Ice breaker
Pick up a raisin and hold it in the palm of your hand. Look at it. Examine it. Describe the raisin. What does it look like? What colour is it? How would you describe the texture? Now, feel the raisin in the palm of your hand. What does it feel like against your skin? Pick it up with your other hand. What does it feel like in your fingers? Is it slimy? Rough? Smooth? Soft? Hard? Squeeze it softly. What do you feel? Smell the raisin. Describe how it smells. Put the raisin in your mouth, but do not eat it. What does it feel like on your tongue? What does the texture feel like now? How does it taste? How does the taste compare to the way it smelled? Move it around in your mouth and notice every aspect of the raisin. Bite the raisin and think about what you taste. Now how does the raisin feel in your mouth?
Finish chewing and eat the raisin. How did it taste? Describe the experience of the raisin.
Describe the raisin - now nominate a smell, taste or colour (cut grass, sunset...) and describe it, then a memory attached to that thing/experience
Grammar - tentative language
Tentative language is a way to express uncertainty, it allows you to use language where there would be a blank space or noise of confusion such as 'errmmmm' it also makes you sound more natural, as this is how natives speak in any language. Tentative language includes modal verbs, which are often associated with politeness:
Could you possibly pass me a pen? May I open the window?
There is a lack of directness with tentative language, phrases might include: I suppose, I imagine, I guess, I reckon, I believe
Open debate
What is mindfulness? How can it be used? Can meditation change your physical states?
Debate
Split into groups to discuss the following questions. After 5 minutes stop and move to a new group, with different people. NEW PLACES, NEW FACES. Try to communicate with as many people as possible to benefit from different vocabulary, grammar, accents and opinions.
AT HOME: try this as a writing exercise or start a discussion in the FORUM
1 Could meditation help you live longer?
2 Could meditation help in education?
3 Do you meditate or would you like to learn?
4 What's the best time or place to meditate? What do people think about?