Adopting a Beginner’s Mind

• A beginner’s mind is your mind’s natural state. It’s the neutral observer state that allows you to receive information without the impedance of your preconceived notions and beliefs.

• Beginner’s mind isn’t something difficult to attain or something that takes years of practice to experience. Such beliefs only make something simple feel elusive.

• You can’t “effort” your way into “acquiring” a beginner’s mind. You can only strip away all impairments that impede experiencing this natural state, emptying the mind so that new perspectives and ideas can emerge.

• To return to a beginner’s mind, find a way of calming and quieting your mental chatter.

EXERCISE I Grounding and Mindful Breath

1. Sit in a quiet place, with your spine straight and physical connection to the floor beneath you for grounding.

2. Mentally release your attachments to concerns related to the past… resentment, disappointment, attachments to stories that you define your identity with, attachments to stories you use to explain your choices and behaviors, regrets, pride, all attachments to the past.

3. Mentally release your attachments to concerns related to the future… expectation, anticipation, worry, need to control or orchestrate, need to predict, fantasies, etc… all attachments to the future.

4. Bring your attention to the rise and fall of your chest, the expansion and contraction of your rib cage as you observe the natural rhythm of your breath, stay focused there, and when your mind wanders simply bring it back to the breath repeatedly without judgment or attaching meaning to the mind’s wandering.

5. After a few minutes of this, bring your attention to the part of your body that has contact with the floor beneath you… the soles of your feet, your butt, your back, etc… focus on the connection between the floor and your body. Notice what your senses experience.

EXERCISE II Mindful Observation Technique

1. Look at an object for a period. Remove the name of what you call that object. For example, “book.” If you didn’t know that a book was called a book or that it was for reading, how would you experience this object?

2. Observe and notice the physical form, shape, texture, color, etc. without judgment of the object. If you do this for long enough, the object may become foreign to you. Then, you will experience a ping of curiosity, followed by the thought, “What is that?” This curiosity is a trademark of beginner’s mind.

EXERCISE III Dropping Labeling

1. In your journal, make a list of your identities. For example, I am a Democrat, a vegetarian, an athlete, an achiever, a mother, father, sister, husband, etc.

2. Close your eyes. Drop all of your identities about yourself. Journal about what that feels like.

3. Every label you have for yourself comes with a host of beliefs associated with that label. Journal about what those beliefs are. Each label activates an archetype in our minds, meaning they trigger set patterns of behavior that prohibit openness. Journal about those archetypes, patterns, and what kinds of things do they prohibit openness too.

4. In a beginner’s mind, you’re empty. That is, no labels qualify. Let go of who you think you are … if only for a few precious moments. What can you see as possible should you let go.

EXERCISE IV Celebrate Failures and Successes

Celebrate falling down – and getting up. With the Beginner’s Mind we can celebrate failures and successes as integral parts of the journey.

This quote by famed basketball star Michael Jordan tells this story well: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

I remember when I was first learning to snowboard many years ago. It took five full days of continually falling on my butt to get over that beginner’s “hump”.

Like a toddler learning to walk, we must fall and get up over and over again before we can walk on our own.

EXERCISE V Don’t Be a Know-It-All

Next time you are in a social environment, and a topic you are familiar with comes up — refrain from speaking straight away. Especially when you hear someone expressing an opinion different from yours, don’t give into the automatic impulse to prove your point. Instead, try putting yourself into a position of someone who is completely new to the subject. Ask the other person a question and listen carefully, as if you didn’t know anything about the topic at hand. Be aware of your attitude and your thoughts, and check whether you are able to alter your perspective on the subject matter.

EXERCISE VI Action Tools

• Hang out with people you seemingly have nothing in common with, or someone you haven’t been close to but assume you either don’t like them or disagree with their beliefs. Interact with them from a neutral observer position…no judgement… no preconceptions… just curiosity. Journal about what you learn.

• Take up a new activity for fun that you would normally not do. Be curious about why others love that thing. Journal about what you learn.

• Alter a well-known route when commuting. Take a different route. Begin to pay closer attention to the space between point A and point B, and all of the alternative routes and their environments.