读者文摘:如何随时随地找到安宁(2)（在线收听）

The second thing that changed my mind about meditation is that it does not necessarily entail a lot of the "weird" stuff I feared it might.

第二件改变了我对冥想看法的事情是，冥想不必包含我担心的很多“怪”事。

Contrary to popular belief, meditation does not have to involve folding yourself into a pretzel,

与普遍的看法相反，冥想不需要把自己折成椒盐卷饼，

joining a group, or wearing special outfits.

加入一个团体，或穿着特殊服装。

The word meditation is a little bit like the word sports; there are hundreds of varieties.

冥想这个词与运动一词有点类似，有数百种形式。

The type of meditation discussed here is called mindfulness meditation,

这里讨论的冥想类型称为正念冥想，

which is derived from Buddhism but does not require adopting a belief system or declaring oneself to be a Buddhist.

它源于佛教，但不需吸纳信仰体系或宣称自己是佛教徒。

I began my practice slowly, with just five to ten minutes a day, which is what I recommend everyone aim for at the start.

我慢慢地开始练习，每天只花5到10分钟，我建议大家开始时都这么做。

(Frankly, if you find time for even one minute a day, you can count that as a win.)

（坦率地说，如果你每天抽出一分钟时间这么做，就是一种胜利。）

The practice does get easier the longer you keep at it,

坚持的时间越长，就越容易，

but even after doing it for years, I get lost all the time.

但即使做了很多年，我也总是走神。

Here's a random sample of my mental chatter during a typical session: In. Out.

以下是我在一次典型的冥想中出现杂念的例子：吸气、呼气。

Man, I am feeling antsy. What's the Yiddish term my grandmother used to use for that? Shpilkes. Right.

天啊，我感到烦躁。我祖母过去常说的那个犹太语的词是什么？Shpilkes，对。

Words that always make me giggle: ointment, pianist. Wait, what? Come on, man. Back to the breath.

总能让我咯咯笑的词：软膏、钢琴家。等一下，什么？得了吧，重新关注呼吸。

In. Out. Likes: baked goods. Dislikes: fedoras, dream sequences, that part in techno songs where the French accordion kicks in.

吸气、呼气。我喜欢的：烘焙食品。我不喜欢的：软呢帽、梦境，数码歌曲中法式手风琴演奏的部分。

Dude. Come On. In. Out. In.

伙计，干嘛呢，吸气、呼气、吸气。

Alternative jobs: papal nuncio, interpretive dancer, working double time on the seduction line ...

另类工作：罗马教皇、诠释性舞者、在诱惑中努力工作......

You get the idea.

你明白了吧。

To give you a sense of exactly how simple it is, here are the three-step instructions for beginning meditation.

为了让你明白冥想到底有多简单，以下是开始冥想的三个步骤。