THE ART OF NOW

1. Because he paid attention to the present. / he lived the moment

2.      Through mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction and decoherence. / Because we vault from thought to thought like monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

3.      Mindfulness or living in the moment.

4.      a. Boosts immune functioning, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure, helps patients cope with cancer / it reduces the impulsivity and reactivity that underlie binge eating, depression and attention problems, it reduces stress/ they can hear negative feedback without feeling threatened, they fight less with their romantic partners, are more accommodating and less self defensive. b/ What you want.

5.      Because thinking hard about what you are doing actually makes you do worse; focusing on the anxiety tends to heighten it./ By reducing self consciousness./ by helping her to focus on things outside herself / by helping her to focus less on what is going on in her mind and more on what is going on in the room and the like

6.      Savouring it; relishing or luxuriating what she is doing at the present. / Catastrophizing, ruminating.

7.      They were in the moment OR they were mindful. / they didn’t link their self esteem to the event / they felt more connected to other people.

8.      Mindfulness boosts your awareness of how you interpret and react to what’s happening in your mind. OR mindfulness increases self control / ıt increases the gap between impulse and action/ respond thoughtfully rather than automatically…………………………………………………………..

9.      Watching TV ( It is completely passive)

10.  It magnifies pain. / Acceptance, it relieves you of needless extra suffering.

11.  Answers will vary. / Life passes you by without registering on you; noticing imbues each moment with a new fresh quality or some such answer from the text.

12.  He has learnt to live in the present OR He has learnt about mindfulness.

Before you ask them to do the writing task, make sure you have had adequate discussion. It is suggested that you stop for comment and discussion at the end of each section so that when you get to the end, plenty of opinions have been expressed. The students have been asked to write a paragraph but it could just as well be an essay. The choice is up to you.