Jennifer O'Sullivan: 0:07

Welcome to Skillful Means Podcast. I'm your host, jennifer O'Sullivan. In this preview pod, I want to revisit the concept of skillful means. Sarah Jane and I did this way back in episode two when we first launched the show together. It's a great episode and worth checking out. If you haven't listened, but I thought I'd come back to it because the world feels really different now.

Jennifer O'Sullivan: 0:35

People are more polarized than ever and if you're listening to this, I'm betting you care about cultivating what Roshi Joan Halifax calls a strong back and a soft front, in other words, the courage and strength to meet the moment while remaining open-hearted and true to your values. And, as we say in the South, don't be ugly. We can have difficult conversations without devolving into screaming matches. We can lead with wisdom rather than reactivity. The Sanskrit word for skillful means is upaya, which describes teachings and practices that help us develop awareness and presence, and when talking about awareness, we mean self-awareness, situational awareness, relational awareness, the kind of awareness that also includes a deeper understanding of how we, as individuals, interconnect with the world around us, in other words, awareness of how we show up. When confined to yoga and meditation spaces, skillful means refers to specific activities that one might pursue in order to develop awareness and presence. These include yoga, asana and pranayama, mindfulness techniques, listening to talks, reading dharma books. Skillful Means also includes modern practices like self-inquiry methods, parts work, journaling, therapy, coaching, all that stuff arts work, journaling, therapy, coaching, all that stuff. And thus far, the podcast has mostly focused on introducing themes and practices in an educational way. But we were never meant to develop these practices for their own sake a concern so important that it was the topic of the Buddhist last talk, which he gave while dying. They were always meant to help us show up more well, skillfully, in our real life.

Jennifer O'Sullivan: 2:51

What we do on the mat and cushion is lab time when, under controlled settings, we examine our conditioning, our habitual patterns, our biases, our fears, our concerns, and we do this so that we can go out into the world knowing ourselves better, being ourselves more and loving ourselves unconditionally, and knowing that the more integrated we are on the inside, the more capacitated we are to deal with the outside. And we're living in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world. As a result, I find myself way more interested in how to take these teachings off the mat. How can we apply skillful means to both rise to the challenge of our time while also tending to our own suffering? And how might we expand beyond merely coping to flourishing? So the discussion topics in Skillful Means 2.0 will focus more on applying teachings to everyday settings, rather than just the whys and what fors of them. This is why I really want to hear from you what are you most concerned about when it comes to contextualizing your practice in this present moment? Find the link to the submission form in the show notes and tell me what you think.

Jennifer O'Sullivan: 4:23

And we do still need to develop competency with the various practices that cultivate awareness. This is why I'll continue to offer the guided practices every other episode. Some of those are going to resonate and some won't. That's okay. Even the Buddha told his followers to keep what works and discard what doesn't. Some of these practices will serve as a daily foundation, while others you might call upon in a specific situation. I recommend training up a whole toolkit of practices so, like Mary Poppins, you can pull out what you need when you need it.

Jennifer O'Sullivan: 5:00

In my more than 20 years as a practitioner, I can't count the number of times my so-called bag of tricks has really saved me. Sometimes it's the stillness of yin yoga helping me re-inhabit my body when I've been up in my head too long. Other times it's a few minutes of mindful breathing in a doctor's office, or maybe it's a bit of parts work to make sense of an outsized emotional reaction. Skillful means are meant to live in the world with us, guide us, nurture us, sometimes inspire us. I'm really looking forward to exploring these topics with you. So please, please, please, get in touch with any and all feedback. You can reach me at feedback at skillfulmeanspodcastcom. And while I was on hiatus, the company that hosts the podcast introduced a new feature. You can now send me texts. Look for a link at the top of the show notes that says text me your feedback. Until next time, may we meet each moment with courage and compassion.