一場安靜的革命 倫敦金融城流行"正念"

A quiet revolution is gripping the City of London. Fast-paced financiers are turning to “mindfulness”, an ancient Buddhist idea that embraces meditation.

倫敦金融城(City of London)正在發生一場安靜的革命。一種信奉冥想的佛教方式——“正念”(mindfulness)，正開始在快節奏的金融家中流行。

Banks, fund managers and professional services firms are adopting the form of stress relief that allows greater clarity of thought in a world dominated by technology. The combination of meditation and breathing techniques has also been taken up by the mental health sector.

銀行、基金公司以及專業服務公司開始採用這種方法釋放壓力，從而讓人們在一個技術主導的世界裏保持更清醒的頭腦。心理健康領域也已開始採用冥想加呼吸技巧的綜合療法。

Meditation cultivates the discipline of “selfless attention” and allows people to see the bigger picture, said Kok-Song Ng, chairman of global investments at GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

新加坡政府投資公司(GIC)全球投資主席黃國鬆(Kok-Song Ng)表示，冥想培養人們“忘我凝神”的原則，讓人們着眼於大局。GIC是新加坡的主權財富基金。

The adoption of mindfulness by those who might traditionally dismiss it comes amid calls for capitalism to confront greed, materialism and income inequality. A series of deaths among finance workers has raised questions about stress levels and the way employees are treated.

那些通常會對“正念”嗤之以鼻的人也開始練習“正念”，這種情況發生的背景是，出現了讓資本主義正視貪婪、物質主義和收入不平等問題的呼聲。金融從業人員接二連三的死亡事件，讓人們對該行業的壓力水平及對待僱員的方式產生了質疑。

Companies are more proactive at addressing wellbeing and mental health, which costs UK employers an estimated ￡26bn a year in sickness absence, reduced productivity and recruitment costs, according to the City Mental Health Alliance.

公司開始更加積極主動地解決員工的幸福感和心理健康問題。倫敦金融城心理健康聯盟(City Mental Health Alliance)表示，據估計，心理健康問題每年導致英國僱主因僱員病假、生產率降低和招聘成本損失260億英鎊。

Science has legitimised meditation. Dr Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and business coach, said: “Meditation creates a short-term state change and a longer-term trait change.”

科學也證明了冥想的好處。神經學家兼商業導師塔拉•斯沃特(Tara Swart)表示：“冥想在短期能改變人的狀態，在長期能改變人的性格。”

The CFA Institute for investment professionals is considering launching a meditation programme. KPMG, Goldman Sachs and Unilever – and the Bank of England – have presented mindfulness in wellbeing seminars and encourage staff to use meditation apps.

美國特許金融分析師協會(CFA Institute)正考慮推出一個冥想項目。畢馬威(KPMG)、高盛(Goldman Sachs)、聯合利華(Unilever)以及英國央行(BoE)在幸福感講座中介紹“正念”，並鼓勵員工使用冥想應用。

Sally Boyle, head of human capital management for Emea at Goldman Sachs, said: “In years to come we’ll be talking about mindfulness as we talk about exercise now.”

高盛歐洲、中東和非洲人力資本管理主管薩莉•博伊爾(Sally Boyle)表示：“幾年後，我們說起‘正念’，會像我們現在說起鍛鍊一樣。”

Not all firms are prepared to publicise these initiatives for fear of being perceived as “new age”. One financial group that declined to be interviewed said about 1,200 out of 10,000 staff tune in to regular updates about mindfulness.

由於擔心給人“新紀元運動”(New Age Movement)的印象，並非所有公司都已準備好宣揚這些舉措。一家謝絕接受採訪的金融公司表示，在其1萬名員工中大約有1200人關注“正念”方面的定期動態信息。

Mindlab, a training programme, emphasises the science behind mindfulness, distancing the practice from clichés of “chanting, lentils and loincloths”, according to co-founder Caroline Hopkins.

“思維實驗室”(Mindlab)的聯合創始人卡羅琳•霍普金斯(Caroline Hopkins)表示，該培訓項目強調“正念”背後的科學，從而與“誦經祈禱、吃小扁豆和纏腰帶”的陳腐做法拉開距離。