Lena Kay shares the 3 steps on how she went from being in a homeless shelter with a brain tumour to living the life of her dreams and how you can transform your life using the same process.

Lena Kay is a Transformation coach who was born in North Iraq and raised in London.  A university dropout she managed a chain of 10 gambling establishments before moving onto RBS business banking where she arose as a team leader.

By her mid 20’s she found herself homeless, depressed, overweight with a brain tumour and living on benefits. She discovered neuroscience and quantum physics, used the knowledge to transform her life and helped many people on her journey as she organically fell into coaching.

Lena now empowers individuals, entrepreneurs and groups to transform and become who they need to be, to maximise their potential and live life on their own terms.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Following a near death-like experience this popular physician and medical journalist realized that her past conditioning was causing her to live an inauthentic life that created depression and anxiety. She dug deep into her shadow to overcome low self-esteem, learn to love herself and transform her entire life. In this inspiring talk at TEDxIUM, Dr. Andrea Pennington shows how we can learn who we really are — or who we were meant to be — by examining our biology, our personality and temperament and ultimately discovering our unique Soulprint to break free from social conditioning that creates self-loathing and self-rejection.

Dr. Andrea Pennington is the Founder and President of Pennington Empowerment Media. An integrative medical doctor, acupuncturist and Positive Psychology coach, she empowers people to go from “surviving to thriving” by embracing their strengths and talents and sharing them with the world in a powerful way. As an investigative journalist she produces television programs and documentaries about the soul and science of wellness, longevity and optimal living. Dr. Pennington provides values-based brand development consulting for individuals and small companies who wish to make an impact in the world through digital and broadcast media.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Do you speak this language? Do you share the experience? These are questions that Poet Ali masterfully tries to answer in an original narrative. This talk explains why we should all learn the most important language that unites us all.

Credits: Pictures and media are creative common or belong to the speaker

Poet Ali is a Motivational Speaker, Actor, Writer, and Hip Hop Troubadour. He has used his voice and talents to be an advocate for many causes. He has toured global stages in Italy, Spain, the U.K., the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the U.S. As a Motivational Speaker he has been invited to share his talents at multiple national and international conferences and the TED talk stage. He has had many careers: Dancer/Choreographer, Editorial Writer, DJ, Percussionist, Hip Hop Artist, Actor, Teacher, Entrepreneur, Performer, and Speaker. Poet is currently on tour reaching out to the youth through his music, empowerment, and activism and owns a Production Studio in Long Beach, California where he works with Artists, Producers, and Writers from all over the world. Find out much more and join him at: www.PoetAli.com

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Dr. Conor McDonough Quinn is a documentary linguist, endangered language revitalization worker, and avid learner and teacher of languages. Raised in Portland, Maine, he has lived at length in Indonesia, China, and Oman, and has worked extensively with several indigenous communities of the Northeast. Learning his own familys endangered heritage language (hint: look at the name) in his early teens gave him a passion for helping others to do the same, and led him to pursue linguistics—somewhat single-mindedly—throughout his academic career. Alongside a hefty set of technical research questions in linguistics, he is currently most interested in developing tools to help speech communities carry out their own linguistic documentation and revitalization work, and in finding new ways to reduce the barriers to learning new languages.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Bilingualism makes you more cultural aware and able to communicate easier with other cultures, foreigners. Gaston has a fantastic way in explaining this to you.

As a journalist and writer Gaston has a lot of linguistic experience. But in terms of experience, he says, there’s nothing like staying abroad. In Peru and Ecuador, speaking Spanish was the best and often the only way to communicate with people who lived completely different lives. “By learning another language, you make your world bigger, more diverse and less scary.” More about the delights and surprising effects of bilingualism in his talk.

The evolution of languages is an ongoing process, and huge changes can be expected in decades to come. “Young people want to distinguish themselves from the generation before them, and changing the language is a great way to do that, especially as it annoys older people no end.” Among adults, women tend to be leading in language change. So when it comes to language, adult men are mostly followers? “Yes, we are. And often grumpy ones at that.”

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley is co-teaching one of the worlds largest online classes, «Learning How to Learn», www.coursera.org/course/learning.

She know firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. Dr. Oakley flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the U.S. Army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a new found determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.

Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Her research focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior, and has been described as “revolutionary” by the Wall Street Journal. Oakley’s books have been praised by many leading researchers and writers, including Harvard’s Steven Pinker and E. O. Wilson, and National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates. Her book A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra), will be published by Tarcher-Penguin on July 31, 2014.

Prior to her academic career, Oakley rose from private to captain in the U.S. Army, during which time she was recognized as a Distinguished Military Scholar. She met her husband, Philip, when she was working at the South Pole Station in Antarctica. Her experiences with well-intentioned altruism were shaped by her work as a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers on the Bering Sea during the early 1980s. Oakley was designated as an NSF New Century Scholar—she is also a recipient of the Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award (2013) and the National Science Foundation’s Frontiers in Engineering New Faculty Fellow Award. Oakley is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

In this talk, Tai Lopez reminds us that everyone wants the good life, but not everyone gets the good life because not everyone is willing to do what it takes.

Elizabeth Amini is a social entrepreneur with a background in science. She learned data analysis while working as a scientist at JPL/NASA. Elizabeth earned a bachelors degree in Cognitive Science (the study of the brain) from Occidental College and an M.B.A. from University of Southern California. Her Anti-AgingGames.com business plan won the USC Business Plan contest as well as the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) award for promising new companies.

Anti-AgingGames.com features fun and easy brain stimulation games designed by Nolan Bushnell, the Founder of Atari, and a team of expert neurobehavioral scientists. Our system includes memory, concentration, focus, and relaxation games. Anti-AgingGames.com includes tips distilled from over 17,000 medical studies that teach how to potentially reduce the risk of early memory loss through lifestyle changes.

We are a socially responsible company: 20% of our pre-tax profits go into an Impact Fund to improve quality and length of life around the world by providing medicine, clean water access, and supplies to places in need, as well as focusing on Alzheimers, dementia, and stroke prevention research.

ABOUT TEDx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Karina Chapa speaks to the power of bilingualism and its ability to revolutionize education. In America, over 5 million students speak a language other than English at home, but regardless of the diversity of languages, only 20% of people are bilingual. Karina sheds light on the history of bilingualism in the United States and how we can move forward in today’s educational system.

Karina’s talk also looks into the neural science behind bilingualism and its positive effects on cognitive flexibility, creativity and problem solving skills. Karina Chapa is a courageous bilingual advocate who proudly serves more than 160,000 bilingual students in deep South Texas. She is an Ex-A-Tec originally from Monterrey, Mexico. She is currently the Language Proficiency, Biliteracy and Cultural Diversity Director. She is also the Legislative Chair for the Texas Association for Bilingual Education and the Parliamentarian for RGV-TABE. She has dedicated 18 years of her professional career to empowering bilingual education students, teachers, and administrators in the deep South Texas border. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx