Podcast appearances and mentions of julie potiker

This meditation led by Julie Potiker might be just what you need today. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Imaginal Cells", by James Crews.Imaginal Cells, by James CrewsLike caterpillars born with imaginal cellsthat know how to become a thing with wings, we too carry a dream inside ourselvesof a different, better world. There will bestruggle, yes, as we claw our way out ofa chrysalis that can no longer keep us trapped,as we give the heart room to breathe, spaceto seek the nectar of flowers, and the nectarof mud and dung alike, feeding on darknesswhen darkness is all there is. If we canimagine a body that breaks free of its owncontainer, if we can envision a place whereeveryone feels safe and welcome, then we canbecome anything. Perhaps it beginswith a small yes stirring in a cluster of cells,and the trust that this—whatever this might beis never the end of the story.-James CrewsFind 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.

This meditation led by Julie Potiker might be just what you need today. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Imaginal Cells", by James Crews.(This version ends with music so you can drift off into sleep.) Imaginal Cells, by James CrewsLike caterpillars born with imaginal cellsthat know how to become a thing with wings, we too carry a dream inside ourselvesof a different, better world. There will bestruggle, yes, as we claw our way out ofa chrysalis that can no longer keep us trapped,as we give the heart room to breathe, spaceto seek the nectar of flowers, and the nectarof mud and dung alike, feeding on darknesswhen darkness is all there is. If we canimagine a body that breaks free of its owncontainer, if we can envision a place whereeveryone feels safe and welcome, then we canbecome anything. Perhaps it beginswith a small yes stirring in a cluster of cells,and the trust that this—whatever this might beis never the end of the story.-James CrewsFind 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.

Timothy sits down wtih San Diego based Julie Potiker, the author of ‘Snap! From Chaos to Calm' to discuss how to snap out of chaotic mental states. Julie is an attorney, mindfulness coach and her work has been featured by The Oprah Magazine, NBC, CBS and Fox. Timothy and Julie explore her S.N.A.P model of emotional regulation to help you hack your mental anger, anxiety, sadness, inner critic, grief and so much more. Visit her website www.mindfulmethodsforlife.com to get her book and many more tools.

Breath in peace for yourself - as you breath out peace for others through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Light Show", by James Crews."Light Show", by James Crews.Before supper, I called upstairs to him:Come see the light show. And withouta moment's hesitation, he rushed downto the basement to stand next to meon the other side of a pool of sunstretching from the one small windowin the door across the concrete floor.We watched in silence as light movedthrough the leaves of the cherry tree,mingling with shadows, rippling andshifting like the mind when you goquiet enough to isolate each thought—ever-changing, not made of anythingyou can touch. We stood captivatedby that puddle of late light, whichseemed to ask: When was the last timeyou dropped everything and danced?-James CrewsFind 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.

Relax and breathe along with Julie Potiker as she leads you through this healing breath meditation. She completes the meditation with her poem, "In the Habitable Zone".In the Habitable Zone, by Julie PotikerI let the thought settle—dew on my skin—120 light years from my morning coffee,a world, more than eight times biggerthan Earth, orbits a red dwarf star.Spinning steadily in what scientists callthe habitable zone.It could be a Hycean world, coveredin water so deep it forgets land.And maybe, just maybe, tiny beingsfloat there like Earth planktonreleasing dimethyl sulfide intoan atmosphere the stirs with methane,each molecule , a question flung towardus by the James Webb's patient lens.Science says: 99.7 percent confidence.Still, let's be careful. There are otherpaths that mimic life. But I want to exhalewonder. Let awe arise like phytoplanktonbasking in the sun. If the universe speaksin more than one place how can we notlisten with our whole hearts. Maybe, justmaybe, we are not aloneafter all.-In the Habitable Zone, 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.

Use your breath to focus on what you need right now - through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her poem, "11 minutes".11 minutes, by Julie PotikerThe Karmine Line, invisible.But real enough to draw a boundarybetween us and what's beyond.At 62 miles the air gives up its gripand Blue Origin, that sleek silver wish,carries six women through suborbital space into weightlessness.11 minutes, a life can turn inside that.11 minutes, enough to change how the soul spells home.And when they landed they brought space back in their eyes.I watched video of them landinghow they must have looked at the trees, the grass,and each other differentlyas if the whole world had shifted just slightly toward kindness.I wish I could go, feel the silence, see the curve of the earth with my own eyes.But that journey isn't mine.Not this lifetime.Instead, I breathe into the knowing.We are made of stardust,bones, breath, memory already part of the vastness, already connected to everything.Space isn't only up there.It lives in here.-Julie PotikerFind 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 Classic Metta Meditation. She completes the meditation with her poem, "March on Meadowbrook Road".March, on Meadowbrook Road, by Julie Potiker.Down the way from the old Triumph mine, Narrow-leaf Willow, a rust-colored and wild, leans into the breeze.Rubber Rabbit-brush waits in stillness, not yet yellow - there's room here forwhat takes time. Basin Wild Rye a parchment scrap from last year's book, whispers its end in a papery rush.Between patches of snow, soft ground starts to look like something breathing.My boots sink low - just enough to remind me there's life below, waiting to rise, quiet as roots, steady and slow, without need for applause.Chickadees gossip - Black-capped, mountain, in stereo tones stitched through the trees, voices bright. A Northern Flicker taps at Aspens, bare as bones. Does it know the language that flows beneath this frost? Roots that spill messages deep, a network unseen holding hands in sleep.And I stand there, Stetson tipped just right, letting the sun do what it does best - warm my cheek. It says: you're here and so is spring.And that's enough. More than enough, I think.-Julie PotikerFind 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.

Find compassion for yourself and those around you through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "The Return of Hearts and Minds", by James Crews.The Return of Hearts and Minds, by James CrewsI wake before dawn this morningto live inside the quiet, to feaston the dark bread of the possible.The house breathes on its own, thoughno footsteps stamp the floor above,no doors slam shut, and nothingstirs outside except for the maskedraccoon, hungry eyes glowing green.I know who I am in these small hours,and watch for signs that daylight isfinally coming, spreading like a blueink that brightens the sky instead ofdarkening it. This early, I imaginethe hearts and minds of everyonewho gave them up the day before,tossed out as easy as paper crumpledon the floor, suddenly returned to them,compassion flowing into each of uslike an IV drip, like fresh light meetingour eyes with the chance to begin again.—James CrewsFind 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.

Relax into this meditation -- as you breathe in compassion. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with her poem, "Joy has Four Legs and Doesn't Ask for Permission".Joy has Four Legs and Doesn't Ask for Permission, by Julie PotikerNo one told them about warsor the price of eggs.Mutts and pure breeds of every flavorrun without hesitation,as if the world has always been this open,this forgiving.Wellington leaps and sprints with every dog chasing a ballMadeline rolls her old bones in the wet sand.One black lab charges the waves with a Frisbee in his mouth,another digs fiercely – sand flying above his head -both entirely certain of their purpose.Just now. Just wind. Just sand and saltand the miracle of tails wagging.Nothing in them resists the day.The heaviness in my chest loosens,This is how healing looks—wild, sandy, and grinning.-Julie PotikerFind 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.

In this guided meditation you will focus on peace, love, and compassion. Julie Potiker competes her meditation with the poem, Prayer, by James Crews."Prayer", by James CrewsI ask for just the slightest shiftin my thinking, the kindest siftingof my busy mind so only wonderand peace are left behind. So thatas I walk in sleet on this spring morningI can see even these muddy rutsmade by careless trucks on the forest trailas harbors of miracle, knowing they willfill with enough snow melt and rainfor tadpoles to swim in come summer,until that sunlit instant when they feelthe flexing of legs in the water beneath them,and leap out onto the ground, their bodieshaving decided, by instinct alone, to besoft and alive in this world.-Prayer, 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.

Relax into this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Sunflower", by James Crews.Sunflower, by James Crews"Joy is not made to be a crumb."Mary Oliver once wrote, but isn't thathow it often shows up at first? One crumbof attention, then another, and anotheruntil you're able to follow the trailleading to the volunteer sunfloweryou hadn't noticed blooming by the garden."Volunteer," we say, meaning no humanhand nestled that seed in the ground,though the same could be said of joy too,which seems to spring up out of nowherewhen you see the face of the flowerthe French call tournesol, meaning"turned toward the sun." And don't weeach carry a small sun in our cheststhat tells us where to turn, where it's warm,where something bright has struggled upout of the earth, and is now calling our name?-Sunflower, 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.

Using your breathe ease into this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "Awe", by James Crews.AweIt's a shiver that climbs the trellisof the spine each tingle a brightwhite morning glory bursting into blossombeneath the skin. It can happen anywhere,anytime, even finding a sleeve of iceworn by a branch all morning, now fallenon a bed of snow. You can choose to pause,pick it up, hold that cold thing in your handor not. Few tell us that wonder and aweare decisions we make daily, hourlyminute by minute in the tiny officesof the heart, tilting the head to look upat every tree turned into a chandelierby light striking ice in just the right way.-Awe, by James CrewsFind 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.

This guided meditation may be just what you need today. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem, "The Most Important Thing", by Julia Fehrenbacher.The Most Important Thing, by Julia FehrenbacherI am making a home inside myself. A shelterof kindness where everythingis forgiven, everything allowed—a quiet patchof sunlight to stretch out without hurry,where all that has been banishedand buried is welcomed, spoken, listened to—released.​A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own.​I am throwing arms opento the whole of myself—especially the fearful,fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts, knowingevery seed and weed, every dropof rain, has made the soil richer.​I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea, gatheraround the warmth of my own blazing fire. I will howlif I want to, knowing this flame can burn throughany perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,any lying limitation, every heavy thing.​I am making a home inside myselfwhere grace blooms in grand and gloriousabundance, a shelter of kindness that growsall the truest things.​I whisper hallelujah to the friendlysky. Watch now as I burst into blossom.-The Most Important Thing, by Julia FehrenbacherFind 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 classic loving kindness meditation focusing on the words - may you be safe, may you be happy, may you be healthy, and may you live you life with ease. She completes the meditation with her poem, "New"."New", by Julie PotikerBundle swaddled snugglysleeps soundlyeyes half moonsdelicate rose lipsupturned dough of noseMiniature handsslender fingersgossamer nailsI will love you forever escapes my lipscoming from a soft place, ancestral place, dropped in and breathed through my heart.At that moment, I feel the truth of it, the threshold created by my first grandchild that I gratefully glide across-this sacred bond, a link in the chain traveling back in time and forward forever.-New, 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.

This guided meditation led by Julie Potiker focuses on goodness - as you breathe in and out. She completes the meditation with her poem, "February 11th, 2025".February 11th, 2025, by Julie Potiker.Rain is coming, there's a damp chill as I zip my down jacket, tuck my slippered feet under me in my favorite listening chair under the eaves.Bewick Wrens, tail up, are chirping and trilling in the green leafy branches of the carob trees. When one drops down onto the bricks, I get a close look of his plump little body. I'd love to hold him in my upturned palm.Orange Crowned Warbler gives me the same maternal pang. I'm watching a small one flick leaves off the branches, hearing the thwack as leaf hits bricks.Song Sparrow and House Finch are close - perhaps in the trees near the empty feeders. I've paused their food on the recommendation of experts to minimize the risk of bird flu. The white plastic seed container with the twist on lid sits untouched on the stone counter, surrounded by a dozen Mexican limes that let go from the tree above.Spotted Towhee takes over the airwaves as it begins to drizzle. It's a sound unmistakably his, a sort of twisted croak/trill.Coffee cold now, I duck inside for a fresh hot brew.-February 11, 2025, by Julie PotikerFind 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 is a mindfulness expert with extensive certifications and teacher training in a variety of tools and methods, including Mindful Self-Compassion. Julie details strategies for coping with anger, anxiety, grief, political strife and disaster, parenting struggles, and your inner critic from her new book, “SNAP! From Chaos to Calm.” Through her Mindful Methods for Life program offerings, Julie helps others bring more peace and wellness into their lives. Julie's first book, “Life Falls Apart, but You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos," is now available on audiobook. Key Topics: - Julie's journey to understanding mindfulness and its role in her parenting journey - The difficulties of managing stress as a parent - How Julie's SNAP method can down regulate the nervous system and decrease stress - Evident-based research on the importance of mindfulness - The difference between mindfulness and meditation - How to offer self-compassion when you mess up and fail to regulate yourself in the moment - How to write a retirement letter to your inner critic Learn more about Julie at mindfulmethodsforlife.com Grab Erin's stress-busting nutrition guide here: https://mailchi.mp/5bf7e5c21f62/stress-busting-nutrition-guide

In this episode, psychologist Traci Stein speaks with author Julie Potiker about her new book, “SNAP! From Chaos to Calm.” Julie, a self-described “recovering attorney,” is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher at the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of California, San Diego. Julie created “SNAP” as a way to help people rapidly and easily implement tools to decrease distress and reconnect to feelings of calm and centeredness. Julie shares the “what” and “how” of SNAP -- Soothing Touch; Name it to Tame it; ACT - What do I need right now? And Praise -- so you can start feeling calmer right away.  For more on Julie Potiker, her books, programs and meditation app, visit: https://mindfulmethodsforlife.com/ For more on Traci Stein and her meditations and hypnotic imagery, visit: https://www.drtracistein.com/

In this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker you will focus on a being who brings you joy - and then move into classic loving kindness phrases. She completes her meditation with the poem, "Dream Life", by Billy Collins.Dream Life, by Billy CollinsWhenever I have a dream about Poetry,which is not very oftenconsidering how much I think about her,she appears as a seamstresswho works in the window of a tailor's shopin a section of a provincial cityladen with a grey and heavy sky.I know the place so wellI could find the dimly lit shopwithout asking anyone for directions,though the streets are mostly empty,except when I saw a solitary manlooking in the window of a butcher's,his hands in the pockets of his raincoat.Poetry works long hoursand rarely speaks to the tailoras she bends to repair the fancy costumesof various allegorical figureswho were told by Thrift how little she charges.Maybe the ermine collar on the robeof Excess has come looseor a rip in the gown of Abandonneeds mending, and no questionswill be asked about how that came to pass.A little bell over the door ringswhenever a customer enters or leaves,but Poetry is too busy thinking about her childrenas she replaces a gold button on the blazer of Pride.Dream Life, by Billy Collins, from his book of poems; The Rain in Portugal.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.

Focus on giving love to yourself and others as you follow this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Listening", by Julie Barton.Listening, by Julie BartonI rebuilt my ancestral altar. Two nights later, two great-horned owls stood near my front door.I knew they were my grandparents wholingered. They said in the next morning's meditation, Where we are,masculine and feminine don't exist. (I heard it like an apology.) We're all just energy here. (I heard: We had it so wrong.)It's just love.I replied, That's what the trees say too.I inhaled with my still warm body, asked for guidance. Let go, they said. Keep going. Write with your eyes closed.-Listening, by Julie Barton (from, Out With Lanterns, a daily poetry practice).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.

Find peace and connection through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Community", by James Crews.Community, by James CrewsScience now tells uswhat we have knownsince the beginning:you and I are made of light.And if atoms can be birthed by long-gone starswhose signatures we stilltrace in every night sky,and if these atoms cancome together to formsomething as complexand compassionateas a human being, thenmaybe we too canjoin hands, make somenew and sacred thingthat will save us all.-Community, by James CrewsFind 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.

Goodness - is the focus of this guided meditation. What is it you need to hear to make you feel good? Julie Potiker completes the meditation with a reading of her poem, "Holy Stop".Holy Stop, by Julie PotikerA little after 2pmI exit the 5-south freeway at Loma Santa Fe.At the traffic light, two women with bright green vestsCROSSING GUARD in tall black letters.Outstretched armgrasping pole with big red stop signhats with brimssunglasses shielding eyesfrom the California sun.A precious jobA vital taskshepherding school children.Three vest clad women, one vest clad mana Santa Claus beardPerhaps a grandpa.Or merely a good neighbor.A generous offering.A lovely way totake good care of children.These are the things we can do in this messy lifewhere nature wreaks havoc24-hour news cycle shaking you for attention.It might be standing on a street corner,shielding your eyes from the sun,holding a stop sign.Holy, stop, perfect.-Holy Stop, 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 goodness...for yourself...and others through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "You Matter", by James Crews.You Matter, by James CrewsAll we can do in times like theseis offer things to say to others:You matter to me. The Mason jarof chicken soup given to a neighbor,or the clay mug shaped by the handsof a friend, with a dog and goldfinchpainted on the side - how it arrivedin the mail unbroken. A phone call out of the blue, or message that says:Thinking of you. Let's wrap each otherin gestures so true, no one ever doubtshow much they belong, no one everquestions whether or not to stay.-You Matter, 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.

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness expert and author of "SNAP! From Chaos to Calm." She is a member of the teaching team at UCSD Center for Mindfulness. Learning and incorporating mindfulness into our lives is a great plan anytime but is a perfect fit for the beginning of a new year, with great new energy. Julie gives us ideas and practices for using mindfulness to overcome the stresses and anxieties that can crowd our life - anger, anxiety, parenting, political strife and disaster. Julie found this for her own life's healing more than a decade ago, so this training comes from an authentic place. www.mindfulmethodsforlife.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness expert and author of "SNAP! From Chaos to Calm." She is a member of the teaching team at UCSD Center for Mindfulness. Learning and incorporating mindfulness into our lives is a great plan anytime but is a perfect fit for the beginning of a new year, with great new energy. Julie gives us ideas and practices for using mindfulness to overcome the stresses and anxieties that can crowd our life - anger, anxiety, parenting, political strife and disaster. Julie found this for her own life's healing more than a decade ago, so this training comes from an authentic place.  www.mindfulmethodsforlife.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Find your center as you move into the New Year with this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Life and Death", by Mary F. Lenox.Life and Death, by Mary F. Lenox On the day of our birth, We begin our journey toward deathNeedless to say,Every living being on this planet today will not be here in 120 years.That's twelve decades from now Most will be gone soonerI certainly willSo, what does that mean? Time matters!Each day is a gift from the divineThe cells of the body are in continuous cycles of hello and goodbyePeople come and go in our livesThe world we inhabit is changing before our very eyesIf I live 20 more years, I will be approaching my 100th birthdayI know not the day or hourWhen I will leave this earthly planeNor do othersThe answer is clear to meLoveNow!Celebrate life Now!Smile at trees, birds, and the seaNow!Love beautyNow!Love MusicNow!Let go of anything that does enhance my lifeNow!Speak the truth with an open heartNow!Honor, respect, and care for my body, mind, spirit, emotionsNow!Be gratefulNow!Respect all lifeNow!Love me, and youNow!Love GodNow!Life and Death by Mary F. Lenox(San Diego, CA) Note from poet Mary Lenox.This poem is significant to me since my sister, Doris Washington, passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2024. She was 86 years. Doris and I talked on Saturday, and my other sister, Trueannie Oaddams, talked with Doris on Sunday morning as they did every day for 20 years. Soon thereafter, Doris left this world, sitting in her favorite chair. Please keep me and my beloved family in your prayers.Thank you!-Mary"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 visualize a Hanukkah candle - lit with love, glowing. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem, "The Back of Our Hands", by Annette Friend."The Back of Our Hands," by Annette Friend.My nephew's afternoon wedding in upgradedJersey City - a rose covered Chuppah overlooksthe sun-speckled Hudson River, the jagged NYC skyline.My granddaughter, six, sits on my lap,in a flowered pink dress, beige patent leathershoes with tiny bows, softly touches the backof my hand, traces brown liver spots, blue veins,red splotches of skin damaged by too much sun,baby oil slathered teenage skin at the Jersey Shore.Her pure, pink skin, unblemished, smoothas rose petals, in stark contrast to my time splatteredcovering. She maps the spots up and down my armas if trying to decipher clues about my life."What happened her?" she whispers,points to a thin white scar on my thumb."Cut myself with a knife making latkes.I'll be more careful when I come to visit,and we make latkes for Hanukkah."Her pearly fingertips mark up my saggy arm,"Your skin is squishy like Jello, Granny A."I laugh, she giggles snuggling against me.Does it matter if my skin tells tales of timepassing when she's here with me in the sunshinesmiling on this happy, sparkling day?We watch the bride and groom paradeback down the aisle to applause, the groomhas finally smashed the glass after five tries.All Jewish celebrations are tinged with ancientadversity, the broken glass, some say, a reminderof the Temple we lost thousands of years agoWhen I was young these customsmade me shrug my shoulders, annoyed, we Jewscan never just kick up our heels, relax and enjoy.Now my skin proclaims me an old relic as I watchfresh young lives around me begin to bloom, I realizestories of the past show us our strength, the beautyand pain all of our history contains, the pastentwined in all the moments that we are alive,part of a tradition that teaches us how to survive.In this moment, the past, the present, the youngand the old, the sun sets, yet rises, on a new marriage,and our two hands, my granddaughters and mine,side by side woven in gold."The Back of Our Hands," by Annette Friend.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.

In this guided meditation, led by Julie Potiker you will be focusing on your gifts and what it is you need right now. She completes the meditation with the poem, "At the Market", by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer."At The Market", by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerNow when I walk through the marketI think of how someone else herebeside the stir-fry cart and the tie-dye tenthas just lost a belovedand is hiding tears behind sunglasses.Not knowing who they are,I try to treat everyone with kindness.Meanwhile the day is beautifulfor everyone, no matter how whole,how broken our hearts. It gathers us allin a grand blue embrace.I stroll through the gift of a Fridaymorning surrounded by arugulaand strawberries, muffins, lilies,and all these other fragile hearts,all of us saying Excuse me, Good morning,How are you, It's nice to see you today.-At The Market, by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer(from "The Unfolding poems").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.

It may be called the most wonderful time of the year, but for many people, it's the most stressful. Nine out of 10 Americans report feeling stressed out right now, so this week host Paula Felps talks with author and mindfulness expert Julie Potiker about how her SNAP mindfulness method can help lower your stress level throughout the holiday season — and beyond.   In this episode, you'll learn: Why mindfulness is such an effective tool for managing stress. What the SNAP method is and how to use it. The importance of gratitude in a mindfulness practice.

What would be most helpful for you to hear right now. Is it hope, healing, peace? Julie Potiker guides you through this meditation and finishes with her poem, "Considering Poetry".Considering Poetry, by Julie PotikerNo furrowing of browsNor squinting of earsI like the message to ripple on clear fresh waterPerhaps a river streamFlowing over stones smoothed by the agesPerhaps more rhythmicallyDynamicallyThe pull of the moonStacking up the seaAs it breathes in and outIn and outNever endingCreating the sandDrenching it with giftsEnduring through time -Julie PotikerFind 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.

Right now, in this moment, what is it you need to hear? Julie Potiker helps you focus on that question through this guided meditation. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Reciting Poems to Each Other in a Difficult Time", by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerReciting Poems to Each Other in a Difficult Time, by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerIt might have looked as if we stayedin our respective squares—nine separate rooms made of pixels—but for an hour the poems we shared leapedthrough the screen and into our bloodstreamuntil all our lines were gloriously blurredand our wounds were gently tendedby the medicine of Berry's day-blind starsand Wellwood's ferocious dance of no hope,Hopkins's shining from shook foiland Roethke's wondering Which I is I?In another time, there would have beena fire at the center. Someone would play a drum.But in this time, I felt it inside me, the fire,as poems blazed to meet the great cold.I felt it inside me, the human drum,that reminds me the heart beatsnot for itself, but the world.For an hour we spooned each otherthe honey of poetry. Alone now,I still taste it, unfiltered and raw,this astonishing sweetness on my lips,this salt of lyric communion,still feel the warmth of that blaze,the spark still dazzling in the dark.–Rosemerry Wahtola Trommerfrom A Hundred Falling VeilsFind 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.

Enter the holiday season and finish the year with gratitude and thankfulness - for those who helped you throughout your life. Who has helped you become the person you are today? Breathe in acknowledgment of their contribution to your life's journey - breathe out thankfulness. Julie Potiker completes her meditation with the poem, "Thank You", by Ross Gay.Thank You, by Ross Gay.If you find yourself half nakedand barefoot in the frosty grass, hearing,again, the earth's great, sonorous moan that saysyou are the air of the now and gone, that saysall you love will turn to dust,and will meet you there, do notraise your fist. Do not raiseyour small voice against it. And do nottake cover. Instead, curl your toesinto the grass, watch the cloudascending from your lips. Walkthrough the garden's dormant splendor.Say only, thank you.Thank you.-Thank You, by Ross Gay 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.

Open your heart to compassion through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "So I Can't Save the World", by —Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer"So I Can't Save the World", by —Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerSo I can't save the world—can't save even myself,can't wrap my arms aroundevery frightened child, can'tfoster peace among nations,can't bring love to all whofeel unlovable.So I practice opening my heartright here in this room and being gentlewith my insufficiency. I practicewalking down the street heart first.And if it is insufficient to share love,I will practice loving anyway.I want to converse about truth,about trust. I want to invite compassioninto every interaction.One willing heart can't stop a war.One willing heart can't feed all the hungry.And sometimes, daunted by a task too big,I ask myself, What's the use of trying?But today, the invitation is clear:to be ridiculously courageous in love.To open the heart like a lilac in May,knowing freeze is possibleand opening anyway.To take love seriously.To give love wildly.To race up to the worldas if I were a puppy,adoring and unjaded,stumbling on my own exuberance.To feel the shock of indifference,of anger, of cruelty, of fear,and stay open. To love as if it matters,as if the world depends on it.—Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerFind 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.

This meditation led by Julie Potiker focuses on our connection to others. We are the light, we are connected, and we are the helpers. She completes the meditation with the poem, " Look for the Helpers", by James Crews."Look for the Helpers", by James CrewsToday, I will look for the helpers-the woman pouring sunflower seedsfrom an orange bag into the feeder,and a chickadee, having eaten its fill, lifting offso another can feast there.Someone holding open the fogged-over door of the coffee shopfor a stranger who smiles and says thank you in spite of the news.I will watch workers dressed in neon vests with shovels and buckets,filling potholes across the city, the asphalt steaming as they spread itover the street, then tamp it down, repairing what they can.-"Look for the Helpers", by James CrewsFind 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.

Using your breath, breathe in peace and hope through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a reading of the poem, "Hope", by Lisel Mueller."Hope", by Lisel MuellerIt hovers in dark cornersbefore the lights are turned on,it shakes sleep from its eyesand drops from mushroom gills,it explodes in the starry headsof dandelions turned sages,it sticks to the wings of green angelsthat sail from the tops of maples.It sprouts in each occluded eyeof the many-eyed potato,it lives in each earthworm segmentsurviving cruelty,it is the motion that runs the tail of a dog,it is the mouth that inflates the lungsof the child that has just been born.It is the singular giftwe cannot destroy in ourselves,the argument that refutes death,the genius that invents the future,all we know of God.It is the serum which makes us swearnot to betray one another;it is in this poem, trying to speak.-Hope, by Lisel MuellerFind 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.

Find a quiet place to settle into your own stillness through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Natural Silence", by James Crews.Natural Silence, by James CrewsIt'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.-Natural Silence, by James Crews (from "Unlocking the Heart; Writing for Mindfulness, Courage, and Self-Compassion", 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.

While sitting in quiet meditation - bring in phrases of loving kindness to yourself; may I be safe, may I be happy, and may I find moments of ease. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem, "Choices", by James Crews."Choices", by James CrewsYou can grieve the leaves strippedfrom the maple, all that emptyspace between bare branches,or you can bless the abundanceof light shining through, buffingthe pine boards of the floor untilthey turn the color of clover honey.You can mourn the cone-flowersnow shriveled and brown, saythe whole world's gone to ruin,or you can stand at the windowwatching the lively yellow blossomof a goldfinch feasting on eachcrown of seeds, sending more thana few back home, down intothe open ground, which knowshow to receive them.—James CrewsFind 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.

Take some time to slow down your mind and your body - as you sit, relax and breath through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with her poem, "Self-Care.""Self-Care", by Julie PotikerSelf-care is in my spine, stampedin my vertebrae after a decadeof teaching mindful self-compassion.It keeps my skeleton fro collapsingin a heap on the earth when disaster strikes.It raises me a little taller when joy, awe,or ecstasy bursts out of me like a hoseaimed at a five-alarm fire. It saved my life,this practice of seeing and allowing all of me,the jagged and sticky bits included.It orients me to a wider lens, my feetin other shoes, with an impulse to help,if i can. The nuts-and-bolts changebased on circumstance, but there areconstraints - the breath, feet rootedon solid ground, hand on heart, prayersspooling out, connecting with peoplewho love me and whom i love,and remembering I belong, I am enough,I am complete -- and so are you."Self-Care", by Julie PotikerFind 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.

Slow down and connect to yourself and the beauty that surrounds around you through this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Watson", by Julia Fehrenbacher."Watson", by Julia Fehrenbacher.I'm pretty sure our new kitten thingsour middle-aged dog is his mama.At first, he hissed and made himself bigwhenever he saw her, but nowhe nestles into the warm curveof her belly and purrs. He evencloses his eyes while shelicks him clean.The other day, he helped himselfinto the pantry, and, I swear, triedto open the doggy jerkyfor his new mama. After dinnerthey chase balls and each otheraround the house untilone of them has to lie down.Two entirely different speciesshowing us what love looks like,teaching us how to hissless, how to purr more.-"Watson", by Julia Fehrenbacher.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.

Compassion is the focus of this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. Breath in compassion for yourself - and out for others. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Komorebi," by James Crews.Komorebi, by James CrewsFor what must have been a full minutein the spacious eternity of an eveningat the ragged end of summer, I stoodin the kitchen as the sun dropped downbehind the trees at the exact right placefor it to dance, shadow and light, acrossthe swirled grain of the maple counter.The Japanese call it komorebi, this playof sunshine breaking through the gapsin leaves, now dappling my hand as Ireach for my mug of tea. One of thosecountless small miracles we seldom thingto name in English, a simple rewardfor laying down the knife and leavinga carrot half-chopped on the cutting board,to be heard for at least this one out ofthe 1440 minutes I was granted today.-Komorebi, 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.

The focus of this guided meditation is healing - through breathing. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem," We Were Made for This," by Julia Fehrenbacher.We Were Made for This, by Julia FehrenbacherI want to fill this spacewith words that will erase the distancebetween your certainty and minemake room under the big, empty skyfor grace to sit, move closeruntil skin touches skin, eyes see eyes.Maybe we can take a good, deepbreath, clear body and mind of allthat's come before. Promiseto pay attention, to stay—especially when it hurts.Maybe this time we will seethat it has nothingto do with who we've beenor who we think we areand everythingto do with being fiercely here—like breath is for life. Yes,like that.Maybe—perhaps, we can beginand begin again with—I don't know. Seethat it takes just one step towardto erase the distancethat was only ever a thought.Dinner is on the stove, will you join me?©Julia Fehrenbacherwww.juliafehrenbacher.comFind 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.

In this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker you will focus on breathing goodness in - and out. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Holding the Light", by Stuart Kestenbaum Holding the Light, by Stuart Kestenbaum.Gather up whatever is glittering in the gutter,whatever has tumbled in the waves or fallen in flames out of the sky,for it's not only ourhearts that are broken, but the heartof the world as well.Stitch it back together. Make a place wherethe day speaks to the nightand the earth speaks to the sky.Whether we created Godor God created usit all comes down to this:In our imperfect worldwe are meant to repairand stitch together what beauty there is, stitch it with compassion and wire. See how everything we have made gathers the light inside itselfand overflows?A blessing.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.

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.

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 PotikerFind 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 HeartFind 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.comThis 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.

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness expert who helps others bring more peace and wellness into their lives through her Mindful Methods for Life program offerings. Her new book is “SNAP! From Chaos to Calm.” A former attorney, Julie is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and founder of the Balanced Mind Meditation Center in La Jolla, California. She […]