Mindfulness

Introduction

The lesson begins by looking at a definition of mindfulness and finding out what students already know. They then read an article about mindfulness, before focusing on vocabulary and grammar (comparative structures) from the text. Finally, they carry out a mindfulness activity themselves and discuss the experience.

You can use a student worksheet for this lesson, or a presentation for a no-printing option.   

Learning outcomes

• Talk about mindfulness e.g. say what mindfulness is, give reasons for why it’s popular, describe some possible benefits
• Read an article about mindfulness and understand details 
• Use a variety of structures to make comparisons 

Age and level

13-17, Adults (B1+)

Time

Approximately 60-70 minutes

Materials

The materials can be downloaded below.

• Lesson plan
• Presentation
• Student worksheet

Lead-in (10 minutes)

• Show slide 2 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 1 in the student worksheet. 
• Ask students to read the definition and check that they understand it. Then tell them to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Invite some pairs / groups to share their thoughts with the class. 
• Students will read a text to check their ideas, so there is no need to comment at this stage.

Reading (15-20 minutes)

• Show slide 3 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 2 in the student worksheet. Explain that they should read the text and check the ideas they had for the Lead-in questions. 
• Give them a few minutes to read then ask them to discuss their ideas in pairs or small groups. If you are using the presentation, give students 2-3 minutes to read the first part of the article on slide 3, then the second part of the article on slide 4. 
• Ask them to say why mindfulness is popular (it reduces stress). Ask them to say what the benefits of mindfulness are (it reduces stress and depression; helps people to concentrate; improves memory; helps people to think more clearly; helps to manage pain; improves sleep). Check that everyone understands this vocabulary. 
• Show slide 5 and slide 6 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 3 in the student worksheet. 
• Ask students to read the text again and to make notes under the headings. Let them compare their ideas in pairs and then discuss as a class. 
• Find out if any of them already practise mindfulness and, if so, ask them for their opinions or experience.  
  Answers
  A.    Examples of NOT being mindful: driving somewhere without remembering the journey, eating more biscuits than you intended, staying up late binge-watching TV.
  B.    Examples of being mindful: noticing a beautiful sunset, really listening to someone, being more aware of our own feelings.
  C.    Reasons life is busier now: technology, multi-tasking, working longer hours.
  D.    Benefits of mindfulness: reduces stress and depression, better concentration, memory and focus, managing pain better, even losing weight.

Vocabulary (5-10 minutes)

• Show slide 7 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 4 in the student worksheet. 
• Ask students to try and match the activities to the definitions. Let them check in pairs, then check as a class.
  Answers: 1b, 2c, 3e, 4d, 5a
• Ask which of these activities will make you feel more or less stressed (all of them except paying attention are likely to make you feel more stressed. Paying attention helps because you are focused on just one thing.)

Focus on comparative structures (20 minutes)

• Show slide 8 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 5 in the student worksheet. 
• Ask students to complete the sentences using the words in the box. They can use each word more than once. These are examples of more complex comparative and superlative sentences, which are used frequently in English, but not always taught.

• Let them check the answers in the article and then quickly check as a class.
  Answers
  1.    Have you ever eaten far/many more biscuits than you meant to? (we can’t use much here because biscuits are countable. Far, much and many are all ways of adding emphasis to a comparative structure.)
  2.    Have you stayed up much/far later than you planned? 
  3.    When we live this way we are not as awake as we could be.
  4.    For most people life is getting busier and busier. (using two comparatives in this way adds emphasis).
  5.    The more we do the more stressed we feel. (This is a set structure- The + comparative… the + comparative to compare two things with each other).

   

• Show slide 9 of the presentation or refer students to Exercise 6 in the student worksheet. 
• Ask students to rewrite the sentences using the sentence starter below each one. You could do the first one together with the class as an example. 
• Let them check together then check the answers with the class. 
  Answers
  1.    The more people practise mindfulness, the better they deal with problems.
  2.    Mindfulness isn’t as difficult as many people think.
  3.    I have felt far less stressed since I started practising mindfulness.
  4.    He is getting more and more stressed every day. 
  5.    The quieter it is the easier it is to concentrate.

Mindfulness activity (10 minutes)

• Tell students that they are now going to try a mindfulness activity. 
• Ask them to close their eyes and just relax. You could ask them to take a few deep breaths. Then ask them to listen carefully and mentally note all the different sounds they hear. If any other thoughts come into their minds, they should just go back to focusing on counting the sounds. 
• After 2-3 minutes, they can open their eyes and discuss what they heard with their partner. 
• How did the exercise make them feel? Any calmer? Discuss as a class.