How mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains | Richard J. Davidson | TEDxSanFrancisco · TEDx Talks
Richard Davidson探讨正念如何改善心理健康，提升情绪韧性。适合练习情绪管理与心理成长。
Transcriber: Eunice Tan Reviewer: Tanya Cushman
转录者：Eunice Tan 审稿人：Tanya Cushman
I'm a psychologist and a neuroscientist by training.
我受过心理学和神经科学方面的专业训练，因此是一名心理学家和神经科学家。
When I first began my career, I
当我刚开始我的职业生涯时，我
began with a question: why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life's slings and arrows and others more resilient?
这一切始于一个疑问：为什么有些人更容易受到生活中各种困难和挫折的影响，而另一些人则更具韧性（即更能从这些困难中恢复过来）？
And that question is still central to all the work that we do.
这个问题至今仍然是我们所有工作的核心。
And we're particularly interested in how we can nudge people along this continuum to nourish and nurture the qualities that promote human flourishing.
我们特别感兴趣的是：如何引导人们沿着这一发展路径前进，培养那些有助于人类全面发展的品质。
In the early part of my career, I focused almost exclusively on the negative side of the equation,
在我职业生涯的早期，我几乎只关注问题中的负面方面。
on adversity, on the brain circuits that were important for understanding why some people are more vulnerable to stress,
关于逆境，以及关于那些对理解“为什么有些人更容易受到压力影响”至关重要的大脑神经回路……
why others may be more likely to develop a depression or anxiety.
为什么其他人更容易患上抑郁症或焦虑症。
And then something very significant happened in my life.
然后，我的生活中发生了一件非常重要的事情。
In 1992, I first met His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
1992年，我第一次见到了达赖喇嘛尊者。
And this picture of His Holiness was taken in Madison, Wisconsin, and he's visited us several times.
这张圣人的照片是在威斯康星州的麦迪逊市拍摄的，他曾经多次到访我们这里。
And he was the chief inspiration in our turning toward the positive.
他正是我们转向积极方向的根本动力来源。
And in that critical moment, in 1992,
就在那个关键时刻，1992年……
he challenged me, and he said, "Why
他向我发起了挑战，并问道：“为什么？
can't you use the same tools of
你难道就不能使用那些相同的工具吗？
modern neuroscience to study kindness and to study compassion in addition to studying anxiety and fear and depression and stress?"
现代神经科学不仅用于研究焦虑、恐惧、抑郁和压力等心理现象，还用于研究善良与同情心等积极情感。
And I didn't have a very good answer for him on that day other than that it's hard.
那天，对于他的问题，我没能给出一个很好的回答，只能说“这确实很难”。
But you know, when we first began to study kindness - when we first began to study anxiety and depression,
但是你知道，当我们第一次开始研究“善良”这一概念时，也是当我们第一次开始研究焦虑和抑郁问题时……
that was hard too, and we've made some progress in that area.
那确实也很困难，但我们在那个领域取得了一些进展。
So the work that we and others have been doing is predicated on a critical insight in modern science:
因此，我们以及其他研究人员所开展的工作，都是建立在一个现代科学中的关键见解之上的。
the insight concerning neuroplasticity.
关于神经可塑性的见解。
Our brains are constantly changing, constantly being shaped by the forces around us.
我们的大脑一直在发生变化，不断地受到周围环境的影响而发生改变。
But we have, typically, very little awareness of what those forces are.
但我们通常对这些力量的本质知之甚少。
Our brains are changing, wittingly or unwittingly.
我们的大脑正在发生变化，无论我们是否意识到这一点。
Most of the time, it's unwittingly.
大多数情况下，这种行为都是无意识的（即当事人并没有意识到自己在做什么）。
Most of the time, we're not aware, and we also have little control over those forces.
大多数情况下，我们并没有意识到这些力量的存在，而且对这些力量也几乎无法施加任何控制。
And the invitation in the work that
而这幅作品中所蕴含的“邀请”（即作品想要传达的信息或意义）……
I'm sharing with you today is that we can actually take more responsibility for our own brains by transforming our minds.
今天我想与大家分享的是：通过改变自己的思维方式，我们实际上可以更好地掌控自己的大脑（即对自己的大脑功能承担更多的责任）。
But first, let me share with you what some of the consequences of having our brains being shaped unwittingly are.
但首先，让我和大家分享一下：当我们的大脑在不知不觉中被“塑造”时，会带来一些什么样的后果。
And I'd like to focus on four challenges that have been critical in our society today.
我想重点讨论四个在当今社会中至关重要的挑战。
And these challenges are failures of well-being in very important ways.
从非常重要的角度来看，这些挑战其实反映了人们在幸福感方面的不足（即人们未能实现应有的幸福状态）。
The first is distractibility.
第一个问题是容易分心。
Research indicates that if we take people
研究表明，如果我们选取某些人群……
out and about in the world, and
在这个世界上四处游历、生活着……
we text them - and this has been done in a study that was published a number of years ago,
我们会给他们发短信；这项研究几年前就已经发表过了。
very influential study with several thousand people - we text them, and we ask them three questions.
这是一项极具影响力的研究，参与人数达到了数千人。我们会给他们发送短信，并向他们提出三个问题。
The first question is "What are you doing right now?"
第一个问题是：“你现在正在做什么？
And they check off from a list of activities.
他们会从一份活动清单中勾选自己已经完成的活动。
Second question, "Where is your mind right now?
第二个问题：“你现在的注意力集中在哪里？