Episodes

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 th...

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 pl...

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...

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 hea...

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...

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 Potiker A 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 vi...

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 Crews All 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 me...

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 divineTh...

Join Julie Potiker as she guides you through this meditation focusing on what it is you need - for yourself. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Try Softer", by James Crews. "Try Softer", by James CrewsHonor wherever you arewhether the door to your lifehas blown off its hinges,or you find the simplest joysitting in a patch of winter sunon that corner of the carpetwhere you love to stretch.Try softer, not harder—giving yourself a safe placeto land your attention, restingin this threshol...

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 ...

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 Trommer Now 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.Meanwhil...

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 ...

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 i...

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 s...

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 gentlewi...

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 shopf...

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 Mueller It 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 ...

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-flutt...

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...

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-al...

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 helpe...

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 Crews For 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...

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. Prom...

Join Julie Potiker as she leads you through this guided meditation where you will use your breath to relax - and focus on what it is you need right now. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Rose-Breasted", by Kai Coggin, from the book, "Mother of Other Kingdoms, poems by Kai Coggin". "Rose-Breasted", by Kai Coggin(for Pheucticus Iudovicianus)To be rose-breastedmpas in the grosbeak that gracedthe feeder today on my lunch breath,me, in my teaching clothes, bright red beret,black shirt but...