Listening transcript · Episode 95

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B1–B2ListeningAbout 19 min + dynamic ads5 PDF versions available

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Welcome to Your English Toolbox.

This is Calm English...

STILL.

I am Peter.

Last time, we learned twelve words for breathing... and a technique to calm the body.

Today's episode is different.

Today is about the moment when everything disappears.

You know that moment.

The heart gets fast.

The thoughts get loud.

And your English... is the first thing to go.

Martin and Julia talked about anxiety.

About what it does to your mind.

Today I want to show you what to do with your body.

Right in that moment.

When the wave comes.

One request, as always.

Please do not listen while driving.

And one difference from our other episodes.

Do not lie down today.

Sit somewhere normal.

A chair.

A sofa.

A kitchen table.

With ordinary things around you.

Because today... those ordinary things are the lesson.

Here is something true about anxiety.

Anxiety lives in the future.

What if I make a mistake.

What if they laugh.

What if I fail.

Always the future.

Never now.

But your senses... your eyes, your ears, your hands...

they only exist NOW.

They cannot see the future.

They can only see this room.

So when you give your full attention to your senses...

anxiety has nowhere to live.

The technique is called five... four... three... two... one.

Five things you can see.

Four you can touch.

Three you can hear.

Two you can smell.

One you can taste.

That is all.

But to do it well in English... you need the right words.

Fourteen of them.

And we are going to learn them the STILL way.

Not with a list.

With your own hands, ears and eyes.

Start with your hands.

Touch the surface of your own clothes.

Feel it with your fingertips.

What you are feeling right now... is TEXTURE.

Texture — the way something feels when you touch it.

Every object in your room has one.

Now find something SOFT.

A cushion.

A sleeve.

Your own hair.

Soft... gentle to the touch.

Now something ROUGH.

A wall.

A carpet.

The edge of a book.

Rough — the opposite of soft.

It resists your fingers.

And now something SMOOTH.

A phone screen.

A table.

Your own skin.

Smooth... your fingers slide, and nothing stops them.

Texture.

Soft.

Rough.

Smooth.

Your hands already knew these words.

Now your English knows them too.

Now, the space around you.

Feel the air on your skin.

Is it warm?

Is it cool?

That is TEMPERATURE.

The temperature of the air... of your hands... of the room.

Now feel what is underneath you.

The chair.

The sofa.

The floor.

That is a SURFACE.

The surface — the top of the thing you are sitting or standing on.

Feel your back against the chair.

That gentle push... is PRESSURE.

Pressure — one thing pushing against another.

And feel how your body presses down.

That is your WEIGHT.

The weight of your own body... resting.

You are not floating in your thoughts.

You are here.

You have weight.

You are real.

Now, your ears.

Listen for a sound that is CLOSE.

Your own breathing.

The chair.

This voice.

Close — near to you.

Now listen further away.

A sound that is DISTANT.

Traffic.

A neighbour.

The wind.

Distant — far from you.

And now, with your eyes, find one thing that is completely STILL.

A lamp.

A book.

A door.

Still — not moving at all.

Like the name of this series.

The world is full of still things.

Calm... quiet... waiting.

Now the three most useful small words of today.

Press your thumb against your finger.

But very, very lightly... almost nothing.

That is BARELY.

Barely — almost nothing.

Just a trace.

Now press a little more.

That is SLIGHTLY.

Slightly — a little.

Not completely.

Now press with everything.

That is FULLY.

Fully — completely.

One hundred percent.

Barely... slightly... fully.

Three small words... that can describe anything you feel.

And now... we do the whole technique together.

Slowly.

Calmly.

Not because you are anxious right now.

But because practising in calm moments... is what makes it work in difficult ones.

One slow breath first.

In through the nose...

and out.

FIVE things you can see.

Look around... slowly.

Find the first thing.

Look at it fully.

Its colour.

Its texture.

The light on it.

The second thing.

Something you never usually notice.

The third.

Is it still... or is it moving?

The fourth.

And the fifth.

Five things.

You saw them fully.

FOUR things you can touch.

The first — the surface underneath you.

The second — the texture of your clothes.

The third — something smooth... or something rough.

And the fourth — your own hands.

Warm or cool?

Notice their temperature.

THREE things you can hear.

One close.

One distant.

And one more... maybe so quiet you can barely hear it.

TWO things you can smell.

The air of the room.

Your clothes.

A cup of coffee.

Anything.

If you find nothing, that is fine.

Just notice the air moving through your nose.

And ONE thing you can taste.

Right now, in your mouth.

Maybe it is barely there.

That counts.

One slow breath to finish.

In...

and fully out.

Where are you right now?

Not in the future.

Not in the what-if.

Here.

The next time anxiety comes — and it will come —

you do not need this episode.

You have the technique.

You have the words.

Five things you can see.

Four you can touch.

Three you can hear.

Two you can smell.

One you can taste.

That is all.

You already know how.

Come back to this episode whenever you need it.

It will work every time.

This was Calm English...

STILL.

I am Peter.

And wherever the wave finds you...

your senses will bring you home.

Thank you for being here with me today.

Goodbye, friends.

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