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

I'm Catherine Nikolai. Thanks for being here. Please get comfortable.

Any posture is fine. There's no magic in lotus or perfect stillness. We're not performing

meditation, just actually doing it. And it can look a lot of ways.

Once you're settled in, take a nice, deep breath in,

and sigh it out.

One more then.

Breathe in.

And let it go.

Good.

Soften your shoulders a little bit more. I bet there's space to relax into. You might just be numb to how much you're holding.

When breath is flowing at its own natural pace through your nose.

And you're just attending to it as it comes in and out.

We'll do that for a minute or so.

Start over whenever you wander. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Still always Still aware of breath. It's the steady rhythm in the background.

I've been thinking today about the idea of performing something rather than just doing it,

how being perceived, might unconsciously shift you into performing person who knows what they are doing,

or person who is having a good time or whatever to fit into a situation.

And how if you do that long enough,

you can start to lose touch

with who you are under the fitting in. And there's nothing to fit into right now.

Nothing at all.

...