Noticing Your 'Yeah, Yeah' Mind

Beginners Mind

If you've practiced mindfulness to any degree, you'll no doubt be aware that one of the key attitudes that we learn to cultivate is a Beginner's Mind.

It's where we explore whatever we happen to be experiencing in that moment as if we're a complete beginner, like it's the very first time we've ever been exposed to such an experience and we explore it with openness and curiosity.

Rather than judging it or comparing it to what we already know, we just let the mystery of it unfold with a genuine interest and receptiveness.

It's such a valuable way of practicing engaging with our lives.

Yeah, Yeah Mind

But something that's equally as valuable to practice is becoming aware of those times when we're not approaching things with a beginner's mind.

Which is probably most of the time.

Most of the time we're caught up in what I lovingly refer to as a 'Yeah, Yeah Mind'.

As in, "yeah, yeah, I know this."

Or "yeah, yeah, I've seen this before."

Or "yeah, yeah, I know how this goes."

This is a natural and normal function of the human mind, and it's not a mistake when it does it, but it is the opposite of what having a beginner's mind is all about.

It can be really subtle.

Even though I teach mindfulness, I still notice that my mind spends vast amounts of time caught up in 'yeah yeah' mode.

Curse of the Expert

A prime example of this being if I'm scrolling social media and someone shares something about mindfulness or some wise, inspirational quote.

It's not like I'm consciously saying to myself, "yeah, yeah, this is old news", or "yeah, yeah, I get it."

But it can be like there is this background essence of that going on.

Unless I'm being particularly intentional about it, I'm not seeing it with a beginner's mind.

What's often happening is, as I'm reading or watching or listening, my mind's already trying to formulate what I'm going to be saying down in the comments based on my existing knowledge and experience.

Maybe, if you're already familiar with this concept of beginner's mind, can you notice if there's some subtle valence of, "yeah, yeah, beginner's mind, I know about that", going on in the background as you're reading this?

Not to judge it, just to see it.

Yeah Yeah Mind as a Trigger

So what I'm doing my best to practice right now is to take that genuine pause and reflection.

Even if I have seen it before, what new insights might be available for me?

What might I need to really hear about this right now, as if I were seeing it for the first time?

If it was the first time, what would I be making of this?

But that can only happen if I can first catch my mind NOT being open and receptive.

So that inner-move of, "yeah, yeah", now becomes a really useful trigger or reminder to just settle back and open up.

How About You?

Is it just me?

Or do you find yourself being in 'yeah yeah' mind a lot too?

And if so, in what situations do you feel that being intentional about having a beginner's mind would be really helpful?