洗冷水澡或有助於管理壓力
Back in the 1970s, when I was in Japan picking up stories for documentaries, I came across a crazy motivational strategy for stressed-out businessmen. They were taken into the mountains where they stripped off to nothing but a loincloth.
早在20世紀70年代，當我還在日本爲紀錄片蒐集故事的時候，我就爲壓力大的商人們想到了一個瘋狂的激勵策略。把他們帶到山上，除了纏腰布外，他們一無所有。
They then sat, for as long as they could bear it, at the bottom of a waterfall under a rushing torrent of icy water cascading on their head. It was terrifying but they all did it. The minimum time was about two minutes (I'd have caved in after 20 seconds) but some stoics sat there for up to six or seven minutes.
之後，他們在瀑布下方坐着，任由瀑布冰水急速的從頭頂落下，他們可以盡情的坐着，直至無法忍受。這很可怕，但他們都做到了。有人最短呆了2分鐘（要是我的話，20秒就受不了了），但有些禁慾主義者卻能呆至6至7分鐘。
The theory was that a dose of suffering releases tension, stress and depression. Doing it with colleagues is claimed to be team-building. I recalled those courageous Tokyo workers when I read about the movers and shakers in Silicon Valley espousing a daily dose of suffering to make them strong enough to face crises at work.
理論是：遭遇痛苦會釋放壓力、緊張和抑鬱。據稱和同事一起能增加團隊建設。當我讀到硅谷的大佬和成功人士會每日沖涼使自己足夠強大以應對工作危機時，我還記得那些勇氣可嘉的東京員工
For cyber geeks, acute physical discomfort is their equivalent of the Japanese water torture I'd witnessed years before. Apparently it can train your brain to be more resilient. The idea that self-imposed periods of daily misery - like freezing cold showers, extreme diets and punishing exercise regimes - will steel you for challenges of a hectic work life isn't whimsy.
對於網絡愛好者而言，急性身體不適相當於多年前我見過的日本水酷刑。顯然，它可以訓練大腦使其更有韌性。自我強加每日痛苦階段這一想法並非奇思妙想--比如衝冷水澡、極端飲食和懲罰鍛鍊體制--會幫助你應對繁忙的工作和生活挑戰。
The idea that stress could be useful was first mooted in 1974 by pioneering stress researcher, Hans Selye. He discovered some forms of stress can actually be healthy and drive you on.
1974年，壓力研究者Hans Selye開創性的首次提出壓力可能有用的觀點。他發現有些形式的壓力實際上可能是健康的、會推動你不斷髮展。
"It all depends on how you take it," he later wrote. "The stress of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. But that of exhilarating, creative, stressful work is beneficial. The stress reaction, like energy consumption, may have good or bad effects."
"這得取決於你如何對待壓力，"他後來寫道。"失敗、羞辱或感染的壓力是有害的。但令人振奮的、有創意的壓力卻是有益的。壓力反應，如能源消耗，可能既有好的也有壞的影響。"
Fans of "positive stress" go to extreme lengths to accustom ?themselves to stress and spend up to 18 hours a day at it. They rise early, go for a run, scamper through emails while slurping coffee, then a cold shower. Ice baths, hot yoga, fasting and diets can be added while excluding foods like grains, pulses, dairy, sugar and alcohol.
"積極壓力"的愛好者爲了適應壓力不遺餘力，每天在這一方面花費18小時。他們起的早，跑個步、看看郵件，喝喝咖啡，然後洗個冷水澡。除了不吃穀物、豆類、奶製品、糖和酒精之外，冷水浴、熱瑜伽、禁食和節食都是可行的方法。
