Balanced Mind With Julie Potiker

Julie Potiker leads this compassion meditation focusing on relaxing your body.She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "I Worried", by Mary Oliver."I worried", by Mary OliverI worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the riversflow in the right direction, will the earth turnas it was taught, and if not how shallI correct it?Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,can I do better?Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrowscan do it and I am, well,hopeless.Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,am I going to get rheumatism,lockjaw, dementia?Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.And gave it up. And took my old bodyand went out into the morning,and sang.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm

In this compassion meditation Julie Potiker guides you to a place of calm and peace. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Birthday Blessing", by Janice Steinberg.Birthday Blessing by Janice SteinbergWhatever makes you weepmay it open your eyesto beautyWhere your heart has hardenedmay it crack open and letthe light flood inWhatever worry squirrel-cages in your mindmay it animate your creativityWhatever pettinessworms through your doormay it teach you to laugh gentlyat your very human selfMay all the wrong turns you’ve takenthe fumbles, stumblesevery epic screw-uplead you to thismeadowthis riverthis belovedthis workthis burning bushthat was waiting for youGet the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", availabl

Relax, unwind and envision yourself in the New Year through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her poem, "Clear a Path".Clear a Path by Julie Potiker Clear a pathSettleAllow your thoughts to drift downGently sweep them aside with a soft broom, the kind that looks hand made from natural grassesSome of the little notes now in piles on the perimeter of your awareness are things to return to later, not now, but later so you keep them safeOther notes are best to release - the worry, the rumination that woke you at 4amGo ahead and toss that sticky stack into the small round fire bowlThe smoke swirling as that which does not serve you de-materializesSettle your mind to clear a path to your heart where joy and suffering slosh Your heart – which when broken miraculously goes on beatingYour heart safety valves, allowing your mind to crank the hatches shut, when too much suffering threatens to drop you to the inky bottom of the seaYou can open the hatch a peepFeeling into whet

Allow your body to feel content and peace through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her own poem, "Unbuckle".Unbuckle by Julie Potiker This morning as I lay in bed I heard from my left hip flexor, it had a high pitched tone, too tightly strungThen my right ankle joined the songThen my left toeI rolled onto my belly and imagined unbuckling my hips Unbuckling my ankles Dragging my arms down to my sides I unbuckled my shoulders Has anyone ever written about unbuckling the heart, I wondered? Unbuckling the heart, Letting the disappointment flow out of the chambers The sadness and grief tucked into the mitral valve might need a little scraping to flush it out The existential angst at all that is lost every day in our human familyThat blows away in places like Kentucky and the Philippines this timeNext time some other village or town will lose to nature - our blue marble in danger making itself known again and again After the heart is unbuckled, and drained into the rive

Relax into this compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker. You'll be breathing in compassion for yourself and others. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Resolute", from the book, "Call Us What We Carry", by Amanda S.C. Gorman.Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. She is an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", available on Amazon.com. Her podcast is "Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker", available on iTunes, iHeart, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Journey to a safe, secure, and peaceful place through this guided meditation, led by Julie Potiker. You'll use all your senses in this visualization. Potiker completes the meditation with a reading from the book, "Call Us What We Carry", by Amanda S.C. Gorman.Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. She is an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", available on Amazon.com. Her podcast is "Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker", available on iTunes, iHeart, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. 

Gratitude is the focus of this Thanksgiving meditation led by Julie Potiker. Who are you grateful for in your life? Who influenced you along the way?She completes the meditation with the poem, "Eagle Poem", by Joy Harjo. Harjo, an American poet, is the incumbent United States Poet Laureate. She's the first Native American to hold the honor. Eagle Poem, Joy Harjo To pray you open your whole selfTo sky, to earth, to sun, to moonTo one whole voice that is you.And know there is moreThat you can’t see, can’t hear;Can’t know except in momentsSteadily growing, and in languagesThat aren’t always sound but otherCircles of motion.Like eagle that Sunday morningOver Salt River. Circled in blue skyIn wind, swept our hearts cleanWith sacred wings.We see you, see ourselves and knowThat we must take the utmost careAnd kindness in all things.Breathe in, knowing we are made ofAll this, and breathe, knowingWe are truly blessed because weWere born, and die soon within aTrue circle of motion,Like eagle rounding out the morningIns

Relax as you breath into this resting compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes this guided meditation with a reading of the poem "Simply Resting", by Zach Beach.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", available on Amazon.com. Her podcast is "Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker", available on iTunes, iHeart, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. 

Tune out and relax into this compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "Swan", by Mary Oliver.Mary Oliver - Swan: Poems and Prose PoemsOrdinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable.I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours.Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must loveyou very much.”Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You D

Bring kindness and peace to yourself and others through this loving-kindness meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "Come to Dust", by Ursula K. Le GuinCome to Dust – by Ursula K. Le GuinSpirit, rehearse the journeys of the bodythat are to come, the motionsof the matter that held you.Rise up in the smoke of palo santo.Fall to the earth in the falling rain.Sink in, sink down to the farthest roots.Mount slowly in the rising sapto the branches, the crown, the leaf-tips.Come down to earth as leaves in autumnto lie in the patient rot of winter.Rise again in spring's green fountains.Drift in sunlight with the sacred pollento fall in blessing.All earth's dust has been life, held soul, is holy.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don'

Slip into Fall with this Cozy Peaceful Meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes this guided meditation with the poem "The Sun," by Mary Oliver.The Sun, by Mary Oliver.Have you ever seen anything in your lifemore wonderful than the way the sun, every evening,relaxed and easy, floats toward the horizon and into the cloudsor the hills, or the rumpled sea,and is gone--and how it slides again out of the blackness,every morning, on the other side of the world,like a red flower streaming upward on its heavenly oils,say, on a morning in early summer,at its perfect imperial distance--and have you ever feltfor anything such wild love--do you think there is anywhere, in any language,a word billowing enough for the pleasure that fills you,as the sun reached out, as it warms you as you stand thereempty-handed--or have you too turnedfrom this world-- or have you too gone crazy for power, for things?Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTub

Sit back and relax into autumn in this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the poem with a reading of, "Poem Beginning with a Line from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", by Maggie Smith."Poem Beginning with a Line from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," by Maggie SmithJust look—nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see—the way the changed leaves,flapping their yellow underbelliesin the wind, glitter. The treelooks sequined whereverthe sun touches. Does anyonenot see it? Driving by a fieldof spray-painted sheep, I thinkthe world is not all changed.The air still ruffles woolthe way a mother’s handbusies itself lovingly in the hairof her small boy. The sunlifts itself up, grows heavytreading there then lets itselfoff the hook. Just look at itleaving—the sky a tiger eyebanded five kinds of goldand bronze—and the sequin treeshaking its spangles like a girlon the high school drill team,nothing but sincerity. It glitterswhether we’re looking or not.Get the latest on mindfulnes

Julie Potiker leads a forgiveness meditation for Yom Kippur, incorporating the Hawaiian Ho'oponopono Affirmation Meditation.Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life.You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", available on Amazon.com. Her podcast is "Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker", available on iTunes, iHeart, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Feel strength, compassion and grounding through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "I Carry Your Heart", by E.E. Cummings. I Carry Your Heart, by E.E. Cummings i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)   Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Faceboo

Find your safe place through this compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "Untitled", by Willow Harth "Untitled", by Willow Harth This poem is not meant for you unless you too have been underground choking on your life's debris, and playing peek-a-boo with death seriously then the surprise of ten thousand buttercups out of nowhere on every side where they'd never been before on my daily walk might have had the effect on you it did on me because suddenly I wanted to understand how these particular flowers came to be—the whole evolutionary history of mosses, ferns and angiosperms, the miracle of photosynthesis and DNA, not to mention the longings of the Milky Way to reflect itself in the form called flowers and in these buttercups, which seemed like a visitation from the sun, urging me to tell you, in case like me you had forgotten we are the universe's latest way of blooming.   Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to

Settle in and find your calm through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation by reading a self-composed poem, "Morning Mind".   Morning Mind Flow, by Julie Potiker The first thing  I notice is the sound. A wall of high fidelity sound. I fold myself into the pale turquoise cushion on the chair and let it in: There’s twilling, tweeting, and something that sounds like call and response singing, an octave above high C. Underneath, or on top of all that sound is the constant gentle roar, yes, a roar but sweet, of the river - sort of like a white noise machine, or maybe it’s pink noise, or brown noise. I feel my palms and the underside of my fingers getting hot, wrapped around my white ceramic mug, with the artist rendering of an elk, his antlers partially covered by my thumbs. The next thing to come online is my vision. The bright green heart shaped leaves of the Aspen Trees are shimmering and quaking on their delicate stems. Bugs, flying things, butterflies and bees a

Take the time to find compassion for yourself and others in this relaxing compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "A Collection of Atoms", by Daniel Baylis.   A Collection of Atoms, by Daniel Baylis Working together In temporary harmony Before being dispersed Back into the universe Your earthly task Is to help those atoms radiate Imagine the simplicity You need not Achieve anything but Gently glow -Daniel Baylis   Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life. You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To

In this guided meditation you'll visualize a majestic tree - and ground yourself through its roots into the earth. In celebration of Pride month, held every June, Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem "I love you to the moon and..." by Chen Chen.   I Love You To The Moon And by Chen Chen   Not back, let’s not come back, let’s go by the speed of  queer zest & stay up  there & get ourselves a little  moon cottage (so pretty), then start a moon garden with lots of moon veggies (so healthy), i mean  i was already moonlighting  as an online moonologist  most weekends, so this is the immensely logical next step, are you  packing your bags yet, don’t forget your  sailor moon jean jacket, let’s wear  our sailor moon jean jackets while twirling in that lighter, queerer moon gravity, let’s love each other  (so good) on the moon, let’s love  the moon         on the moon   Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube ch

Feel your body release and relax as you melt into this compassion meditation led by Julie Potiker.   Get the latest on mindfulness and meditation by subscribing to Julie Potiker's YouTube channel and Facebook page at Mindful Methods for Life. You can learn about mindfulness at www.MindfulMethodsForLife.com and also in Julie's newly released book, "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods For Staying Calm In The Midst Of Chaos", available on Amazon.com. Her podcast is "Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker", available on iTunes, iHeart and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Scan your body and breathe in love and appreciation through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker.  She completes the meditation with timely words from Rabbi Jordan Braunig, "A Prayer for Peace".   A Prayer for Peace, Rabbi Jordan Braunig It is possible to pray for peace. Our prayer life need not know our boundaries. No green lines, no dashes, no subtle demarcations. Our longings can transcend our political ideologies, cut across our keen analyses. Earnestness, cast out of our public discourse, still has a place in the language of our hearts. We have the capacity to pray for the old couple crouched in their stairwell in Ashkelon and the terrified child in his pajamas in Gaza. We can spread our prayer like a tattered shawl like a billowing canopy like a sparkling firmament over the tired shoulders of these and across the narrow frames of those. We are not naive, not cowards, nor traitors to pray for peace. We are told to get in line, to stand with them or to stand with the other, but we pray to a