Beginners Mind...
Hi everyone, Ash here 🌈
We have been looking at the 7 Pillars of Mindfulness by leading mindfulness professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, and this week I will be talking about...
Beginner's Mind
When was the last time you had the opportunity to watch children discover something for the first time? Children are the perfect example of mindfulness and everything it stands for - being fully present in the moment with little thought on the past or future.Whether it's learning to take their first step or discovering a word they can read for the first time, children embrace the world around them with an open heart and... a beginner's mind. It was for this reason that we created Playground - a favourite SMASH class where all the exercises are based on childhood playground games, and where we encourage the community to reconnect with their 7 year old self! When was the last time you approached your day with an open mind, with the energy that children possess when they are so keen to learn?
Look at an object in front of you and ask yourself what you would think it's use could be, if you didn't know. If you didn't know a pen was for writing with, would it be wrong to assume that it was actually a stress release tool when you press the top to release the nib? Maybe a measuring instrument? Something to stir your tea with? When you let go of everything you know, endless opportunities can present themselves to you. When was the last time you let your imagination run wild?
A current example of beginner's mind are the conversations I've heard recently about people who indentifyas non-binary. Since singer Sam Smith announced that he identified as non-binary, I have heard and read many things about this - some very positive and, unfortunately, some negative. Rather than choosing to approach this with a beginner's mind, some people have found it challenging and have closed their minds to the fact that non-binary people have existed for centuries. I understand that when we aren't familiar with something it can be confusing, but what if this was to be approached with a beginner's mind? What if we took it all the way back to a time when we didn't know that 'he' or 'she' existed and that people were just known as 'they' or 'their' - we were all people. Suddenly it doesn't sound so complicated that you can refer to someone as 'she', 'their, or 'he' - whatever pronoun someone prefers should be honoured with respect. Would your beginner's mind have an issue with that? I suspect not. Of course, it's natural that it can take some time for our heads to overcome the years of conditioning to think a certain way, but we always have the power to challenge this by embracing our beginner's mind. We can choose to view something from a different perspective, to do some research, to open our eyes to something we don't quite understand straight away but are willing to learn about. When was the last time you opened your mind to discovering something new? When was the last time you challenged your beliefs?
What would happen if you embraced a beginner's mind more frequently? If you emptied your mind every now and then and questioned things, much like a child often does? It's very hard to forget everything you know - this isn't the point after all, as knowledge is also a powerful tool for a healthy and happy mind. Beginner's mind is about creating new space in our busy heads to view things differently, to allow ourselves to learn again. Beginner's mind allows us to be open to an ever changing world. A great way to create this space is to practise meditation or mindful breathing and by becoming more observant of the world around you...
'In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few' - ShunryuSuzuki
How many possibilities are you willing to explore? Sometimes you have to let go in order to create space for new learning, for further enlightenment.Are you ready for that?
Who thought mindfulness was just about meditation, hey?!
Have a wonderful day 💙
Sam and Ash
