Welcome to First This, a short mindfulness practice and message for any time.

I'm Catherine Nicolai. Thanks for sitting with me today.

Please make yourself comfortable. You can sit, lie down, take your legs up a wall, really any posture that suits you.

If you're comfortable with it, close your eyes.

Let's take a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

One more for now, breathe in.

Breathe out.

Good. Lips together. Just let natural breath move through your nostrils. Right away,

take your attention to the feeling of the movement of air. It's a little cooler as it enters your nostrils.

A little warmer as it leaves.

It's subtle, but you might be able to notice

which nostril you're breathing out of predominantly. Stay in this place of just curious focus for the next minute or so. Thank you. Thank you. Thinking today about a Huffy's quote, it came back to me when I needed to hear it the other day,

and I wondered if you might need to hear it.

He says,

I wish I could show you when you are alone or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being. Hafiz was born about 700 years ago, but he always sounds so current to me,

like he grew up down the block and can just cut through the static and say the thing.

Isn't it a very human feeling to see the light so bright,

and obvious in someone, and know they struggle to see it themselves,

to wish you could show them,

and to sometimes be alone or in darkness, and wish for a friend's hand

to reach out to you.

I wish I could show you when you are alone or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being. Thank you. Thank you. rise and fall

...