WEBVTT 00:00:00.481 --> 00:00:03.073 We live in an incredibly busy world. 00:00:03.073 --> 00:00:06.594 The pace of life is often frantic, our minds are always busy, 00:00:06.594 --> 00:00:08.795 and we're always doing something. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:08.795 --> 00:00:11.511 So with that in mind, I'd like you just to take a moment 00:00:11.511 --> 00:00:16.524 to think, when did you last take any time to do nothing? 00:00:16.524 --> 00:00:19.452 Just 10 minutes, undisturbed? 00:00:19.452 --> 00:00:21.224 And when I say nothing, I do mean nothing. 00:00:21.224 --> 00:00:24.245 So that's no emailing, texting, no Internet, 00:00:24.245 --> 00:00:28.303 no TV, no chatting, no eating, no reading, 00:00:28.303 --> 00:00:30.305 not even sitting there reminiscing about the past 00:00:30.305 --> 00:00:32.422 or planning for the future. 00:00:32.422 --> 00:00:36.440 Simply doing nothing. 00:00:36.440 --> 00:00:38.959 I see a lot of very blank faces. (Laughter) 00:00:38.959 --> 00:00:40.806 My thinking is, you probably have to go a long way back. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:40.806 --> 00:00:42.390 And this is an extraordinary thing, right? 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:44.696 We're talking about our mind. 00:00:44.696 --> 00:00:48.431 The mind, our most valuable and precious resource, 00:00:48.431 --> 00:00:52.447 through which we experience every single moment of our life, 00:00:52.447 --> 00:00:54.623 the mind that we rely upon 00:00:54.623 --> 00:00:59.121 to be happy, content, emotionally stable as individuals, 00:00:59.121 --> 00:01:01.061 and at the same time to be kind and thoughtful 00:01:01.061 --> 00:01:05.249 and considerate in our relationships with others. 00:01:05.249 --> 00:01:07.361 This is the same mind that we depend upon 00:01:07.361 --> 00:01:10.857 to be focused, creative, spontaneous, 00:01:10.857 --> 00:01:14.555 and to perform at our very best in everything that we do. 00:01:14.555 --> 00:01:18.835 And yet, we don't take any time out to look after it. 00:01:18.835 --> 00:01:22.050 In fact, we spend more time looking after our cars, 00:01:22.050 --> 00:01:24.174 our clothes and our hair than we 00:01:24.174 --> 00:01:27.058 — okay, maybe not our hair, but you see where I'm going. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:27.058 --> 00:01:30.665 The result, of course, is that we get stressed. 00:01:30.665 --> 00:01:33.563 You know, the mind whizzes away like a washing machine 00:01:33.563 --> 00:01:36.342 going round and round, lots of difficult, confusing emotions, 00:01:36.342 --> 00:01:40.508 and we don't really know how to deal with that, 00:01:40.508 --> 00:01:45.616 and the sad fact is that we are so distracted 00:01:45.616 --> 00:01:50.359 that we're no longer present in the world in which we live. 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:53.691 We miss out on the things that are most important to us, 00:01:53.691 --> 00:01:56.122 and the crazy thing is that everybody just assumes, 00:01:56.122 --> 00:01:58.771 well, that's the way life is, so we've just kind of got to get on with it. 00:01:58.771 --> 00:02:01.719 That's really not how it has to be. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:03.854 So I was about 11 when I went along 00:02:03.854 --> 00:02:06.159 to my first meditation class. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.383 And trust me, it had all the stereotypes that you can imagine, 00:02:09.383 --> 00:02:11.373 the sitting cross-legged on the floor, 00:02:11.373 --> 00:02:14.685 the incense, the herbal tea, the vegetarians, the whole deal, 00:02:14.685 --> 00:02:18.970 but my mom was going and I was intrigued, so I went along with her. 00:02:18.970 --> 00:02:21.489 I'd also seen a few kung fu movies, and secretly 00:02:21.489 --> 00:02:23.897 I kind of thought I might be able to learn how to fly, 00:02:23.897 --> 00:02:26.889 but I was very young at the time. 00:02:26.889 --> 00:02:30.170 Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people, 00:02:30.170 --> 00:02:33.834 I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind. 00:02:33.834 --> 00:02:35.687 You get stressed, you do some meditation. 00:02:35.687 --> 00:02:39.109 I hadn't really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature, 00:02:39.109 --> 00:02:42.486 until I was about 20, when a number of things happened 00:02:42.486 --> 00:02:45.361 in my life in quite quick succession, 00:02:45.361 --> 00:02:49.216 really serious things which just flipped my life upside down 00:02:49.216 --> 00:02:52.138 and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts, 00:02:52.138 --> 00:02:55.719 inundated with difficult emotions that I didn't know how to cope with. 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:57.975 Every time I sort of pushed one down, 00:02:57.975 --> 00:02:59.431 another one would just sort of pop back up again. 00:02:59.431 --> 00:03:01.539 It was a really very stressful time. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:05.415 I guess we all deal with stress in different ways. 00:03:05.415 --> 00:03:08.187 Some people will bury themselves in work, 00:03:08.187 --> 00:03:10.748 grateful for the distraction. 00:03:10.748 --> 00:03:13.779 Others will turn to their friends, their family, looking for support. 00:03:13.779 --> 00:03:17.730 Some people hit the bottle, start taking medication. 00:03:17.730 --> 00:03:20.866 My own way of dealing with it was to become a monk. 00:03:20.866 --> 00:03:24.419 So I quit my degree, I headed off to the Himalayas, 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:28.173 I became a monk, and I started studying meditation. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:28.173 --> 00:03:32.234 People often ask me what I learned from that time. 00:03:32.234 --> 00:03:34.650 Well, obviously it changed things. 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:36.508 Let's face it, becoming a celibate monk 00:03:36.508 --> 00:03:38.638 is going to change a number of things. 00:03:38.638 --> 00:03:41.683 But it was more than that. 00:03:41.683 --> 00:03:44.403 It taught me -- it gave me a greater appreciation, 00:03:44.403 --> 00:03:47.723 an understanding for the present moment. 00:03:47.723 --> 00:03:51.293 By that I mean not being lost in thought, 00:03:51.293 --> 00:03:54.040 not being distracted, 00:03:54.040 --> 00:03:57.427 not being overwhelmed by difficult emotions, 00:03:57.427 --> 00:04:01.226 but instead learning how to be in the here and now, 00:04:01.226 --> 00:04:04.193 how to be mindful, how to be present. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:04.193 --> 00:04:07.625 I think the present moment is so underrated. 00:04:07.625 --> 00:04:11.709 It sounds so ordinary, and yet we spend so little time 00:04:11.709 --> 00:04:15.496 in the present moment that it's anything but ordinary. 00:04:15.496 --> 00:04:17.741 There was a research paper that came out of Harvard, 00:04:17.741 --> 00:04:20.641 just recently, that said on average our minds 00:04:20.641 --> 00:04:24.458 are lost in thought almost 47 percent of the time. 00:04:24.458 --> 00:04:26.786 Forty-seven percent. 00:04:26.786 --> 00:04:29.682 At the same time, this sort of constant mind-wandering 00:04:29.682 --> 00:04:32.726 is also a direct cause of unhappiness. 00:04:32.726 --> 00:04:37.034 Now we're not here for that long anyway, 00:04:37.034 --> 00:04:41.597 but to spend almost half of our life lost in thought 00:04:41.597 --> 00:04:44.029 and potentially quite unhappy, 00:04:44.029 --> 00:04:46.471 dunno, it just kind of seems tragic, actually, 00:04:46.471 --> 00:04:49.685 especially when there's something we can do about it, 00:04:49.685 --> 00:04:53.261 when there's a positive, practical, achievable, 00:04:53.261 --> 00:04:55.789 scientifically proven technique 00:04:55.789 --> 00:04:58.221 which allows our mind to be more healthy, 00:04:58.221 --> 00:05:02.619 to be more mindful and less distracted. 00:05:02.619 --> 00:05:04.822 And the beauty of it is that even though 00:05:04.822 --> 00:05:07.437 it need only take about 10 minutes a day, 00:05:07.437 --> 00:05:10.916 it impacts our entire life. 00:05:10.916 --> 00:05:12.915 But we need to know how to do it. 00:05:12.915 --> 00:05:15.507 We need an exercise. We need a framework 00:05:15.507 --> 00:05:17.118 to learn how to be more mindful. 00:05:17.118 --> 00:05:18.920 That's essentially what meditation is. 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:21.444 It's familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. 00:05:21.444 --> 00:05:23.819 But we also need to know how to approach it 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:26.207 in the right way to get the best from it. 00:05:26.207 --> 00:05:28.730 And that's what these are for, in case you've been wondering, 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:31.922 because most people assume 00:05:31.922 --> 00:05:34.463 that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, 00:05:34.463 --> 00:05:37.738 getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind, 00:05:37.738 --> 00:05:40.338 but actually it's quite different from that. 00:05:40.338 --> 00:05:42.546 It's more about stepping back, 00:05:42.546 --> 00:05:45.083 seeing the thought clearly, 00:05:45.083 --> 00:05:47.794 witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going 00:05:47.794 --> 00:05:53.462 without judgment, but with a relaxed, focused mind. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:53.462 --> 00:05:55.597 So for example, right now, 00:05:55.597 --> 00:05:58.700 if I focus too much on the balls, then there's no way 00:05:58.700 --> 00:06:00.914 that I can relax and talk to you at the same time. 00:06:00.914 --> 00:06:03.112 Equally, if I relax too much talking to you, 00:06:03.112 --> 00:06:06.117 then there's no way I can focus on the balls. I'm going to drop them. 00:06:06.117 --> 00:06:09.567 Now in life, and in meditation, there'll be times 00:06:09.567 --> 00:06:12.148 when the focus becomes a little bit too intense, 00:06:12.148 --> 00:06:16.542 and life starts to feel a bit like this. 00:06:16.542 --> 00:06:18.703 It's a very uncomfortable way to live life, 00:06:18.703 --> 00:06:20.871 when you get this tight and stressed. 00:06:20.871 --> 00:06:23.846 At other times, we might take our foot off the gas a little bit too much, 00:06:23.846 --> 00:06:26.399 and things just become a sort of little bit like this. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.423 Of course in meditation — (Snores) — 00:06:29.423 --> 00:06:31.216 we're going to end up falling asleep. 00:06:31.216 --> 00:06:34.169 So we're looking for a balance, a focused relaxation 00:06:34.169 --> 00:06:37.023 where we can allow thoughts to come and go 00:06:37.023 --> 00:06:39.687 without all the usual involvement. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:39.687 --> 00:06:43.099 Now, what usually happens when we're learning to be mindful 00:06:43.099 --> 00:06:46.239 is that we get distracted by a thought. 00:06:46.239 --> 00:06:47.555 Let's say this is an anxious thought. 00:06:47.555 --> 00:06:50.244 So everything's going fine, and then we see the anxious thought, 00:06:50.244 --> 00:06:52.959 and it's like, "Oh, didn't realize I was worried about that." 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:54.927 You go back to it, repeat it. "Oh, I am worried. 00:06:54.927 --> 00:06:58.095 Oh, I really am worried. Wow, there's so much anxiety." 00:06:58.095 --> 00:07:00.079 And before we know it, right, 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.177 we're anxious about feeling anxious. 00:07:04.177 --> 00:07:06.521 You know, this is crazy. We do this all the time, 00:07:06.521 --> 00:07:08.577 even on an everyday level. 00:07:08.577 --> 00:07:11.638 If you think about the last time, I dunno, 00:07:11.638 --> 00:07:13.880 you had a wobbly tooth. 00:07:13.880 --> 00:07:17.200 You know it's wobbly, and you know that it hurts. 00:07:17.200 --> 00:07:20.296 But what do you do every 20, 30 seconds? 00:07:20.296 --> 00:07:26.404 (Mumbling) It does hurt. And we reinforce the storyline, right? 00:07:26.404 --> 00:07:28.350 And we just keep telling ourselves, 00:07:28.350 --> 00:07:29.915 and we do it all the time. And it's only in learning 00:07:29.915 --> 00:07:33.230 to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go 00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:36.222 of those storylines and patterns of mind. 00:07:36.222 --> 00:07:38.774 But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way, 00:07:38.774 --> 00:07:40.973 you might see many different patterns. 00:07:40.973 --> 00:07:43.766 You might find a mind that's really restless and -- 00:07:43.766 --> 00:07:45.766 the whole time. 00:07:45.766 --> 00:07:48.781 Don't be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body 00:07:48.781 --> 00:07:52.542 when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that. 00:07:52.542 --> 00:07:54.942 You might find a mind that's very dull 00:07:54.942 --> 00:07:57.278 and boring, and it's just, almost mechanical, 00:07:57.278 --> 00:07:59.358 it just seems it's as if you're 00:07:59.358 --> 00:08:02.535 getting up, going to work, eat, sleep, get up, work. 00:08:02.535 --> 00:08:05.486 Or it might just be that one little nagging thought 00:08:05.486 --> 00:08:10.431 that just goes round and round and round your mind. 00:08:10.431 --> 00:08:13.592 Well, whatever it is, meditation offers 00:08:13.592 --> 00:08:17.645 the opportunity, the potential to step back 00:08:17.645 --> 00:08:20.183 and to get a different perspective, 00:08:20.183 --> 00:08:25.055 to see that things aren't always as they appear. 00:08:25.055 --> 00:08:27.083 We can't change 00:08:27.083 --> 00:08:30.873 every little thing that happens to us in life, 00:08:30.873 --> 00:08:34.303 but we can change the way that we experience it. 00:08:34.303 --> 00:08:38.039 That's the potential of meditation, of mindfulness. 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:40.535 You don't have to burn any incense, 00:08:40.535 --> 00:08:42.831 and you definitely don't have to sit on the floor. 00:08:42.831 --> 00:08:46.439 All you need to do is to take 10 minutes out a day 00:08:46.439 --> 00:08:50.390 to step back, to familiarize yourself with the present moment 00:08:50.390 --> 00:08:52.598 so that you get to experience a greater sense 00:08:52.598 --> 00:08:57.152 of focus, calm and clarity in your life. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:57.152 --> 00:09:03.613 Thank you very much. (Applause)