生活上的壓力山大 罵髒話能讓人放鬆嗎2

Serenity and science

平靜和科學

The mindfulness and wellness trend — whichincludes meditation apps such as HeadSpace,partying before work at events likeDaybreaker, yoga hybrids and a wealth of books, magazines, workshops,accessories and nutritional offerings — offers rich pickings for those who arecashing in on the art of zen.

專注力和健康的潮流——包括冥想應用HeadSpace、像Daybreaker那樣的工作前的聚會活動、各類瑜伽以及大量的圖書、雜誌、研討會和輔助營養品——爲那些靠禪道賺錢的人帶來了豐厚的報酬。

A report by US industry research companyIBISWorld showed the alternative healthcare segment was worth $13.3bn inrevenue in 2015 in the US alone. Of that, meditation makes up 7.4% of totalindustry revenue at nearly $1bn, with yoga at 15.1% and deep breathingexercises 15.3%.

大多數另類醫療都關注正面導向。那麼，專注咒罵和用語言表達憤怒真的對你有好處嗎？雖然沒有研究專門討論這個話題，但是其他研究表明它可能對你有益。美國行業研究公司IBIS World的一份報告顯示2015年美國的另類醫療收入已經達到133億美元。其中，冥想接近10億美元，佔行業總收入的7.4%，瑜伽佔15.1%，深呼吸練習佔15.3%。

One study showed expletives aren’t alwaysconsidered negative,even in work settings. And, a 2003 study by researchers inNew Zealand of workers in a soap factory found that in certain contexts,swearing together can create a sense of the most part, theseofferings focus on the positive. So can mindful swearing and expressing verbalrage really be good for you? While no studies have been done on this specifictopic, there is other research that suggests it might be.

一項研究表明，咒罵並不總是負面的，即使在工作場合也是這樣。而2003年研究者對新西蘭一家肥皂工廠的研究發現，在一些情境下，工人在一起罵人能產生某種凝聚力。

And, research led by psychologist DrRichard Stephens at Keele University in the UK showed that swearing can helpyou become more persuasive and increase pain tolerance, particularly for thosewho seldom swear in everyday life. The reason? Swearing seems to trigger the “fight orflight”stress response.

基爾大學（Keele University）的心理學家、博士理查德·史蒂芬斯（Richard Stephens）所帶領的團隊進行了一項研究，發現咒罵可以讓我們更有說服力，增加我們對疼痛的承受力，尤其是那些在日常生活中很少咒罵的人。原因是？咒罵似乎會激發“戰鬥或逃跑”的壓力反應。

“There’s evidence linking swearing with different brain areas to howlanguage is normally processed,”said Stephens, who is also the author of Black Sheep: The HiddenBenefits of Being Bad.

“有證據把咒罵與大腦的一些區域聯繫起來，而那不是通常處理語言的區域，”《Black Sheep: The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad》（“害羣之馬：惡人亦善”）的作者史蒂芬斯說。

And, while Stephens and his team havepublished data on physical pain, and not emotional pain or anxiety, he said theidea that swearing could help reduce stress is a valid one that warrantsfurther study. “It seems logical that it’s doing some kind of a job,”he said. “In emotionalsituations people do swear, just like they do in painful situations.”

雖然史蒂芬斯和他的團隊發佈的數據是關於生理疼痛，不是心理的痛苦或焦慮，但是他說咒罵的減壓功能是成立的，有必要進行深入研究。“它理應發揮功能。”他說，“人們在情緒化時會罵人，這和人在疼痛的時候是一樣的。”

And, the idea of combining mindfulness andswearing is a creative one, he added.

把專注和咒罵結合起來的想法很有創造力，他補充說。

“Swearing has a bit of cachet if it’s done in a novel sense,” DrStephens said. “Performers can sometimes use a swear word and get a reaction,whereas if you overuse it, that stops happening.” In the same way, in arelaxation setting, you don’t expect to hear that kind of language, so it hasshock value, he said, adding that hearing it out of context makes you laugh,which is relaxing in itself.

“咒罵一旦披上新的外衣就有了一定的聲望。”史蒂芬斯博士說，“表演者有時候可以罵一句，獲得觀衆的反應，但如果你過度使用，這種反應就會停止。”同樣道理，在放鬆的情境下，你不會預期聽到那種話，所以它有一種讓人震驚的力量。他說。他還補充說，在脫離情境時聽到咒罵會讓人發笑，這本身就有放鬆的作用。

Global resonance

全球共鳴

While both Headley’s and Istace’s conceptsmay have started out as a bit of a laugh, they’ve resonated withpeople.

儘管黑德利和伊斯塔斯的理念一開始可能會被人嘲笑，但是它們在一些人中獲得了共鳴。

Headley’s meditation was always just supposedto be funny. “Not making fun of meditation or mindfulness, but making fun ofour human limitations. The guy on the guided meditation would say somethinglike, ‘Just clear your mind.’ And I was stunned by that. How do I just clear mymind? My mind is perpetually packed with ideas, agendas, emotions, andlightweight petty rage,”Headley said.

黑德利的冥想總是妙趣橫生。“這不是開冥想或專注力的玩笑，而是開人的侷限的玩笑。冥想指導者會說這樣一些話，‘清空你的大腦。’我對此感到震驚。我該如何清空大腦？我的腦子裏總是裝滿了各種想法、日程、情緒和些許憤怒。”黑德利說。

To his surprise, the feedback to his HonestMeditation has been overwhelmingly positive. “People started saying they foundthe ‘meditation’ genuinely helpful. They wanted longer versions, so I made anapp.” Headley’s new book, also titled F*ck That: An Honest Meditation, will bepublished by Penguin Random House in April.

讓黑德利驚訝的是，他的真誠的冥想得到了大量積極的好評。“人們開始說他們覺得這種‘冥想’真的很有幫助。他們想要時間更長的版本，所以我做了一款應用。”黑德利題爲《操他的：一次真誠的冥想》的新書將在4月由企鵝蘭登出版公司出版。

Similarly, Rage Yoga also had a strong baseof followers, Istace says. After garnering media attention and enquiries aboutthe concept from as far afield as Russia, the UK and South Africa, Istace haslaunched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to develop online courses (thefirst of which will be named Bendy and Badass) and she hopes to do a Rage Yogatour across Canada in August.

類似地，憤怒瑜伽也建立起了一個強大的粉絲團，伊斯塔斯說。她吸引了媒體的注意力，來自俄羅斯、英國和南非的各種詢問也接踵而至，於是伊斯塔斯發起了名爲Kickstarter的活動，要爲在線課程的開發募集資金（第一項課程將被命名爲Bendy and Badass）。她還希望8月在加拿大進行一次憤怒瑜伽巡迴講座。

“It’s a really awesome way to use negative emotions in a positive way,”she said, “and beconstructive about it.”

“這真是以積極的方式利用消極情緒的極好方法。”她說，“它有很強的建設性。”