Meditation

"When San Francisco litigator William Veen initially told colleagues that he was attending a four-day silent meditation retreat for legal practitioners, he was barraged with facetious rejoinders. "People would say, 'Silent meditation for lawyers—isn't that a contradiction in terms?' " he recalls.

But Veen, who has twice attended an annual Marin County retreat coordinated by Massachusetts's Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, says meditation can be a boon to a law practice. "I think it's useful," he says. "Sometimes you get caught up in your own world and you become very tense, and your bandwidth is much narrower. You're not as effective, as an attorney."

About 75 legal professionals attend the retreat each year. It's part of a nascent but growing movement among attorneys and law students who are incorporating so-called "contemplative practices" into their work.

"The Mindful Lawyer: Practices & Prospects for Law School, Bench, and Bar is a national conference that will bring together the pioneers who have been developing programs integrating meditation and contemplative practices with legal education and practice, and others in the legal profession who are interested in exploring this work.

Many law professionals have found that meditation practice has sharpened their legal skills, helped them to manage the stresses of their challenging work, increased their empathy, and deepened their commitment to creating a more just society. The conference will offer a blend of scholarly presentation, practical experience and discussion, and recent developments in neuroscience and psychology relevant to meditation practice. We invite lawyers, law professors, judges, mediators and other dispute resolution professionals, and law students to explore the connections between law and meditation, and to learn and practice meditation."

While there is no such thing as “the lawyer personality,” many lawyers are tense, moody, irritable and engage in frequent worry at work. Scientific research has now confirmed that personality type affects the tissue volume of key brain structures as we age. It turns out that conscientiousness (a positive quality which can make you a better lawyer and enhance many aspects of your life) preserves brain volume, while neuroticism measurably decreases it as early as middle age. We all know that worrying can’t help you protect the people you care about or solve any problems, but now we know it can shrink your brain as you age. Lawyers who worry all the time need to heed these findings and initiate changes in their attitude before it’s too late.

Excerpt: "This is transformative justice, as opposed to punitive," said Fleet Maull, founder of the Prison Dharma Network, one of the largest support networks helping inmates learn meditation and Buddhist teachings.

Since its inception in 1989, Prison Dharma Network has grown from one person -- Maull -- teaching Buddhist principles to more than 75 member organizations corresponding with 2,500 individuals, many of them inmates.

More: http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/63871657.html