英文原文
How Mindfulness Improves Sleep
Work can be stressful. A new study suggests that even short meditation training can reduce stress and improve sleep quality.
From the pressures of tight deadlines to anxiety about job security, the stresses of the workplace take their toll far beyond the office, infiltrating our relationships, undermining our thoughts—and often affecting our ability to sleep. In fact, a recent survey found that 85 percent of U.S. workers lose sleep due to work-related stress. And if we’re not sleeping well, it’s easier to get derailed at work and elsewhere.
However, new findings from a research team in the Netherlands suggest that even a small amount of mindfulness meditation can help calm our hyperactive minds and improve our sleep.
“With growing pressures at work coupled with smartphone technology, it is really difficult to ‘switch off’ because you continue to receive work-related messages in the evening,” says Ute Hülsheger, an associate professor of work and organizational psychology at Maastricht University and the lead author of the study.
While meditation programs such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) have been shown to be effective in treating anxiety, insomnia, and other psychological disorders, the trainings are often rigorous, requiring daily meditation and group sessions over a period of eight weeks—a tall order for many people wrestling with a busy work schedule.
“We were interested in knowing whether a low-dose training could be helpful because it is easier for people to do as compared to an eight-week program,” says Hülsheger.
In the study, participants with no formal meditation training were given reading materials that introduced them to the basic tenets of mindfulness—the moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. They also received instructions and audio of guided meditations for four specific mindfulness practices: a three-minute “mindful breathing” exercise (which focuses attention on the breath), the body scan (moving focus across different areas of the body), mindfully focusing on an everyday task (such as preparing breakfast or taking a shower), and loving kindness meditation (sending feelings of love and compassion to themselves and others).
Over the course of two workweeks, the participants were asked to meditate using different combinations of these exercises for 10 minutes each day before and after work, according to a predefined schedule. In addition, participants completed a series of questions in the morning, at the end of work, and at bedtime to track their sleep quality, amount of mindfulness at work, and their ability to psychologically detach from work-related thoughts after coming home.
The results indicate that over the course of the two-week period, meditators experienced steady improvements in sleep quality, sleep duration, and mindfulness, but did not demonstrate significant enhancements in their ability to psychologically detach from work.
“It is likely you would have to train more intensely or for longer periods of time before you see any effects on psychological detachment,” says Hülsheger. “But it is possible that sleep quality is more sensitive to meditation and that you see the positive effects of the mindfulness training earlier.”
Meanwhile, those who were placed on a waitlist for the meditation training showed no significant improvements in sleep quality or mindfulness.
Hülsheger also notes that due to the short-term nature of the participants’ training, the positive effects probably would not persist over time. “Mindfulness is not something that you can just train properly in one or two weeks,” she says. “If you want sustainable effects, you have to keep practicing regularly.”
In future studies, Hülsheger and her colleagues hope to explore more precisely how long the positive effects last after practice ceases, which types of individuals continue to practice on their own, and which groups of people derive the greatest benefit from mindfulness practice—they wonder whether those who have the greatest stress at work might benefit most.
Hülsheger hopes this research will motivate organizations to shape their office environments to promote mindfulness.
“The more workload and time pressure people have, the less mindful they are,” she says. “So if organizations are serious about mindfulness, they should not only offer trainings but should also give employees space to focus on one task at a time—not force them to do five things at once.”
中文翻译
正念如何改善睡眠
工作可能带来压力。一项新研究表明，即使是短期的冥想训练也能减少压力并提高睡眠质量。
从紧迫的截止日期压力到对工作保障的焦虑，工作场所的压力影响远超出办公室范围，渗透到我们的关系中，削弱我们的思维——并常常影响我们的睡眠能力。事实上，最近一项调查发现，85%的美国工人因工作相关压力而失眠。如果我们睡不好，工作和生活中更容易出现问题。
然而，荷兰一个研究团队的新发现表明，即使是少量的正念冥想也能帮助我们平静过度活跃的思维并改善睡眠。
“随着工作压力增加和智能手机技术的结合，真的很难‘关闭’，因为你晚上继续收到工作相关的消息，”马斯特里赫特大学工作与组织心理学副教授、该研究的主要作者Ute Hülsheger说。
虽然如正念减压（MBSR）等冥想项目已被证明在治疗焦虑、失眠和其他心理障碍方面有效，但这些训练通常很严格，需要在八周内每天冥想和参加小组会议——对于许多忙于工作日程的人来说要求很高。
“我们想知道低剂量训练是否有帮助，因为它比八周项目更容易让人们实施，”Hülsheger说。
在这项研究中，没有正式冥想训练的参与者获得了介绍正念基本原则的阅读材料——对我们思想、感受和身体感觉的即时觉察。他们还收到了四种特定正念练习的指导和引导冥想音频：三分钟的“正念呼吸”练习（专注于呼吸）、身体扫描（将注意力移动到身体不同区域）、正念专注于日常任务（如准备早餐或洗澡）以及慈心冥想（向自己和他人发送爱与慈悲的感觉）。
在两周的工作周期间，参与者被要求根据预定时间表，每天工作前后使用这些练习的不同组合冥想10分钟。此外，参与者在早上、工作结束时和睡前完成一系列问题，以追踪他们的睡眠质量、工作中的正念程度以及回家后心理上脱离工作相关思想的能力。
结果表明，在两周期间，冥想者在睡眠质量、睡眠时长和正念方面经历了稳步改善，但在心理脱离工作的能力方面没有表现出显著增强。
“很可能你需要更密集或更长时间的训练才能看到对心理脱离的影响，”Hülsheger说。“但睡眠质量可能对冥想更敏感，你更早看到正念训练的积极效果。”
同时，那些被列入冥想训练等待名单的人在睡眠质量或正念方面没有显著改善。
Hülsheger还指出，由于参与者训练的短期性质，积极效果可能不会持续。“正念不是你可以在一两周内就正确训练的东西，”她说。“如果你想要可持续的效果，你必须定期练习。”
在未来的研究中，Hülsheger和她的同事希望更精确地探索练习停止后积极效果持续多久，哪些类型的个体会继续自行练习，以及哪些人群从正念练习中获益最大——他们想知道工作压力最大的人是否可能获益最多。
Hülsheger希望这项研究能激励组织塑造办公室环境以促进正念。
“人们的工作量和时间压力越大，他们的正念程度越低，”她说。“所以如果组织认真对待正念，他们不仅应该提供培训，还应该给员工空间一次专注于一项任务——而不是强迫他们同时做五件事。”
文章概要
本文基于关键词“正念在改善中年压力期睡眠质量中的作用”，探讨了一项荷兰研究，显示短期正念冥想训练能有效提升睡眠质量和时长，尤其针对工作压力大的中年人群。研究涉及低剂量正念练习，如正念呼吸和慈心冥想，在两周内每天10分钟，结果显示睡眠改善，但心理脱离工作效果不明显。文章强调正念需持续练习以获得持久益处，并建议组织营造支持正念的工作环境。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：就像你晚上脑子里总想着作业或游戏停不下来，睡不好觉，正念冥想就像给你的大脑一个“休息按钮”，每天花10分钟专注呼吸或感受身体，能帮你放松，睡得更香，尤其当爸爸妈妈工作压力大时，这个方法简单有效。
佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角：从佛学显宗和大乘视角，正念冥想与禅修中的“止观”相通，强调当下觉察，有助于净化心念、减少烦恼。《显密圆通成佛心要集》提倡显密圆融，正念作为基础修持，能培养定力，为更高修行如准提法铺垫。准提法以其简便性和普适性，正念练习可视为其前行，帮助众生在忙碌生活中积累功德、提升睡眠质量，体现大乘利他精神。
在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题：正念冥想可应用于日常修行，帮助解决睡眠障碍、工作压力、焦虑情绪、注意力分散、情绪波动、人际关系紧张、自我批判、身体疲劳、生活失衡和缺乏慈悲心等问题，通过持续练习，促进身心健康和灵性成长。