Develop some attitude: part 1
Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “To cultivate the healing power of mindfulness requires much more than mechanically following a recipe or set of instructions." ("Full Catastrophe Living") When we start to practise we soon find that it's not enough to spend time meditating each day, for however long.
When Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn developed the first mindfulness programme of its kind in 1979 (the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme - or MBSR - taught at the University of Massachusetts Medical School) he encouraged participants to turn to their experience in mind and body with the following attitudes: Non-judging, Beginner's Mind, Patience, Trust, Acceptance, Letting Go, Non-Striving and then later added Gratitude and Generosity.
Non-judging
We are all usually caught up in a constant flow of judging and then reacting to our experience. When we first start practising mindfulness we might be taken aback at how much we judge everything about us: our thoughts, other people, our environment, food, our bodies – the list is endless. I can actually remember going for a walk when I had just begun a mindfulness programme and thinking, I’ll try to notice whenever I’m making a judgement. Of course, I had to stop after about 5 minutes – I was overwhelmed! I judged, then judged the judging; as if I were unpacking a set of Russian dolls, there seemed to be no end to my labelling things as good or bad and it all felt too much. It took me some time to realise that it would be so much more peaceful if I could simply be aware of the judging without being caught up in it all the time. Easier said than done! But it is possible. We take a step back and notice what’s going on with a more compassionate awareness of our judging mind.
Beginner’s Mind
This is an attitude of mind that can help us with the never-ending stream of judging. For example, it might have been helpful on my walk to notice everything about me as if for the first time, with an openness that allows for new possibilities. Afterall, this experience, in this moment, has never happened before! Jon Kabat-Zinn recommends trying out beginner’s mind with people who are very familiar to you. Are you actually seeing them or just recycling old thoughts and feelings? This then, let’s face it, triggers the usual reactions in us which inevitably lead to judgments which keep us stuck. With beginner's mind we aim to see people and the world about us with fresh eyes instead of through what Kabat-Zinn calls “the veil” of our own thoughts”.
Patience
Let’s move on to a quality that can be in short supply when you first start meditating. Patience requires us to allow things to unfold in their own time, rather like a bud opening into blossom or a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. These things can’t be hurried, so why not let them develop at their own pace? We can practise being patient with our wandering minds or the way we keep judging our experience. Can we even be patient with our impatience?
Acceptance 
This is all beginning to sound very much like acceptance, an attitude of openness to things as they actually are. We’re not talking about being passive or complacent. Not at all. It’s more a recognition of what is actually here in this moment whether we like it or not and then working with that. Acceptance might be the first step in moving forwards, for example, after we’ve experienced other very strong emotions such as denial and anger at the loss of a loved one. It can be the start of a healing process. In meditation practice it allows us to be open to what’s here… with patience….with beginner’s mind… without judging.
There will be more about the other attitudes in the next blog but, meanwhile, you might like to watch Jon Kabat-Zinn talking about all of them:
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