國家地理:Shaolin monks 身懷絕技的少林和尚

The Shaolin monks of China are famous for fighting skills and acrobatics, but above all, for their ability to somehow manage their senses.
Does this really not hurt or do they just not mind the pain? To prepare themselves for their grueling acts, the monks use one of the oldest forms of pain control—meditation.
“We have to focus 100 percent. We need willpower to channel our Qi, our spiritual energy. When we meditate, we channel this spiritual energy throughout our body.”
Meditation starts by changing how the body works: The heart slows, pumping less blood; the muscles relax. Relaxed muscles means[1] less tension, which means less pain.
But the strangest effect occurs in the brain. Astonishingly, although the brain is still alert, meditation lessens the emotional reaction to pain. It’s like turning down the volume. So when pain sensations hit, they have little effect. That’s how the monks can tolerate what for anyone else would be extraordinary pain.
Vocabulary Mix:
grueling: Physically or mentally demanding to the point of exhaustion.折磨的，使精疲力盡的：對生理或心理上的要求達(dá)到極限的。
參考中文翻譯：
中國少林寺的和尚以格斗技能和雜技著稱，但是最重要的是，他們控制自己感覺的能力。
是真的不痛還是他們不在意這種疼痛呢?為了準(zhǔn)備好迎接那些類似折磨的行為，那些和尚們應(yīng)用最古老的方法來控制疼痛——冥想。
“我們必須百分之百的集中注意力。我們需要自己的意志力來運(yùn)氣，我們的精神能量。當(dāng)我們陷入冥想狀態(tài)時，我們可以使我們的精神能量在體內(nèi)貫穿。”
冥想從改變?nèi)梭w的工作開始：心跳減慢，泵出更少的血液;肌肉放松。肌肉放松意味著緊張度減少，疼痛減少。
但是最神奇的作用發(fā)生在大腦。令人驚訝的是，雖然大腦仍然是警覺的，冥想狀態(tài)減輕了對疼痛的反應(yīng)，就好象降低了音量。所以當(dāng)疼痛來襲，基本上也起不到什么作用。這就是常人難以忍受的疼痛少林寺和尚卻可以忍受的原因。
單詞注解：
meditation 名詞 沉思,默想;冥想
【宗】默念,默想
沉思錄