by Heidi Green
Scripture
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8
Spiritual Focus
The child is in me still, and sometimes not so still. Fred Rogers
Breath Prayer
Inhale The Lord
Exhale Is Good
In the Pacific Northwest (where I live) gloomy winters are followed by long summer days that seem to brighten every ordinary pleasure: the warmth of the sun on shoulders, the smell of BBQ on the grill, the sweet taste of a perfectly ripe peach, the sound of neighbors calling cheerfully to each other from front stoops, the sparkle of snow melt splashing down a mountain stream.
This sensory feast makes summer the perfect time to exercise mindfulness muscles: being fully present in the moment, immersed in ordinary, yet exuberant, summer sensations. The attitude we bring to mindfulness practice is key. Yoga encourages us to cultivate a beginner’s mind—similar to the Buddhist concept of shoshin. Beginner’s mind is an attitude of wonder, free from old and preconceived ideas that want to control our present experience. Popular meditation teacher Jeff Warren explains, “our conclusions should never get in the way of new learning.”
Father Thomas Ryan, a Paulist priest and good friend of Yogadevotion, in his book Reclaiming the Body in Christian Spirituality, finds this wisdom in scripture. Writing on embodied prayer in a section titled “Take Off Your Shoes” he advises that to enhance our prayer life, “…we will need to rediscover a childlike sense of wonder.” And muses,
“Could this sense of wonder be part of what Jesus was talking about when he said that in order to enter the Kingdom of God we must receive it as a little child?”
This week consider approaching your yoga practice, prayers, and summertime with the attitude of a beginner’s mind. Happy Baby, ananda balasana, is a wonderful asana in which to practice. Explore the pose as if experiencing it for the first time. What feels good? What feels silly? As you breathe in the pose where does your body move? Be curious. Then carry what you learn off the mat. Bring your beginner’s mind with you when you connect with friends and family—let old stories lie low and be open to what is new. Or maybe tap into your beginner’s mind as you spread a blanket for an outdoor picnic, linger over fresh produce at a farmer’s market, or take off your shoes and pray in bare feet. When we taste and see the ordinary with a beginner’s mind, we create additional space for the extraordinary goodness of the Lord to shine through.
