成功冥想的十个秘诀

虽然听过许多冥想的好处，但你尝试过冥想吗？我的初次冥想经历是失败的。我只是静静坐了15分钟，尝试着什么都不想。然而，我大概只坚持了5秒钟，之后就开始想晚餐吃什么，我应该打个电话给妈妈，我要把汽车送去保养之类的事情。回过神来，我有点气恼自己注意力不集中而去想东想西了，我重新让自己静下来心无杂念。可是，好几次我又神游了。

这些是我总结的小窍门，它们使我更容易开始一次真正的冥想。

1.找一个安静之处。关掉电视、收音机、手机、邮箱，确保没有什么东西可以打扰到你。

Start with 5 minutes. I found a 15 minute meditation a little too long to start off with. Instead I backed off down to 5 minutes and found that a much more manageable starting point. 

2.冥想5分钟。我认为15分钟对于初学者来说太久了一点，而5分钟则恰到好处。

Sit Comfortably. I made the mistake of sitting cross legged on the floor without cushions. My ankle put pressure on my other leg’s shin bone which was a small ache to begin with but eventually grew into a nasty pain. I now sit naturally on a chair (trying not to slouch) or cross legged on the floor with some pillows. 

3.坐得舒适。我当初不垫垫子盘腿而坐绝对是个错误的决定。起初我的脚踝咯着胫骨有一丝轻微的疼痛，而后愈演愈烈，疼痛感越来越强。现在我很自然的坐在椅子上但尽量不懒散，或者交叉腿坐在垫着垫子的地上。

Adjust if Uncomfortable. Trying to ignore a small ache until it grows into a pain is just pointless. The pain will scream for your attention and continually interrupt your concentration. So instead, adjust your seating. After you’ve meditated a few times you’ll learn how to sit in a way that will keep you comfortable for the duration of your meditation and so you won’t have to adjust any more. 

4.确保舒适。不要等到轻微的疼痛变得不可忍受时才调整姿势。疼痛感会让你冥想时分心，扰乱你的注意力。所以，适时调整你的姿势。经过几次冥想之后，你会找到自己合适的坐姿，让你在整个冥想过程中都感到舒适而不需要调整什么。

Loosen Up. I sometimes carry a lot of tension that I’m not aware of until I focus on relaxing. I wear glasses and I’ve found that I have tension in my ears to hold my glasses in place. Weird! To relax, I scrunch up my shoulders to my ears and then slowly let them fall down. I feel the muscles in my face relax. I relax my cheeks, my mouth, my shoulders a little more. Loosen my arms. Feel my hands get heavy. Oh, and I also take off my glasses.  

5.放松肌肉。有时候我无意识中肌肉绷得很紧，直到我开始集中注意力放松的时候才意识到这点。我耳朵处肌肉就绷紧了，否则它们架不住我的眼镜。不可思议！为了达到彻底的放松，我把耸到与耳朵大致相平的位置，然后慢慢的把肩膀松弛下来。我感到我脸部的肌肉放松了。我又一点一点逐渐放松我的脸颊、嘴巴、肩膀。手臂也放松之后，我竟然感到我的手有沉重感。当然，我把眼镜摘了。

Close Your Eyes. I find closing my eyes entirely works for me. Others have had success with keeping their eyes half open but I find that I just end up thinking about what I’m looking at. 

6.闭上眼睛。我发现闭上眼睛对我来说的确很有效。别人也许认为微闭眼睛更容易进入冥想状态，而我更喜欢闭上眼睛不看其他东西。

Don’t Think of Nothing. It’s a mistake to try and fight thoughts and force yourself to “think of nothing”. If you haven’t meditated before you may not be aware that you’re not really in control of your thoughts. If you’re not in control you’re going to have a really hard time trying to control your mind by thinking of nothing. 

7.别什么都不想。我之前想要逼迫自己“什么都不想”的想法是错误的。如果你还没有意识到事实上自己并不能控制自己的想法，那说明你还没有真正开始冥想。如果你不能控制自己的想法，那想要达到“什么都不想”的境界会很困难。

Notice Your Body. Focus your attention by noticing everything you can about how your body feels. Start at the top of your head and focus your attention on your face, your eyes, the coolness of air when you breathe in, the warmth when you breathe out, the tension in your face, and so on. Move your attention down your body towards your feet and focus on a part of your body and just notice how everything feels. 

8.注意自己的身体。把注意力集中在你身体感觉上。首先把注意力集中到头顶，接着是脸、眼睛、你吸入的微凉空气、呼出的温热气体、你脸部的肌肉等等。把注意力一点一点往下移直到双脚，然后聚焦到你身体的一个部位，感受身体的感觉。

Redirect Thoughts. If you’re like me then it won’t be too long before your mind will start to wonder. That’s okay and should be expected! It’s a natural part of the process. When you can catch your mind wondering, pay attention to the thought. Try not to get engaged thinking the thought but take a step back and notice what you were thinking of and how you feel. After you’ve noticed what you were thinking redirect your attention back to your your body. Don’t get angry or frustrated. Just notice your body, notice the thought, notice your body, … This ebb and flow is all a part of the deal. 

9.改变想法。如果你跟着我做，那么不久之后你就会惊讶变化的发生。别紧张，那正是预料之中的事，说明你在一点点进步。如果你能感觉到你脑袋中的疑惑，仔细体会那种感觉。不要忙着思索，而要回想一下思考时的感觉。注意到你到底在思索些什么之后再把注意力放到自己的身体上来。不要生气或者沮丧，你要做的，仅仅是把注意力集中到你的身体，到你的想法，再回到身体……如此循环往复正是冥想渐入佳境的一个步骤。

Notice Your Breath. If you’ve done the inventory of how your body feels and still have more time left then redirect your attention to your breath. Notice how deeply you breathe, what your nostrils feel like when you breathe in, how they feel breathing out, how much air is in your lungs, how fast you’re breathing, and so on.

10.调整你的呼吸。如果你已经对自己身体的感觉非常熟悉，并且游刃有余，那试着把注意力放到你的呼吸上来。感受自己的呼吸有多深，感受鼻子吸气和呼气时的感觉，感受肺里吸入的空气量，感受自己呼吸的速率，这一切一切都值得你的注意。