity to let go i...

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Working through dilemmas and challenges usually involves trade-offs, compromises, or imperfect third options. After all, if there was a lot of internal consensus, it wouldn't be a dilemma. 

Sometimes, parts may feel bruised and disappointed, making you feel unsure about whether you made the right choice. 

In this parts work practice, Jen helps you connect with your inner skeptics and naysayers where you can...

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The busy holiday season is here, and that means lots of demands on our time and attention. It also means navigating tricky family gatherings with difficult people. 

A common question this time of year is whether or not to engage your trollish Uncle Jerry or stand down to keep the peace. 

This episode is all about how to tap into what will feel true and authentic to you, so you can walk this line confidently and ...

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Rug up and head outside for this outdoors walking meditation. Practiced by the Buddha himself, walking meditation is an antidote to restless and aching joints and can be practiced anywhere you you're already walking. 

The meditation starts at 2:56 if you want to jump ahead, but assumes you're already outside and ready to go. 

Halfway through the practice (~15mins), you'll be prompted to pause the ...

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Jen's back from a brief hiatus to talk about how to build a sustainable spiritual/contemplative practice that can withstand the shifting demands of your time and energy. You can't really lose a practice, but circumstances change and your practice can and should change with you. 

In this episode you'll find

• Why "class" as a construct isn't the paradigm you need to follow when cra...

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While Jen's taking a mini-break to get her homework done, here's the second of two short practices based on research she did last summer. 

If you're curious about the theory behind these yin yoga micro-practices, check out the last segment of Episode #113, where she talks about how practices like this can boost your mood by reducing tension and elevating your energy. 

In this micro-practice, Jen g...

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While Jen's taking a mini-break to get her homework done, she's bringing you the first of two short practices based on research she did last summer. 

If you're curious about the theory behind these yin yoga micro-practices, check out the last segment of Episode #113, where she talks about how practices like this can boost your mood by reducing tension and elevating your energy. 

In this micro-prac...

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This is an encore practice with former co-host Sarah Jane Shangraw from back in November 2019. 

Developed by Tara Brach, RAIN is a technique you can use to skillfully relate to difficult emotions in life, whether they turn up in a meditation session or in daily life. The acronym — which stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture — invites us to accept inner discord with an open heart. 

I, Jen, wanted ...

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To wrap up the 4-part series on practices and teachings that nature open-heartedness, we're focusing on self-compassion. 

We can be our own worst critics, but the wisdom teachings want us to remember that compassion shouldn also be directed towards ourselves. We are, after all, manifestations of the divine. 

So, in this episode we look at what Buddhism, Yoga, and Taoism have to say about self-compassion (wh...

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In order to be an open-hearted, compassionate person, we first have to notice the things things that need our support. This is where mindfulness — the practice of presence — comes in. It teaches how to engage directly with what's real, rather than what we wish were true. 

This month we're back to mindfulness basics with a guided practice that starts with concentration practice (samata) and then follow...

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In Part 3 of the Awakening the Heart series, we're looking at why acts of kindness and service are powerful resilience-builders — possibly the exact things we need if we're to overcome so much divisiveness in our relationships and discourse. 

To understand why a generous spirit is so supportive, we explore the Buddhist and Yoga concepts of dana (generosity) and seva (selfless service) and how they rel...

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Tonglen - the practice of sending and receiving - helps us to be with hardship without falling into despair.  An explanation of the practice appears in the Lojong teachings and is associated with those who follow the path of the Bodhisattvas. 

In addition to cultivating an open, spacious heart, Tonglen can help us to cultivate the paramitas - the perfections - especially generosity, loving-kindness, determinati...

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Continuing our series on Awakening the Heart, this month we're exploring the Buddhist path of the bodhisattva through the cultivation of bodhicitta - the awakened heart-mind that forms the foundation of compassionate living. 

Drawing from Mahayana Buddhist teachings, we also take a look at Lojong (mind training), the Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice that can be used as a powerful framework for devel...

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In this variation of loving-kindness, or metta, meditation, tap into the energetic resonance of the heart to awaken loving feelings within before sending them outward. 

Inspired by Taoist visualizations, Mahayana buddhist practice, and Hearth Math's quick coherence technique, generate love and good will toward yourself and others. Many studies have shown that practices like this not only feel good, but als...

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While the world may feel increasingly more fraught, we can't sustain ourselves on anger and fear alone. We must remember what we're fighting for and, as Tennessee Williams asks of us, save the love.

This latest episode kicks off a series of episodes on Awakening the Heart - theories, teachings, and practices that will better sustain us in the months and years to come. 

This month, we take a look at why...

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This month's practice features an embodied mediation to help you stay present with life's challenges without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down. 

Inspired by Roshi Joan Halifax's teachings, you'll cultivate a foundation of stability to underpin your capacity for openness and compassion.

This meditation includes several periods of silence of around 3-6 minutes. The guidance assumes you&apos...

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This month, we're looking at a question that comes up a lot:

All parts are supposed to be welcome, but how do we work with feelings we don't like?

Drawing on Buddhist wisdom and the function of emotions, we're exploring:

• Why equanimity is about including our feelings, not surprising them.
• What the Buddhist teachings on dukkha (suffering) can tell us about why fighting against our emotions create...

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The Taoists believe that we can harness the stabilizing qualities of Earth Qi along with the generative qualities of  Heaven/Sky Qi to improve physical health, increase longevity, and cultivate inner harmony. 

In this guided practice, Jennifer O'Sullivan shares a visualization technique, paired with mindful breathing, to mobilize and balance these vital energies in the body.

👉 After a brief introduction, t...

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There are definitely times when we need to get a hold of ourselves. But how do we do that without dismissing our feelings? 

This brief Parts Work practice is for moments when you feel too activated or busy for deeper introspection but also need to find our center. It will help you create space – access Self Energy – around difficult emotions while honoring their presence. 

Practice this technique regul...