A Beginner’s Guide To Trying New Things

I agree: I was afraid to try yoga for the first time.

I know, I know, it’s not a bungee overflow or a glide in the sky, activities that allow for a certain amount of fear. In fact, yoga appears to have been relatively mild. But I was still scared.

Someone recommended an old habit for me to stretch my strong muscles regularly and strengthen my bad knee. But instead of jumping on the chance to heal my body with a gentle, non-invasive motion, I just felt resistance to breathing.

I was worried about pressing my body to its ends; curling up in all those areas of the knee, which are not clearly visible.

I was afraid of shaking in my dark and mental gym clothes, not highlighting the fashion next to the skimpy neon I was thinking about for everyone.

But most of all, I was terrified that I would not be able to do it. Be a beginner, a storyteller, a novice.

But where does such thinking come from?

If we are not ready to start as a beginner, we are limiting ourselves to a very small selection of things in which we have a natural unity. We lock ourselves away from the boat load of new things. We may think that we are protecting ourselves, and in fact it only keeps us small and stressed.

Dan John, a well-known weight lifting trainer, has a well-known saying to his students: "You're not ready to be disappointed."

At first, this may seem like a harsh statement, a statement that says "kill yourself, you're not right".

But it is actually an extremely liberating concept. When we first try something new and unknown, it is normal to feel bad about it. In fact, it is quite normal to be completely scared of it. That's the beginning of everything.

And Mr. John’s guiding statement tells us that as beginners, there is no need to be angry or frustrated with ourselves for being powerless. In fact, we have no right to be - we are where we need to be, doing exactly what we should be doing, at the right level at the right time.

We start. And it is a green and uncomfortable section and difficult to navigate.

As children we did it boldly, freely. In fact, we were applauded for making these efforts - the instability of the steps and the fall of the descent were considered a cause for rejoicing.

Now that we are older, we are more afraid of falling down - looking like stupid or really stupid - until we restrain ourselves from getting into the unknown. And we are poor about it.

The Buddha says that we should cultivate the “mind of the beginner” - that glorious state in which we see new ideas with kind eyes and a spirit of compassion.

So, in the spirit of beginners, and with a strong sense of humor, I entered a world of sophisticated, unknown worlds.

And then, I struggled and loosened and fell at the same time. I was sweating and frustrated and completely wanted to get out. But I kept whispering in my ear: Be kind, be gentle, and keep it.

And indeed I did.

One class turned into two, then three, then four, then all of a sudden, a weekly practice was born. A weekly practice that now fills me with amazing peace and quiet, I have taken my anxious mind, a monkey and allowed for long periods of peace (seriously, like the perfect twenty seconds of unbroken joy at the moment!).

And all this was removed after my Buddhist mantra and lifting mantra: Be kind, be gentle, go on.

What can a beginner do for you?