我們生活在一個注意力分散的時代。但是生活中最明顯的似非而是的說法之一是：你最光明的未來依賴于你專注于現(xiàn)在的能力,。

By Jay Dixit

作者：Jay Dixit（杰伊·迪克西特）

A friend was walking in the desert when he found the telephone to God. The setting was Burning Man, an electronic arts and music festival for which 50,000 people descend on Black Rock City, Nevada, for eight days of "radical self-expression"—dancing, socializing, meditating, and debauchery.

一個朋友正行走在沙漠中時,，發(fā)現(xiàn)了通向上帝的電話。這個情形的背景是燒人節(jié)（Burning Man）,，一個電子藝術(shù)和音樂的節(jié)日,，50,000人涌入內(nèi)華達州黑巖市（Black Rock City, Nevada），以“激進的自我表現(xiàn)”的方式度過8天——跳舞,、社交,、冥想和縱情聲色。

A phone booth in the middle of the desert with a sign that said "Talk to God" was a surreal sight even at Burning Man. The idea was that you picked up the phone, and God—or someone claiming to be God—would be at the other end to ease your pain.

在沙漠中間有一個電話亭,，上面有一標牌寫著“與上帝通話”,，即使是在燒人節(jié)上，這也是一道超現(xiàn)實主義的風(fēng)景,。這個構(gòu)想是你拎起電話,，上帝——或聲稱是上帝的某個人——會在另一頭減輕你的痛苦。

So when God came on the line asking how he could help, my friend was ready. "How can I live more in the moment?" he asked. Too often, he felt, the beautiful moments of his life were drowned out by a cacophony of self-consciousness and anxiety. What could he do to hush the buzzing of his mind?

所以當上帝接通電話問他能幫到什么時,，我的朋友已準備好了,。“我如何能更多地生活在當下時刻？”他問,。他時常感到生活中的美好時刻被自我意識和焦慮的雜音淹沒,。怎么做才能使他腦海中的嗡嗡聲安靜下來？

"Breathe," replied a soothing male voice.

“呼吸,，”一個使人鎮(zhèn)靜的男聲回答道,。

My friend flinched at the tired new-age mantra, then reminded himself to keep an open mind. When God talks, you listen.

對這個老套的新時代咒語，我朋友退縮了,，然后他提醒自己要保持一個開放的心態(tài),。當上帝說話時，你聽,。

"Whenever you feel anxious about your future or your past, just breathe," continued God. "Try it with me a few times right now. Breathe in... breathe out." And despite himself, my friend began to relax.

“每當你對自己的未來或過去感到焦慮時,，只要呼吸,，”上帝繼續(xù)說。“現(xiàn)在試著和我一起做幾次,。吸入...呼出,。”我朋友不由自主地開始放松了。

You Are Not Your Thoughts

你不是你腦海里的念頭

Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what's past. "We're living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence," says Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace. We're always doing something, and we allow little time to practice stillness and calm.

生活在當下展開,，但我們常常讓當下溜走,。不經(jīng)意間沒有抓住時間，讓它匆匆流過,；在我們擔(dān)憂將來和反思過去時浪費我們生命中寶貴的分分秒秒,。“我們生活在一個大幅度地促成精神分裂、瓦解,、分散和脫散的世界,，”佛教學(xué)者B·艾倫·華萊士（B. Alan Wallace）說。我們總是在做一些事情,，很少留出時間來實行靜止和平靜,。

When we're at work, we fantasize about being on vacation; on vacation, we worry about the work piling up on our desks. We dwell on intrusive memories of the past or fret about what may or may not happen in the future. We don't appreciate the living present because our "monkey minds," as Buddhists call them, vault from thought to thought like monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

我們工作時幻想著在度假；度假時,，我們擔(dān)心堆積在辦公桌上的工作,。我們的注意力集中在闖進來的對過去的記憶或者為將來可能會或可能不會發(fā)生的事而煩惱。我們不重視當前的生活,，因為我們的如佛教徒所稱的“猿猴心”,，像猴子從一棵樹蕩到另一棵樹一樣，從一個念頭跳到另一個念頭,。

Most of us don't undertake our thoughts in awareness. Rather, our thoughts control us. "Ordinary thoughts course through our mind like a deafening waterfall," writes Jon Kabat-Zinn, the biomedical scientist who introduced meditation into mainstream medicine. In order to feel more in control of our minds and our lives, to find the sense of balance that eludes us, we need to step out of this current, to pause, and, as Kabat-Zinn puts it, to "rest in stillness—to stop doing and focus on just being."

我們大多數(shù)人不是有意識地開始我們的念頭,。相反地，我們的念頭控制我們,。把冥想引入主流醫(yī)學(xué)的生物醫(yī)學(xué)科學(xué)家喬·卡巴金（Jon Kabat-Zinn）寫道：“平常的念頭猶如一道震耳欲聾的瀑布奔流過我們的腦海,。”為了感到我們的心智和生活更多地處于控制之中，找到躲離我們的平衡感,，我們需要邁出這股洪流,、暫停下來，并且如卡巴金所說,，“保持靜止狀態(tài)——停止做并且只集中于存在,。”

We need to live more in the moment. Living in the moment—also called mindfulness—is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. When you become mindful, you realize that you are not your thoughts; you become an observer of your thoughts from moment to moment without judging them. Mindfulness involves being with your thoughts as they are, neither grasping at them nor pushing them away. Instead of letting your life go by without living it, you awaken to experience.

我們需要更多地活在當下?；钤诋斚隆步姓睢且环N對當下時刻積極的、開放的,、有意的關(guān)注狀態(tài),。當你變得正念時,，你認識到你不是你的念頭；你每時每刻都變成了你的念頭的觀察者,，并且對它們不予評判,。正念包括讓念頭保持原來的狀態(tài)，既不想抓住它們也不把它們推開,。不要讓生命流逝而沒有活過,，你要蘇醒過來去體驗。

Cultivating a nonjudgmental awareness of the present bestows a host of benefits. Mindfulness reduces stress, boosts immune functioning, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure, and helps patients cope with cancer. By alleviating stress, spending a few minutes a day actively focusing on living in the moment reduces the risk of heart disease. Mindfulness may even slow the progression of HIV.

培養(yǎng)對當下不予評判的意識帶來很多好處,。正念減輕壓力,、增強免疫機能、減少慢性疼痛,、降低血壓,，并幫助病人對抗癌癥。通過減輕壓力,、每天花幾分鐘時間積極地專注于活在當下減少罹患心臟病的風(fēng)險,。正念甚至可以減緩艾滋病毒的進展。

Mindful people are happier, more exuberant, more empathetic, and more secure. They have higher self-esteem and are more accepting of their own weaknesses. Anchoring awareness in the here and now reduces the kinds of impulsivity and reactivity that underlie depression, binge eating, and attention problems. Mindful people can hear negative feedback without feeling threatened. They fight less with their romantic partners and are more accommodating and less defensive. As a result, mindful couples have more satisfying relationships.

正念的人更幸福,、更愉悅,、更善解人意、更無憂無慮,。他們有更高尚的自尊,，并且更能接受自己的弱點。把意識錨定在此時此地減少種種引起沮喪,、暴飲暴食和注意力問題的沖動和反應(yīng),。正念的人可以聽到負面的回饋而不感到遭受威脅。他們不怎么與自己的情侶沖突,，更隨和而且不大處于防御狀態(tài),。結(jié)果是，正念的夫婦有更令人滿意的婚姻關(guān)系,。

Mindfulness is at the root of Buddhism, Taoism, and many Native-American traditions, not to mention yoga. It's why Thoreau went to Walden Pond; it's what Emerson and Whitman wrote about in their essays and poems.

正念是佛教,、道教和許多美洲原住民的教義的根本，更別說瑜伽了,。這就是為什么梭羅（Thoreau）去瓦爾登湖,；這就是愛默生（Emerson）和惠特曼（Whitman）在他們的論文和詩里所寫的。

"Everyone agrees it's important to live in the moment, but the problem is how," says Ellen Langer, a psychologist at Harvard and author of Mindfulness. "When people are not in the moment, they're not there to know that they're not there." Overriding the distraction reflex and awakening to the present takes intentionality and practice.

“每個人都同意活在當下很重要,，但問題是怎么做,，”哈佛大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家及《正念》（Mindfulness）一書的作者埃倫·蘭格（Ellen Langer）說。“當人們不在當下時，他們還沒有達到明白自己不在當下的地步,。”克服分心的本能反應(yīng)并覺醒到當下要有意向并練習(xí),。

Living in the moment involves a profound paradox: You can't pursue it for its benefits. That's because the expectation of reward launches a future-oriented mindset, which subverts the entire process. Instead, you just have to trust that the rewards will come. There are many paths to mindfulness—and at the core of each is a paradox. Ironically, letting go of what you want is the only way to get it. Here are a few tricks to help you along.

活在當下包含一個深奧的似非而是的論點：你不能為了它的好處而追求它。那是因為對回報的期望開啟了一個以未來為導(dǎo)向的心態(tài),，這攪亂了整個過程,。反之，你只須相信回報會來的,。有很多條路通向正念——每一條的核心都是一個似非而是的論點,。諷刺的是，放開你想要的是得到它的唯一方法,。這里有幾個訣竅助你前行,。

1: To improve your performance, stop thinking about it (unselfconsciousness).

1. 改進你的表現(xiàn)，停止思考（非自我意識）

I've never felt comfortable on a dance floor. My movements feel awkward. I feel like people are judging me. I never know what to do with my arms. I want to let go, but I can't, because I know I look ridiculous.

我從未在舞池里感到輕松過,。我的動作顯得笨拙,，我感到人們在評判我，我從不知道我的手臂該怎么做,。我想放開,，但我不能，因為我知道自己看起來很可笑,。

"Loosen up, no one's watching you," people always say. "Everyone's too busy worrying about themselves." So how come they always make fun of my dancing the next day?

“放松,，沒人在看你，”人們總是說,。“每個人都在忙著擔(dān)憂自己呢,。”那為什么第二天他們總是取笑我的舞蹈？

The dance world has a term for people like me: "absolute beginner." Which is why my dance teacher, Jessica Hayden, the owner of Shockra Studio in Manhattan, started at the beginning, sitting me down on a bench and having me tap my feet to the beat as Jay-Z thumped away in the background. We spent the rest of the class doing "isolations"—moving just our shoulders, ribs, or hips—to build "body awareness."

舞蹈界對像我這樣的人有一個術(shù)語：“完全初學(xué)者,。”這就是為什么我的舞蹈老師,、位于曼哈頓的肖克拉舞蹈室（Shockra Studio）的所有者杰西卡·海登（Jessica Hayden）在開始時叫我坐在長椅上，當杰斯（Jay-Z）在背景音樂中有節(jié)奏地跳動之時,，讓我合著節(jié)拍輕輕地踏著腳,。這節(jié)課余下的時間里我們做“分解動作”——只動我們的肩膀、肋骨或臀部——以建立“身體意識”,。

But even more important than body awareness, Hayden said, was present-moment awareness. "Be right here right now!" she'd say. "Just let go and let yourself be in the moment."

但是海登說,，比身體意識更重要的是當下時刻的意識。“就在此時此地,！”她會說,。“只是放開并讓自己處在當下時刻。”

That's the first paradox of living in the moment: Thinking too hard about what you're doing actually makes you do worse. If you're in a situation that makes you anxious—giving a speech, introducing yourself to a stranger, dancing—focusing on your anxiety tends to heighten it. "When I say, 'be here with me now,' I mean don't zone out or get too in-your-head—instead, follow my energy, my movements," says Hayden. "Focus less on what's going on in your mind and more on what's going on in the room, less on your mental chatter and more on yourself as part of something." To be most myself, I needed to focus on things outside myself, like the music or the people around me.

這是活在當下的第一個似非而是的論點：過多地考慮你正在做的事實際上使你做得更差,。如果你處在一個使你焦慮不安的情形中——發(fā)表演講,、向陌生人介紹自己,、跳舞——集中注意力在你的焦慮上往往使你更加焦慮。“當我說‘現(xiàn)在跟我一起來’時,，我的意思是不要走神或腦子里想太多——而不是仿效我的活力,、我的動作，”海登說,。“少關(guān)注你的頭腦里在進行著什么，多關(guān)注房間里正在進行著什么,；少關(guān)注你腦子里喋喋不休的談話,，多關(guān)注作為某些事物一部分的你自己的本身。”為最大程度地做我自己,，我需要關(guān)注我自身以外的事,，像音樂或我周圍的人。

Indeed, mindfulness blurs the line between self and other, explains Michael Kernis, a psychologist at the University of Georgia. "When people are mindful, they're more likely to experience themselves as part of humanity, as part of a greater universe." That's why highly mindful people such as Buddhist monks talk about being "one with everything."

喬治亞大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家邁克爾·克尼斯（Michael Kernis）解釋說,，事實上正念模糊了自我和他人之間的界線,。“當人們處在正念狀態(tài)時，他們更可能把自己當作人類的一部分,、更廣闊的宇宙的一部分來體驗,。”這就是為什么高度正念的人，如佛教僧侶,，談?wù)?#8220;與萬物合一”,。

By reducing self-consciousness, mindfulness allows you to witness the passing drama of feelings, social pressures, even of being esteemed or disparaged by others without taking their evaluations personally, explain Richard Ryan and K. W. Brown of the University of Rochester. When you focus on your immediate experience without attaching it to your self-esteem, unpleasant events like social rejection—or your so-called friends making fun of your dancing—seem less threatening.

羅徹斯特大學(xué)的理查德·瑞安（Richard Ryan）和K·W·布朗（K. W. Brown）解釋說，通過減少自我意識,，正念使你能夠觀察心情上短暫的戲劇性變化,、社交壓力、甚至被他人不以個人態(tài)度評價而受到尊重或貶損,。當你把注意力集中在你目前的體驗上,，而不把它與你的自尊相聯(lián)系，不愉快的如社會排斥之類的事件——或者你所謂的朋友取笑你的舞蹈——似乎不那么具有威脅性,。

Focusing on the present moment also forces you to stop overthinking. "Being present-minded takes away some of that self-evaluation and getting lost in your mind—and in the mind is where we make the evaluations that beat us up," says Stephen Schueller, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Instead of getting stuck in your head and worrying, you can let yourself go.

關(guān)注當下時刻同樣也促使你停止想得過多,。賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家斯蒂芬·舒爾勒（Stephen Schueller）說：“當下意識強減少一些那種自我評價以及迷失在頭腦里——頭腦是我們做出把自己打敗的評價的地方。”不要困在自己的頭腦里擔(dān)憂,，你可以使自己放開,。

2: To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present (savoring).

2. 遠離對未來的擔(dān)憂，關(guān)注當下（品味）

In her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about a friend who, whenever she sees a beautiful place, exclaims in a near panic, "It's so beautiful here! I want to come back here someday!" "It takes all my persuasive powers," writes Gilbert, "to try to convince her that she is already here.”

伊麗莎白·吉爾伯特（Elizabeth Gilbert）在她的自傳《吃,，祈禱和愛》（Eat, Pray, Love）里寫到一個朋友,，無論何時她看到一個美麗的地方，都要近乎恐慌地大喊：“這里這么美,！有一天我要回到這里來,！”“用了我所有的說服力,，”吉爾伯特寫道，“試圖使她確信她已經(jīng)在這里了,。”

Often, we're so trapped in thoughts of the future or the past that we forget to experience, let alone enjoy, what's happening right now. We sip coffee and think, "This is not as good as what I had last week." We eat a cookie and think, "I hope I don't run out of cookies."

我們常常過于陷入對未來或過去的思緒,，以致于忘記體驗，更別說享受當前發(fā)生的事,。我們小口喝著咖啡想：“這不如我上星期喝的好,。”我們吃著一塊餅干想：“我希望餅干不要吃光了。”

Instead, relish or luxuriate in whatever you're doing at the present moment—what psychologists call savoring. "This could be while you're eating a pastry, taking a shower, or basking in the sun. You could be savoring a success or savoring music," explains Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California at Riverside and author of The How of Happiness. "Usually it involves your senses."

取而代之的是,，欣賞或縱情享受你在當下時刻所做的任何事——心理學(xué)家稱之為品味,。“這可能發(fā)生在你吃一塊糕點、淋浴或曬太陽的時候,。你可以品味一個成功或品味音樂,，”加州大學(xué)濱河分校的心理學(xué)家及《幸福的方法》（The How of Happiness）一書的作者索尼婭·柳博米爾斯基（Sonja Lyubomirsky）解釋道。“通常這涉及到你的感覺,。”

When subjects in a study took a few minutes each day to actively savor something they usually hurried through—eating a meal, drinking a cup of tea, walking to the bus—they began experiencing more joy, happiness, and other positive emotions, and fewer depressive symptoms, Schueller found.

舒爾勒發(fā)現(xiàn),，當一項研究中的研究對象每天花幾分鐘時間積極品味某些他們通常匆匆做完的事——吃一餐飯、喝一杯茶,、走向公共汽車——他們開始體驗更多的快樂,、幸福和其他積極的情緒，而少有郁悶的癥狀,。

Why does living in the moment make people happier—not just at the moment they're tasting molten chocolate pooling on their tongue, but lastingly? Because most negative thoughts concern the past or the future. As Mark Twain said, "I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." The hallmark of depression and anxiety is catastrophizing—worrying about something that hasn't happened yet and might not happen at all. Worry, by its very nature, means thinking about the future—and if you hoist yourself into awareness of the present moment, worrying melts away.

為什么活在當下使人們更幸?！麄儾粌H在當下時刻品嘗積聚在他們舌頭上的溶化的巧克力，而且還回味無窮,？因為大多負面的思想關(guān)系到過去或未來,。如馬克·吐溫（Mark Twain）所說：“我知道很多煩惱，但它們大多從未發(fā)生過,。”沮喪和焦慮的特點是災(zāi)難化——擔(dān)心某些還未發(fā)生的和根本不可能發(fā)生的事,。擔(dān)心，由于其本身的性質(zhì),，意味著考慮未來——如果你把自己提升到當下時刻的意識里,，擔(dān)心就化為烏有了。

The flip side of worrying is ruminating, thinking bleakly about events in the past. And again, if you press your focus into the now, rumination ceases. Savoring forces you into the present, so you can't worry about things that aren't there.

擔(dān)心的另一面是反思,，無望地想過去的事,。再一次，如果你竭力將自己的注意力放在當下,，反思就停止了,。品味促使你進入當下，因此你不會擔(dān)心不存在的事,。

3: If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present (breathe).

3. 如果你想與你的另一半有一個未來,，處于當下（呼吸）

Living consciously with alert interest has a powerful effect on interpersonal life. Mindfulness actually inoculates people against aggressive impulses, say Whitney Heppner and Michael Kernis of the University of Georgia. In a study they conducted, each subject was told that other subjects were forming a group—and taking a vote on whether she could join. Five minutes later, the experimenter announced the results—either the subject had gotten the least number of votes and been rejected or she'd been accepted. Beforehand, half the subjects had undergone a mindfulness exercise in which each slowly ate a raisin, savoring its taste and texture and focusing on each sensation.

帶著敏捷的好奇心有意識地生活對人際生活有強大的影響,。喬治亞大學(xué)的惠特尼·赫普納（Whitney Heppner）和邁克爾·克尼斯說，正念實際上是給人們注射預(yù)防好斗的沖動的疫苗,。在他們進行的一項研究中,，每一個研究對象都被告知其他研究對象正組成一個團體——并且正在投票決定她是否能加入。5分鐘后,，研究者宣布結(jié)果——研究對象要么得到最少的票數(shù)并被拒絕要么被接受,。一半的研究對象預(yù)先經(jīng)過了一項正念訓(xùn)練，在這項正念訓(xùn)練里每個人都慢慢地吃一粒葡萄干,，品味它的味道和質(zhì)感,，把注意力集中在每一個感覺上。

Later, in what they thought was a separate experiment, subjects had the opportunity to deliver a painful blast of noise to another person. Among subjects who hadn't eaten the raisin, those who were told they'd been rejected by the group became aggressive, inflicting long and painful sonic blasts without provocation. Stung by social rejection, they took it out on other people.

稍后,，在他們認為是一個獨立分開的試驗里，研究對象有機會向其他人爆發(fā)一通痛苦的大喊大叫,。在沒有吃葡萄干的研究對象里,，那些被告知被團體拒絕了的人在沒有受到刺激的情況下變得好斗，造成持續(xù)時間長而痛苦的快速爆發(fā),。他們遭到社會排斥而感到痛苦,，就拿其他人出氣。

But among those who'd eaten the raisin first, it didn't matter whether they'd been ostracized or embraced. Either way, they were serene and unwilling to inflict pain on others—exactly like those who were given word of social acceptance.

但是在那些先吃了葡萄干的人中間,，他們是受到排斥或受到歡迎都沒關(guān)系,。在任一種情況下，他們都很平靜,，不愿對他人造成痛苦——完全像那些收到通知被社會接受的人,。

How does being in the moment make you less aggressive? "Mindfulness decreases ego involvement," explains Kernis. "So people are less likely to link their self-esteem to events and more likely to take things at face value." Mindfulness also makes people feel more connected to other people—that empathic feeling of being "at one with the universe."

處于當下時刻如何使你更少地具有侵略性？“正念減少自我牽連,，”克尼斯解釋道,。“所以人們不太可能把他們的自尊與事件聯(lián)系起來，而是更可能以表面現(xiàn)象接受事物,。”正念也使人們感到與他人關(guān)系更密切——那種“與宇宙合一”的心意相通的感覺,。

Mindfulness boosts your awareness of how you interpret and react to what's happening in your mind. It increases the gap between emotional impulse and action, allowing you to do what Buddhists call recognizing the spark before the flame. Focusing on the present reboots your mind so you can respond thoughtfully rather than automatically. Instead of lashing out in anger, backing down in fear, or mindlessly indulging a passing craving, you get the opportunity to say to yourself, "This is the emotion I'm feeling. How should I respond?"

正念增強你如何解釋你頭腦里發(fā)生的事并做出反應(yīng)的意識。它加大情感沖動與行動之間的差距,，可以使你去做佛教徒所說的在烈焰燃燒前先認出火星,。關(guān)注當下重新啟動你的心智，因而你能夠考慮周到地作出反應(yīng)而不是機械地反應(yīng),。不是憤怒地猛烈抨擊,、恐懼地讓步或盲目地縱容一個一閃而過的欲望，反之你有機會對自己說：“這是我正在感覺到的情緒,，我該如何回應(yīng),？”

Mindfulness increases self-control; since you're not getting thrown by threats to your self-esteem, you're better able to regulate your behavior. That's the other irony: Inhabiting your own mind more fully has a powerful effect on your interactions with others.

正念增加自我控制,；既然你不受對自尊的威脅困擾，你能更好地控制自己的行為,。這是另一件具有諷刺意味的事：更加完全地處于自己的心智之中對你與他人打交道有巨大的影響,。

Of course, during a flare-up with your significant other it's rarely practical to duck out and savor a raisin. But there's a simple exercise you can do anywhere, anytime to induce mindfulness: Breathe. As it turns out, the advice my friend got in the desert was spot-on. There's no better way to bring yourself into the present moment than to focus on your breathing. Because you're placing your awareness on what's happening right now, you propel yourself powerfully into the present moment. For many, focusing on the breath is the preferred method of orienting themselves to the now—not because the breath has some magical property, but because it's always there with you.

當然，在與你的另一半大發(fā)雷霆時,，避開去品味一粒葡萄干是很不實際的,。但有一個你隨時隨地都能做的簡單練習(xí)來激發(fā)正念：呼吸。如結(jié)果所示,，我朋友在沙漠里得來的建議是正確的,。沒有比關(guān)注你的呼吸更好的方法來把你自己帶到當下時刻。因為你把意識放在當前正發(fā)生的事上,，你把自己有力地推進當下時刻,。對很多人來說，關(guān)注呼吸是使自己集中于當下的首選方法——不是因為呼吸有某種神秘的特性,，而是因為它總是與你相隨相伴,。

4: To make the most of time, lose track of it (flow).

4. 充分利用時間，忘記時間（心流）

Perhaps the most complete way of living in the moment is the state of total absorption psychologists call flow. Flow occurs when you're so engrossed in a task that you lose track of everything else around you. Flow embodies an apparent paradox: How can you be living in the moment if you're not even aware of the moment? The depth of engagement absorbs you powerfully, keeping attention so focused that distractions cannot penetrate. You focus so intensely on what you're doing that you're unaware of the passage of time. Hours can pass without you noticing.

可能活在當下最完整的方法是心理學(xué)家稱之為心流的全身心投入的狀態(tài),。心流出現(xiàn)在你全神貫注于一項工作因而忘了周圍其他的一切時,。心流具體表達了一個顯而易見的自相矛盾的論點：如果你連當下時刻都沒意識到，你還怎么能生活在當下,？全神貫注的程度之深有力地占據(jù)了你的全部注意力,，注意力保持得如此集中使得分心的事不能穿透進來。你極其關(guān)注正在做的事,，以致于沒有覺察到時間的流逝,。可能幾個小時過去了,，你還沒注意到,。

Flow is an elusive state. As with romance or sleep, you can't just will yourself into it—all you can do is set the stage, creating the optimal conditions for it to occur.

心流是一個難以捉摸的狀態(tài)。正如浪漫或睡眠一樣,，你不能只是自己希望進入其中——你所能做的就是做好準備,，為它的出現(xiàn)創(chuàng)造最佳的條件。

The first requirement for flow is to set a goal that's challenging but not unattainable—something you have to marshal your resources and stretch yourself to achieve. The task should be matched to your ability level—not so difficult that you'll feel stressed, but not so easy that you'll get bored. In flow, you're firing on all cylinders to rise to a challenge.

心流的第一個必要條件是設(shè)定一個具有挑戰(zhàn)性但不是難以達到的目標——你必須匯集你的資源并盡最大的努力才能完成的事,。任務(wù)應(yīng)該與你的能力水平相匹配——不要困難到使你感到壓力,，但也不要容易到使你感到無聊。在心流狀態(tài),，你竭盡全力地振奮精神迎接挑戰(zhàn),。

To set the stage for flow, goals need to be clearly defined so that you always know your next step. "It could be playing the next bar in a scroll of music, or finding the next foothold if you're a rock climber, or turning the page if you're reading a good novel," says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who first defined the concept of flow. "At the same time, you're kind of anticipating."

為給心流做準備，目標要明確以便你始終清楚自己的下一步,。“可能是彈奏一卷樂譜的下一小節(jié),；或者,，如果你是一個攀巖者，找到下一個落腳點,；或者,，如果你正在讀一本好的小說，翻動書頁,，”第一個定義心流概念的心理學(xué)家米哈里·塞克斯哈里（Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi）說,。“同時，你還有些期待,。”

You also need to set up the task in such a way that you receive direct and immediate feedback; with your successes and failures apparent, you can seamlessly adjust your behavior. A climber on the mountain knows immediately if his foothold is secure; a pianist knows instantly when she's played the wrong note.

此外,，你還必須以能夠直接并即時收到反饋的方式設(shè)定任務(wù)；由于成與敗一目了然,，你可以毫無遺漏地調(diào)整你的行為,。在山上的登山者立即知道他的落腳點是否安全；一個鋼琴演奏者即刻知道她何時彈錯了音符,。

As your attentional focus narrows, self-consciousness evaporates. You feel as if your awareness merges with the action you're performing. You feel a sense of personal mastery over the situation, and the activity is so intrinsically rewarding that although the task is difficult, action feels effortless.

隨著你注意力的焦點縮小,，自我意識就消失了。你感到好像你的意識與你正在進行的行動合二為一了,。你感到一種對形勢的自我掌控感，而且這種行為太有內(nèi)在益處了,，所以盡管任務(wù)艱難,，但行動卻毫不費力。

5: If something is bothering you, move toward it rather than away from it (acceptance).

5. 如果某事使你煩惱,，迎面而上而不要逃離（接受）

We all have pain in our lives, whether it's the ex we still long for, the jackhammer snarling across the street, or the sudden wave of anxiety when we get up to give a speech. If we let them, such irritants can distract us from the enjoyment of life. Paradoxically, the obvious response—focusing on the problem in order to combat and overcome it—often makes it worse, argues Stephen Hayes, a psychologist at the University of Nevada.

我們在生活中都有痛苦,，無論是我們?nèi)匀粦涯畹那叭巍⒃诮謱γ婧鸾械氖痔徙@,、還是當我們站起身發(fā)表演講時突然而至的一陣焦慮,。如果我們允許，這種刺激能使我們從生活的快樂中轉(zhuǎn)移出去,。內(nèi)華達大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家斯蒂芬·海斯（Stephen Hayes）指出,，荒謬的是，容易感覺到的反應(yīng)——為了對抗和征服而把注意力集中在問題上——經(jīng)常使問題變得更糟,。

The mind's natural tendency when faced with pain is to attempt to avoid it—by trying to resist unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations. When we lose a love, for instance, we fight our feelings of heartbreak. As we get older, we work feverishly to recapture our youth. When we're sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for a painful root canal, we wish we were anywhere but there. But in many cases, negative feelings and situations can't be avoided—and resisting them only magnifies the pain.

面對痛苦時心智自然的傾向是企圖逃避——通過試圖抵抗不愉快的思想,、心情和感覺。例如,，當我們失戀時,，我們與心碎的悲痛感抗爭。隨著我們年紀越來越大,，我們狂熱地工作以重獲青春,。當我們坐在牙醫(yī)的椅子上等待一次痛苦的根管治療時,，我們希望自己在其他任何地方而不是這里。但是在許多情況下,，負面的感覺和情形是免不了的——與之對抗只會放大痛苦,。

The problem is we have not just primary emotions but also secondary ones—emotions about other emotions. We get stressed out and then think, "I wish I weren't so stressed out." The primary emotion is stress over your workload. The secondary emotion is feeling, "I hate being stressed."

問題是我們不僅有一級情緒，還有二級情緒——關(guān)于其他情緒的情緒,。我們感到壓力太大,，然后想：“我希望壓力不要這么大。”一級情緒是你工作量上的壓力,，二級情緒是感到：“我討厭有壓力,。”

It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is acceptance—letting the emotion be there. That is, being open to the way things are in each moment without trying to manipulate or change the experience—without judging it, clinging to it, or pushing it away. The present moment can only be as it is. Trying to change it only frustrates and exhausts you. Acceptance relieves you of this needless extra suffering.

不必這樣。解決方案是接受——讓情緒就待在那兒,。即,，對事物在每一時刻的情形持以開放態(tài)度，不要試圖操縱或改變體驗——不評判,、不固守,、不排斥。當下時刻只能是它現(xiàn)在的樣子,。試圖改變它只會使你灰心喪氣和精疲力竭,。全盤接受為你解除了這個不必要的額外痛苦。

Suppose you've just broken up with your girlfriend or boyfriend; you're heartbroken, overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and longing. You could try to fight these feelings, essentially saying, "I hate feeling this way; I need to make this feeling go away." But by focusing on the pain—being sad about being sad—you only prolong the sadness. You do yourself a favor by accepting your feelings, saying instead, "I've just had a breakup. Feelings of loss are normal and natural. It's OK for me to feel this way."

假設(shè)你剛與女朋友或男朋友分手,，你悲痛欲絕,，被悲傷和思念的心情淹沒。你可能試著與這些心情抗爭,，本性使然地說：“我討厭感到這樣,；我必須讓這種心情走開。”但是把注意力集中在痛苦上——為悲傷而悲傷——你只是延長了悲傷,。為自己好,，接受你的心情，改說：“我剛分手,，失去的心情是正常而自然的,。感到這樣，對我來說還行,。”

Acceptance of an unpleasant state doesn't mean you don't have goals for the future. It just means you accept that certain things are beyond your control. The sadness, stress, pain, or anger is there whether you like it or not. Better to embrace the feeling as it is.

接受不愉快的狀態(tài)并不意味著你對未來沒有目標,，只是意味著你接受有些事不是你能控制的。不管你喜歡不喜歡,，悲傷,、壓力、痛苦或憤怒都在那兒。還是照原樣擁抱這些感覺比較好,。

Nor does acceptance mean you have to like what's happening. "Acceptance of the present moment has nothing to do with resignation," writes Kabat-Zinn. "Acceptance doesn't tell you what to do. What happens next, what you choose to do; that has to come out of your understanding of this moment."

接受也不意味著你必須喜歡正在發(fā)生的事,。“接受當下時刻與順從無關(guān)，”卡巴金寫道,。“接受不告訴你做什么,。下一步發(fā)生什么，你選擇做什么,，這些都得來自你對當下時刻的理解,。”

If you feel anxiety, for instance, you can accept the feeling, label it as anxiety—then direct your attention to something else instead. You watch your thoughts, perceptions, and emotions flit through your mind without getting involved. Thoughts are just thoughts. You don't have to believe them and you don't have to do what they say.

比如，如果你感到焦慮,，你可以接受這種感覺,，將其標示為焦慮——然后把注意力轉(zhuǎn)向其他事。你看著你的念頭,、感知和情緒掠過你的頭腦而并不牽涉其中,。念頭只是念頭，你不必相信它們,，也不必按它們所說的去做,。

6: Know that you don't know (engagement).

6. 知道你不知道（全神貫注）

You've probably had the experience of driving along a highway only to suddenly realize you have no memory or awareness of the previous 15 minutes. Maybe you even missed your exit. You just zoned out; you were somewhere else, and it's as if you've suddenly woken up at the wheel. Or maybe it happens when you're reading a book: "I know I just read that page, but I have no idea what it said."

你或許有過這樣的經(jīng)歷：你正沿著高速公路開車，不料突然間意識到你對之前的15分鐘沒有任何記憶或意識,?？赡苣闵踔铃e過了你的出口。你只是走神了,，神游到了別的什么地方,，而且好像你突然間意識到了車輪子?；蛘呖赡芩谀阏谧x一本書時發(fā)生：“我知道我剛讀了那一頁,，但我完全不知道它說了什么,。”

These autopilot moments are what Harvard's Ellen Langer calls mindlessness—times when you're so lost in your thoughts that you aren't aware of your present experience. As a result, life passes you by without registering on you. The best way to avoid such blackouts, Langer says, is to develop the habit of always noticing new things in whatever situation you're in. That process creates engagement with the present moment and releases a cascade of other benefits. Noticing new things puts you emphatically in the here and now.

這些自動駕駛的時刻是哈佛的埃倫·蘭格所稱的失神——你太沉迷于自己的思緒以致于沒有意識到當前的體驗時所度過的時間,。結(jié)果，生活從你身邊經(jīng)過而沒有給你留下任何印象,。蘭格說,，避免這種意識中斷的最好方法是：培養(yǎng)無論在何種情形下總要觀察新事物的習(xí)慣。這個過程引起對當下時刻的全神貫注并引出一連串的其他好處,。觀察新事物使你著重于此時此地,。

We become mindless, Langer explains, because once we think we know something, we stop paying attention to it. We go about our morning commute in a haze because we've trod the same route a hundred times before. But if we see the world with fresh eyes, we realize almost everything is different each time—the pattern of light on the buildings, the faces of the people, even the sensations and feelings we experience along the way. Noticing imbues each moment with a new, fresh quality. Some people have termed this "beginner's mind."

蘭格解釋說，我們變得失神,，是因為一旦我們認為我們知道某事,，我們就停止對其的注意。我們在薄霧中行走在早晨的通勤路程上,，因為我們以前在同一條路上走過一百次了,。但是如果我們用全新的眼睛看這個世界,，我們認識到幾乎每件事每一次都是不同的——照到建筑物上的光的圖案、人的臉,、甚至我們沿途體驗到的感覺和心情,。觀察的行為使每一刻充滿著一個新的、未經(jīng)歷過的特性,。有些人把這叫做“初心,。”

By acquiring the habit of noticing new things, says Langer, we recognize that the world is actually changing constantly. We really don't know how the espresso is going to taste or how the commute will be—or at least, we're not sure.

蘭格說，通過養(yǎng)成觀察新事物的習(xí)慣,，我們認識到世界實際上一直在變化,。我們真的不知道愛斯普利索咖啡的味道將會如何或者通勤路程將如何——或者至少，我們不確定,。

Orchestra musicians who are instructed to make their performance new in subtle ways not only enjoy themselves more but audiences actually prefer those performances. "When we're there at the moment, making it new, it leaves an imprint in the music we play, the things we write, the art we create, in everything we do," says Langer. "Once you recognize that you don't know the things you've always taken for granted, you set out of the house quite differently. It becomes an adventure in noticing—and the more you notice, the more you see." And the more excitement you feel.

得到指示要以微妙的方式更新演奏的管弦樂隊的音樂家們不僅自己更快樂,，而且觀眾實際上也更喜歡這些演奏。“那一刻當我們在那里時,，推陳出新在我們彈奏的樂曲里,、在我們寫的東西里、在我們創(chuàng)造的藝術(shù)品里,、在我們做的每一件事上留下烙印,。”蘭格說。“一旦認識到你并不熟悉一直以來想當然的東西,，你離開劇場時會感到完全不同,。它成了一個發(fā)現(xiàn)的奇遇——你發(fā)現(xiàn)的越多，你看到的就越多,。”而且感到的興奮就越多,。

Don't Just Do Something, Sit There

不要只是做事，坐在那兒

Living a consistently mindful life takes effort. But mindfulness itself is easy. "People set the goal of being mindful for the next 20 minutes or the next two weeks, then they think mindfulness is difficult because they have the wrong yardstick," says Jay Winner, a California-based family physician and author of Take the Stress out of Your Life. "The correct yardstick is just for this moment."

過一種始終如一的正念生活需要努力,。但正念本身是容易的,。“人們設(shè)定目標，要在接下來的20分鐘或2個星期內(nèi)保持正念,，然后他們認為正念很難,，原因是他們的準繩是錯的。”一位加州的家庭醫(yī)生及《趕走你生活中的壓力》（Take the Stress out of Your Life）一書的作者杰伊·威納（Jay Winner）說,。“正確的準繩只是這一刻,。”

Mindfulness is the only intentional, systematic activity that is not about trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, explains Kabat-Zinn. It is simply a matter of realizing where you already are. A cartoon from The New Yorker sums it up: Two monks are sitting side by side, meditating. The younger one is giving the older one a quizzical look, to which the older one responds, "Nothing happens next. This is it."

卡巴金解釋說，正念是唯一一個不準備試著提升你自己或到達其他任何地方的有意的,、系統(tǒng)的行為,。它只不過是意識到你已經(jīng)在什么地方的一件事。《紐約客》（The New Yorker）上的一個漫畫對它作了概括：兩個和尚并排坐著,，在沉思,。年輕的那個給年長的那個一個探詢的目光，對此,，年長的那個回應(yīng)說：“接下來什么事都不發(fā)生,。就是這樣。”

You can become mindful at any moment just by paying attention to your immediate experience. You can do it right now. What's happening this instant? Think of yourself as an eternal witness, and just observe the moment. What do you see, hear, smell? It doesn't matter how it feels—pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad—you roll with it because it's what's present; you're not judging it. And if you notice your mind wandering, bring yourself back. Just say to yourself, "Now. Now. Now."

只要把注意力放在即刻的體驗上,，你可以在任何時刻變得正念,。你馬上就能這么做。在這一刻正在發(fā)生什么事,？把自己看作是一個永恒的觀察者,，并且只觀察這一時刻。你看到什么,？聽到什么,？聞到什么？感覺如何并不重要——愉快或不愉快,、好或壞——你與它一起向前運轉(zhuǎn),，因為它是當前的事物；你不是在對它作出評判,。而且如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在胡思亂想,，把自己拉回來。只要對自己說：“現(xiàn)在,，現(xiàn)在,，現(xiàn)在。”

Here's the most fundamental paradox of all: Mindfulness isn't a goal, because goals are about the future, but you do have to set the intention of paying attention to what's happening at the present moment. As you read the words printed on this page, as your eyes distinguish the black squiggles on white paper, as you feel gravity anchoring you to the planet, wake up. Become aware of being alive. And breathe. As you draw your next breath, focus on the rise of your abdomen on the in-breath, the stream of heat through your nostrils on the out-breath. If you're aware of that feeling right now, as you're reading this, you're living in the moment. Nothing happens next. It's not a destination. This is it. You're already there.

這是所有似非而是的論點中最基本的：正念不是一個目標,，因為目標是關(guān)于未來的,，但是你確實必須設(shè)立關(guān)注當下時刻正在發(fā)生的事的意念。在你讀印在這一頁上的文字時,，在你的眼睛分辨出白紙上黑色的花體字時,，在你感到地心引力把你固定在地球上時，醒醒,。知道自己活著,。并且呼吸,。在你吸入下一口氣時,，吸氣時注意腹部的隆起，呼氣時注意通過你鼻孔的熱流,。在你讀本文之時,，如果你現(xiàn)在就明白那種感覺，你就是正活在當下。接下來什么事都不發(fā)生,。它不是一個目的,。就是這樣。你已經(jīng)在那里了,。