Welcome to first this, a short meditation practice and message for any time.

I'm Catherine Nikolai. Way to go for being here. You made the time today and it matters.

Find a posture that lets you breathe easily and not be too distracted by your body.

Then take a deep breath and through your nose and sigh from your mouth.

Again, inhale, and let it go. Good.

Lips together now. Good.

Lips together now.

Let your natural breath move through your nose.

You don't need to breathe deeply or in any specific way.

We are shifting from being a doer to being a witness, an observer.

A reminder, too, that you are not your thoughts.

You are the presence that watches.

So, let's watch as your breath comes in and out. As you feel the touch of it on your upper lip,

a little cooler as it enters, a little warmer on the way out. And whenever you notice your brain trying to start something, see if you can settle back into being an observer. What if you stop pushing your

thoughts forward? What happens? Thank you. Thank you. Still there.

The presence that watches.

Your thoughts are almost always about the future or the past.

Very often they aren't true.

Often they're not even yours.

Just some internalized stuff you picked up from the world.

So that's why identifying as your thoughts,

it's not really giving a picture of who you are.

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