如何專心睡眠 當我們的思維停不下來的時候大綱

My sleep schedule:

我的睡眠時間表是這樣的：

8:30: Get ready for bed

8:30: 準備上牀睡覺

9:00: Be in bed

9:00: 上牀

9:30: Hopefully be sleeping

9:30: 希望自己入睡

9:55: Definitely be sleeping

9:55: 確定自己要入睡

10:00: Oh god, you’re not asleep? Why aren’t you asleep? You know what happens when you can’t sleep. Well, you just keep thinking about sleep. I mean wait, don’t think about sleep! Just don’t even think about the word.

10:00:我的天啊，你還沒睡？你爲什麼不睡？你知道自己不睡覺時將發生些什麼。好吧，只想着睡覺吧。我的意思是，等一下，別再想睡覺這件事啦！甚至連這個詞也別去想。

10:05: Now it’s ruined, it’s all ruined.

10:05:一切都毀了，全毀了。

12:30: Is someone vacuuming? I am pretty sure someone is vacuuming. I will find them, I will find them and I will hurt them.

12:30:有人在用真空吸塵器打掃衛生嗎？我確定有人在這麼做。我一定要把他們找到，拽出來痛打一頓。

1:00: silent rage until sleep comes

1:00: 無聲的憤怒，直至睡意襲來

Much of my life is dictated by my fear of not falling asleep at the right time. I calculate how much sleep I need down to the exact minute. I lay in bed each night waiting for the unyielding thought-vomit to occur. I used to think that the endless stream of thoughts that plagued my nightly routine were unique to me, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

我生活中的許多時光都充斥着我對於無法適時入睡的恐懼。我計算了我所需的睡眠時間並精確到了分鐘。每晚我躺在牀上等待着那些執着的想法從腦袋中涌出。我曾經認爲困擾我夜間休息的那無盡的思維洪流僅僅是我所獨有。但是我大錯特錯了。

If you have trouble turning your mind off at night, you aren’t alone. It is estimated that 30-to-40 million Americans have a sleep disorder and an additional 20 million have occasional difficulty sleeping. It’s so bad that the Centers for Disease Control considers it a public health epidemic. To unearth the reasons why we can’t turn off our mind at night, we should first understand the body’s mechanisms which govern sleep.

如果你無法在晚上關掉你的思維閥門，你不是一個人。據估計，有3,000-4,000萬美國人都患有睡眠障礙，另有2,000萬人患有偶發性失眠。糟糕的是，疾病控制中心認爲這是一種關乎公衆健康的傳染病。要明白爲什麼我們在夜間無法停止思考，首先我們應該弄懂我們身體中管理睡眠的機制。

Until as recently as the 1950s scientists believed that falling asleep was a completely passive process. Scientists now think that the body’s wakefulness and sleep mode is dictated by a two-process model. Process S: Promotes our desire to sleep and inhibits our arousal centers at night. Process C: Maintains our wakefulness during the day. This two-process model is also influenced by the circadian rhythm.

直至20世紀50年代，科學家才相信，睡眠完全是一個被動過程。現在，科學家認爲身體的覺醒和睡眠模式是一種雙進程模型（two-process model）。分爲S進程：在夜間提升我們的睡眠渴望，抑制我們的覺醒中樞。以及C進程：在白天讓我們保持清醒。這種雙進程模式也被晝夜節律[1]（circadian rhythm）所影響。

The circadian rhythm is the body’s clock that regulates our activities and behaviors. It’s controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) — a part of the brain known as the circadian rhythm pacemaker. Morning light lets the SCN know ‘Hey, it’s time to get up and start this process over again.’ As the sun sets, the SCN signals our body to calm down and prepare for sleep.

晝夜節律是身體的時鐘，管理着我們的活動和行爲。晝夜節律由視交叉上核（suprachiasmatic nucleus-SCN）所控制，視交叉上核是大腦的一部分，被稱爲晝夜節律起搏器。早晨的光線讓視交叉上核知道“嘿，該起牀了，重新再開始這一過程吧”。隨着日落，視交叉上核給我們的身體發出信號，讓身體平靜下來，準備睡覺。

Disruptions to the circadian rhythm can prevent us from falling asleep at night and feeling overly tired during the day. These disruptions can also adversely effect our health.

晝夜節律如果被破壞，將會阻止我們在夜間入睡，讓我們在白天感到極度疲憊。這種破壞也會對我們的健康產生有害影響。

(Night) Shift workers have an increased risk of heart problems, digestive disturbances, and emotional and mental problems, all of which may be related to their sleeping problems. The number and severity of workplace accidents also tend to increase during the night shift.

（夜班）倒班工人患心臟疾病、消化紊亂以及情緒和精神疾病的風險更高，這些都與他們的睡眠問題相關。夜班期間，車間事故的數量和嚴重性也會有所上升。

Okay, so we understand the process that drives us to sleep, but what happens to our bodies once we are in bed?

好吧，雖然我們理解了睡眠的運行過程，但是當我們上牀睡覺以後，我們的身體會發生什麼呢？

There are two kinds of sleep, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and Non-REM (NREM) sleep. Both of which are necessary for the body to go through its restorative process. There are also five stages of sleep. The entire process takes about 90-120 minutes. In an ideal situation, it would look something like this:

睡眠有兩種形式，分別是快速眼動（REM）睡眠和非快速眼動（NREM）睡眠。這兩種睡眠對於處於恢復過程中的身體來說都十分必要。睡眠也有五個階段，整個過程需要90-120分鐘。在一種理想的情況下，睡眠看起來是這樣的：

When we can’t turn off the mind it is because we are having trouble transitioning from the alpha waves of stage 1 to the theta-band waves of stage two. Those with severe sleep disorders often enter REM sleep immediately upon falling asleep. As we begin the transition into sleep our brains are letting go of a lot, but this is by no means a passive process. Our brains are reordering and assessing the day’s events, working to promote new memory formations, and cleaning up debris.

我們無法關掉思維的閥門，是因爲我們無法將第一階段的α腦波轉化成第二階段的θ腦波。那些患有嚴重睡眠障礙的人通常在入睡後就立刻進入快速眼動睡眠。當我們開始入睡時，我們的大腦會非常放鬆，但是這並不是一個被動的過程。我們的大腦會重新排列並評估白天的事務，促進新的記憶形成，清空記憶碎片。

Turning off our mind — as anyone who has tried to do will tell you — is easier said than done. There’s no magical switch you can flip to make yourself fall asleep, but there are some tricks you can do to help quiet your mind.

正如任何曾經嘗試過的人都會告訴我的那樣，關掉思維閥門說來容易做來難。你沒有魔法開關，按下去就能入睡，但是有一些有助於你讓腦袋靜一靜的小訣竅。

yourself down

1. 給自己降溫

Part of the body’s process for falling asleep each night involves a lowering of the body temperature. If you are in a room that is too hot it can disturb your internal sleep processes. To get slightly more technical, the metabolism of your brains frontal cortex wants to be cool when falling asleep. Insomniacs have a higher metabolism in their frontal cortex which is said to contribute to their inability to sleep. The body loses its ability to regulate its temperature at night, so finding the right balance is important.

每天晚上，我們身體的入睡都包含體溫降低這一過程。如果你處在一個非常熱的屋子中，這會擾亂你身體內部的睡眠過程。用稍微技術化一點的語言來說，當睡眠時，你大腦中額葉皮質的新陳代謝也需要放慢速度。失眠症患者的額葉皮質代謝水平更高，這也導致了他們沒有入睡的能力。身體喪失了夜間調節體溫的能力，因此尋找到一種正確的平衡（模式）十分重要。

2. Buy red lights

2. 購買紅光燈

You know that sort of bluish glow given off by our TVs, computers, and phones? That seemingly serene blue light is literally robbing you of sleep. The short-wavelength of blue light stops the production of melatonin— a hormone necessary for sleep. Exposure to blue light can even throw off our circadian rhythm. If purchasing all red lights is a bit too drastic for you, aim to reduce the amount of light you use at least two hours before bed.

你知道我們的電視、電腦和手機發出的光稍稍有些偏 藍色嗎？那種看似平靜的藍光其實會剝奪你的睡眠。短波藍光會抑制睡眠所需激素——褪黑素的產生。置身在藍光之中甚至能夠讓我們不再遵守晝夜節律。如果全部購買紅光燈對你來說有點極端，那麼就至少在你睡前兩小時降低你所使用的燈光量吧。

3. Breathe out of your left nostril

3.用左側鼻孔呼吸

In yoga this is called nadi shodhana or alternate nostril breathing. Cover your right nostril and practice breathing in and out of your left nostril ten-times. The practice of breathing through your left nostril is said to help relax your sympathetic nervous system. Just simply focusing on the task of breathing can help you drown out other distractions.

在瑜伽中，這被稱爲“納地淨化調息”（nadi shodhana）或者“鼻孔交換呼吸法”。堵住你的右側鼻孔，練習用左側鼻孔呼吸十次。據說這種用左側鼻孔進行的呼吸練習能夠放鬆你的交感神經系統。僅僅集中精力呼吸就能夠幫助你忘記其他的雜事。

4. Go outside in the morning

4.早晨出門轉轉

Being in the sun — especially upon first waking — tells our circadian rhythm to reset itself. The best time for this to happen is between 6 and 8:30 a.m. You should aim for at least 30-minutes of sun exposure a day to receive the maximum benefits. Sunlight inhibits the production of melatonin, which is responsible for making you tired. Being tired during the day will likely rob you of that feeling later at night when you need it the most.

曬曬太陽——尤其是剛醒來的時候——能夠讓我們的晝夜節律自我重置。最好的曬太陽時機是上午6:00至8:30之間。爲了獲取最大的好處，你至少應該每天曬半小時太陽。日光抑制了褪黑素的合成，而褪黑素會讓你感到疲倦。白天的疲倦會讓你在夜晚喪失這種感受，而在夜晚，我們才最需要疲倦的感覺。

5. Visualize yourself asleep

5.形象化你的睡眠

You are a leaf on the wind, watch how you soar off to sleep land. Visualizations draw focus away from thoughts which have emotional content. Experts say it is important to associate positivity with sleeping. This can help remove some of the anxiety we have built up around falling asleep each night. Researchers at Colorado College recently found that the simple act of believing that you received more sleep than you did is enough to give your brain some of the positive effects of sleep.

你是風中的一片葉，觀察一下你是如何飛舞到睡眠大陸上的。形象化能將我們的注意力從帶有情緒內容的想法中轉移出來。專家說，將睡眠同實在的事物聯繫起來是非常重要的。這可以幫助你消除一些在每晚入睡過程中產生的焦慮。科羅拉多大學的研究者近來發現，一種簡單的行爲，即相信自己的睡眠時間比實際睡眠時間多,足夠給予你的大腦一些積極的睡眠效果。

There are a lot of really useful sleeping tips out there, but they are all variations on the same theme. Preparing the mind and body for sleep is all about reducing the emotional content in our thoughts and eliminating as much external stimuli as possible. You should absolutely explore a variety of sleep routines and practices. Doing so can help you understand the barriers that prevent you from achieving a quiet mind.

除此之外，還有許多非常實用的睡眠小妙招，但是它們都是基於同一個原理變化而來。讓思維和身體爲睡眠做準備，就要減少我們思維中的情緒內容，儘可能多地消除外部刺激。你絕對有必要發掘各種各樣的睡眠方法，進行各種各樣的睡眠練習。這麼做能幫助你理解那些妨礙你擁有一個平靜思維的桎梏。

Sleep is a process. It doesn’t just happen the moment you get into bed. The body is preparing itself for sleep all day. It actually helped me to think of sleep something ongoing as opposed to something that was just supposed to happen. It took some of the pressure off of me. My body was actually made to do this. Trusting and listening to my body’s natural process really helped me find a better way to fall asleep.

睡眠是一個過程。它不僅僅發生於你躺在牀上的時刻。我們的身體一天到晚都在爲睡眠做準備。它實際上有助於我將睡眠想象成爲一個不間斷髮生的過程，而不是一件應該會發生的事情。這讓我減輕了一些壓力。我的身體其實就是這樣構造的。相信並傾聽我們身體的自然過程，的確有助於我找到一種更好的入睡方法。