Learn English with this relaxation English lesson

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• handle
• go too far
• journal
• give credit

• take it down a notch
• relax
• meditation
• yoga

• therapist
• bother

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Have you ever felt so stressed out that your stomach starts to hurt? Or maybe stress affects your sleeping. Or gives you a headache. Or makes you start to act meanly to the people you love. When you get that stressed out, it’s definitely time to take it down a notch.

A “notch” is a hole or a cut in the surface of a material. For example, the holes on your belt are called notches. You can think of taking it down a notch as loosening your belt a little bit. When you take it down a notch, you’re loosening your whole self, and letting yourself truly relax.

Lily was under a lot of stress at the office before she ran away. Find out whether she learned to take it down a notch in this English lesson.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Lily

Therapist

Lily:  Rolling Hill Farms has been so great for me. I feel so relaxed.

Therapist:  Have you been going to meditation class?

Lily:  Yeah. I go every morning after yoga. It’s really great for me to try and forget about all the stuff that’s been bothering me lately.

Therapist:  Do you want to talk about it?

Lily:  Things were going really intensely at work. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that I could handle all the things and to make sure that everyone liked me, but I went too far. I realized I need to take it down a notch.

Therapist:  Say more.

Lily:  I don’t need to try so hard. People are going to like me or not, and I just have to learn to live with that.

Therapist:  But how are you going to take it down a notch? What strategies have you learned to really deal with your stress?

Lily:  Well, breathing is super important. I just need to learn to slow down and take a breath. Also, yoga has been awesome. I’m thinking about taking a class during my lunch break.

Therapist:  Good. What else?

Lily:  Writing in my journal has been really important to me. I feel like I can really organize my thoughts when I write them down.

Therapist:  Good work, Lily. But I wonder: you’re writing down your thoughts in your journal, but what if you communicated some of those thoughts to your former office-mates and let them know how you’re feeling?

Lily:  Really? I kind of assumed that I couldn’t go back.

Therapist:  You know, sometimes you have to give people a little more credit. I bet when they find out about the good work you’ve been doing, they’ll understand.

Lily:  OK. I do like that idea. In fact, I think I want to write to everyone, and just tell them that things are going so much better, and that they should just let me come back.

Therapist:  Good, Lily. Good work. Why don’t you work on that and meditate on that a little bit more right now, and I’ll see you at dinner.

Lily:  I will. This is going to go so great. Everything’s going to be fine. I can feel it. I really have taken it down a notch.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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