“Shoshin (初心) is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning “beginner’s mind.” It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.”

This quote from Wikipedia explains an attitude with which it is most helpful to approach our healing. When we recognize and admit that we do not understand exactly how we became off-balance to begin with, and that we do not know yet exactly what we should do to regain our natural state of harmony, we lose nothing but a bit of egoic pride and arrogance. In return, we gain so much more. In this state of innocence and recognition, in the space of not-knowing, we leave room for the new; we invite awareness to enter, and we open up to our healing. We start the process of learning more about ourselves than we knew when we began.

When I work with a client, no matter if it is our first session together or our tenth, I clear my mind of preconceived notions, memories, techniques, and even the conversation we may have just had regarding the treatment and our goals for it. The reason is simple: I need to become an open vessel in order to receive healing from the source.

If I do not allow that vast spaciousness of not-knowing to fill my awareness, I am necessarily creating limitations on how much transformation can occur, and certainly committing hubris. If I allow for the possibility that there is more going on than what I think, then an open door is available for new awareness to enter, and for a higher perspective to inform the work. It is into this space that miracles may come.