Our Story

Life is busy. Crazy busy. No one understands this better than Julie Potiker whose life had become so stressful she started having serious medical issues and was sure she had a brain tumor. After a battery of medical tests, her neurologist recommended she try mindful meditation. This began Julie’s transformative journey to becoming a master practitioner and instructor of the healing art of meditation. After years of training and working with clients, she founded the Balanced Mind Meditation Center, a non-religious drop-in meditation studio where people learn simple techniques to enrich their lives. In addition to drop-in meditation, the center offers a robust selection of the best evidence-based classes being taught in the United States today. 

The Balanced Mind Meditation Center was created in memory of Julie’s mother, the late Ruth Jacobowitz, a passionate women’s health advocate, author, and lecturer. Julie and her father, Paul Jacobowitz are proud that Ruth’s lifetime of commitment to the betterment of humanity will live on through the center. 

We invite you join us for classes and workshops designed to balance your busy life.

Our Instructors

JULIE POTIKER

As a trained Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and longtime practitioner of mindful meditation, Julie Potiker has an elegant synthesis of many teachings, which she brings together in her unique program called Mindful Methods for Life. Students in her courses, workshops, and one-on-one sessions say Julie has an uncanny ability to keep lessons enjoyable and accessible to a broad range of people – skeptics included!

Julie was trained in the first cohort of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teachers trained by Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, and the University of California, San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She earned her Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Michigan and Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School.

LORRAINE M. HOBBS, M.A

Director of the Youth and Family Programs at the University of California, San Diego Center for Mindfulness, Lorraine M. Hobbs M.A. is passionate about helping families and teens achieve strong connections through greater emotional health. During her tenure at the Center for Mindfulness, she has developed and implemented curricula in mindfulness-based interventions for multiple age groups, including the Mindful & Compassionate Parenting program. 

Lorraine’s concern for the adverse effects of stress on the social and emotional development of teens led her to develop pioneering work in the area of self-compassion. She is co-author of Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults and provides teacher training in this curriculum. She also consults with educators on integrating mindfulness and compassion-based programs in schools, and offers workshops and public talks.

RHONDA MASON

 
Rhonda Mason is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked in the field of personal growth and change for the last 30 years. Her training in several mind/body techniques; energy psychology, Ericksonian Hypnosis, Soul Memory Discovery and is a certified Gestalt, Family and Biofeedback therapist. She brings her Jewish practice and spirituality together in her private practice as a therapist and a coach as well as this course. She has taught at Ruach Ha Aretz, the ALEPH :(The Alliance for Jewish Renewal) Kallah, and is a Jewish community organizer in San Diego where she leads Jewish meditation , Shabbat services and spiritual life coaching. She will be teaching a class on Jewish Spiritual Life Coaching for the Life Purpose Institute beginning May 0f 2017.

JENNIFER OPAKA

Jennifer has been a health and fitness instructor since the days of headbands and legwarmers, and is amazed by the advances in the field. She teaches strength and conditioning, yoga, and Pilates, and has seen students improve their overall health, energy, and well-being through physical fitness. In her 25 years in the field, Jennifer has also seen students struggle to manage pain from past injuries or degenerative disorders. Her experience as both a fitness instructor and meditation teacher led her to develop the Opaka Method, a moving meditation that incorporates a “roll and release” technique that incorporates massage balls to relax, rejuvenate, and restore the human body to its highest potential.

Amanda Ringalda

Amanda is a master educator at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California, and serves as a host for many of the Center’s large live events. For over a decade she has studied closely under Chopra Center co-founders, Drs. Deepak Chopra and David Simon, and gleaned wisdom from many other luminaries. 

Growing up working at the family’s pet-store business in Lake Tahoe, California, the life-long animal-lover always felt an especially deep and soulful connection to dogs. After discovering a passion for the practices of Ayurveda later in her life, Amanda began exploring ways the timeless life-wisdom could support vibrant health, balance, and wellbeing for dogs too! She teaches classes on Ayurveda for Dogs and founded a non-profit organization called SoulPlayMates which focuses on dog wellbeing education, dog rescue, and animal advocacy.  

BERT ROBERTS

Bertram W. Roberts, MD, is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and nephrology. He has spent more than 40 years involved in international health programs and practicing yoga and meditation. Currently he volunteers as an attending physician teaching medical students at the UCSD free clinic program. As a former Associate Professor at UTHSC San Antonio and Professor of Public Health he has participated in research projects and medical education to students and nephrology fellows. Doctor Roberts graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School (UAMS) in 1969, completed an internship at Washington University (Saint Louis) in 1970, followed by 2 years of medical residency in Atlanta at Emory University. He completed a Clinical Renal Fellowship at UCSD in 1973 and a nephology research fellowship at Ohio State University in 1976. In 1980, Doctor Roberts left the USAF as a Lt. Coronel, for private practice of internal medicine and nephrology. However, he continued to pursue and complete a Master and Doctorate in Public Health in 1990, a Master of Science in Health Care Administration and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (London) in 1994.

Throughout his career he has been involved in many community programs (diabetes, border health, anencephaly) as well as international relief and development including Cambodia and Burma (refugee camps), Philippines (Vietnamese Boat People), Nicaragua (earthquakes). Katrina (floods), Mexico (earthquakes), Guatemala (refugees), El Salvador (earthquakes), Haiti (floods and earthquakes), Peru (cholera), Burkina Faso (drought), Ghana and Nigeria (water treatment, prenatal, HIV), Vellore Medical School (Attending Physician South India). Doctor Roberts, also known as Dr. Bharat, has been involved with AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team} since 1973. It is with this organization that he became interested in meditation and international relief work. He follows a lactovegetarian diet, enjoys playing golf, guitar and traveling. You are welcome to stop by and try to quiet your mind, even if it’s only for few minutes.

REBECCA TERIETE

As a yoga instructor, Rebecca enjoys active forms of meditation, such as dance, running, music, and martial arts. She sees these practices as integral parts of maintaining balance in her busy life, which includes parenting two children and serving as a yoga instructor and personal trainer. Rebecca says meditation helps her feel greater compassion for others and view herself more objectively. Meditation has created a small buffer between her automatic responses to external circumstances and her response to them. On her best days, she feels minimal stress and zero anxiety. Rebecca enjoys sharing her love of mindful meditation and active stress reduction with students at every stage of their journey in life.

MERRY WOODRUFF

As a Certified Life Coach, Merry helps healthy, creative and resourceful people be the best versions of themselves as possible. Her mission is to help others improve areas of their lives where they may be stuck or looking for more engagement, purpose or satisfaction. 
Merry also teaches Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), techniques she found transformative in increasing her own resilience in life. She was trained in those curriculums at the University of California, San Diego Center for Mindfulness. True to her name, Merry is also a Certified Science of Happiness Trainer!

Merry earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Masters of Art in Education. She is passionate about mindfulness and wellness, and enjoys guiding students through their personal growth and development.