[Music]
I am becoming more and more convinced
that we are not on a search for
happiness but we are on a search for
peace of mind every person in this world
is running a story constantly around
their brain and it is exhausting think
about when you do the dishes if you do
the dishes do you feel the sensation of
the dish in your hands do you feel the
warmth of the water do you hear the
clink of the cutlery and the
slipperiness of the soapsuds know you’re
thinking about that meeting that you’ve
got tomorrow the emails that you have
not got to and you think about what you
have to make for dinner the story in our
head is exhausting and the story is
always in the past or it is in the
future so when you’re in the past
you’re not thinking I’ve had the best
life you’re thinking about that person
that walked into your office and was
disrespectful to you you really going
over and over you in your mind about
that one person that never invited you
to their lunch
I know 70 year olds who obsess about the
fact that they were unfairly treated at
school and when you’re in the future
you’re not thinking life is just going
to get better and better from here I’m
sure I’m going to be much happier in a
year’s time you’re worrying about
whether you’re going to make enough
money and whether your child is going to
get into the right University with all
of this past and future thinking is it
what happens in your brain is the
neurochemical changes that occur just
through negative thinking just thinking
raises your adrenaline it raises your
cortisol levels and it has an effect on
your physiology it makes your blood
pressure go up it makes your blood sugar
increase your cholesterol rise and your
immune system drops it makes you ill so
there’s a very good reason why most of
our thinking is negative we need to be
much more aware of what could go wrong
rather than what could go right it is a
biological imperative that keeps us
alive when I was wandering around the
Savannah million years ago minding my
own business I needed to pay much more
attention to the saber-tooth Tiger then
to the nice juicy berries because if the
saber-toothed tiger ate me I wouldn’t be
there to enjoy the nice juicy berries
the other problem with our brain our
brain pretty much functions like a
computer you so you know with your
computer when you open up file of the
file of the file what happens to your
computer that’s right to get slow until
eventually you see that spinning ball of
doing that signifies that your computer
is about to crash the brain is the same
the more thoughts you’re having the more
obsessing that you’re doing the slower
your brain becomes until eventually it
becomes useless so we need to get out of
this past in the future and we need to
get into the present in the present
moment there is no anxiety there is no
fear there is no worry it just is the
present moment the state is not
supernatural it is not magical but it’s
solidly grounded in science and
specifically neuroscience you have the
cognitive capacity to be in control of
your mind and this is called mindfulness
these are very very
important part of our brain that we use
when we are controlling our mind and
it’s called the Ben pro lateral
prefrontal cortex right here left and
right temple the ventral lateral
prefrontal cortex is the part of your
brain that you use for emotional
regulation you use for self control now
we know from neuroplasticity which ever
parts of your brain you using that path
becomes stronger thicker and denser you
know when you go to gym and you lift the
weights and you lift that weight and
your muscle becomes stronger and thicker
and denser it’s the same with your brain
whichever part you using become stronger
thicker and denser this is useful when
you want to walk past the chocolate cake
and resist it so I’m gonna take you to
gym – let me – Farkle gym where I’m
going to help you understand that you
all have the ability to control your
mind this is easy but the key is not to
be judgmental what will happen when I
can’t take you to a point in the present
moment is your mind or Wonder because
that’s what Minds do and all you need to
go is oh how curious there goes my mind
and bring it back to the present moment
would you care to drain me so comfy
comfortably in your chair allowing
yourself to relax if you wish you may
close your eyes and to begin with just
feel the sensation of your feet in your
shoes now notice the sensation of your
legs against the chair feel any
you might feel tightness allow your
stomach to relax now notice your breath
as you breathe in and out breathing in
notice any visual image as you can see
behind your eyelids dark shape hear any
sounds around us pay attention to your
fingertips so you might feel tingling
pulsing pay attention once more to your
breathing as you breathe in and out and
you can slowly open your eyes this is a
great technique it tilt up in the
morning you know when your brain is
going around and around and around all
the dramas of your day this is very
useful for me this week when on
Wednesday afternoon at 4 o’clock I still
didn’t have my visa and my flat was 9
o’clock the next morning when I was late
I just had to fill the bed sheets listen
to the sounds of the night air and I was
able to relax you might have noticed
sounds that you hadn’t heard before or
felt sensations like the tingling in
your fingertips the world becomes a much
richer and more profound place when we
are present in it a Harvard University
study found that short term meditators
used 43% less medical services even a
short meditation like we’ve just done
drops your Porter’s or levels by an
average of 50% and the more you do it
the easier it becomes a research in
Douma medical
magazines found that even a short-term
meditation everyday has but the
equivalent effect of taking an
antidepressant so I’d like to share a
story with you after the last time I was
in Hyderabad I fell in love and this man
that I’ve fallen in love with he’s got
kind of an analytical and cerebral
common-sense mind and he said to me Cole
please tell people that they don’t have
to meditate they don’t have to close
their eyes and chant and light incense
when they’re doing this present moment
experience told them they can do it
anyway and actually he’s right so
although I loved chanting meditating and
lighting incense when I was in Rishikesh
you can do this anywhere anytime even
while you’re driving your car just don’t
close your eyes notice the sounds in the
traffic you’ve got lots of those sounds
in the city notice the blue sky walk in
nature feel the grass smell the sense I
literally fell in love it was March 2016
and I was on my bicycle in a bicycle
race intense competitive and a person in
front of me hits a bump and went over on
his bicycle I crashed my bicycle into
his I went flying over the handlebars
and smashed my face right into the top
so I was taken to hospital and they
completely rebuilt my wrist using donor
bone using metal I still have all that
metal in my wrist I had fractures in my
face I’ve got metal plates across my
forehead
I have metal plates in my cheek here and
I don’t sit off the alarms in the
airport it’s titanium and while I was
recuperating
this man appeared at my bedside
and he hasn’t left I needed to be
stopped in my tracks to open myself to
the opportunity for love and for joy
please don’t fall with your face on the
top so it’s not just about being in the
present moment
imagining that’s gonna bring success is
madness we need to be intentional about
how we are present in our lives I have
worked with ordinary people who became
heroes in their own world these people
became intentional about how they were
living their lives Jay a cyclist who
became the top open seated cyclist in
South Africa he was paid intentional
attention to his nutrition to his
training methodologies Bhargavi became
one of the best businesspeople in
Bangalore overcoming greats personal
tragedy and she’s here today Jason won
an international idols competition these
people Jay Bhargavi Jason we’re
intentional about how they were present
in their meetings in a race and on the
stage a great study that I really really
love and I’d love to share with you
professor Ellen Langer at Harvard
University she decides to do this
experiment with dolphins so she takes
the dolphin trainers puts him into two
separate groups the first group she says
to the dolphin trainers be mindful the
second group says do what you ordinarily
do and her and her team
observe the dolphins the Dolphins in the
mindfulness group they perform better
jump higher swim faster and they come
spontaneously of their own accord
towards the dolphin trainers not
speculate thus to your children your
children know in your present and when
you’re not and when you present they
perform better don’t think you want them
to jump higher
and they come spontaneously of their own
accord towards you be present with your
children and not with your cell phone
can you imagine being burnt at the stake
and are we not gonna do that if you use
your cell phone today fifty thousand
women in Europe suffered an excruciating
death because they were believed to be
practicing witchcraft two hundred and
fifteen thousand students in the United
States have been exposed to gun violence
since Columbine 1 million Rwandan ‘s
were slaughtered by the own countrymen
in a hundred days and all because people
believed that they were right now think
about an argument you’ve had any
arguments could be a huge argument it
could be a minor disagreement so could
it be mr. day it could have been twenty
years ago you were right weren’t you and
not only will you right but you’re
gathering evidence to this very day
about your rightness don’t choose to be
right choose to be happy
[Applause]
[Music]
so we need to get out of this constant
need to justify ourselves improve
ourselves we need to get out of the
self-obsessed ego identity that always
tries to prove that we’re right and we
need to step into consciousness into
that present state of being that states
of your inner being your inner essence
you are not successful or a failure you
are not important or not important you
are not good or bad
worthy or worthless those are things you
do or things you experience and you are
not human doings your are human beings
so you need to step into their conscious
space of being because this is where
peace of manic mind exists in my life
I’ve experienced a platter of trauma and
difficulties from failure from addiction
infertility from loss abhi city from
mental illness mental disability
adoption divorce suicide accidents the
story in my head
was one of pain and one of failure right
into my forties and then I discovered
mindfulness and neuroplasticity a few
years ago I stood in front of five
students to present the class it was the
most terrifying thing I had ever done
they were teenagers and I still found
him a bit terrifying today I’m standing
in front of two and a half thousand
people here in Hyderabad
[Applause]
[Music]
I failed at school I dropped out of
university twice and this week I’m
handing in my completed PhD dissertation
the gift that I bring to this place
today is the gift of presence the gift
of being in the present moment
every person every person in this room
has got great challenges or will have
great challenges and great difficulties
asking it not to be is like asking the
wind not to blow but you have the
capacity to navigate those challenges to
navigate those difficulties when you do
it in the present moment when you let go
of that conditioned identity and you
bring yourself mindfully intentionally
and consciously to the present thank you
[Applause] [Music]
I am becoming more and more convinced
that we are not on a search for
happiness but we are on a search for
peace of mind every person in this world
is running a story constantly around
their brain and it is exhausting think
about when you do the dishes if you do
the dishes do you feel the sensation of
the dish in your hands do you feel the
warmth of the water do you hear the
clink of the cutlery and the
slipperiness of the soapsuds know you’re
thinking about that meeting that you’ve
got tomorrow the emails that you have
not got to and you think about what you
have to make for dinner the story in our
head is exhausting and the story is
always in the past or it is in the
future so when you’re in the past
you’re not thinking I’ve had the best
life you’re thinking about that person
that walked into your office and was
disrespectful to you you really going
over and over you in your mind about
that one person that never invited you
to their lunch
I know 70 year olds who obsess about the
fact that they were unfairly treated at
school and when you’re in the future
you’re not thinking life is just going
to get better and better from here I’m
sure I’m going to be much happier in a
year’s time you’re worrying about
whether you’re going to make enough
money and whether your child is going to
get into the right University with all
of this past and future thinking is it
what happens in your brain is the
neurochemical changes that occur just
through negative thinking just thinking
raises your adrenaline it raises your
cortisol levels and it has an effect on
your physiology it makes your blood
pressure go up it makes your blood sugar
increase your cholesterol rise and your
immune system drops it makes you ill so
there’s a very good reason why most of
our thinking is negative we need to be
much more aware of what could go wrong
rather than what could go right it is a
biological imperative that keeps us
alive when I was wandering around the
Savannah million years ago minding my
own business I needed to pay much more
attention to the saber-tooth Tiger then
to the nice juicy berries because if the
saber-toothed tiger ate me I wouldn’t be
there to enjoy the nice juicy berries
the other problem with our brain our
brain pretty much functions like a
computer you so you know with your
computer when you open up file of the
file of the file what happens to your
computer that’s right to get slow until
eventually you see that spinning ball of
doing that signifies that your computer
is about to crash the brain is the same
the more thoughts you’re having the more
obsessing that you’re doing the slower
your brain becomes until eventually it
becomes useless so we need to get out of
this past in the future and we need to
get into the present in the present
moment there is no anxiety there is no
fear there is no worry it just is the
present moment the state is not
supernatural it is not magical but it’s
solidly grounded in science and
specifically neuroscience you have the
cognitive capacity to be in control of
your mind and this is called mindfulness
these are very very
important part of our brain that we use
when we are controlling our mind and
it’s called the Ben pro lateral
prefrontal cortex right here left and
right temple the ventral lateral
prefrontal cortex is the part of your
brain that you use for emotional
regulation you use for self control now
we know from neuroplasticity which ever
parts of your brain you using that path
becomes stronger thicker and denser you
know when you go to gym and you lift the
weights and you lift that weight and
your muscle becomes stronger and thicker
and denser it’s the same with your brain
whichever part you using become stronger
thicker and denser this is useful when
you want to walk past the chocolate cake
and resist it so I’m gonna take you to
gym – let me – Farkle gym where I’m
going to help you understand that you
all have the ability to control your
mind this is easy but the key is not to
be judgmental what will happen when I
can’t take you to a point in the present
moment is your mind or Wonder because
that’s what Minds do and all you need to
go is oh how curious there goes my mind
and bring it back to the present moment
would you care to drain me so comfy
comfortably in your chair allowing
yourself to relax if you wish you may
close your eyes and to begin with just
feel the sensation of your feet in your
shoes now notice the sensation of your
legs against the chair feel any
you might feel tightness allow your
stomach to relax now notice your breath
as you breathe in and out breathing in
notice any visual image as you can see
behind your eyelids dark shape hear any
sounds around us pay attention to your
fingertips so you might feel tingling
pulsing pay attention once more to your
breathing as you breathe in and out and
you can slowly open your eyes this is a
great technique it tilt up in the
morning you know when your brain is
going around and around and around all
the dramas of your day this is very
useful for me this week when on
Wednesday afternoon at 4 o’clock I still
didn’t have my visa and my flat was 9
o’clock the next morning when I was late
I just had to fill the bed sheets listen
to the sounds of the night air and I was
able to relax you might have noticed
sounds that you hadn’t heard before or
felt sensations like the tingling in
your fingertips the world becomes a much
richer and more profound place when we
are present in it a Harvard University
study found that short term meditators
used 43% less medical services even a
short meditation like we’ve just done
drops your Porter’s or levels by an
average of 50% and the more you do it
the easier it becomes a research in
Douma medical
magazines found that even a short-term
meditation everyday has but the
equivalent effect of taking an
antidepressant so I’d like to share a
story with you after the last time I was
in Hyderabad I fell in love and this man
that I’ve fallen in love with he’s got
kind of an analytical and cerebral
common-sense mind and he said to me Cole
please tell people that they don’t have
to meditate they don’t have to close
their eyes and chant and light incense
when they’re doing this present moment
experience told them they can do it
anyway and actually he’s right so
although I loved chanting meditating and
lighting incense when I was in Rishikesh
you can do this anywhere anytime even
while you’re driving your car just don’t
close your eyes notice the sounds in the
traffic you’ve got lots of those sounds
in the city notice the blue sky walk in
nature feel the grass smell the sense I
literally fell in love it was March 2016
and I was on my bicycle in a bicycle
race intense competitive and a person in
front of me hits a bump and went over on
his bicycle I crashed my bicycle into
his I went flying over the handlebars
and smashed my face right into the top
so I was taken to hospital and they
completely rebuilt my wrist using donor
bone using metal I still have all that
metal in my wrist I had fractures in my
face I’ve got metal plates across my
forehead
I have metal plates in my cheek here and
I don’t sit off the alarms in the
airport it’s titanium and while I was
recuperating
this man appeared at my bedside
and he hasn’t left I needed to be
stopped in my tracks to open myself to
the opportunity for love and for joy
please don’t fall with your face on the
top so it’s not just about being in the
present moment
imagining that’s gonna bring success is
madness we need to be intentional about
how we are present in our lives I have
worked with ordinary people who became
heroes in their own world these people
became intentional about how they were
living their lives Jay a cyclist who
became the top open seated cyclist in
South Africa he was paid intentional
attention to his nutrition to his
training methodologies Bhargavi became
one of the best businesspeople in
Bangalore overcoming greats personal
tragedy and she’s here today Jason won
an international idols competition these
people Jay Bhargavi Jason we’re
intentional about how they were present
in their meetings in a race and on the
stage a great study that I really really
love and I’d love to share with you
professor Ellen Langer at Harvard
University she decides to do this
experiment with dolphins so she takes
the dolphin trainers puts him into two
separate groups the first group she says
to the dolphin trainers be mindful the
second group says do what you ordinarily
do and her and her team
observe the dolphins the Dolphins in the
mindfulness group they perform better
jump higher swim faster and they come
spontaneously of their own accord
towards the dolphin trainers not
speculate thus to your children your
children know in your present and when
you’re not and when you present they
perform better don’t think you want them
to jump higher
and they come spontaneously of their own
accord towards you be present with your
children and not with your cell phone
can you imagine being burnt at the stake
and are we not gonna do that if you use
your cell phone today fifty thousand
women in Europe suffered an excruciating
death because they were believed to be
practicing witchcraft two hundred and
fifteen thousand students in the United
States have been exposed to gun violence
since Columbine 1 million Rwandan ‘s
were slaughtered by the own countrymen
in a hundred days and all because people
believed that they were right now think
about an argument you’ve had any
arguments could be a huge argument it
could be a minor disagreement so could
it be mr. day it could have been twenty
years ago you were right weren’t you and
not only will you right but you’re
gathering evidence to this very day
about your rightness don’t choose to be
right choose to be happy
[Applause]
[Music]
so we need to get out of this constant
need to justify ourselves improve
ourselves we need to get out of the
self-obsessed ego identity that always
tries to prove that we’re right and we
need to step into consciousness into
that present state of being that states
of your inner being your inner essence
you are not successful or a failure you
are not important or not important you
are not good or bad
worthy or worthless those are things you
do or things you experience and you are
not human doings your are human beings
so you need to step into their conscious
space of being because this is where
peace of manic mind exists in my life
I’ve experienced a platter of trauma and
difficulties from failure from addiction
infertility from loss abhi city from
mental illness mental disability
adoption divorce suicide accidents the
story in my head
was one of pain and one of failure right
into my forties and then I discovered
mindfulness and neuroplasticity a few
years ago I stood in front of five
students to present the class it was the
most terrifying thing I had ever done
they were teenagers and I still found
him a bit terrifying today I’m standing
in front of two and a half thousand
people here in Hyderabad
[Applause]
[Music]
I failed at school I dropped out of
university twice and this week I’m
handing in my completed PhD dissertation
the gift that I bring to this place
today is the gift of presence the gift
of being in the present moment
every person every person in this room
has got great challenges or will have
great challenges and great difficulties
asking it not to be is like asking the
wind not to blow but you have the
capacity to navigate those challenges to
navigate those difficulties when you do
it in the present moment when you let go
of that conditioned identity and you
bring yourself mindfully intentionally
and consciously to the present thank you
[Applause] [Music]
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