
Skillful Means Podcast
Skillful Means Podcast offers practical wisdom for everyday life. Host Jennifer O'Sullivan explores navigating life's challenges through the lenses of Buddhist mindfulness, yoga, Internal Family Systems, and positive psychology.
Each month, episodes feature grounded guidance and accessible practices for meeting whatever arises with greater ease.
Jennifer is a Certified IFS Practitioner with over 20 years of experience teaching yoga and mindfulness.
Episodes
111 episodes
#98 Who says you should? Uncover what matters to you.
Feeling the pressure to do all the things? This episode explores the balancing act between living up to expectations, following the rules, and being true to yourself. • Identifying shoulds (compared to wants & needs)• Se...
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23:57

Preview Pod: Upaya (Skillful Means) As Life Practice
This preview pod explores the concept of upaya (skillful means) and its relevance in today's polarized world + how this focus will be reflected in the next iteration of the show. Jen emphasizes the importance of developing presence and ...
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6:09

Skillful Means Podcast is returning!
This preview pod marks the return of the Skillful Means Podcast, where Jen introduces a new format focused on listener questions and community storytelling... plus a little preview of what's on the horizon for the show. Send me your que...
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4:44

#97 Delighting In Joy Guided Practice
Jen wraps up her partial series on the Brahma Viharas with Mudita, commonly translated as "sympathetic joy." With Mudita, we're asked to rejoice in the good fortune of others, admittedly not easy.This is why Jen likes to think of Mudita...
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15:31

#96 Portals of Mindfulness Guided Practice
Have you ever caught yourself (or been caught by someone else) with your head buried in your smartphone while doing something mundane like brushing your teeth or walking through your home?If so, you can probably relate to the lure of di...
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12:27

#95 Tonglen Guided Practice
Continuing her mini-series on the Brahma Viharas, the Four Immeasurables, Jen shares the Tibetan practice of Tonglen. This training in compassion is an inner alchemy where the practitioner seeks to transmute the suffering of others. Ton...
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15:40

#94 Drawing A Line Guided Practice
It’s counterintuitive but essentially true: all phenomena itself is neutral, including people and events, and they have equal capacity to provoke suffering or ease alike – it all depends on how we meet the moment.As we continues our ser...
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12:10

#93 Loving-Kindness Guided Practice
Some of the most treasured and widely-practiced Buddhist Teachings are the Brahma Viharas (The Four Immeasurables). They also appear in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as one of the many practices that settle mind. Sometimes referred to as "The...
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23:11

#92 Mundane Ecstacy Guided Practice
The old Zen proverb that says “before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water” is a gentle reminder that chasing the ecstatic will ultimately let us down. Instead, if we can stay close to the ordinary ...
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12:03

#91 Mindfulness of Four Elements of the Body Guided Practice
In the last of our series on the less common practices of the First Foundation of Mindfulness (Mindfulness of the Body), Jen shares a practice of contemplating the four elements of the body: earth, water, fire, and air. Because ever...
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14:37

#90 Yoga Beyond Asana
Could you imagine a yoga class without postures? In fact, millions of dedicated yoga practitioners don't practice asana at all. In this episode, Annie and Jen discuss ways to engage with the teachings separate from asana, draw...
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48:44

#89 Mindfulness of Skin, Flesh, & Bones Guided Practice
In the First Foundation of Mindfulness, the Buddha shared several practices that were intended to help practitioners release their attachments to the body. Whether we are concerned about it's size and shape, the body's age, specific parts... we...
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19:17

#88: A Conversation with Sarah Powers on Embodying Love & Compassion
We are thrilled to welcome Sarah Powers, author and co-founder of the Insight Yoga Institute, onto the show to talk about embodying the qualities of love and compassion. This is the "finale" episode our series on the 12 Embodiments of Yoga.
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56:48

#87 Mindfully Eating an Orange Guided Practice
While we may train up mindfulness in formal settings, our true aim is to become present and aware all the time. So, at some point, we must take the practice off the cushion or mat and point it towards the everyday things that we usually take fo...
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14:10

#86 Embodying Kindness & Generosity
In their continuing exploration of Annie's 12 Embodiments of Yoga, in this episode, Annie and Jen discuss the nuances of Kindness and Generosity. While this may seem like a breezy topic, these qualities (and their corresponding actions)...
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39:32

#85 Mindfulness of Standing Guided Practice
Jen continues her series on Mindfulness of the Body variations with an exploration of standing, one of the four traditional meditation postures. Standing practice can be a respite for many who find sitting for long stretches uncomfortab...
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10:51

#84 Embodying Wonder & Whimsy
We're back from an unplanned hiatus with our continuing series on Annie's Twelve Embodiments of Yoga. This month, Jen and Annie are chatting about the role of wonder and whimsy in practice. Jen is a little skeptical, especially with whimsy, hav...
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39:35

#83 Mindfulness of Body Posture Guided Practice
Jen's back with a series new series of guided practices exploring different ways of working with the body to establish mindful awareness. Pulled from teachings in the Buddha's Four Foundations of Mindfulness, our hope is that cultivating mindfu...
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25:35

#82 Restoring Balance Guided Practice
Unlike all other biological organisms who have built-in mechanisms to maintain homeostasis, human minds are at the mercy of themselves. They gallivant around, unchecked, until we choose to rein our own thoughts in. In this guided practi...
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13:20

#81: Embodying Sacrifice & Spaciousness
Continuing with our exploration of Annie's 12 Embodiments of yoga, Jen and Annie chat about sacrifice and spaciousness. With Jen feeling like sacrifice is a loaded term, they spend some time unpacking what is really expected of us when it comes...
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29:03

#80 Laser Focus & Bright Light Guided Practice
In this guided practice, Annie shares inspiration from recent scientific breakthroughs in nuclear fusion.She suggests that we can turn simple inward focus into bright, shining energetic presence to generate our own little sunbursts of k...
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13:35

#79 Making Room for Other Guided Practice
In this meditation, Annie guides you through a practice of making space for others, especially those who share different philosophical or political beliefs or who we find emotionally activating. Instead of trying to find common ground, Annie of...
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13:03

#78 Embodying Courage & Practice
Continuing our exploration of embodied qualities of Yoga, Jen & Annie discuss the nuances of Courage and how it's a necessary ingredient for our Practice. They also share how they're getting ready for the Winter season.
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37:36
