Beginners Mind

It has been awhile since I have written and am happy to be back, thanks for your patience and understanding.  I have been working on some things and needed to experience them on a “real” level not just a “mind” level.  In September I went to Sedona, AZ to experience the energy vortex’s in that area.  As I sat on those beautiful red rocks, a few things came to me that I wanted to contemplate; one of them was Beginners Mind.  In yoga we bring this term into our practice, often we become so used to doing a posture that eventually we don’t feel it in our body anymore and thus the benefits are lessened.  By bringing a beginners mind into a posture we are able to experience it in a different way every time.  As I contemplated this I could see how this was applicable to every aspect of life.  We all have mental concepts about ourselves and others; we have preconceived beliefs about what is right and wrong, good and bad, likes and dislikes.  This means that at times it feels like we are going though our life on auto pilot and our personal growth becomes limited. Our patterns, thoughts and behaviors become who we think we are.  On a spiritual level I know this is not the case, so I began to bring some awareness of this into my life by watching my thoughts, actions and words.  Sometimes this was easy and very clear to me but other times not so much.  This weekend provided a good opportunity to be fully immersed in my old drama model and I was grateful that this morning I received some clarity around it. So of course wanted to share it with you all!  Our true authentic selves are a limitless field of possibilities, if you don’t believe that just look around you, there are countless stories of what humans are capable of, on a physical, mental and emotional level.  So what holds us back from fully BEING who we are?  If we apply the yoga term of Beginners Mind, perhaps that is part of it.  By using our established mental concepts and old patterns of behavior and thinking, we remain stuck in a holding pattern.  If you are feeling paralyzed, like something is missing, filling your life with busyness, blaming, unhappy, unsettled or unfulfilled then perhaps it is time to bring a Beginners Mind into your life.  The first step for me was recognizing an ingrained pattern of behavior (which thankfully I was able to see this weekend!), I was able to “see” my usual reaction, my usual thought pattern, my “go to” behavior.  Wow!! Light bulb moment this morning as Oprah would say!! To be honest as it was happening I was unable to stop it, change it or even see it.  My clarity came the following morning, as it always does for me, while doing yoga, meditating or contemplating a spiritual/inspirational teaching.  But you should follow your own way to clarity, for some people it is while doing a physical pursuit, spending time in nature, listening to music, etc. If you keep finding yourself in a familiar situation that you would like to change, bring some awareness to it.  Don’t try and analyze it at the time, believe me I have tried that and it does not work!  Just be curious about it and let it be, it may have to happen numerous times and each time just be interested.  If you really want to figure it out, spend some time in your chosen means of contemplation and one day you will “get it”.  I cannot tell you how important awareness has been in my life.  Often I have had to “see” it many times, but eventually when I do something is changed and I am able to experience a depth of understanding that I did not think was possible.  By using “Beginners Mind” as a focal point in my life (I even put a daily reminder in my phone calendar!) I have been able to change some long established patterns that to be honest brought me a lot of mental suffering in the past, for this I am ever grateful. If I can do it, so can you, give it a try, bring a Beginners Mind into all of your interactions and situations, be curious, stay interested, make space for clarity and allow your life to unfold in a richer, more meaningful way.  This is my wish for you!!