The Mindful Attitude of Beginners Mind by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Mindful Attitude of Beginners Mind 3
Jon Kabat-Zinn
What is the Mindful Attitude Beginners Mind?
The mindful attitude beginners mind provides the richness of present-moment experience is the richness of life itself. Too often we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we “know” prevent us from seeing things as they really are. We tend to take the ordinary for granted and fail to grasp the extraordinariness of the ordinary. To see the richness of the present moment, we need to cultivate what has been called “beginners mind,” a mind that is willing to see everything as if for the first time.
This beginner’s mind attitude will be particularly important as we practice being present more often. Whatever the particular technique we might be using. Whether it is the body scan or sitting meditation, or yoga. We should bring our beginner’s mind with us each time we practice. So that we can be free of our expectations based on our past experiences.
The mindful attitude of beginners mind allows us to be receptive to new possibilities. It prevents us from getting stuck in the rut of our own expertise. Which often thinks it knows more than it does. No one moment is the same as any other. Each is unique and contains unique possibilities. The mindfulness attitudes of beginners mind remind us of this simple truth.
Try this
You might try to cultivate your own beginners mind in your daily life as an experiment. The next time you see somebody who is familiar to you. Ask yourself if you are seeing this person with fresh eyes, as he or she really is. Or are you only seeing the reflection of your own thoughts about this person?
Try a beginners mind with your children, your spouse, your friends, and co-workers. And with problems when they arise. Or when you are outdoors in nature. Are you able to see the sky, the stars, the trees, and the water and the stones. Really see them as they are right now with a clear and uncluttered beginners mind? Or are you actually only seeing them through the veil of your own thoughts and opinions?
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Respectfully,
Heidi & Ross
Please, BookMark. 🙂
G Ross Clark C.C.P.,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada,
Email- TheMindfulCoach@gmail.com,
Training- MBSRtraining.com