Meditation | IELTS – TOEFL Speaking Practice
Meditation | IELTS – TOEFL Speaking Practice
Relevant Audio / Video File
Watch or listen to the following video/audio file in conjunction with the topic being discussed and try to answer the questions about it.
Questions about the video/audio file
- Discuss some of the numerous advantages of practicing meditation.
- Explain about the second principle, i.e. “keep a straight spine”.
- Which type of music can help you to stay more organized and focused at the time of meditation?
- How does the air you inhale and exhale allegedly differ from each other?
- What should you do when you get distracted in the middle of a meditation session?
The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances. Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems as if our mind is like a balloon in the wind – blown here and there by external circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new possession or a new partner, we become excited and cling to them tightly. However, since we cannot have everything we want, and since we will inevitably be separated from the friends and possessions we currently enjoy, this mental stickiness, or attachment, serves only to cause us pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want, or if we lose something that we like, we become despondent or irritated. For example, if we are forced to work with a colleague whom we dislike, we will probably become irritated and feel aggrieved, with the result that we will be unable to work with him or her efficiently and our time at work will become stressful and unrewarding. With the hectic pace and demands of modern life, many people feel stressed and over-worked. It often feels like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Our stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient and frustrated. It can even affect our health. We are often so busy we feel there is no time to stop and meditate! But meditation actually gives you more time by making your mind calmer and more focused. A simple ten or fifteen minute breathing meditation as explained below can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance. Meditation can also help us to understand our own mind. We can learn how to transform our mind from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Overcoming negative minds and cultivating constructive thoughts is the purpose of the transforming meditations. This is a profound spiritual practice you can enjoy throughout the day, not just while seated in meditation. |
Original Source of the Excerpt: http://www.how-to-meditate.org/
Relevant Idioms and Expressions
- keep cool :arrow: to stay calm and undisturbed. (Also literal. Informal or slang.) Relax man, keep cool! If Sally could just keep cool before a race, she could probably win.
Tea Break
Grab a cup of tea or coffee, go to the Tea Break voice channel, and listen to this English song while reading the corresponding lyrics below. I have carefully selected this English song to raise your spirits almost to the point of ecstasy.
- Artist: Owl City
- Song Name: “When Can I See You Again?
- Extracted from the movie Wreck-it Ralph (2012)
Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you
Go see the world ’cause it’s all so brand new
Don’t close your eyes ’cause your future’s ready to shine
It’s just a matter of time before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny
It’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
I gotta know, ’til then,
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
I gotta know, when can I see you again?
(When can I see you again?)
Joined at the hill, yeah your sidekick needs you
Life is a trip and the roadmap leads you
Look all around at the mountains you haven’t climbed
It’s just a matter of time before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny
It’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
I gotta know, ’til then,
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
I gotta know,
When can I see you again?
Don’t close your eyes ’cause your future’s ready to shine
It’s just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny
So let me know before I wave goodbye
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Yeah, it’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
Tell me when
When can I see you again?
When can I see you again?
Tell me when
When can I see you again?
Argue for/against
Please take an either positive or negative position to the statement below. You cannot be neutral. If all students have the same idea, the teacher will play devil’s advocate to have a heated argument.
Any relaxing music can prepare you for a deeper meditation session.
Photo Scanning
Please examine the photo below and try to come up with as many reasons as you can in support of the following statement:
She is NOT meditating at all.
Reaching a Conclusion
- At the end of each session, we try to come to an informed conclusion on the selected issue.
- The students are expected to take notes during the class and use their notes to reach a conclusion at the end of each session in around 2 minutes.
Call for Feedback
Please help us to improve the quality of this class and our online community (LELB Society) by expressing your precious ideas about this question:
About the CBI essence of this course, it has been attempted to focus on didactic and educational themes to increase the level of motivation in students. However, this central focus on intellectual themes has surely narrowed down the range of our audience (only special students would attend our classes). What is the influence of our intellectual topics in our conversation class on your language learning?
7. What are the prerequisite conditions for meditation?
That’s a good question because meditation is not exactly the same as relaxation, and it requires a specific posture and some related techniques.
6. Why do people need to meditate in their life? Do you think the essence of meditation could reflect an inappropriate lifestyle?
This question about meditation is rather too critical because, as far as I can see, you don’t hold any positive opinion about this activity.
5. Some people believe that meditation helps us to solve our problems or treat our health issues. what do you think? Is it possible we overcome our difficulties by this means?
It’s obvious that meditation cannot be regarded as a panacea for all problems and vicissitudes in life.
This questions was deleted by the teacher.
4. I’m afraid, this question cannot be discussed in the class for being somehow irrelevant.
Nobody could negate the question.
3. Prepare yourself for one of the questions on the video/audio file on this post developed by the teacher. The teacher will determine the question.
2. Photo Scanning Activity:
She is NOT meditating at all.
Decisively, that’s true. First of all, her posture, legs and hands along with opened eyes illustrate she isn’t concentrated. In the other hands, she raises her head and enjoys watching a pleased something. Something else which I have to add is that the light is too much for meditation. That’s why I think there is no evidence that she is mediating.
✅ Right. Thank you for your special attention.
1. Argue for/against the following statement:
Any relaxing music can prepare you for a deeper meditation session.
I think music can be regarded as a powerful tool in meditation. Music specially soft music can help us to be more relaxed and concentrate better on things. Little by little, people can learn to meditate without
music.
That’s a good point! Nature sounds, binaural beats, and ambient music can help us be more relaxed and focused during meditation. However, as we become more skilled, meditation could be practiced without any music.
Music is an international language and that can affect all people, irrespective of their languages, cultures, etc. So, music could impact our feelings profoundly. Also, in your schedule, you can meditate up to a maximum of 2-3 hours per day and for the rest of your time, you can listen to music in order to have the peace of mind.
Is listening to music equal to meditation? 😗 They are by no means synonymous.