The Beginner’s Mind
The beginner’s mind: What is it? It is experiencing the activity as if doing it for the first time.
I have been practicing yoga off and on since I was fifteen years old, and more recently, consistently for several years. After a week of the flu and no yoga, I went back to class. What surprised me the most was not my lack of muscle tone or strength, but the ability to feel like a beginner. It was as if I was hearing the words for the very first time. Different details and nuances of the instruction came forth for me. Even the instructor’s voice sounded velvety and different. I was not just going through the motions. I was paying great attention to my intention and practice.
How can we embrace the beginner’s mind? How are we to go back there? I think the best way to embrace the beginner’s mind is to teach a child or a friend something that we are very skilled in. When we teach another the basics of any skill, we must imagine ourselves in their shoes, empathetic at best, and sympathetic at the very least.
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When we are silent, we can shake off the therapy session, the argument, or struggle we just went through. In order to be strong, happy, independent, and healed, I say we must add silence into our toolbox of healing techniques. Silence allows us to reorganize, re-energize, process, and absorb the challenges we are going through.
Another way I embrace silence is to go outside for a walk, hike, or run in nature. Do not underestimate the power of the sun, moon, and wind to clear your mind of negativity. When I walk in the woods or hike the mountainside, I increase oxygen consumption, my immune system improves, and I utilize all five senses! If I’m silent on my walks or runs, I allow the creativity to flow even more and I solve all of the world’s problems, mine included. While I was jogging on the beach and silently watching the ocean waves crashing us on the San Francisco shores, I received the name of my website and brand, Superior Self. Between the sweat, silence, and feel-good hormones, creativity was borne. I stopped the world long enough to listen to the universe for answers.
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DO THIS EXERCISE: WALK OUTSIDE IN SILENCE
Go outside in a grassy or tree filled area for a walk or jog for at least thirty minutes. It will steady the mind, clear the angst, and add oxygen to the body. Walking outside releases feel-good hormones called endorphins. These hormones make us feel like everything is all right with the world, at least for a little while. The more often and longer we go out and play in nature, the longer and greater the benefits last.
Pay attention to your breath. Try to hear the inhalation and exhalation through your nose. When we simplify our whole, complicated life down to a breath, we can momentarily let go of some things. We can finally relax our tense shoulders, our tight jaws, our million-miles-a-minute minds. Real healing can begin.
In Japan, there is a nature prescription called Shinyin-roku. Shinyin-roku consists of day trips to the forest, also called forest bathing. Walking silently in nature connects us to a bigger picture. The benefits of forest bathing include positive neuropsychological effects on the nervous system. The hormone adiponectin is also increased. A low level of adiponectin is linked with obesity and conditions related to obesity. Studies have shown that forest bathing reduces stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Spending time in nature builds the immune system as well. Some doctors in Japan literally write a prescription for Shinyin-roku on prescription pads to overworked and over stressed patients