“First we breath out, then we breath in.” 
I watched a documentary when I was young called “The man who skied down Everest.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Skied_Down_Everest That one line from the movie has stuck with me my whole life. To me it has always meant that we need to empty ourselves before we can fill up. Maybe that’s why the story of the beginner’s mind has always struck a chord with me.
Here’s a quick read on the beginner’s mind if you are unfamiliar with it. http://zenhabits.net/how-to-live-life-to-the-max-with-beginners-mind/
The expert has few possibilities, the beginner has many. I often see this in software development. Lots of experts and strong opinions. The times I have learned the most is when I strive for a beginner’s mind. I have experienced this lately and it has convinced me to start doing coding katas regularly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kata_(programming)
It’s exciting we you can see new insight where you previously missed it.
I had another great beginner’s experience on Saturday. I went to a Yoga class. My reasons for going were to help stretch out sore muscles. What happened was a great state of relaxation. Being able to take some time for myself to relax was wonderful. I followed the instructions of the teacher and learnt a great deal. In the process of breathing and stretching muscles, all sorts of tension was released. My muscles were relaxed and so was my mind. An interesting thing happened near the end of the session. We were all being quiet and focusing on breathing when I suddenly felt happy. It was strange and sudden and unexpected but I felt happy. I didn’t need to know the science behind it or need to come up with any explanation. I was relaxed and it felt good.
My point of writing this is I want to encourage others to experience the same thing. And also, I’m making a parallel between coding kata’s and yoga. Both I highly recommend. Both will help you improve by letting your mind relax and see the possibilities.
HumanRefactor 