Mindfulness: A Beginner's Mind

A Beginner's Mind is one of the seven attitudes of mindfulness practice. It's having a mindset of experiencing something as if for the first time. At that moment, we are able to free our minds of biases and preconceived ideas in order to truly experience what is before us with a genuine appreciation for what it is.

When we embrace a beginner's mind, we are aware, we pause to enjoy, feel, learn, play, explore, discover (or rediscover), wonder about, use our five senses - taste, touch, smell, hear and see. In essence, we open our minds to new possibilities and different perspectives simply by being receptive to what it is we are experiencing while we are experiencing it.

*Segal (et al, 2002) alerts us that:

"A powerful influence taking us away from being "fully present" in each moment is our automatic tendency to judge our experience as being not quite right in some way - that it is not what should be happening, not good enough, or not what we expected or wanted. These judgments can lead to sequences of thoughts about blame, what needs to be changed or how things could or should be different. Often, these thoughts will take us, quite automatically, down some fairly well-worn paths in our minds. In this way, we may lose awareness of the moment, and also the freedom to choose what, if any, action needs to be taken."

What would life be like if you allowed yourself to look at things with a beginner's mind?

Embrace each moment for what it is, and you will experience your life, not just live it