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

I'm Catherine Nikolai, and I saved you a spot, so come get comfortable.

You can sit or lay down or take your legs up a wall.

Once you're settled, draw a deep breath in through the room. or lay down or take your legs up a wall.

Once you're settled, draw a deep breath in through your nose and sigh from the mouth.

Do it again.

Breathe in.

And let it again. Breathe in. And let it out.

Good.

Let's find a point of focus.

A place to rest your mind. It can be your breath, just coming and going.

Or it could be any sensation in your body. Even a consistent sound in the room.

I don't want to short circuit you with too many options.

I know what happens there, but I do want to let you know that if one way doesn't work, just try another.

Most mindfulness work revolves around observing the breath, and if for whatever reason that's not helpful to you, it's totally okay

to just find another way to focus. Sensation is very helpful in this. And then just attend to that point.

When you notice your mind has wandered, which is normal and universal, just start again. No biggie. Thank you. Thank you. Now that we've flexed our muscles of observation,

let's zoom out.

Out past your body and the room you're in.

Zoom out past your home, your street, your city.

Keep expanding your field of awareness beyond the borders of your state and country.

And consider the whole world.

...