pay attention to my breath and when my mind wandered, to bring it back. The instruction was simple enough

專注在呼吸而且當心思已經放空時，盡快回神過來。方法很簡單又明確

but I was missing something really important. So why is it so hard to pay attention?

但是我錯過了一些重要的事情。為什麼很難去專心靜坐呢？

It turns out that we're fighting one of the most evolutionarily conserved learning processes

原來我們面對的是近年來已經在科學上被證實過，最先進的「保守的學習過程」

currently known in science. This reward-based learning process is called positive and negative

之一。這個獎勵的學習過程在正面以及負面

reinforcement, and basically goes like this: we see some food that looks good. Calories! Survival!

都會被放大的，但是基本上是這樣：我們看到食物就想到卡路里，要吃才能活下去啦！

We eat the food, we taste it, it tastes good. Our bodies send a signal to our brain that

我們吃食物，品嚐它，嚐起來還真不錯。我們的身體像大腦傳遞一個訊號

says remember what you're eating and where you found it. See food, eat food, feel good, repeat.

說：記得你吃的東西還有它是在哪得到的嗎？找食物，吃食物，感覺很棒，重複再來。

Trigger, behaviour, reward. Well after a while our creative brains say: "You know, next time

觸發，行為，獎勵。過一陣子後我們聰明的大腦說：你知道嗎？下一次

you feel bad, why don't you try eating something good... So you'll feel better?"

你感覺很差的話，吃一點東西吧。 有感覺好一點了嗎？

Same process, just a different trigger. Maybe in our teenage years, and we see those rebel kids outside

一樣的過程，只是不一樣的觸發點。或許在我們的青少年時期我們看到那些叛逆的孩子在外面

smoking, we think, "Hey! I wanna be cool!" So we start smoking. See cool, smoke to be cool,

抽菸。Hey! 我想要變酷！ 然後我們就開始抽菸。 看到別人很酷，抽煙變得很酷，

feel good. Now with these same brain processes we have gone from learning to survive to literally

感覺超棒。這些一樣的流程在大腦裡從學習到生存甚至到

killing ourselves with these habits. In the lab we studied whether mindfulness training

因為那些壞習慣扼殺我們自己。在實驗室裡，我們研究是否謹慎的訓練

could help people quit smoking. Now with mindfulness training, we focused on being curious. What?

可以幫助人們戒菸。有了謹慎的訓練，我們花功夫保持好奇，什麼？

Yeah we said, "go ahead and smoke, just be really curious about what it's like when you do."

是的，我們告訴他們，去吧盡量抽。只要對「當你抽的時候是什麼感覺」這件事保持好奇

and what did they notice? Well here's an example from one of our smokers. She said "Mindful

還有什麼是他們注意到的呢？好，這裡有個我們其中一個抽煙者的例子，她說用想像的抽煙：

smoking: smells like stinky cheese, and tastes like chemicals." What she discovered just by

聞起來很像臭掉的起士，還有嚐起來像化學藥品，她藉由對抽煙的警覺及好奇發現：

being curiously aware when she smoked was that smoking tastes like shit. She started

當她抽煙的時候菸抽起來就像大便一樣。她開始

to become disenchanted with her behaviour. The prefrontal cortex understands that we

對他的行為感到心灰意冷。前額葉表層瞭解我們

shouldn't smoke. And it tries its hardest to help us change our behaviour. Unfortunately

不應該抽煙。並且盡最大努力試著幫助我們改變我們的行為。不幸的

this is also the first part of our brain that goes offline when we get stressed out. Now,

當我們壓力大的時候，它也是我們大腦第一個關閉的部分。現在

when the prefrontal cortex goes offline, we fall back into our old habits. Which is why

當我們的前額葉關閉時，我們又開始了我們的壞習慣。也就是為什麼

this disenchantment is so important. Seeing what we get from our habits helps us understand

這個清醒的狀態這麼重要。看看我們從這些壞習慣裡得到什麼可以幫助我們了解

them in a deeper level. But over time as we learn to see more and more clearly the results

它們更深的境界。但是當隨著時間的過去，我們學到了看到更多且更清楚的我們行為所產生

of our actions, we let go of old habits and form new ones. Mindfulness is just about being

的結果。我們拋棄舊的習性並培養新的。「正念」就是

really interested and getting close and personal with what's actually happening in our bodies

非常的投入、試著去接近並且親自去體驗真實發生在我們

and minds from moment to moment. And this willingness to turn toward our experience

身體還有心理的每一個時刻。這種意願變成我們的經歷，

is supported by curiosity which is naturally rewarding. It feels good. We start to notice

並被好奇心支持，也就是天生的獎勵。這感覺真的很棒。我們開始去注意

the cravings are simply made up of body sensations. There's tightness, there's tension, there's

渴望是非常簡單被身體的感動所製造出來的，緊張、不安、

restlessness, and that these body sensations come and go. This might sound too simplistic

煩亂，還有這些身體變化的感覺。這可能聽起來太簡單

to affect behaviour but in one study we found that mindfulness training was twice as good as gold standard

不至於影響到我們的行為。但是在一個研究中顯示：「正念」的訓練的效果是高標準的兩倍，

therapy at helping people quit smoking. So It actually works. So if you don't smoke or

在幫助人們戒菸的治療的比例上。 這的確很有用。如果你不抽煙

stress eat, maybe the next time you feel this urge to check your email when you're bored

或是吃東西舒壓的現象，也許下次你感覺這個驅使你檢查信箱，當你無聊的時候

or you're trying to distract yourself from work, see if you can just be curiously aware

或者你正在試著把自己的從工作裡抽離。如果你可以保持好奇的意識到

of what's happening in your body and mind in that moment. Notice the urge, get curious,

你的身體和心理在那個時刻所發生的事。驅策自己、保持求知

feel the joy of letting go, and repeat. Thank you.

享受如釋重負的感覺，然後重複著做，謝謝。