Albert the Cat

Hey there, we've got a very special host for you tonight. He's a big, friendly ginger cat called Albert, among other names. Here he is now, bumping his head gently against your shin, as if to say, "Come on, it's a lovely evening for a wander. Let's go." To be honest, it might be more accurate to say that you are Albert's host rather than the other way around. He's pretty good at getting other people to do his bidding. You know how cats are. There's a light rain falling, making the pavement a little damp, and the air feels fresh and new. Albert is one of those rare cats who doesn't mind the rain at all, though he'll pounce on a raindrop if he gets the chance. Before we set off, let's take a moment for a quick, wind-down exercise. Tonight's wind down is an exercise we call noting. It helps to soothe the mind. And once you've learned it, you can even use it if you wake up in the night. We're going to be counting our breaths, and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We're not trying to change them. We're simply labeling thinking as thinking, feeling as feeling. It may sound incredibly simple, but it can help to create distance between ourselves and the thought, and ourselves and the feeling, so we don't get so involved in it. That, in turn, creates a more restful state of mind. In other words, the perfect conditions for gentle, restful sleep. So, to begin, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. Make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some big, deep breaths. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And with the next out breath, allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm, in and out through the nose, and feeling the weight of the body pressing you down into your bed. And in your own time, starting to count the breaths as they pass. One with the rise, two with the fall, just up to a count of 10. When you get to 10, you can stop and start again at one. And remember, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by thought, simply noted thinking, and return to the breath. Or if a feeling arises, noted as feeling, and return to the breath. Noting is very gentle, not harsh at all. Think of it like a feather, just gently touching the surface of a crystal glass. I'm going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. Albert is something of a legend around these parts. Admittedly, a cat doesn't have to do very much in order to be regarded as a legend. They need only expose their paw pads at an opportune moment or rest their chin on something. At this moment, Albert is patrolling the walkway in...