Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Breathe in, breathe out. This is usually how guided meditation starts. Guided meditation is when someone helps you meditate. They are usually counting breathes for you or saying soothing things. Many people use guided meditation to quiet their mind, find some zen, and calm their anxiety. They use it to stay in the present so they don’t miss out on life.
But some people hate guided meditation. They think the people narrating sound pushy and pretentious. If someone has anger problems, they may hate it even more. It’s like when an angry person is told to calm down. This makes them feel angrier! It’s hard for them to bite the bullet and relax. Even the narrator’s tone of voice could make them furious.
Dominique hates guided meditation. Listen as Andy tries to get her to channel her zen in today’s English lesson.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Andy_H: And Dominique, breathe in.
Dominique: No.
Andy_H: And breathe out.
Dominique: Please stop, Andy.
Andy_H: Oh, come on! You’re telling me you don’t like guided meditation.
Dominique: I don’t! I don’t like people telling me what to do! I want to breathe when I want to breathe.
Andy_H: OK, but do you ever feel anxiety in your life?
Dominique: I do, from people telling me what to do!
Andy_H: OK, well, maybe, if you listen to them once in a while, you might be able to flow some of that anxiety and free your body.
Dominique: I have before. I really don’t like the tone of voice. They’re all like, pushy. Like, ‘do this!’ And they’re trying to be nice and relaxing. But for me, it’s the opposite.
Andy_H: I will give you that. A lot of them seem kind of like pretentious. Or like, ‘I have been doing this for a millennia!’ Like… it’s hard to, you know, get on their level because I’m just a regular person. You’re just a regular person! Can’t someone just say, ‘breathe in, breathe out’?
Dominique: Yeah. I just want to be zen! And be in the present without someone telling me to relax. Because that’s like telling an angry person, you know like, ‘are you angry’? And then the person gets angry!
Andy_H: Yeah.
Dominique: I don’t… I don’t know!
Andy_H: Well, maybe, you just need to uh… bite the bullet and try it out once in a while. I mean, some might say you definitely could use it.
Dominique: Mmm… I don’t think so!
Andy_H: OK!
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Discussion
Andy tells Dominique to ‘breathe in, breathe out.’ Dominique refuses. She asks him to stop. Andy can’t believe that Dominique doesn’t like guided meditation. Dominique hates it because it feels like people are telling her what to do. She wants to breathe when she wants to breathe! Andy asks Dominique if she ever feels anxiety. Dominique says she feels anxiety when people tell her what to do!
Andy suggests that if Dominique actually listened to guided meditation, she might feel more in touch with her body. Dominique says she has tried it before and hates the tone of voice because it’s pushy. It’s supposed to be relaxing, but she feels the opposite! Andy agrees that it usually sounds very pretentious. But some people might say that it might really help Dominique.
How do you relax? What do you do to stay in the moment?
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