Join Julie Potiker as she guides you in this compassionate breath meditation. She completes the meditation with her poem, "Holding Court".

Holding Court, by Julie Potiker

Scattered about, Western Sycamore leaves forever remind me of book pages - undone, unglued, unloved, discarded.

Feeling this dip in mood, I make my way to the caged veggie garden below in search of something yummy.

Bright green cauliflower lifts my spirits. I wrestle it out of the rich soil with the help of Cutco kitchen scissors. I really must get some garden shears. Been a year that I’ve been saying that in my head, and sometimes out my mouth.

It’s 5pm now, so the buzz saws, trucks, and workmen’s chatter are silenced.

Two heads cauliflower filling my hands, I’m stopped in my tracks by the sounds and sights of happy hour in full swing in the Scrub Pine.

Standing stock still, I search for movement along the branches. Birds the size of pine cones, and dark smooth pine cones that look like birds tucked in tight among the spikey needles in the fading light.

Bewick’s Wren was holding court. His friends, Bushtit, Warbler and Towhee singing a cappella. A refrain rang out from Crow, he was winging it, he may have lost the score. Above it all, Red Tailed Hawk was conducting.

What a blessing. I stand a while, take it all in. Darkness is descending and with it the last of the temperate air. The chill nudges me to move along, it’s time to make dinner, my soul restored.

-"Holding Court", 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.com

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