0:00:15.098,0:00:18.843
I would like to ask everyone[br]in this beautiful, beautiful audience,

0:00:18.843,0:00:21.027
just like he said,

0:00:21.597,0:00:24.888
When and have you ever -

0:00:24.888,0:00:26.319
think back to your childhood -

0:00:26.319,0:00:29.108
have you ever been taught formally[br]how to pay attention?

0:00:29.108,0:00:31.010
I'm talking somebody sat you down, said,

0:00:31.010,0:00:32.825
"Step 1. Step 2. Step 3.

0:00:32.825,0:00:34.993
This is how you pay attention."

0:00:34.993,0:00:36.907
I'd like a show of hands

0:00:36.907,0:00:39.368
if you who were formally taught[br]how to pay attention

0:00:39.368,0:00:41.308
when you were a child.

0:00:41.308,0:00:42.696
(Laughter)

0:00:44.810,0:00:47.600
Now, for those of you who are wondering,

0:00:47.600,0:00:50.390
What in the world did he just say?

0:00:50.390,0:00:52.868
and who are thinking[br]about who's the next presenter

0:00:52.868,0:00:56.108
or did I actually put deodorant on today?

0:00:56.108,0:00:57.582
(Laughter)

0:00:58.572,0:01:00.243
You're like me.

0:01:00.503,0:01:01.644
As you can see.

0:01:01.644,0:01:03.397
You are like me.

0:01:03.397,0:01:04.423
Oh my goodness.

0:01:04.423,0:01:08.296
I struggled and I still struggle[br]with paying attention.

0:01:08.296,0:01:09.305
And I tell you what,

0:01:09.305,0:01:12.253
I'm going to take you back[br]to that elementary school era.

0:01:12.253,0:01:13.810
Do you remember the coat closet?

0:01:13.810,0:01:15.997
This time of year,[br]everybody's got their coats,

0:01:15.997,0:01:17.477
and you've got all your cubbies

0:01:17.477,0:01:21.103
and the things you brought to school[br]you're not allowed to bring into class.

0:01:21.103,0:01:23.346
One day, my teacher[br]thought it was a good idea -

0:01:23.346,0:01:25.260
one of those days I'm out in la-la land:

0:01:25.260,0:01:26.258
"Chris, Chris."

0:01:26.258,0:01:28.991
She took me and brought me[br]into that coat closet and said,

0:01:28.991,0:01:31.167
"I think you'll pay attention[br]better in here."

0:01:31.167,0:01:33.257
And she closed the door behind me,

0:01:33.257,0:01:36.824
and I went, looked around,[br]I said, "Oh, yeah."

0:01:36.824,0:01:39.838
I took all those coats,[br]and I threw them all on the floor -

0:01:39.838,0:01:41.172
big pile, big pile.

0:01:41.172,0:01:43.379
And I took the diddle sheets,[br]laid them down,

0:01:43.379,0:01:45.306
and I fell asleep right on top of them,

0:01:45.903,0:01:47.122
and I just lay there,

0:01:47.122,0:01:48.796
and I feel asleep for three hours -

0:01:48.796,0:01:50.141
the teacher forgot about me.

0:01:50.141,0:01:51.159
(Laughter)

0:01:51.159,0:01:53.640
And she opens the door, and I wake up,

0:01:53.640,0:01:55.006
and my first thing was like,

0:01:55.006,0:01:57.439
"Yeah. I slept through school!

0:01:57.439,0:01:58.990
That's awesome."

0:01:58.990,0:02:01.023
And then I head out, all happy, you know,

0:02:01.023,0:02:03.755
and then I get my friends[br]looking at me, going,

0:02:03.755,0:02:05.942
"Dude, what were you doing in there, man?"

0:02:05.942,0:02:06.975
(Laughter)

0:02:06.975,0:02:08.438
"What? I ... "

0:02:08.438,0:02:12.021
and then it turned[br]to "What's wrong with me?"

0:02:12.347,0:02:15.387
I was the kid in the coat closet, man.

0:02:15.387,0:02:16.971
Ah, man.

0:02:16.971,0:02:19.620
And then you fast forward[br]a few more years.

0:02:19.620,0:02:21.104
Picture this: a classroom,

0:02:21.104,0:02:23.822
beautiful tables all lined up,

0:02:23.822,0:02:26.595
and here is this 1970-style study carrel,

0:02:26.595,0:02:28.520
back in the corner, orange.

0:02:28.520,0:02:31.654
Big circular, cool,[br]'70s-style kind of thing.

0:02:31.654,0:02:34.092
There was a little window[br]where you could peek out.

0:02:34.092,0:02:36.604
Well, that's where they put me.

0:02:36.604,0:02:39.153
And I was sitting back there one day,

0:02:39.153,0:02:40.178
out in la-la land.

0:02:40.178,0:02:41.717
You put a kid like me out there,

0:02:41.717,0:02:44.783
and I'm looking off and thinking[br]about space, all kinds of stuff,

0:02:44.783,0:02:45.793
and I look over,

0:02:45.793,0:02:47.505
and I see Big Brian,

0:02:47.505,0:02:50.356
and Big Brian's another kid[br]who had trouble paying attention.

0:02:50.356,0:02:55.719
And Big Brian's butt crack[br]is like, like, like fully exposed,

0:02:55.719,0:02:57.370
and I'm thinking to myself,

0:02:57.370,0:03:01.509
"How many spitballs can I get[br]down Big Brian's butt crack

0:03:01.514,0:03:02.514
(Laughter)

0:03:02.519,0:03:03.782
before Big Brian notices?"

0:03:03.782,0:03:05.161
And the answer is 20.

0:03:05.161,0:03:06.860
(Laughter)

0:03:07.220,0:03:08.229
20.

0:03:08.229,0:03:11.002
At 20, Big Brian[br]jumped up and said, "Hey!"

0:03:11.002,0:03:14.139
And my teacher grabbed me by the neck[br]and took me into the hallway,

0:03:14.139,0:03:16.760
took more diddle paper sheets[br]and put me in the hallway,

0:03:16.760,0:03:17.770
and in the hallway,

0:03:17.770,0:03:20.336
I'm sitting there, going,[br]"Man, this is sort of cool."

0:03:20.336,0:03:22.203
But then, yet again, the same thought:

0:03:22.203,0:03:23.936
"What the heck's wrong with me, man?

0:03:23.936,0:03:25.262
Why am I out here?"

0:03:25.262,0:03:27.636
Well, I survived - oh my goodness.

0:03:27.636,0:03:30.085
I survived hellementary -[br]I mean, elementary school,

0:03:30.085,0:03:31.468
and middle school -

0:03:31.468,0:03:33.397
oh, don't even talk about middle school.

0:03:33.397,0:03:35.494
But here we are, high school graduation.

0:03:35.494,0:03:36.644
High school graduation -

0:03:36.644,0:03:38.317
I'm sitting here, in the line,

0:03:38.317,0:03:39.584
everybody's all happy,

0:03:39.584,0:03:41.084
I'm sweating like I am now

0:03:41.084,0:03:44.884
because I had to get a 94[br]on my Spanish exam to graduate,

0:03:44.884,0:03:46.421
and I'm siiting there, thinking,

0:03:46.421,0:03:47.418
"Please, God,

0:03:47.418,0:03:49.726
don't let me be the kid[br]in the coat closet again.

0:03:49.726,0:03:52.285
Don't let me get the kid[br]that's in the study carrel.

0:03:52.285,0:03:54.684
Oh, not this time, please."

0:03:54.971,0:03:56.453
Well, I tell you what.

0:03:56.453,0:03:58.138
That's why I'm standing here today.

0:03:58.138,0:04:01.468
I'd like to propose an alternative[br]to putting kids in the coat closet,

0:04:01.468,0:04:02.913
putting them in study carrels,

0:04:02.913,0:04:06.390
and just telling them just to[br]plain old "You pay attention."

0:04:06.990,0:04:08.182
I want to propose -

0:04:08.182,0:04:10.966
because the joy of my life

0:04:10.966,0:04:15.715
is in my therapy with children and adults[br]who have attentional challenges.

0:04:15.715,0:04:18.832
I get to introduce them[br]to mindfulness training,

0:04:18.832,0:04:20.462
training you how to pay attention:

0:04:20.462,0:04:22.648
"Step 1. Step 2. Step 3.

0:04:22.648,0:04:24.128
This is how you pay attention."

0:04:24.128,0:04:25.955
I wish somebody would have taught me

0:04:25.955,0:04:29.381
how to bring your mind back[br]from Big Brian's butt crack

0:04:29.381,0:04:31.931
to this boring math,

0:04:31.931,0:04:35.349
this boring stuff that makes me feel[br]like I want to pull my hair out.

0:04:35.349,0:04:36.785
How do I say

0:04:36.785,0:04:37.797
"Not now, mind.

0:04:37.797,0:04:39.869
Look at the teacher's[br]funky dangle earrings,

0:04:39.869,0:04:42.261
and then she'll think[br]I'm paying attention to her."

0:04:42.261,0:04:43.681
But that helps.

0:04:43.681,0:04:46.133
Well, I tell you what.

0:04:46.743,0:04:50.697
My gift today to you all[br]is a little taste of mindfulness.

0:04:50.697,0:04:53.728
This little taste of mindfulness[br]is in four steps,

0:04:53.728,0:04:54.877
and so, in a moment,

0:04:54.877,0:04:57.298
I'm going to take you through four steps.

0:04:57.298,0:04:59.346
The first step is this:

0:04:59.346,0:05:02.481
I'm going to have everyone[br]close their eyes.

0:05:02.481,0:05:03.921
And the second step will be -

0:05:03.921,0:05:06.017
I'm going to ring this chime -

0:05:06.017,0:05:09.013
I'm going to have you focus[br]the best of your ability -

0:05:09.013,0:05:11.263
I know it's tough[br]for some of us, like me -

0:05:11.263,0:05:14.601
focus that down[br]just to the tone of that chime.

0:05:14.601,0:05:15.607
That's it.

0:05:15.607,0:05:18.013
The third step - if you notice[br]your mind wandering,

0:05:18.013,0:05:20.146
which mine will, even when I'm up here,

0:05:20.146,0:05:21.480
if you notice it wandering,

0:05:21.480,0:05:24.652
gently bring it back[br]to that tone of the chime.

0:05:24.652,0:05:26.179
Just gently bring it on back.

0:05:26.179,0:05:30.695
And step four is when[br]you no longer can hear it,

0:05:31.105,0:05:34.262
open your eyes and raise your hand,[br]and we'll take a look around.

0:05:34.262,0:05:35.605
All right.

0:05:36.445,0:05:38.044
Here we go.

0:05:38.802,0:05:40.950
One. Two. Three. Eyes closed.

0:05:41.530,0:05:42.830
(Chime tone)

0:06:03.800,0:06:04.917
Everyone look around.

0:06:04.917,0:06:05.930
Beautiful.

0:06:05.930,0:06:10.728
720 people paying attention[br]to the same thing at the same time.

0:06:10.728,0:06:12.224
Beautiful.

0:06:12.224,0:06:14.250
Well, I want everyone out here

0:06:14.250,0:06:17.877
to go spread the good news[br]of mindfulness training,

0:06:17.877,0:06:19.094
and go learn about it,

0:06:19.094,0:06:20.128
teach your children,

0:06:20.128,0:06:21.934
introduce the challenge for yourself.

0:06:21.934,0:06:23.312
So I want start a revolution

0:06:23.312,0:06:27.170
because we no longer want to lose[br]our dreamers and discoverers and dynamos,

0:06:27.170,0:06:28.831
but we want to foster

0:06:28.831,0:06:33.944
our future Edisons, our Einsteins,[br]our Picassos, our Louisa May Alcotts

0:06:33.944,0:06:36.426
and future great, great TED presenters.

0:06:36.426,0:06:37.993
Thank you so much.

0:06:37.993,0:06:39.659
(Applause)