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 why

she never travels anymore in the middle of summer.

We each hold one of the heavy buds whose petals

already ache to break free and spread, bursting red at the seams.

The mulch is warm beneath our feet, and sunlight shimmers

pink in the shifting leaves of the Japanese maple.

I keep hearing her words--I want to be here-and feel

something new leaning toward the light inside me too,

some seed of need just to be rooted right where I am for each

small 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.com

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