TEDTALKS ANDY PUDDICOMBE wants you to take a break —not just from work, but from your own mind, which isso full of anxieties about the world and anvieties about its own ‘anxieties. To help you do that, Pucdicombe, a former ‘Buddhist monk, co-founded Headspace, a project to make ‘meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. Andy Puddicombe’s idea worth spreading is that if we ‘mecttate for ust 10 minutes a day, we can feel more focused ‘and experiance the world with more calm and clarity. BACKGROUND 41 You are going to watch a TED Talk by Andy Puddicombe called AVlit takes ls 10 mindful minutes. Read the text ‘about the speaker and the talk. Then work in pairs anc answer the questions. 1 What types of things typically cause people arniety? 2. What do people do to try to cove with stress and anxiety? ‘3. What comes to mind when you hear the ‘word ‘meditation’? KEY WORDS 2. Read the sentences (1-8). The words in bold are used in the TED Talk, First quess the meaning of the words. Then match the words with their definitions (a-9, 1 if we leam to be mindful, t's easier to deal with life's challenges. 2 My pace of Ife is frantic and my mind is always busy. ‘3. Ourlives can become so busy that we rarely do anything spontaneous anymore. 4 You can avoid getting so stressed by taking some simple preventative measures, 5 | wah | folt less restless and more rolaxed at the weekends, 6 We sometimes feel inundated by work and cother people's demands, faced with more than we can easiy deal with Intended to stop something from happening ‘unable to be stil very hurried and using a lot of energy aware of the state and activity of our own thoughts able to act without a plan AUTHENTIC LISTENING SKILLS Understanding mid-sentence changes in | direction ‘Sometimes we begin a sentence, but part-way through t | We go off in a different direction. Ths often happens because, as we're speaking, we think of a better way of ‘making the point and sometimes the change in direction might be used for @ particular effect, But it can mean that the second part of the sentence doesn't aways match ‘the fist part. Ifyou can focus on the ideas contained in the sentence as a whole and not worry about ‘the missing part of the sentence’ (grarnmaticaly, it can help you to Understand the speaker's message. 3a_ [RIED Look at the Authentic listening skils box. Listen to this sentence. What do you notice about the speaker's way of constructing this sentence? 3b [VER usten to another sentence. What did you expect ‘to hear the speaker say after ‘than we'? [EMI Read two more extract from the talk. How do you think the sentences might end? Now listen to find out 11 But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way, you might see mary diferent patterns. You ‘might find @ mind that’s realy, sort of, restless and ~ 2 You might find a mind that's very, sort of, dulland boring, and it's just, almost mechanical, itjust, sort of, seems i's as if you're getting up, going to work, 97TALKS How much do you know about meditation? Decide whether you think each statement is true or false. Then watch the TED Talk and say whether Andy Puddicombe sees them as true (7) or false (F) 1 Meditation invokes basicaly doing nothing, 2. Meditation isa way of caring for the ming, 3. The purpose cf mediation isto stop thoughts, get rid of emotion and contra the mind 4 Meditators try to watch their thoughts come end go without getting too involved in them 5 Meditation needs to be done while sting on the floor. > round and round @R ENG around and arcund |] Wath the first part (0.00-8,98) of the talk again. Answer the questions, 1. Pudlicombe lists a series of things that we rely on our ‘mind for. Note down as many as you can 2 What does Pudcicombs say happens when we fal to care for our ming properly? 3 Puddicombe talks about his past view of meditation as ‘an Asptin headache tablet) for the mind. What does he mean by this? 4 In his twenties, when Pudico stressful, where did he g be's Ife bacarne very > mum BR ENG