Welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about beginner's mind. This term is from a book called Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. One of the lines in the book he says is, "In the mind of the expert, there are very few possibilities. In the mind of the beginner, there are an infinite number of possibilities." So often we get caught in our own expertise about what we think we know about ourselves, our lives, how to solve problems and what we need to do that also seems to prevent us from connecting to the richness and the immediacy of our life as it's happening.

I sometimes like to think of beginner's mind as a childlike curiosity. If you've ever seen a child exploring the world around them, they're smelling flowers, they're picking up insects. Have you ever seen a child go down a slide? It's pure elation and joy. Have you ever seen an adult go down a slide? It's kind of sad. So what happens along the way? I think we adopt this mentality of been there, done that.

I know what this is all about. I don't have to pay attention in the same way that I used to. Then it's true that experiences that our novel, like the first time we're experiencing them like a child, there is a richness there. We have a natural beginner's mind. And over time when we do see and experience a lot, we can just put it in the category of, I know what this is about.

But if we really drop into the truth of being present, you've never seen this moment before. You've never been in this moment before. Even if it's familiar, there's something a little different and you, showing up, are different. One of the special things about mindfulness is that it helps connect us to beginner's mind, this way of seeing our moments as if for the first time. It doesn't require anything special.

You can drop into it right now. What is it like to inhabit a childlike curiosity as if you were experiencing this moment for the first time? The colors that you might be able to see? Experiencing sound and what it's like to hear? Just feeling what it's like to have a body? We can take this way of relating to our lives and in all moments - our normal commute into work, while we're eating a meal, even if it's the same meal we've eaten before and perhaps with our partner that we've been with for 10, 20, 30 years. There's always new discoveries and this moment is always new. When we bring that beginner's mind to our lives, we get to connect to the immediacy and the richness that is ever evolving. So today, try to bring more of that beginner's mind into your life and see how it increases your experience and quality of life.

We'll do more of this in the meditation. As always, thank you for your practice and I'll talk to you soon. Take care.