1. Аудирование: понимание основного содержания прослушанного: #250019

Speaker А. I started doing yoga a couple of years ago. At that time, my main reasons for choosing yoga were improving flexibility and overall physical fitness. Then I started to notice that other aspects of doing yoga became more important for me. My instructor says that for most people, their primary reason for doing yoga will change over time. It’s because yoga has such a huge influence on both your body and mind. You improve yourself in many ways. 

Speaker B. When I started doing yoga, it wasn’t something to my liking. However, I had to do it because my doctor said I had to. Step by step, I came to notice that the health benefits of yoga are very real. Yes, yoga can increase your flexibility, improve your balance and decrease your cholesterol. As for me, I managed to lose 5 pounds, decreased my blood pressure considerably and lowered my bad cholesterol by 12 points. Isn’t it great? 

Speaker C. I love yoga because it helps me deal with stress. I think practicing yoga isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. In this way, I can relax with the clarity, the space, the open-ended awareness that already exists in my mind. I love to experience moments of being right here that feel so good. 

Speaker D. I’ve been doing yoga for some years already. I think many people treat yoga as a kind of fitness to improve their posture. However, there’s philosophy behind this fashionable trend. When people tell me that they want to try yoga but don’t because they aren’t flexible enough, I tell them yoga isn’t about attaining the perfect pose. It’s not about being good enough or right. Yoga is about removing any judgment and just discovering who we are now. 

Speaker E. For me, yoga is not simply a way to solve some of my health problems or relax after a stressful day at school. I think yoga has taught me to be a better and a kinder person. In a culture in which we rush from one day to the next, constantly trying to change our health, body or emotions or to plan our future, yoga opens up the possibility of connecting to the world and feeling better within it. I think I now communicate more effectively thanks to realizing it. 

Speaker F. My parents are psychiatrists. Of course, they are naturally interested in the brain. They got keen on yoga a couple of years ago when they read in some scientific journal that yoga changes the brain. It’s funny that while most people intuitively get that yoga reduces depression and anxiety, most people, even physicians and scientists, are typically surprised to find out that yoga can positively influence the brain and can even prevent aging.