Balanced Mind with Julie Potiker

Find connection - and healing through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her poem, "I Am Noticing".I Am Noticing, by Julie Potiker.I am noticing everything all at once, all the time, so much so that some things lay down on top of others.Last night, sitting in the courtyard after dinner, listening to what my husband was saying, hearing his words and the tone and timber of his voice, I was struck by the tempo of the crickets – 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4, doing 4-4 time quite deliberately and consistently as a metronome.Meanwhile, the two big dogs lay on the faded, terra-cotta tiles and slept with breath in 1-4 time, big breath in, then beat beat beat, big breath out.Madeline on her side, her big belly shaved at the vet that morning, rising and falling like a bellows. Eloise, 4 feet away, snout on the ground, snoring in 1-4 time.When I mentioned it, my husband said, he never would have noticed it, but now that he did, the crickets remind him of his childhood in the Midwest outside of Detroit. Yes, I said, Cleveland, too, but in those places, we would have fireflies. I wish we had fireflies too.

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Join Julie Potiker as she leads you through this loving kindness meditation. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Mountain Forest: Early Summer", by Joan Koerper.Mountain Forest: Early SummerRaven cawsLadybug lands on my fingertwo California Quail mosey byBand-Tailed Pigeons coobreeze tickles leaves and pollinated blossomsof the hundred-year-old Apple treesas Buddha, seashells in folded hands, offers thanks.Sap from Jeffrey Pines glistensMistletoe grows lustily, greedy to overcomeall other plants nearby.Wild Miner's Lettuce thrives to nourish.Robin lands in the Flowering PlumFinches, Steller's Jay, Black-Capped Chickadeesjoin travelers visiting feeders on shepherd's hooksand sip water in planter drainage saucers.Perfume from late-blooming Lilacsdrifts over my shoulderas Periwinkles on the vine claim a garden.Squirrel arrives for her peanuts.Lizard says hello, then scurries for boulder.Raven makes a line drivefor the Band-Tailed Pigeonswho burst upward in flight escapingto the north side of the mountain valley.Saraswati, standing four-feet tall,buried under seven feet of snowonly ten weeks ago, is once againdancing her eternal circle of protectionby the front door.Strawberry Full Moonsteadily travels her courseto illuminatethe multitudinous miracles of startdustThe Forest of Cloudless Night.-Joan/MJ Koerper

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

As you wake up, slip into this morning meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Gathering Nectar", by Julia Fehrenbacher.

"Do you know that sometimes,when gathering nectar,bees fall asleep in flowers?" Andrea GibsonGathering NectarWhen I am flitting ahead to the nextvery important thing, I do not land long enoughto notice steam rise from the mug of mint tea, do notbreathe in the sweet scent of fresh honey the beesworked so long and hard to make, do not noticethe moment on this Monday morning when sun smiles through the layers and layers of sorrow. When my head is bentto the brutal, mind buzzing no no no, I do not noticewhen my old dog looks up for a pet. Later,I will notice the trees still alive with so muchvibrant color—as if God was up all nightwith her paintbrush. Later, I will land long enoughto taste the sweetness. Or, perhaps, I might rememberthat sweetness can not find me when I am not here. Maybethe only very important thing is to stop, stop now—to fill myself with nectar like the bees do, work with othersto make honey, and then offer spoonful after spoonfulto those who have forgotten that no matterhow bitter the bitter, still and always—we can gather nectar, still and always, we canfall asleep, and wake, in the flowers.

(©Julia Fehrenbacher, www.juliafehrenbacher.com/Pinterest)Image found on Pinterest. SIgned copies of her book, "Staying in Love," are available at www.juliafeh.etsy.com).

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Quiet your mind as you listen to this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her poem, "Garden Dreams"."Garden Dreams", by Julie PotikerJasmine, roses - lavender flowers dot the rosemary hedge.I’m in a clapboard house, sleeping over with other women, some sort of retreat.Roni is there too.Grasping at imagesFragments of feelingsSnippets of conversationsTrying to hold onto the story-lineas it disappears in a wisp of vapor as I open my eyes,3 minutes before my alarm bell.I think it was a good dream.I think so … yes, a good dream, as I uncurl my body under the comforter,still hugging the warm soft fabric up over my shoulders.I was researching little pansy flowers called Johnny Jump Upbefore falling back to sleep in the early morning light.That flower is the star of a poem by Jill Hallthat I plan to share with my meditation groupI got so into researching them that I imagined planting them in lush beds under some of my old growth trees - bright lemon yellow and violet facessmiling in the partial sun.Maybe I should always read about flowers before closing my eyesand slipping into sleep, it makes for garden dreams!"Garden Dreams", by Julie Potiker

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Breathe in and out peace and love as you listen to this loving kindness meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Sea Glass", by James Crews.

"Sea Glass", by James Crews.We keep going back to the rocky beach,searching for the glint of sea glass--the white, the green, the rarest blue.It takes decades to smooth out the sharpedges of those shards, yeas of helplessturning in the tides, so we might thenreach down, slip one into our pocketand run fingers over the worn surfacewhen worry takes over a quiet mind.We too have been tumbled by the wavesof life, and with each passing year, I feelmy own edges buffed and polished so Imight slide more easily through the hours,stop resisting the pull of whatever oceanI'm in. Once, I wanted to be the shimmeringbottle, container to hold the whole worldimpossibly inside myself, but now I just wantto be the piece of beauty you come uponin an otherwise calm moment, cradledby the endless sea crashing at your feet.

--James Crews, from Unlocking the Heart

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Julie Potiker takes you to your favorite summer spot - through this guided visualization. Where are you, what do you hear, smell or feel? She completes the meditation with her poem, "Delicate Blossoms".Delicate Blossoms, by Julie PotikerPrunus persica - a Contender.Small emerald and ruby velvet coated stones.Untold dangers - snails, spiders, beetles, Cedar Waxwings, Bluejays and Mockingbirds among other friends I willingly host in my garden.Small furry creatures - a cartel of squirrels, they too, belong in the ecosystem of all things.A net my only shield to offer.Miracle of resilience that one day its juice will run down my chin, drip down the inside of my wrist, stain my favorite white t-shirt.Those that survive the journey from flower to ripe peach announce summertime in all its glory.The nectar of childhood’s sweet memory.Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Julie Potiker leads you in this quiet compassion meditation. She completes the meditation with the poem, "In a Friend's Garden", by James Crews.In a Friend's Garden, by James Crews

"I want to be here to see the poppies open,"my friend says, telling me whyshe never travels anymore in the middle of summer.We each hold one of the heavy buds whose petalsalready ache to break free and spread, bursting red at the seams.The mulch is warm beneath our feet, and sunlight shimmerspink in the shifting leaves of the Japanese maple.I keep hearing her words--I want to be here-and feelsomething new leaning toward the light inside me too,some seed of need just to be rooted right where I am for eachsmall pleasure, every rippling wave of sorrow.She wraps an arm around me, and we go inside for tea.There is nothing to escape from,but our own desire to escape at all.-In a Friend's Garden, by James Crews.

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Breathe in peace and love while listening to this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Folding Alter", by James Crews.

Folding Altar, by James CrewsI carry my church with mewherever I go, unfolding the altarof a moment while out walkingwith my husband, pausing to picka few dandelions gone to seed,taking a deep breath, then blowing,sending those silver messengersinto the air above a field,each one the seed of a prayerI say every day I’m alive:Please let me give up all hopefor a better past, and just be hereby the side of the driveway,watching wisps of clouds turningpink with evening, then purple,and listening to the complex soloof a catbird perched in a mapleas we say goodbye to the lightwhich may leave the sky tonightbut will stay with us, flickeringfor years to come.—James Crews

(Explanation from James Crews: I love the concept of a folding altar, one that we can carry with us wherever we go, no matter the circumstances, opening in each new moment. This early summer time feels so poignant to me, with things already going to seed even as so much has yet to bloom, reminding us of the never-ending cycles of life and renewal in the natural world.)

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.com

This podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Breathe in love, for yourself and those around you as you follow this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Forms of Love", by Daniel Baylis.Forms of Love, by Daniel Baylis.Sometimes I wonder:What's the point?Why be good? Why care? Why try to change things?Why--when we continue to wreck each other?Yet, I keep moving forward.Not because I am confident of any outcomes.But because I am still susceptible to sweet things:a sunset,a cup of coffee,a warm blanket,the smell of lilacs,the sound of my mother's laughter--and all the other forms of love.Sometimes I wonder:what would the world look likeif each of us decided to becomea form of love?

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Hold yourself in love as you sink into this Loving Kindness meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Natural Silence", by James Crews.

"Natural Silence", by James Crews.

It’s not easy to find the silencebehind traffic noise and the rush of a jetdragging its contrails through the sky.But here it is again in the in-between,when I learn to listen long enoughto the call-and-response of birdsong,to wind pulsing in the canopies of trees,and every wing-flutter of the phoebewho’s built her cup of a nest out of mossand mud beneath the eaves of our house.I know the stillness will last for justa few beats before the roar of a Harleytakes over, and a tractor rumbles throughthe rocky field outside my window.So I sink into it while I can, as I do into waterso clean and clear, for a moment at leastI swear I can see to the bottom of everything.

Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.