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TED Talks, Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

We live in an incredibly busy world.

The pace of life is often frantic, our minds are always busy, and we're always doing something. So with that in mind, I'd like you just to take a moment to think, when did you last take any time to do nothing? Just 10 minutes, undisturbed? And when I say nothing, I do mean nothing. So that's no emailing, texting, no Internet, no TV, no chatting, no eating, no reading, not even sitting there reminiscing about the past or planning for the future. Simply doing nothing. I see a lot of very blank faces. (Laughter) My thinking is, you probably have to go a long way back.

And this is an extraordinary thing, right? We're talking about our mind. The mind, our most valuable and precious resource, through which we experience every single moment of our life, the mind that we rely upon to be happy, content, emotionally stable as individuals, and at the same time to be kind and thoughtful and considerate in our relationships with others. This is the same mind that we depend upon to be focused, creative, spontaneous, and to perform at our very best in everything that we do. And yet, we don't take any time out to look after it. In fact, we spend more time looking after our cars, our clothes and our hair than we — okay, maybe not our hair, but you see where I'm going. The result, of course, is that we get stressed. You know, the mind whizzes away like a washing machine going round and round, lots of difficult, confusing emotions, and we don't really know how to deal with that, and the sad fact is that we are so distracted that we're no longer present in the world in which we live. We miss out on the things that are most important to us, and the crazy thing is that everybody just assumes, well, that's the way life is, so we've just kind of got to get on with it. That's really not how it has to be. So I was about 11 when I went along to my first meditation class. And trust me, it had all the stereotypes that you can imagine, the sitting cross-legged on the floor, the incense, the herbal tea, the vegetarians, the whole deal, but my mom was going and I was intrigued, so I went along with her. I'd also seen a few kung fu movies, and secretly I kind of thought I might be able to learn how to fly, but I was very young at the time. Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people, I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind. You get stressed, you do some meditation. I hadn't really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature, until I was about 20, when a number of things happened in my life in quite quick succession, really serious things which just flipped my life upside down and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts, inundated with difficult emotions that I didn't know how to cope with. Every time I sort of pushed one down, another one would just sort of pop back up again. It was a really very stressful time.

I guess we all deal with stress in different ways. Some people will bury themselves in work, grateful for the distraction. Others will turn to their friends, their family, looking for support. Some people hit the bottle, start taking medication. My own way of dealing with it was to become a monk. So I quit my degree, I headed off to the Himalayas, I became a monk, and I started studying meditation.

People often ask me what I learned from that time. Well, obviously it changed things. Let's face it, becoming a celibate monk is going to change a number of things. But it was more than that. It taught me -- it gave me a greater appreciation, an understanding for the present moment. By that I mean not being lost in thought, not being distracted, not being overwhelmed by difficult emotions, but instead learning how to be in the here and now, how to be mindful, how to be present.

I think the present moment is so underrated. It sounds so ordinary, and yet we spend so little time in the present moment that it's anything but ordinary. There was a research paper that came out of Harvard, just recently, that said on average our minds are lost in thought almost 47 percent of the time. Forty-seven percent. At the same time, this sort of constant mind-wandering is also a direct cause of unhappiness. Now we're not here for that long anyway, but to spend almost half of our life lost in thought and potentially quite unhappy, dunno, it just kind of seems tragic, actually, especially when there's something we can do about it, when there's a positive, practical, achievable, scientifically proven technique which allows our mind to be more healthy, to be more mindful and less distracted. And the beauty of it is that even though it need only take about 10 minutes a day, it impacts our entire life. But we need to know how to do it. We need an exercise. We need a framework to learn how to be more mindful. That's essentially what meditation is. It's familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. But we also need to know how to approach it in the right way to get the best from it. And that's what these are for, in case you've been wondering, because most people assume that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind, but actually it's quite different from that. It's more about stepping back, seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going without judgment, but with a relaxed, focused mind. So for example, right now, if I focus too much on the balls, then there's no way that I can relax and talk to you at the same time. Equally, if I relax too much talking to you, then there's no way I can focus on the balls. I'm going to drop them. Now in life, and in meditation, there'll be times when the focus becomes a little bit too intense, and life starts to feel a bit like this. It's a very uncomfortable way to live life, when you get this tight and stressed. At other times, we might take our foot off the gas a little bit too much, and things just become a sort of little bit like this. Of course in meditation — (Snores) — we're going to end up falling asleep. So we're looking for a balance, a focused relaxation where we can allow thoughts to come and go without all the usual involvement. Now, what usually happens when we're learning to be mindful is that we get distracted by a thought. Let's say this is an anxious thought. So everything's going fine, and then we see the anxious thought, and it's like, "Oh, didn't realize I was worried about that." You go back to it, repeat it. "Oh, I am worried. Oh, I really am worried. Wow, there's so much anxiety." And before we know it, right, we're anxious about feeling anxious. You know, this is crazy. We do this all the time, even on an everyday level. If you think about the last time, I dunno, you had a wobbly tooth. You know it's wobbly, and you know that it hurts. But what do you do every 20, 30 seconds? (Mumbling) It does hurt. And we reinforce the storyline, right? And we just keep telling ourselves, and we do it all the time. And it's only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go of those storylines and patterns of mind. But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way, you might see many different patterns. You might find a mind that's really restless and -- the whole time. Don't be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that. You might find a mind that's very dull and boring, and it's just, almost mechanical, it just seems it's as if you're getting up, going to work, eat, sleep, get up, work. Or it might just be that one little nagging thought that just goes round and round and round your mind. Well, whatever it is, meditation offers the opportunity, the potential to step back and to get a different perspective, to see that things aren't always as they appear. We can't change every little thing that happens to us in life, but we can change the way that we experience it. That's the potential of meditation, of mindfulness. You don't have to burn any incense, and you definitely don't have to sit on the floor. All you need to do is to take 10 minutes out a day to step back, to familiarize yourself with the present moment so that you get to experience a greater sense of focus, calm and clarity in your life.

Thank you very much. (Applause)


Andy Puddicombe: All it takes is 10 mindful minutes Andy Puddicombe: Todo lo que se necesita son 10 minutos conscientes Andy Puddicombe : Tout ce qu'il faut, c'est 10 minutes d'attention. Andy Puddicombe: Bastano 10 minuti di consapevolezza Andy Puddicombe: Bastam 10 minutos de atenção Энди Паддикомб: Все, что для этого нужно, - 10 минут ума. Andy Puddicombe:只需要 10 分鐘的正念

We live in an incredibly busy world. Viviamo in un mondo incredibilmente frenetico. 私たちは信じられないほど忙しい世界に住んでいます。 Vivemos em um mundo incrivelmente ocupado.

The pace of life is often frantic, our minds are always busy, and we're always doing something. Il ritmo della vita è spesso frenetico, le nostre menti sono sempre impegnate e facciamo sempre qualcosa. Tempo życia jest często szalone, nasze umysły są zawsze zajęte i zawsze coś robimy. O ritmo da vida é muitas vezes frenético, nossas mentes estão sempre ocupadas e estamos sempre fazendo alguma coisa. So with that in mind, I'd like you just to take a moment to think, when did you last take any time to do nothing? Então, com isso em mente, eu gostaria que você pensasse um pouco, quando você demorou algum tempo para não fazer nada? Just 10 minutes, undisturbed? And when I say nothing, I do mean nothing. So that's no emailing, texting, no Internet, no TV, no chatting, no eating, no reading, not even sitting there reminiscing about the past or planning for the future. Portanto, não é possível enviar e-mail, enviar mensagens de texto, sem Internet, sem TV, sem bate-papo, sem comer, sem leitura, nem mesmo sentado lá, lembrando o passado ou planejando o futuro. Simply doing nothing. Simplesmente não fazendo nada. I see a lot of very blank faces. Vedo molte facce molto vuote. Widzę wiele bardzo pustych twarzy. Eu vejo muitos rostos muito vazios. (Laughter) My thinking is, you probably have to go a long way back. (Risos) Meu pensamento é que você provavelmente tem que voltar muito.

And this is an extraordinary thing, right? We're talking about our mind. Estamos falando de nossa mente. The mind, our most valuable and precious resource, through which we experience every single moment of our life, the mind that we rely upon to be happy, content, emotionally stable as individuals, and at the same time to be kind and thoughtful and considerate in our relationships with others. A mente, o nosso recurso mais valioso e precioso, através do qual experimentamos todos os momentos da nossa vida, a mente na qual confiamos para ser feliz, contente, emocionalmente estável como indivíduos e, ao mesmo tempo, ser gentil, atenciosa e atenciosa em nossos relacionamentos com os outros. This is the same mind that we depend upon to be focused, creative, spontaneous, and to perform at our very best in everything that we do. Esta é a mesma mente da qual dependemos para sermos focados, criativos, espontâneos e ter o melhor desempenho em tudo o que fazemos. And yet, we don't take any time out to look after it. A jednak nie poświęcamy na to czasu. E, no entanto, não temos tempo para cuidar dele. In fact, we spend more time looking after our cars, our clothes and our hair than we — okay, maybe not our hair, but you see where I'm going. W rzeczywistości spędzamy więcej czasu dbając o nasze samochody, ubrania i włosy niż my - no dobrze, może nie nasze włosy, ale widzisz, dokąd zmierzam. De fato, passamos mais tempo cuidando de nossos carros, roupas e cabelos do que nós - ok, talvez não nossos cabelos, mas você vê para onde estou indo. The result, of course, is that we get stressed. O resultado, é claro, é que ficamos estressados. You know, the mind whizzes away like a washing machine going round and round, lots of difficult, confusing emotions, and we don't really know how to deal with that, and the sad fact is that we are so distracted that we're no longer present in the world in which we live. Você sabe, a mente zumbe como uma máquina de lavar, girando e girando, muitas emoções difíceis e confusas, e nós realmente não sabemos como lidar com isso, e o triste fato é que estamos tão distraídos que estamos não está mais presente no mundo em que vivemos. We miss out on the things that are most important to us, and the crazy thing is that everybody just assumes, well, that's the way life is, so we've just kind of got to get on with it. Tęsknimy za rzeczami, które są dla nas najważniejsze, a szaloną rzeczą jest to, że wszyscy zakładają, cóż, takie jest życie, więc po prostu musimy sobie z tym poradzić. Perdemos as coisas que são mais importantes para nós, e o mais louco é que todo mundo assume, bem, é assim que a vida é, então nós meio que temos que continuar com isso. That's really not how it has to be. So I was about 11 when I went along to my first meditation class. And trust me, it had all the stereotypes that you can imagine, the sitting cross-legged on the floor, the incense, the herbal tea, the vegetarians, the whole deal, but my mom was going and I was intrigued, so I went along with her. I zaufaj mi, miał wszystkie stereotypy, jakie możesz sobie wyobrazić, siedzenie ze skrzyżowanymi nogami na podłodze, kadzidło, herbatę ziołową, wegetarian, cała sprawa, ale moja mama szła i byłem zaintrygowany, więc poszedłem wraz z nią. E confie em mim, tinha todos os estereótipos que você pode imaginar, as pernas cruzadas no chão, o incenso, o chá de ervas, os vegetarianos, o negócio todo, mas minha mãe estava indo e eu fiquei intrigado, então fui junto com ela. I'd also seen a few kung fu movies, and secretly I kind of thought I might be able to learn how to fly, but I was very young at the time. Widziałem także kilka filmów kung fu i potajemnie myślałem, że mogę nauczyć się latać, ale byłem wtedy bardzo młody. Eu também tinha visto alguns filmes de kung fu, e secretamente pensei que poderia aprender a voar, mas eu era muito jovem na época. Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people, I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind. Agora, como eu estava lá, acho que, como muitas pessoas, presumi que fosse apenas uma aspirina para a mente. You get stressed, you do some meditation. Você fica estressado, faz meditação. I hadn't really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature, until I was about 20, when a number of things happened in my life in quite quick succession, really serious things which just flipped my life upside down and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts, inundated with difficult emotions that I didn't know how to cope with. Tak naprawdę nie myślałem, że może to być coś w rodzaju profilaktyki, dopóki nie miałem około 20 lat, kiedy wiele rzeczy wydarzyło się w moim życiu w dość szybkich odstępach czasu, naprawdę poważne rzeczy, które po prostu wywróciły moje życie do góry nogami nagle zalałem się myślami, zalałem trudnymi emocjami, z którymi nie umiałem sobie poradzić. Eu realmente não tinha pensado que poderia ser um tipo de natureza preventiva, até os 20 anos, quando várias coisas aconteceram em minha vida em uma sucessão bastante rápida, coisas realmente sérias que apenas mudaram minha vida de cabeça para baixo e repentinamente fui inundado de pensamentos, inundado de emoções difíceis com as quais não sabia lidar. Every time I sort of pushed one down, another one would just sort of pop back up again. Za każdym razem, gdy coś zepchnęłam na dół, inny znów się pojawiał. Toda vez que eu empurrava um para baixo, outro simplesmente voltava a aparecer. It was a really very stressful time.

I guess we all deal with stress in different ways. Acho que todos lidamos com o estresse de maneiras diferentes. Some people will bury themselves in work, grateful for the distraction. Niektórzy zakopią się w pracy, wdzięczni za odwrócenie uwagi. Algumas pessoas se enterram no trabalho, gratas pela distração. Others will turn to their friends, their family, looking for support. Outros se voltarão para seus amigos, sua família, procurando apoio. Some people hit the bottle, start taking medication. Niektórzy ludzie uderzają w butelkę i zaczynają brać leki. Algumas pessoas batem na garrafa, começam a tomar medicamentos. My own way of dealing with it was to become a monk. Moim sposobem radzenia sobie z tym było zostać mnichem. Minha maneira de lidar com isso era me tornar um monge. So I quit my degree, I headed off to the Himalayas, I became a monk, and I started studying meditation. Porzuciłem studia, udałem się w Himalaje, zostałem mnichem i zacząłem studiować medytację. Então, parei de me formar, fui para o Himalaia, tornei-me monge e comecei a estudar meditação.

People often ask me what I learned from that time. As pessoas costumam me perguntar o que aprendi naquele tempo. Well, obviously it changed things. Bem, obviamente isso mudou as coisas. Let's face it, becoming a celibate monk is going to change a number of things. Spójrzmy prawdzie w oczy, stając się celibatowym mnichem, zmieni wiele rzeczy. But it was more than that. It taught me -- it gave me a greater appreciation, an understanding for the present moment. Ele me ensinou - me deu uma apreciação maior, uma compreensão do momento presente. By that I mean not being lost in thought, not being distracted, not being overwhelmed by difficult emotions, but instead learning how to be in the here and now, how to be mindful, how to be present. Com isso, quero dizer não estar perdido em pensamentos, não estar distraído, não ficar sobrecarregado por emoções difíceis, mas aprender como estar no aqui e agora, como estar atento, como estar presente.

I think the present moment is so underrated. Eu acho que o momento atual é tão subestimado. It sounds so ordinary, and yet we spend so little time in the present moment that it's anything but ordinary. Parece tão comum e, no entanto, passamos tão pouco tempo no momento presente que é tudo menos comum. There was a research paper that came out of Harvard, just recently, that said on average our minds are lost in thought almost 47 percent of the time. Havia um trabalho de pesquisa que saiu de Harvard, recentemente, que dizia que, em média, nossas mentes estão perdidas em pensamentos quase 47% das vezes. Forty-seven percent. Quarenta e sete por cento. At the same time, this sort of constant mind-wandering is also a direct cause of unhappiness. Ao mesmo tempo, esse tipo de constante perambulação da mente também é uma causa direta de infelicidade. Now we're not here for that long anyway, but to spend almost half of our life lost in thought and potentially quite unhappy, dunno, it just kind of seems tragic, actually, especially when there's something we can do about it, when there's a positive, practical, achievable, scientifically proven technique which allows our mind to be more healthy, to be more mindful and less distracted. Agora, não estamos aqui por tanto tempo, mas para passar quase metade da nossa vida perdida em pensamentos e potencialmente bastante infeliz, não sei, isso meio que parece trágico, na verdade, especialmente quando há algo que podemos fazer sobre isso, quando há uma técnica positiva, prática, realizável e cientificamente comprovada que permite que nossa mente seja mais saudável, mais consciente e menos distraída. And the beauty of it is that even though it need only take about 10 minutes a day, it impacts our entire life. E a beleza disso é que, apesar de levar apenas 10 minutos por dia, isso afeta toda a nossa vida. But we need to know how to do it. Mas precisamos saber como fazê-lo. We need an exercise. Nós precisamos de um exercício. We need a framework to learn how to be more mindful. Potrzebujemy ram, aby nauczyć się, jak być bardziej uważnym. Precisamos de uma estrutura para aprender a ter mais atenção. That's essentially what meditation is. Isso é essencialmente o que é meditação. It's familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. Zapoznanie się z chwilą obecną. Está nos familiarizando com o momento presente. But we also need to know how to approach it in the right way to get the best from it. Mas também precisamos saber como abordá-lo da maneira correta para obter o melhor dele. And that's what these are for, in case you've been wondering, because most people assume that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind, but actually it's quite different from that. E é para isso que servem, no caso de você estar se perguntando, porque a maioria das pessoas supõe que a meditação tem tudo a ver com parar pensamentos, se livrar de emoções, de alguma forma controlar a mente, mas na verdade é bem diferente disso. It's more about stepping back, seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going without judgment, but with a relaxed, focused mind. É mais um passo para trás, vendo o pensamento claramente, testemunhando-o indo e vindo, emoções indo e vindo sem julgamento, mas com uma mente relaxada e concentrada. So for example, right now, if I focus too much on the balls, then there's no way that I can relax and talk to you at the same time. Por exemplo, agora, se eu me concentrar demais nas bolas, não há como relaxar e conversar com você ao mesmo tempo. Equally, if I relax too much talking to you, then there's no way I can focus on the balls. Podobnie, jeśli za bardzo się odprężę, rozmawiając z tobą, nie ma sposobu, bym mógł skupić się na piłkach. Da mesma forma, se eu relaxar demais conversando com você, não há como me concentrar nas bolas. I'm going to drop them. Eu vou largar eles. Now in life, and in meditation, there'll be times when the focus becomes a little bit too intense, and life starts to feel a bit like this. Agora, na vida e na meditação, haverá momentos em que o foco se tornará um pouco intenso demais, e a vida começará a parecer um pouco assim. It's a very uncomfortable way to live life, when you get this tight and stressed. To bardzo niewygodny sposób na życie, kiedy czujesz się mocno i zestresowany. É uma maneira muito desconfortável de viver a vida, quando você fica apertado e estressado. At other times, we might take our foot off the gas a little bit too much, and things just become a sort of little bit like this. Innym razem możemy nieco oderwać się od gazu i sprawy stają się trochę takie. Outras vezes, podemos tirar o pé do acelerador um pouco demais, e as coisas ficam mais ou menos assim. Of course in meditation — (Snores) — we're going to end up falling asleep. Claro que na meditação - (Roncos) - vamos acabar caindo no sono. So we're looking for a balance, a focused relaxation where we can allow thoughts to come and go without all the usual involvement. Então, estamos procurando um equilíbrio, um relaxamento focado, onde possamos permitir que os pensamentos entrem e saiam sem todo o envolvimento usual. Now, what usually happens when we're learning to be mindful is that we get distracted by a thought. Agora, o que geralmente acontece quando aprendemos a ficar atentos é que nos distraímos com um pensamento. Let's say this is an anxious thought. Vamos dizer que este é um pensamento ansioso. So everything's going fine, and then we see the anxious thought, and it's like, "Oh, didn't realize I was worried about that." Então, tudo está indo bem, e então vemos o pensamento ansioso, e é como "Oh, não percebi que estava preocupado com isso". You go back to it, repeat it. "Oh, I am worried. Oh, I really am worried. Wow, there's so much anxiety." And before we know it, right, we're anxious about feeling anxious. E antes que percebamos, certo, estamos ansiosos por nos sentirmos ansiosos. You know, this is crazy. Você sabe, isso é loucura. We do this all the time, even on an everyday level. Fazemos isso o tempo todo, mesmo no nível diário. If you think about the last time, I dunno, you had a wobbly tooth. Se você pensa na última vez, não sei, você teve um dente vacilante. You know it's wobbly, and you know that it hurts. Você sabe que é trémulo e sabe que dói. But what do you do every 20, 30 seconds? Mas o que você faz a cada 20, 30 segundos? (Mumbling) It does hurt. (Resmungando) Dói. And we reinforce the storyline, right? E reforçamos o enredo, certo? And we just keep telling ourselves, and we do it all the time. E continuamos dizendo a nós mesmos, e fazemos isso o tempo todo. And it's only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go of those storylines and patterns of mind. E é apenas aprendendo a observar a mente dessa maneira que podemos começar a deixar de lado essas histórias e padrões mentais. But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way, you might see many different patterns. Mas quando você se senta e observa a mente dessa maneira, pode ver muitos padrões diferentes. You might find a mind that's really restless and -- the whole time. Você pode encontrar uma mente realmente inquieta e - o tempo todo. Don't be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that. Não se surpreenda se você se sentir um pouco agitado em seu corpo quando se sentar para não fazer nada e sua mente se sentir assim. You might find a mind that's very dull and boring, and it's just, almost mechanical, it just seems it's as if you're getting up, going to work, eat, sleep, get up, work. Você pode achar uma mente muito chata e chata, e é quase mecânica, parece que você está se levantando, indo trabalhar, comer, dormir, levantar, trabalhar. Or it might just be that one little nagging thought that just goes round and round and round your mind. Ou pode ser apenas um pequeno pensamento irritante que gira e gira e gira em torno de sua mente. Well, whatever it is, meditation offers the opportunity, the potential to step back and to get a different perspective, to see that things aren't always as they appear. Bem, o que quer que seja, a meditação oferece a oportunidade, o potencial de dar um passo atrás e obter uma perspectiva diferente, para ver que as coisas nem sempre são como aparecem. We can't change every little thing that happens to us in life, but we can change the way that we experience it. That's the potential of meditation, of mindfulness. Esse é o potencial da meditação, da atenção plena. You don't have to burn any incense, and you definitely don't have to sit on the floor. Você não precisa queimar incenso e definitivamente não precisa se sentar no chão. All you need to do is to take 10 minutes out a day to step back, to familiarize yourself with the present moment so that you get to experience a greater sense of focus, calm and clarity in your life. Tudo o que você precisa fazer é dedicar 10 minutos por dia para voltar atrás, familiarizar-se com o momento presente e experimentar um maior senso de foco, calma e clareza em sua vida.

Thank you very much. (Applause)