Settle into this deep relaxation meditation led by Julie Potiker. She completes the meditation with a poem by Betzy Lynch. This version ends with music allowing you to drift off into sleep In the days leading to the New Year,I have been feeling the heat.How it lingered,how it dried the earth,how after enough days of iteven my bones began to feel dry.I found myself longing for somethingto break through the heaviness,to reach those dry placesand breathe life into them again.But this year,the New Year arrived quietly.Rosh Hashanah entered with Shabbat.The gates opened.The work of teshuvah began.And the shofar waited.Perhaps I needed that silencebefore I could truly hear the sound.Because when the shofar finally sounded today,I did not hear only a call.I felt the breath.Breath pushed through a narrow place,an ancient crythat seemed to travel deeperall the way into the marrow.Tekiah.Wake us up.Shevarim.Help us hear what is broken.Teruah.Give us courage not to turn away.May we carry these soundsthrough the days ahead,softening what has hardened,awakening what has grown tired,breathing Divine breath into our dry places.Hadesh yameinu k’kedemmake fresh our days.Not by erasing the year behind us,but by helping us carry its lessons forward.May regret deepen into wisdom,failure open us to humility,and gratitude teach us to noticethe blessings already before us.And perhaps this is how we make roomfor shalom.Not peace that asks us to forgetwhat is broken or unfinished,but peace spacious enough to hold it all.For shalom is not simply another blessing.It is the vessel that holds our blessingsjoy and sorrow,what is whole and what is broken,who we have beenand who we are still becoming.May we cultivate that vessel within ourselves,making room to recognize what is good,to hold what is precious,and to receive the blessingsthat have been there all along.As the echo of the shofar carries ustoward Yom Kippur,may it put new marrow in our dry bonesand new breath within us.May we enter the year aheadnot beginning over,but beginning again.-Betzy Lynch, CEO, Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus Continue your mindfulness journey with Julie - through her writings. Her latest book is, "Gentle Currents: Poems of Pause & Peace", a collection of poems focusing on themes of nature, self-compassion, and tranquility.Her other books include,"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". All are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.
