The Attitudinal Foundations Of Mindfulness

Question 1

Beginners Mind

Answer 1

Approaching an experience with a beginner’s mind is when we allow ourselves to experience something as if it was our first time. With a beginner’s mind, we learn to take an open-minded approach to how we experience the world around us.

Question 2

Non Judgment

Answer 2

Taking the position of an impartial witness to our own experience. Judgement is not always a conscious decision that we make. We often bring judgement into our experiences subconsciously, so non-judgement is a practice that we learn over time rather than a single decision that we make. With practice, we learn to approach situations without judging them as good or bad, we just allow them to be the way they are.

Question 3

Acceptance

Answer 3

Acceptance allows us to live in the present and see things as they are rather than how we want them to be. Non-acceptance makes healing more difficult as we ultimately need to allow ourselves to feel pain in order to heal.

Question 4

Letting Go

Answer 4

So Letting go means letting go of our attachment and clinging to the things or ideas or thoughts that we perceive as pleasant. It means letting go of our desire to push away and avert from what we see as unpleasant.

Letting go really means let it be, allowing things to be as they are and not the way we want them to be.

Question 5

Non Striving

Answer 5

non striving means non doing – in the cultivation of meditative awareness, we try not to get anywhere else or push towards achieving any particular experience or special state, especially when we are in the formal practice.

Question 6

Patience

Answer 6

When we act impatient, we tend to miss some of our pleasant moments. With patience, we stop to pay attention to what we’re doing and find some enjoyment out of tasks that we might otherwise try to rush through. Patience allows us to notice pleasant moments even when experiencing difficulty or pain.

Question 7

Trust

Answer 7

Trust starts with the body. We trust that our breath will keep us alive, and trust that our heart will keep pumping. Through these initial fragments of trust, we can set a foundation to build better confidence in ourselves. Through trust in our body, we begin to trust our mind which helps us cultivate better confidence in ourselves, our decisions and our actions. Through trust in ourselves, the door opens to trust others as well.

Question 8

What are the 7 attitudinal Foundations

Answer 8

Beginner’s mind
Non-judgment
Acceptance
Letting go
Non-striving
Patience
Trust