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While Jen's taking a mini-break to get her homework done, she's bringing you the first of two short practices based on research she did last summer.

If you're curious about the theory behind these yin yoga micro-practices, check out the last segment of Episode #113, where she talks about how practices like this can boost your mood by reducing tension and elevating your energy.

In this micro-practice, Jen guides three yin yoga poses while directing your attention to the physical experience of being in the poses.

The sequence uses minimal verbal cues and several minutes of silence for each pose to help you deepen into the embodied experience.

Poses: butterfly + half butterfly on each side

Suggested/Optional Props: folded blanket, blocks, small cushions

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

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This is an encore practice with former co-host Sarah Jane Shangraw from back in November 2019.

Developed by Tara Brach, RAIN is a technique you can use to skillfully relate to difficult emotions in life, whether they turn up in a meditation session or in daily life. The acronym — which stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture — invites us to accept inner discord with an open heart.

I, Jen, wanted to share this practice as a companion to the most recent episode on Self-Compassion (#113). RAIN evolved as an approach to working with the hindrances, where the Buddha himself implored us to meet common meditation obstacles (aversion, craving, dullness, restlessness, and doubt) as inevitable and, therefore, not worthy of self-criticism. The practice of RAIN provides us with steps for letting go of self-judgement while inviting in the natural impulse to alleviate our own suffering through kindness and acceptance.

You can find Sarah Jane at https://www.sarahjaneshangraw.com/coaching.html where she offers online classes and coaching support.

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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To wrap up the 4-part series on practices and teachings that nature open-heartedness, we're focusing on self-compassion.

We can be our own worst critics, but the wisdom teachings want us to remember that compassion shouldn also be directed towards ourselves. We are, after all, manifestations of the divine.

So, in this episode we look at what Buddhism, Yoga, and Taoism have to say about self-compassion (which - spoiler - isn't much!) through the lens of moderation, non-harming, and cultivating contentment. We also take a look at what modern psychology research - primarily by Dr. Kristen Neff - has to say about the benefits of self-compassion.

Jen also answers a listener question about how to get started with Buddhist practice before sharing a bit of context behind the two yin yoga micro-practices she's sharing in October.

Resources Mentioned on the Show

• Self-compassion.org ~ hosted by Dr. Kristen Neff
• Self-compassion exercises: https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-practices/
• Buddha ~ by Karen Armstrong
• Siddharta ~ by Herman Hesse
• Buddhism: A Concise Introduction ~ by Huston Smith & Philip Novak
• Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices ~ by Jack Maquire
• The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings ~ by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Bhavana Society Meditation Center
• Plum Village Practice Centers
• Plum Village Meditation Groups
• Mindfulness in Plain English ~ by Bante Gunaratana
• Dharmaseed

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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In order to be an open-hearted, compassionate person, we first have to notice the things things that need our support. This is where mindfulness — the practice of presence — comes in. It teaches how to engage directly with what's real, rather than what we wish were true.

This month we're back to mindfulness basics with a guided practice that starts with concentration practice (samata) and then follows with insight (vipassana). The practice starts right away (no intro) and includes periods of silence (nothing wrong with your player).

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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In Part 3 of the Awakening the Heart series, we're looking at why acts of kindness and service are powerful resilience-builders — possibly the exact things we need if we're to overcome so much divisiveness in our relationships and discourse.

To understand why a generous spirit is so supportive, we explore the Buddhist and Yoga concepts of dana (generosity) and seva (selfless service) and how they relate to modern psychology's hope theory (hat tip to CR Snyder).

Then Jennifer is joined by friend and colleague Laurent Goldberg to talk about her simple but brilliant Career Support Care Packages, which perfectly illustrate how generosity can restore our sense of agency and hope when everything feels so dispiriting.

Highlights include:

• how the Eastern philosophical traditions from India view dana and seva
• how willpower and waypower fuel hope
• why helping others should be in your resistance/resilience toolkit
• how Lauren designed her care packages to support both sender and receiver
• thinking about service not as self-sacrifice but as a way to put your skills and talents toward the greater good

Links

• Get in touch with Lauren Goldberg: https://laurengoldbergcoaching.com/
• Send a Career Support Care Package: https://laurengoldbergcoaching.com/career-support-care-package
• Building Movement Project's Social Change Ecosystem Map: https://buildingmovement.org/our-work/movement-building/social-change-ecosystem-map/

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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Tonglen - the practice of sending and receiving - helps us to be with hardship without falling into despair. An explanation of the practice appears in the Lojong teachings and is associated with those who follow the path of the Bodhisattvas.

In addition to cultivating an open, spacious heart, Tonglen can help us to cultivate the paramitas - the perfections - especially generosity, loving-kindness, determination, and diligence.

The practice starts at 3:14 after a brief introduction. If your player supports chapter markers, you can skip ahead.

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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Continuing our series on Awakening the Heart, this month we're exploring the Buddhist path of the bodhisattva through the cultivation of bodhicitta - the awakened heart-mind that forms the foundation of compassionate living.

Drawing from Mahayana Buddhist teachings, we also take a look at Lojong (mind training), the Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice that can be used as a powerful framework for developing genuine compassion.

Highlights include:

• Cultivating the open-hearted attitude of enlightened ones (Bodhisattvas)
• Two types of Bodhicitta
• Paramitas (Perfections)
• Short history and details of Lojong
• Unpacking of the First Lojong statement: Train the Preliminaries
• Tips for working with the Lojong phrases

Mentioned on the show:

• Judy Lief's online Lojong translation and commentary: https://judylief.com/offerings/slogans-of-atisha/
• Norman Fischer's "Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong" https://bookshop.org/p/books/training-in-compassion-zen-teachings-on-the-practice-of-lojong-norman-fischer/9663817?ean=9781611800401&next=t
• VIA Character Strengths & Virtues: https://www.viacharacter.org/
• Dalai Lama Poem "This Precious Human Life" https://mountainsangha.org/a-precious-human-life/

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

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In this variation of loving-kindness, or metta, meditation, tap into the energetic resonance of the heart to awaken loving feelings within before sending them outward.

Inspired by Taoist visualizations, Mahayana buddhist practice, and Hearth Math's quick coherence technique, generate love and good will toward yourself and others. Many studies have shown that practices like this not only feel good, but also reduce stress, increase a sense of calm, and help us avoid despair by reminding us of our shared humanity.

The practice starts at 3:52 after a brief introduction. If your player supports chapter markers, you can skip ahead.

Mentioned in the introduction:

• Love 2.0 by Dr. Barbara Frederickson
• Heart Math Quick Coherence Technique

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SMP welcomes your comments and questions at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com. You can also get in touch with Jen through her website: https://www.sati.yoga

Fill out this survey to help guide the direction of the show: https://airtable.com/appM7JWCQd7Q1Hwa4/pagRTiysNido3BXqF/form

To support the show, consider a donation via Ko-Fi.