Skillful Means Podcast

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 as "delight," specifically delighting in joy itself whether it's originating from someone else or from within. But, w

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 distraction when certain moments don't seem worth our full attention. In this contemplation, Annie invites us to view these small, ordinary momen

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. Tonglen teaches us how to grow our hearts beyond the boundaries of those in our in-crowd. It invites us to embrace our common humanity as an extension

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 series of practice this summer, Annie offers a contemplation on how we might work with discernment in shaping a skillful state of mind when facing

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 Four Faces of Love," these teachings help us to foreground love in all our encounters... with ourselves, loved ones, community membe

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 matters of each moment, we may be much better positioned to experience luminous presence.In this practice, Annie discusses the true mean

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 everything in the manifest world contains these elements, this practice helps us to embody interconnectedness. We're also encouraged to soften our sens

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, drawing on guidance from the "Bhagavad Gita" and their own experiences. "Bhagavad Gita" quote mentioned in the episode: Chapter 2 Verse 4

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're encouraged to experience the body as it simple is: comprised of hard and soft tissues... organs... parts. In this month&a

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. Sarah was the perfect guest for this topic as compassion is such a central theme in her teachings. Throughout the sweeping conversati