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

I'm Catherine Nicolai, and I'm glad you are here.

You can be seated or lying down for this practice,

but find a shape in which you're comfortable,

but not in much danger of falling asleep.

Although, hey, if you ever fall asleep while you're meditating or doing yoga,

it just means you need sleep, nothing to be embarrassed about there.

Once you've got your spot, take a deep breath in through the nose and release it through the mouth.

Again, all the way in.

And all the way out.

Good.

The first step here is just to bring the present into focus. And a simple way to do that is to focus your attention on something you can feel in your body.

Breath works so well for this, since it's constant, and it comes with sensations to focus on,

from your nose, down through your throat, and into your abdomen.

And this is just your natural breath.

So let it move at its own pace.

But really notice what you can feel as it comes in and goes out. Maybe your mind wanders away.

And as soon as you notice that it has, you just go right back to what you can feel in your body as you breathe.

This is what is happening right now.

This is your strong and healthy,

but over the last few weeks has started to wither a bit

when she has a few yellow leaves.

...