Using your breath to calm yourself is the focus of this guided meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with the poem, "Self-Care", by James Crews.

Self-Care, by James Crews
Some days it feels like a foreign languageI'm asked to practice, with new worldsfor happiness, work, and love. I'm still learninghow to say: a cup of tea for no reason,what to call the extra honey I drizzle in,how to label the relentless urge to do moreand more as useless. And how to translatethe heart's pounding message when it comes:enough, enough. This morning, I search for wordsto capture the glimmering sun as it liftsabove the mountains, clouds already closing inas fat droplets of rain darken the deck.I'm learning to call the stillness self-care too,Just standing here, as goldfinches scatter upfrom around the feeder like broken piecesof bright yellow stained-glass, reassemblingin the sheltering arms of a maple.
-Self-Care, 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.com
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