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
118 episodes
#105 Embracing Difficult Emotions
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:
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19:12
#104 Earth and Sky Guided Visualization Practice
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 pra...
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12:34
#103 I See You, I'm With You Guided IFS Practice
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 bu...
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8:01
#102 Standing Your Ground + Leading with Spiritual Values
Grounding practices are more than just coping mechanisms during tumultuous times. They're empowering strategies to discharge excess emotional energy while tap rooting your inner strength and resilience. In this episode, we're exploring:...
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38:55
#101 Working with Resistance Guided IFS Practice
Instead of speculating endlessly about why you might be avoiding something, ask the part that's hesitating!Based on Internal Family Systems (IFS), this guided parts work practice will help you identify and get to know the part (or parts)...
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18:44
#100 What's Stopping You? Buddhist and IFS Perspectives on Resistance
Ever wonder why you feel resistant to doing something that you actually want to do? This month we're unpacking the complexities of resistance through Buddhist teachings and IFS Parts Work. We're going to scrap the self-sabotaging la...
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27:08
#99 Come Home to Yourself, Yin Yoga Guided Practice
As a practice of being, Yin Yoga creates a unique container for exploring the restless impulses to fix while encouraging us to relax into self-acceptance. In this short practice, Jen shares three postures that target the Earth eleme...
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29:05
#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