Cultivating “Shoshin”, the beginner’s mind
I love the concept in Zen Buddhist philosophy of a beginner’s mind. I share this concept in my yoga classes and use it with health coaching clients so I wanted to bring some light to it here.
The word for a “beginner’s mind” is Shoshin, meaning you look at every situation you’re placed in as if it’s the first time you are seeing it. There’s a lovely sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Shoshin can be practiced in little ways and big ways, as an individual and as a collective. You can do this every day, every hour or of course, at the beginning of the year.
The start of a calendar year can be a lovely time to explore new ideas, try new things and make changes to the ways we’re living. Yes, you might have a goal about quitting smoking, losing 10 lbs, starting your business, going back to school, etc. What’s neat is to apply the concept of Shoshin so that you can release expectations for the outcome and find a path that works for you. Rather than “getting it right”, a beginner’s mind means we’re more open and receptive.
I typically don’t do a New Years resolutions as a “resolution” implies something is wrong and needs to be fixed. I love the Word of the Year practice instead. My Word of the Year is “Nourishment”. With a beginner’s mind, I’m considering what nourishment will look like in 2024. How can I best care of myself, how can I feed my body, yes but my heart and soul too.
And I have some goals for 2024 that are a bit more specific. My physical goals include rock climbing and playing pickleball more. For personal development goals I want to learn to drive stick shift and become conversational in Spanish. I am not totally a newbie any of these goals so the cool challenge will be meeting them with fresh eyes. What days of the week are best for my schedule to fit in climbing and pickleball? Are there new friends I can ask to join me in these activities? Who will help me learn to drive stick shift, I need a car? Will I learn Spanish from an app or with a native speaker? By asking questions as though I am a beginner I can become more open to possibilities.
Meeting intentions with a beginner’s mind allows us to look at it in a different way than we have in the past. Maybe you tried to quit smoking in the past by throwing the cigs in the trash can and muscling through cravings. But what’s another way you could look at this situation? What if instead of seeing yourself as weak if you want to smoke, you change the lens…what if you see each craving as a chance to do something new. Maybe go for a 2 block walk outside in the cold winter air, text a friend or accountability buddy or meditate for 10 mins. Meeting an old challenge with a sense of Shoshin allows us to accept the situation and then view it again to find a different outcome.
Being a beginner also allows us to be creative and playful. Without “I don’t wanna F this up” as the mantra we’re free to explore the more expansive mantra of “ohhhh isn’t that interesting” The mantra could be "let’s see what happens” and then through playful inquiry, ideas and suggestions start to happen.
I observe beginner’s mind when playing with my nieces and nephew (all age 14 months - 4 year old) . They not trying to play the game or color the page with me so they win an award or hit a home run. They are allowing the experiences to come to them. “If I hid behind this tree, will Aunt Sissy find me?” or “If I line up my truck in this way, how will they look at the end?” Everything is new when we’re kids but as we get older, it can be harder to find opportunities to be a beginner.
So now, at the start of the year, I invite you to look at your goals with fresh eyes, to cut the story of how this situation felt in the past and simply allow the sensations and ideas to flow to you. Rather than approaching a goal with a mindset of “I have to do this, or else I will fail and failure sucks” can you say, “I love being new at something, there is nothing but possibilities here” A expert sees only one way to an answer, but a beginner sees tons of answers, new options and things to explore.
See what that opens up for you, see how the fresh eyes change a situation. How are you practicing Shoshin in 2024? Drop a comment below and let’s keep the conversations going.