Shadowing Practice: How To Meditate For Beginners - A Definitive Guide - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Today we're going to talk about exactly how to meditate.
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I'm going to go over everything from where to meditate,
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what you should do with your body,
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what you should do with your mind,
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and even how long you should do it for,
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so you can start reaping some of these benefits.
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All of the information I'm giving you today is taken from a book
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that is recommended by just about every meditation forum on the internet,
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Mindfulness in Plain English.
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Where should I meditate?
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Technically, you can meditate anywhere you like because it is an exercise for the mind.
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You can meditate sitting in a chair,
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sitting on the floor, and even laying in bed.
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However, there is an optimal way to meditate.
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It's best to avoid meditating in bed because you tend to fall asleep.
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Meditating on the floor with your back straight up is actually considered to be the most formal and beneficial way to meditate.
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And this is because it keeps you wide awake and allows you to sit for long periods of time.
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What do I do with my body?
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The first thing you want to keep in mind when meditating is your feet.
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A lot of well-seasoned meditators will preach about how your feet need to be on top of each other.
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However, for the majority of people who are beginners,
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it's perfectly fine to have them criss-crossed on top of each other like a pretzel.
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Your arms are resting on your thighs,
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your hands rest on top of each other and form a cup shape.
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Your thumbs can touch, it's up to you.
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What's important is that your arms feel relaxed.
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Your back is straight and your head is completely level.
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Your head is not tilted upwards or downwards, just forward in terms of what to do with your eyes.
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You have an option of meditating with your eyes open or with your eyes closed.
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However, for most beginners, I would recommend you to meditate with your eyes closed as it's easier to focus.
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If you do choose to meditate with your eyes open,
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do not focus your eyes on an object in front of you.
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Instead, look into the distance.
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How long should I meditate for?
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Now, before you start your meditation session,
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you'll want to set an alarm.
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This is because time tends to feel a lot slower when you first start meditating.
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So setting an alarm helps prevent a constant need to wonder about how much time is left in the session.
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For first time meditators, I'd recommend you start with just 5 minutes on the clock.
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As you make meditation into a daily practice and get more used to sitting in the meditative position,
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for long periods of time,
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you can increase the time.
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Most people recommend meditating between 10 to 20 minutes.
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What to do during meditation?
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Here's where it gets tricky.
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Now there are many different forms of meditation.
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Some focus on the things around you,
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some involve reciting words in your mind.
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The one you'll be learning today is one of the most commonly taught forms of meditation and it's called Mindfulness Breathing Meditation.
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It's very easy to learn and it's considered to be just as powerful and insightful as any other form of meditation.
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The focus of breathing meditation is,
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well, you guessed it, on your breath.
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First, you want to make sure that you're breathing through your nose.
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Then all you have to do is focus all of your attention on your breath.
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Observe the way the air feels as it flows through your nostrils.
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Observe the way your breath transitions from inhale to exhale.
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Observe that little pause between those two actions.
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Observe every single aspect about the way it feels.
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Do not judge it.
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Do not criticize it.
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Simply observe.
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What you'll quickly notice is that thoughts will start appearing in your mind and will distract you from this simple, simple task.
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Oh, what should I cook for dinner?
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Hmm, maybe I should order takeout instead.
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Wait, I'm trying to lose weight, so I shouldn't.
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Or should I?
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When you notice your mind wandering like this,
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simply pull the focus back to the breath.
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This is how you train your mindfulness muscle.
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Now, most people who meditate for the first time will find
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it extremely hard to focus on just the breath for even a couple of seconds.
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They'll find themselves lost in thought quite often.
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This is totally normal, so don't criticize yourself if it happens,
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which it probably will.
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All you have to do is simply bring your attention back to your breathing.
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A good trick
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that I personally use to quickly bring my focus back is
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to focus all of my attention on the little bridge between inhale and exhale.
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That little pause where your body transitions during its act of breathing.
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While meditating, try as hard as possible to avoid moving.
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Itches and urges to fidget will arise throughout your meditation session.
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This is normal.
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This is to be expected.
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Simply bring your focus back to your breath and the feeling will eventually go away.
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And that's all there is to it.
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It's a very simple exercise.
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What's important to note is how often you work on it
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and how much time you put into it by making it a habit.
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You'll notice that you'll be able to have your entire focus on your breath for longer and longer periods of time.
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Think of this as your mindfulness muscle getting stronger and stronger.
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How often should I meditate?
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In order to really start seeing the benefits of meditation,
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you should meditate on a daily basis.
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My routine is 10 minutes a day every single day when I wake up.
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Some people like to do it twice a day like Arnold Schwarzenegger who does it 20 minutes a day
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when he wakes up and 20 minutes right before he goes to bed goes to bed,
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as long as you make it into a daily habit that is the most important factor.
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When will I start seeing the benefits?
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Well first of all you have to be doing it on a daily basis.
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The length of each session also plays a part on how fast you see the benefits,
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but ultimately it's hard to say because it really does differ from person to person.
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Certain people are less mindful in general due to the way they were brought up,
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so it'll take them a little bit longer to start seeing the benefits.
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In my personal experience it took me about a month of meditating every single day before I noticed any benefit myself.
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I found myself in a better mood overall and was less likely to get consumed by certain negative emotions.
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As I continued the practice,
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I noticed more and more benefits along the line.
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And that's it guys.
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Meditation is very simple.
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It's just the act of making it into a daily habit that is hard.
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If you guys have any more questions,
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leave them in the comments below and I'll try to answer as many of them as possible.
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Also, I'm planning on doing more Q&A videos in the future.
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If you want to be featured or if you have something very urgent to ask me.
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Send me a letter to the PO Box listed below and I'll pick the best ones to make a video about.

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B1 se basa en el vídeo “How To Meditate For Beginners - A Definitive Guide”. Las palabras que más se repiten: meditate, meditation, focus, meditating, breath. Este vídeo tiene 115 frases y 1237 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 5:53. El hablante habla rápido, unas 210 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. El 86 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

PalabraPronunciaciónSignificado
meditate verbo/ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/meditar
breathe verbo/bɹiːð/respirar
observe verbo/əbˈzɜːv/servar, observar
mindfulness sustantivo/ˈmaɪn(d)fʊlnəs/atención plena
habit sustantivo/ˈhæb.ɪt/costumbre, hábito
exhale verbo/ˌɛksˈheɪ̯l/espirar, exhalar
inhale verbo/ɪnˈheɪl/inhalar, alentar
beginner sustantivo/bəˈɡɪnɚ/bisoño, novato
criticize verbo/ˈkɹɪtɪsaɪz/criticar, culpar
pause sustantivo/pɔːz/pausa
alarm sustantivo/əˈlɑɹm/alarma, rebato
downwards adverbio/ˈdaʊnwɚdz/hacia abajo, para abajo
fidget verbo/ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/revolverse, no quedarse quieto
mindful adjetivo/ˈmaɪnd.fl̩/consciente, cognoscente
nostril sustantivo/ˈnɒs.tɹɪl/narina, ventana

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

PalabraPronunciaciónSignificado
wake up verbo/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/despertarse, recordar
bring up verbolevantar, alzar
go away verboirse, marcharse
go over verbosentar, pasar

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

  • Where should I meditate?
  • What do I do with my body?
  • How long should I meditate for?
  • How often should I meditate?
  • When will I start seeing the benefits?

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

EstructuraEn el vídeo
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo haceis taken · is recommended · is actually considered
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosapeople who are · people who meditate
Consejo con “should” should + verbo — decir qué es buena ideashould do · should I meditate · should I cook
Verbo + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbos seguidos de la forma en -ingstart reaping · avoid meditating · start meditating

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 18 contracciones y formas reducidas, como you'll, I'm, I'll. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

  • Los sonidos de “th”: breathe /bɹiːð/, thigh /θaɪ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
  • Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/
  • Palabras largas — cuida el acento: meditative /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪtɪv/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

  • /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: observe /əbˈzɜːv/, meditative /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪtɪv/, involve /ɪnˈvɑlv/
  • /z/ — sonora, no /s/: observe /əbˈzɜːv/, criticize /ˈkɹɪtɪsaɪz/, pause /pɔːz/, downwards /ˈdaʊnwɚdz/, upwards /ˈʌpwɚdz/
  • /dʒ/ — no es la “y” ni la “ch”: fidget /ˈfɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/, urge /ɜːd͡ʒ/, urgent /ˈɜː.d͡ʒənt/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

  1. Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
  2. Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
  3. Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como meditate, breathe, observe.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →