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 Potiker

Self-care is in my spine, stamped

in my vertebrae after a decade

of teaching mindful self-compassion.

It keeps my skeleton fro collapsing

in 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 hose

aimed 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 feet

in other shoes, with an impulse to help,

if i can. The nuts-and-bolts change

based on circumstance, but there are

constraints - the breath, feet rooted

on solid ground, hand on heart, prayers

spooling out, connecting with people

who love me and whom i love,

and remembering I belong, I am enough,

I am complete -- and so are you.

"Self-Care", 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

This podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.