It is our honor that Ricardo had an interview with us.
Our interviewer is Mr.Ricardo,a meditation amateur from Brazil, who got aPhD and graduated last year. He has often practiced himself since he got intouch with mediation last year online.He loves China and is waiting to come toChina for his next-year-job.
我们请到了来自巴西的冥想爱好者——李科多先生来赴本次的正念有约。李先生是一名刚毕业一年的博士，从去年开始接触冥想，并且坚持在业余时间练习冥想。热爱中国文化的他打算来中国就职，正在等待明年的中国之旅。
Do you meditate everyday? How do you practice yourself?
您现在每天都在冥想吗？日常的练习习惯是怎样的？
I practice meditation three to four times a week. I attend a weekly mindfulness online course offered by a U.S. university once a week. I use apps to meditate once or twice a week. I practice every Sunday morning when I stop by a river or green during a 3 hour long walk . Occasionally, I practice sleep meditation.
How did you get in touch with meditation in the first time?
最开始您是怎么接触到冥想的？
A few months after I completed my PhD, all universities in Brazil closed due to the coronavirus. As a result, finding a job became very difficult. So,under a situation of unemployment, I had to find activities to fill my schedule. During this time, I spent more time studying Chinese, I started running, and attended many webinars. One day, when I was searching for a webinar, I found an event on Mindfulness.
I decided to register because I’m interested in Psychology and never heard the word mindfulness before.
Why did you begin to do meditation? What the top advantage can meditation bring to you?
您为什么要练习正念冥想？冥想对您来说最大的魅力是什么？
Unlike many people, I didn’t start practicing because I was suffering from stress, anxiety or insomnia; I didn’t have a friend who recommended me to practice meditation; I didn’t receive any professional advice, and I don`t have faith in Buddhism. The main reason why meditation became a habit to me was because I felt good the first time. As I enjoyed the first session of the online program of that American. university, I decided to register again for the following weeks.
I would say that the main benefit that meditation has brought to me is to be kind to myself. I was a person who used to ignore my current feelings and was just focused on the next step of my life. The problem with this attitude is that there will always be a next step and I would never give to my mind and my body the treatment and respect they deserve. Meditation has been fundamental in the process of changing my attitudes and behavior in a such a way to improve my well-being as I’m paying more attention to the present moment, I`m becoming more kind to myself and others and I’m more aware of and able to regulate my thoughts and emotions.
How long do you practice meditation? Is it a fun or happy time when meditating? Why?
练了多久了？在您看来，冥想是一件有趣、开心的事情吗？为什么？
I’ve been practicing meditation for one year and a half. In general, I have positive feelings of calmness and relaxation when I meditate. However, in my opinion, the main goal of mindfulness is not to feel good during a practice but to improve brain functioning.
Sometimes practicing meditation can be challenging. For example, sending good wishes to someone we don’t like during a love and kindness meditation doesn’t bring good feelings. But doing so improves our ability to accept and interact with those people who we don’t have a good relationship with. Nowadays, as I gain more experience, I value more long-term benefits of meditation than the good feelings in those ten to thirty minutes of a practice.
In your opinion,what do we need to pay attention to when meditating?Any mediation skills do you want to share with our Chinese friends?
您觉得练习冥想需要注意什么？有什么练习技巧分享给我们中国的朋友？
I think we need to pay attention to the gradual improvement of our mind. People should approach meditation in the same way they approach running or going to the gym.These activities have some commonalities. First, just like a gym workout trains the muscles and running trains the cardiovascular system, meditation trains the brain. Second, achieving an expected result （like building muscles, running longer or feeling less anxious) requires constant effort. As a runner knows that if he or she wants to run a half-marathon, s/he has to run at least four times a week, a meditator should know that the more regularly he practices, the better the results. Third,meditation (like running and gym workout) can make us feel overwhelmed, tired and bored sometimes. Running is pleasant but some workouts are tiring and demanding. Meditation works the same way.We feel good most of the time but we may also feel bored and tired.
Because of Covid-19,lockdown in home is common.You said you often joined in some online meditations,like Event Brite.Can you share the most impressive one with us? How do you feel it during online meditation?
您说疫情期间在家无聊就在Event Brite上参加一些线上的冥想活动，可以给我们分享一下吗？印象比较深刻的是哪一次？感觉如何？
In June, 2020, I registered to the first session of Brown University’s online mindfulness group. It was only me and the instructor. The instructor said briefly about the definition of mindfulness and we immediately started practicing. The first practice was a basic sitting practice. The instructor asked me to pay attention to breath, feet, sounds, and so on. I felt so relaxed as never before. This feeling motivated me to attend the following sessions. As our group got bigger, we built a small international community around it. Nowadays our group has more than 20 regular participants from countries like Brazil, United States, Canada, U.K, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, among others. We gather every Friday for the weekly mindfulness sessions, we chat on Sundays just for fun and we have a WhatsApp group in which we share our pictures. Being part of a international group of like-minded people is one of the many benefits that meditation has brought me.
During this cocid-19 lockdown,did your family or friends feel anxious or panic? How to modify yourselves? What have meditation brought to you in this time?
疫情期间，冥想让您明白了什么？疫情期间，您和身边的家人朋友是否感到恐慌、焦虑这样的负面情绪吗？大家是如何进行自我调节的？
Meditation taught me to pay attention to the good things that was happenning in the present. Instead of being fearful or anxious about the future, I was more concerned about my study of Chinese and my running performance. When I felt anxious due to Covid, meditation helped me be aware of my feelings and don’t let them occupy my mind.
My dad suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder and is part of the risk group. Imagine how hard it was for him to cope with the coronavirus pandemic in one of the hardest hit countries in the world!! To add to my dad’s suffering, my oldest brother decided to get married during the pandemic, forcing my dad to travel to another city to attend a wedding with more than one hundred people. Many of my relatives got Covid. One of my cousins (表哥）had been hospitalized for almost one month with more than 80% of his lungs damaged. One in 350 people died of Covid in Brazil.
Despite this dire situation, I maintained my mood under control with the help of meditation. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince my family to practice meditation as they are unwilling to seek any sort of help. My parents had a hard time to cope with coronavirus until they got vaccinated.
In your opinion,is meditation common to see in daily life in Brazil? Why?
在你看来，冥想，在巴西的普及程度怎样？为什么？
I remember that when I was an undergraduate student, most of the meditators I knew were religious people who believed in Eastern religions or in the New Age spirituality.Meditation classes were mainly offered in spiritual centers by instructors with little or no scientific knowledge of mindfulness. Unlike North American and European countries, meditation classes have never been offered in community centers in Brazil. Nowadays, meditation is gaining popularity. Part of the increased popularity of meditation in Brazil is explained by meditation apps and video communication platforms (like Zoom and 腾讯会议) which make meditation more accessible. I couldn’t practice meditation without the help of these new technologies as I live in a small town in Brazil with a population of just 20,000 people with no meditation groups nor a qualified instructor in my area. Having no access to offline meditation classes is common in Brazil.
Can you recommend more friends or family members to do meditation?
您会推荐冥想这种生活方式给身边的家人朋友同事吗？
I’ve already recommended meditation to a few friends and family members. I recommended meditation to a caregiver who was feeling bad because an old person died while the caregiver was feeding the old person and the memory of that happening came often to her mind. I also recommended to a friend who had previous experience of practicing meditation and I asked her why not to try again. Finally, I also recommended to a friend who is trying to accept some of her son’s personality traits and behaviors and trying to improve her character.
We are curious that there are so many apps,why did you choose our Chinese app for meditation? How did you feel when using it?
我们很好奇，外国那么多冥想App，为什么会选择我们中国的自在正念App？它给您感觉怎样？
One of my key methods to learn a new language is to apply it to my daily life. In addition to the benefits of practicing meditation, doing it in Chinese has the advantage of improving my Chinese language skills. After taking a look at Chinese apps available at Google Store, I chose 自在正念 because of AI functions. I’ve never seen an meditation with such function in English or Portuguese. I also like the 一起 tab. I like to read why people meditate and how they feel about it.
I think meditating in Chinese demands more effort. This additional effort makes me wander off less often. On the other hand, I feel less relaxed than when I practice in Portuguese or English.
It is said that you will come to China for your job next year,do you want to go to some scenic spots for meditation,like the Great Wall?
听说您明年就来中国工作了，有想过到我们的长城上体验不一样的冥想感觉吗？
One scenic spot I would like to visit in China is Guilin because it is astonishing and unique. However, one of the things meditation has taught is to appreciate the beauty of wherever I am. I prefer visiting local scenic spot within a running or cycling distance to reconcile meditation with my environmental values and exercise. I`m sure that the city I will live in China has many beautiful places within a 20 km distance.
I went to the Great Wall in 2017. I liked the Great Wall due to its historical value. As we don’t see constructions over three hundred years in Brazil, being in a place with thousands of years of history is a special occasion.
This interview come to an end,thank you for talking with us!
Do you want to share anything else with our Chinese friends?
最后，您还有什么想跟我们中国的朋友分享的吗？
Thank you. Keep practicing!
采访、撰稿：Jessie
后期剪辑：满满
部分图片由 Ricardo 提供
@自在正念App
如想成为我们下一位受访者，请加小助手微信：znassistant