Skillful Means Podcast
119 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 months ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsSpiritual nourishment for yoga practitioners and teachers.
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Episodes
#51 Mindful Awareness of Feelings Guided Practice
September 23, 2021 21:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBIn the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, the Buddha outlines practices for working with feelings. Not quite the same as emotions, feelings are the visceral, body-based responses to circumstances before the mind turns them into emotions. In this guided practice, Jen helps you to establish a neutral anchor with the breath before exploring the preferential tones - also known as hedonic tones - that arise in response to how we feel from moment to moment. This episode begins with a short t...
#50 Pause, Soften, Connect Guided Practice
September 17, 2021 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MBWith this meditation, Sarah Jane takes the instructions “Pause, Soften, and Connect,” which are often delivered at the beginning of a meditation, and stretches the time we spend with each one. With occasional instruction, she illuminates the possibilities each of them points to: With “pause,” the shift from everyday mind to mindfulness; with “soften,” receptivity and the ability to stay with; and with “connect,” growing our internal awareness to include what is external. In a wonderful way...
#49 Finding Calm Amidst Uncertainty Guided Practice
August 26, 2021 05:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBUnfortunately for humans, our nervous system's stress response only has two settings (on and off) even though we understand degrees of tension. Whether we feel the pressure of a work deadline or an existential threat, our body responds the same way. However, we can "hack" the stress response with body-based tools that tell the nervous system that we're OK. In this episode, Jen guides you through a simple and powerful embodiment practice using breath work and sensation to send a signal to...
#48 Embodying Equanimity Guided Practice
August 12, 2021 05:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBEquanimity is a steadiness in heart and mind that has a spacious feel. It is “being with” rather than “reacting to” present-moment experience, which makes possible the beat between stimulus and response. We can choose what we do next rather than impulsively react. Thus, equanimity supports agency and choicefulness. Also, it balances the three other “Divine Abodes”or “Immeasurable Qualities” so valued in Buddhist tradition: loving-kindness, compassion, and empathetic joy. For example, when ...
#47 Pathway to Spacious Awareness Guided Practice
July 29, 2021 05:00 - 23 minutes - 15.9 MBIn our latest guided practice, Jen blends two potent practices to help you land in the tranquility of open, spacious awareness. The traditional way to call forth this energy is to concentrate on the breath while gently discouraging distracting thoughts, sensations, and other inputs from taking root in the conscious mind. But a lot of people find this very challenging, often retreating from meditative practice thinking that they aren't cut out for it. If you struggle with quieting your inne...
#46 Inclinding the Mind Toward Gladness Guided Practice
July 15, 2021 05:00 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBAcknowledging that humans are hardwired to be on alert for danger, and that imbalanced states can cause us problems such as anxiety and doubt, we would do well to incline the mind toward goodness and gladness. In this guided meditation, Sarah Jane touches on the negativity bias and the nature of both conditioned and unconditioned happiness. Through mindfulness meditation – and the RAIN method in particular – we become aware of the mind states that stand between us and a sense of freedom,...
#46 Inclining the Mind Toward Gladness Guided Practice
July 15, 2021 05:00 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBAcknowledging that humans are hardwired to be on alert for danger, and that imbalanced states can cause us problems such as anxiety and doubt, we would do well to incline the mind toward goodness and gladness. In this guided meditation, Sarah Jane touches on the negativity bias and the nature of both conditioned and unconditioned happiness. Through mindfulness meditation – and the RAIN method in particular – we become aware of the mind states that stand between us and a sense of freedom,...
#45 Yin Yoga for the Heart & Small Intestines Guided Practice
July 01, 2021 14:00 - 13 minutes - 9.29 MBAccording to Chinese Energetic Medicine, the heart is vulnerable to heat of the summer season. In this short but sweet practice, Jen while guide you through three Yin Yoga postures — melting heart and empty coat sleeves — to nourish this most vital organ. Each posture is paired with meditative practices phrases in the Plum Village tradition to foreground the qualities of presence, self-compassion, and peacefulness. ~ Skillful Means Podcast offers these guided practices to help you deepen i...
#44 Self-Compassion to Antidote Stress Guided Practice
June 17, 2021 17:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MBIn this guided meditation, Sarah Jane supports you in turning toward what is present in the body, heart, and mind, and holding it with kind regard without insisting it change or improve. This act of compassion toward our humanness is the means by which we move from a state of dissociated trance to wholeness and presence. Near the end of the meditation Sarah Jane reads “Clearing,” by Margaret Postlewaite, a New York-based licensed psychologist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. ~ Skill...
#43 Microcosmic Orbit Guided Practice
June 03, 2021 05:00 - 10 minutes - 7.56 MBIn this guided practice, Jen shares the Microcosmic Orbit, a Taoist meditation for longevity. Circulating Qi (life force energy) through a loop formed by the Governor Vessel (Du Mai) and the Conception Vessel (Ren Mai), protects Jing, or Essence Energy, from depletion. Jing is finite, given to us during conception from our parents. As we live our lives, our activities will either conserve or deplete Jing. Once we use up all of our Jing, our life is at its end. So, it's important to protect...
#42 Disrupting Inner Chatter and Establishing Presence Guided Practice
May 20, 2021 05:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBIn this guided meditation, Sarah Jane invites you to settle into a posture that will support your mindfulness by inviting a relaxed quality in the body and wakefulness in the mind. After a period of arriving, she shares a technique for how you might use mental noting to disrupt discursive thinking. With 1-minute-long periods of silence interspersed with gentle encouragement and descriptions of the effects mental noting might produce, this 20+ minute meditation is a good one to try if you’r...
#41 Dharma Book Club: "Tao Te Ching"
May 11, 2021 19:00 - 51 minutes - 35.3 MBIn our second book club, Jen and Sarah Jane follow some dharmic threads through the ancient Taoist text the “Tao Te Ching” by Laozi and enjoy the poetic language used to, somehow, beautifully illuminate something that cannot be defined. The Tao is the source of everything and the way of life, and this text invites us to align ourselves and our lifestyle with the natural order of things. In their discussion, Jen and Sarah Jane focus on just a couple of themes: effortless action (wu wei), as...
#40 Mindful Awareness of the Body Guided Practice
April 22, 2021 05:00 - 13 minutes - 9.41 MBIn this guided practice, Jen offers a meditation on establishing body awareness as a mindfulness anchor. Because the body is always available, bringing our attention to the posture and sensations of the body helps us to connect to the immediacy of the present moment. ~ Skillful Means Podcast offers these guided practices to help you deepen into your yoga and mindfulness journey. We welcome your comments. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, send us a note at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcas...
#39 When Nothing Lasts, Life is Precious
April 15, 2021 17:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBIn this episode, Jen and Sarah Jane talk about the concept of precious impermanence, an organizing principle for many Asian religions and belief systems. Impermanence dignifies the transient nature of reality. Clinging to things as if they could be permanent is what causes unnecessary suffering in life. Through Buddhist, yogic, and Taoist textual references and stories, Sarah Jane and Jen demonstrate the value of seeing the world as ever-changing and uncertain. Not only is it realistic, b...
#38 Tree Meditation Guided Practice
March 25, 2021 05:00 - 14 minutes - 10 MBIn this meditation inspired by popular teacher Jack Kornfield’s tree meditations, Sarah Jane guides you through a visualization that accesses the stabilizing and steadfast qualities of trees. Recalling a tree that has been significant in your life is the beginning of a short relational journey that includes rooting downward for nourishment and rising to the challenges of life’s seasons. Then, breathing like the tree and being like the tree, we enhance a sense of interconnectedness and ...
#37 Dharma Book Club: "The End of Your World" by Adyashanti
March 11, 2021 22:00 - 48 minutes - 33.4 MBIn this inaugural episode of the bi-monthly Dharma Book Club, Sarah Jane and Jen chat about The End of Your World. In this book, based on a series of his talks on the nature of enlightenment, spiritual teacher Adyashanti describes both the initial “glimpses” and the journey to “abiding awakening,” which he also describes as abiding as “Spirit.” Concerned that folks will assume this book is not for them, Jen and Sarah Jane encourage listeners to see for themselves, and not to be surprised if...
#36 Yoga Nidra for Awakening Compassion Guided Practice
February 25, 2021 15:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBIn this month’s guided practice, we offer Yoga Nidra, the sleep of the yogis. The practice of Yoga Nidra dates back thousands of years and was developed to invoke a deep meditative state so that the practitioner may gather soma nectar for rejuvenation and immortality. Today, Yoga Nidra has drawn a lot of interest for its ability to relax the body’s stress response. Many people who practice Yoga Nidra regularly experience reduced anxiety and depression along with better nighttime sleep and...
#35 Are We in a Golden Age of Trainings and Retreats?
February 12, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 45.3 MBIn this episode, recorded nearly a year after the first COVD-19-related lockdowns, Jen and Sarah Jane discuss the benefits and pitfalls of the mad rush to move trainings and retreats online. From individual teachers, to studios and centers, to decentralized institutes, the pandemic has brought much change in the way teaching –and learning –is done. Impacts include increased access to teachers and programs, relaxed program requirements, and more. This evolution has greatly benefited us al...
#34 Contemplating the Elements from the Inside Out Guided Practice
January 28, 2021 06:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBIn this episode, Sarah Jane introduces and leads a mindfulness meditation on the four elements from the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Foundations of Mindfulness) as taught by the Venerable Bhikkhu Anālayo, a contemporary Theravada Buddhist monk and scholar. Contemplating the elements (earth, water, fire, and wind, according to early Buddhist writers), as they are expressed both within the body and outside in the natural world, can lessen harmful over-identification with the body. They also remind us ...
#33 What We’re Turning Toward
January 14, 2021 06:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBIn this episode, Jen and Sarah Jane return from a winter break. Amidst ever increasing levels of upheaval in the States, they discuss their go-to practices and resources that buoy body, heart, and mind. In a casual back and forth conversation, they describe the methods and inspirations they rely on, including hara breathing, the idea of expansiveness, contemplating the elements while walking in a cemetery (yup!), weekly planning, and more. Not ones for navel-gazing, Jen and Sarah Jane pu...
#32 Inner Smile Guided Practice
December 31, 2020 06:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBIn this Taoist meditation, Jen will help you harness the loving energy of a smile and direct it inward for profound sense of self-compassion, joy, and relaxation. In Taoism, it's believed that the energy of negative emotions blocks Qi flow, leading to disease Practicing the inner smile meditation will help you clear out blocked negative energy for improved health, well-being, and longevity. This is an old practice, more recently popularized by the Qigong master Mantak Chia. ~ Skillful ...
#31 The Only Way Out is Through Guided Practice
December 03, 2020 06:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBIn this talk and guided practice, Sarah Jane describes the benefit of thinking of Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths as Four Ennobling Tasks. As tasks, the teachings become invitations to action. In the case of the first, the invitation is to comprehend dukkha (suffering). How? We practice. Why? Clear comprehension gives rise to liberating insight. But more than orienting our minds toward helpful concepts that support practice, this episode is meant as a gift during a holiday season in which peop...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 3: Loving-Kindness in the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh
November 22, 2020 17:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBJen wraps up our first virtual retreat with a practice very dear to her heart. Loving-kindness, or metta, is at the very heart of spiritual practice. By tuning into our common humanity, we not only touch the essence of our true Self, but we are able to recognize and appreciate the Self of others, even difficult people. Consider this a training in radical acceptance. Jen shares her thoughts on retreating and then guides a gentle mindful movement break followed by a loving-kindness practic...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 3: Yoga & Compassion
November 22, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBWelcome to Sunday, the third day of “Tuning In, Reaching Out.” We are maintaining our commitment to practice in part through the connections we’ve made and the energy we’ve felt from you, and we hope you feel the same. Sarah Jane is interested in the active quality of compassion and how it can inform and even compel us to engage in the world. She opens this practice with a short yin yoga sequence (butterfly, sphinx, and banana/crescent poses) during which she introduces lojong (practice sl...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Day 2: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and Yin Yoga
November 21, 2020 17:00 - 1 hour - 50.9 MBWelcome to the second and fourth overall practice of “Tuning In, Reaching Out.” We have deeply enjoyed connecting with some of you about intentions, methods, hindrances, and insights. A deep bow to all practitioners. In this practice, Sarah Jane shares thoughts on the purpose and practice of mindfulness through the Early Buddhist lens and highlights some aspects of the Satipatthana Sutta, an early practice guide in the voice of the Buddha. She suggests a few yin postures in which to dwell w...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 2: Gentle Movement to Unwind Stress and Connect with Yourself
November 21, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 49.2 MBWelcome to the second day of your virtual retreat. This morning, Jen brings you a gentle yang yoga practice in the tradition of her root teachers of Nosara Yoga Institute. This practice is appropriate for all levels including beginners, but you may find it helpful to have some asana experience in order to follow the verbal cues. Disclaimer The information and postures shared in this episode are not a substitute for proper medical care. If you are ill or injured, please consult your physici...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 2: Gentle Movement to Unwind Stress and Connect with Yourself
November 21, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 49.2 MBWelcome to the second day of your virtual retreat. This morning, Jen brings you a gentle yang yoga practice in the tradition of her root teachers of Nosara Yoga Institute. This practice is appropriate for all levels including beginners, but you may find it helpful to have some asana experience in order to follow the verbal cues. Disclaimer The information and postures shared in this episode are not a substitute for proper medical care. If you are ill or injured, please consult your physici...
Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 1: Cultivating Concentration in Yin Yoga
November 20, 2020 17:00 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MBIn this second practice of the Tuning In, Reaching Out Virtual retreat, Jen will guide you through a timeless meditation called Shamatha, or calm abiding. You'll have an opportunity to practice in a formal way as well as in Yin Yoga postures. The postures featured in this practice include: butterfly, sphinx, empty coat sleeves, and reclined twist. You might appreciate having a folded blanket or blocks handy for the poses as well as whatever set up you use for meditation practice. Discla...
Tuning in, Reaching Out Virtual Retreat Day 1: Yoga & RAIN Meditation
November 20, 2020 05:00 - 58 minutes - 40.3 MBWe are pleased to kick off our virtual retreat with this Yoga & RAIN Meditation practice with Sarah Jane. In this guided practice, Sarah Jane invites you to spend a few moments warming the body and enhancing chi circulation with simple movements undertaken in concert with a slow and steady breath. We then settle in and progress through the steps of RAIN meditation--Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture--with the opportunity to rest in various yin yoga postures through their unfolding. P...
You're Invited to Tune In and Reach Out with us on Nov 20-22
November 10, 2020 06:00 - 3 minutes - 2.27 MBThis is just a quick reminder about the upcoming virtual retreat here on the podcast. Join us on Nov 20-22 for twice daily practices to help you strengthen your connection both to yourself and to those around you. Episodes will appear here in the podcast feed at midnight and noon EST. You can also join for optional live Zoom calls and receive email tips. Sign up at: http://bit.ly/tiro2020 We hope this offering is off benefit to you and the wider world. ----- You can find Skillful Mean...
#30 Get To Know Your Parts IFS Guided Practice
November 05, 2020 06:00 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBAs a companion to episode 29 on Internal Family Systems (IFS therapy), we invite you to enjoy this guided parts meditation. Jen will help you locate and get to know one or more parts during this experience. IFS is an embodied practice, so the doorway into your inner environment is through body sensations. After a few minutes of guided relaxation, you'll start to track your somatic experience as a way of foregrounding what needs the most attention right now. It's helpful to engage in IFS p...
#29 What is IFS?
October 22, 2020 05:00 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBIn this episode, Jen and Sarah Jane finally and excitedly get around to talking about Internal Family Systems. IFS is having a moment lately, and is being brought into yoga and Buddhist communities by some prominent teachers, including Sarah Jane and Jen’s primary teacher, Sarah Powers. Since Jen has completed Level II IFS training, Sarah Jane asks her to describe the core proposition of IFS – that our mind is composed of sub personalities that have their own perspectives and motivations ...
#28 Earth & Sky Guided Practice
October 14, 2020 19:00 - 13 minutes - 9.56 MBIn this meditation drawn from Taosit practices, Sarah Jane guides you through a breath-based visualization for replenishing and balancing inner energy. We are both individually whole and inextricably interconnected with each other and the natural world. We can view everything--even human beings--as composed of elements and infused with energies that, when in balance, create harmony and health. By drawing grounding earth chi, or earth energy, from below to fill the dantian or hara, the bo...
#27 Meeting Uncertainty & Change
October 12, 2020 17:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBIn this episode, Jen and Sarah Jane address the human predicament: We are wired to avoid unfamiliarity, uncertainty, and unpredictability in life, even while these very forces are ever-present realities. This simple paradox is the source of much of the stress in our complicated lives. Acknowledging the particular challenges of navigating life in the midst of a global pandemic, the US election, and seasonal changes, Jen and Sarah Jane share the methods they use to soothe the nervous system...
#26 Cultivate Resilience in Uncertain Times with Yin Yoga for the Spleen and Stomach Guided Practice
September 10, 2020 05:00 - 31 minutes - 21.8 MBIn this guided Yin Yoga practice, Jennifer guides you through a short series of postures designed to nourish the spleen and stomach. According to Taoist Energetic Medicine, the spleen and stomach work together to perform the important function of extracting vital life force energy from the food we eat. When the spleen and stomach experience disharmony, it affects our entire organ system. These organs are also associated with important emotional and mental faculties including feelings of ...
#25 Get to Know Yourself with the Body-Heart-Mind Check-In
August 27, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBThe landscape of yoga studios is not what it once was. With some studios closed permanently and others open only temporarily or in limbo, practitioners who relied on guided classes may be more motivated than ever to develop a self-led practice. In order to have a regular self-led yoga asana practice, you need one thing: some form of inquiry practice. Whether it’s a regular mindfulness practice, a journaling practice, or another method of self-examination, you need to be able to assess your ...
#24 Equanimity for Balanced Action Guided Practice
August 13, 2020 16:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBWrapping up our series on the Four Immeasurables, in this guided practice, Sarah Jane Shangraw unpacks the fourth “sublime state,” upeksa (equanimity). Upeksa is a state of non-preferencing that can arise in meditation when we feel into and accept the uncontrollable flow and tonality of experience, and leave it at that. Not a cool and distant quality, equanimity combines the wisdom of understanding together with compassionate inclusivity. Under its influence, we are balanced and open, able...
#23 Uncovering Conditioning & Biases with Buddhist Mindfulness
July 30, 2020 22:00 - 41 minutes - 28.2 MBIn this episode, Jen and Sarah Jane take a look through the Buddhist lens at the mind. Specifically, they explore using mindfulness, being with discomfort, and taking responsibility as foundations for the necessary and ongoing work of recognizing and undoing our conditioning, including unconscious bias. Though this conversation is inevitably incomplete, it touches on several concepts that can serve as jumping off points to further our contemplation and engagement in a world where the domi...
#22 Meeting Difficulty with Ease and Presence in Sphinx Pose
July 16, 2020 08:00 - 12 minutes - 8.84 MBIn this episode, Jennifer offers guidance for creating space between a difficult stimulus and the response to it. Whether you are confronted by a challenging event or a triggering conversation, the prompts in this meditation can bring forward a more responsive — rather than reactive — inner attitude. The setting for this guided practice is sphinx pose, chosen for being a relatively gentle, although not entirely neutral, shape. Postures can help us approximate uncomfortable situations so tha...
#22 Meeting Difficulty with Ease and Presence in Sphinx Pose Guided Practice
July 16, 2020 08:00 - 12 minutes - 8.84 MBIn this episode, Jennifer offers guidance for creating space between a difficult stimulus and the response to it. Whether you are confronted by a challenging event or a triggering conversation, the prompts in this meditation can bring forward a more responsive — rather than reactive — inner attitude. The setting for this guided practice is sphinx pose, chosen for being a relatively gentle, although not entirely neutral, shape. Postures can help us approximate uncomfortable situations so tha...
#21 Dharmic Activism: Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita with Kaya Mindlin
July 02, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBIn this episode, Jen is joined by her friend and colleague Kaya Mindlin to discuss the Bhagavad Gita and how to fully and authentically show up for social justice while staying true to one’s dharma. In this sweeping conversation that, at times, adopts the atmosphere of a workshop, Jen and Kaya discuss: how to embrace the discomforts of learning, the setting and themes of the Bhagavad Gita, what is yoga, understanding the mind through the lens of the Gunas, what the Vedas can tell ...
#20 Embodied Awareness & Compassion for the Weary Guided Practice
June 18, 2020 09:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBThis guided meditation encourages you to take up residence in your body in order to be present for the life that is inside you right now. With kind attention, we feel into the physical body and citta (the heart-mind), which may need some buoying. Then, drawing on our own creative compassion, we resource ourselves internally so that we can meet the call of the wider world in the in this and future moments. Finally, we wish safety, happiness, and peace to all beings, near and far, known an...
#19 Resources for Social Justice in Intentional & Spiritual Communities
June 03, 2020 14:00 - 17 minutes - 11.9 MBToday, we pivoted a bit to share resources on the intersection of mindfulness, Buddhism, anti-racism, and collective healing. We focus on the major voices, most of them people of color, shining a light on the social justice issues facing spiritual communities and how to overcome them. Books: The Way of Liberation: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Adyashanti Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin Banaji & Anthony Greenwald Awakening Together: The Spiritual Pr...
#18 Yin Yoga To Awaken a Peaceful Inner Attitude Guided Practice
May 21, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBInspired by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's Pebble Meditation, Jennifer guides you through the four qualities of freshness, solidity, clarity, and freedom in the container of a calming Yin Yoga practice. Each point of the meditation is paired with a Yin Yoga pose that evokes these qualities including sphinx, supported caterpillar, reclining butterfly, and pentacle. Originally developed for children, the Pebble Meditation is, nevertheless, very popular with adults for the peaceful state that...
#18 Yin Yoga To Awaken a Peaceful Inner Attitude
May 21, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBInspired by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's Pebble Meditation, Jennifer guides you through the four qualities of freshness, solidity, clarity, and freedom in the container of a calming Yin Yoga practice. Each point of the meditation is paired with a Yin Yoga pose that evokes these qualities including sphinx, supported caterpillar, reclining butterfly, and pentacle. Originally developed for children, the Pebble Meditation is, nevertheless, very popular with adults for the peaceful state that...
BONUS: Guided Heart Center Practice With Sarah Powers
May 07, 2020 15:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBIn Episode 17, Sarah Jane and Jen spoke with their teacher Sarah Powers about the wisdom and opportunity for awakening amidst the suffering of the coronavirus pandemic. During the recording of that episode, Sarah generously led an inquiry meditation for holding and healing wounded and distressed parts of ourselves with maitri, loving friendship to ourselves. We decided to release this meditation separately so that you can return to it again and again as need. The meditation begins at 00:2...
#17 A Conversation with Sarah Powers
May 07, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 53.9 MBOur primary teacher Sarah Powers has spent decades studying, living, and teaching from the Wisdom traditions--Buddhism, Yoga, Taoism, and contemporary western psychology. As the new coronavirus pandemic spread, Sarah joined us via Zoom from London to talk about the wisdom and opportunity for awakening amidst this suffering. From how to be sick, to parenting, to lifestyle medicine, in this episode we hear about aspects of the harmonious approach to living Sarah developed well before our cur...
#16 Sympathetic Joy Guided Practice
April 23, 2020 14:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBMudita, or sympathetic joy, is the third in the series of the four most highly regarded qualities, or “sublime states,” in Buddhism: metta (loving-kindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (sympathetic joy) and upeksa (equanimity). Mudita is a potent practice that helps us experience joy even when life feels difficult and warm feelings are hard to access. In this guided meditation, Sarah Jane helps you bring forth feelings of joy so they will be more likely to arise spontaneously in daily l...
#15 Yin Yoga For Strengthening Wei Qi
March 26, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 15.8 MBIn Chinese Medicine, the immune system is comprised of a protective barrier of energy (Qi), called Wei Qi ( pronounced “way chee”), that circulates through the body while also emanating about an inch around the outside of the body. The Taoists believe that, like a force field, Wei Qi prevents external pathogens, like viruses and bacteria, from making us sick. In this guided practice, Jennifer shares a gentle Yin Yoga practice that targets the Kidney, Urinary Bladder, Lung, Large Intestine, ...
#15 Yin Yoga For Strengthening Wei Qi Guided Practice
March 26, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 15.8 MBIn Chinese Medicine, the immune system is comprised of a protective barrier of energy (Qi), called Wei Qi ( pronounced “way chee”), that circulates through the body while also emanating about an inch around the outside of the body. The Taoists believe that, like a force field, Wei Qi prevents external pathogens, like viruses and bacteria, from making us sick. In this guided practice, Jennifer shares a gentle Yin Yoga practice that targets the Kidney, Urinary Bladder, Lung, Large Intestine, ...