Mindfulness and the Law Student

The law school experience is a rich one that boasts an exciting history.  To attend law school is to journey into a terrain that marks the very foundation of our societies, cultures, and civilizations. Whether you are learning contracts law, ethics and professionalism, or jurisprudence, you are being exposed to what has been for many, a source of lifelong exhilaration. The rewards for a career well practiced are many -- intrinsic, financial, and social.

This experience and the opportunities that flow from it are yours for the taking. If you are like most law students, you entered (or are entering)  law school with much enthusiasm and a little trepidation.  As for the trepidation, you may wonder from time to time: How will I fare? Will I be top of my class?  Will I graduate?  Will I get a good job?  Will I make law review? or moot court? Will I learn to think like a lawyer?  Will I be able to pay off my student loans?  Will my family be proud of me?

These and the many other concerns that law students report can lead to intense stress as the law school experience progresses and the competition, culture, and uncertainties of law school ripen.  Such stress can lead to anxiety and depression and undue worry and obsessions.  We all have our various coping behaviors, some of which are constructive while others can be destructive. These stressors can trigger our turning toward these behaviors.

While it can certainly be said that this is the nature of law school. A look at mindfulness invites you to experience the intense competition, culture, and uncertainties by embracing it all with courage and passion -- approaching the mystery of each moment with profound excitement and joy.

As you will learn from this website and the countless books and articles (see resource center) written on the role of contemplative practices, like mindfulness, to relabel these experiences is to to learn ways to boldly go where you may never have gone before

The Institute for Mindfulness Studies (IMS) brings the contemplative practice of mindfulness to law students by offering mindfulness insights and instruction in techniques specifically designed for legal professionals.  Our focus for law students is to enrich the law school experience so that it is a time of great learning, growth, and excitement.  You can read our Mission Statement by clicking here.

The Jurisight® program, developed by IMS, brings together groundbreaking work in the field of neuroscience and the contemplative practice of mindfulness. Jurisight was developed by Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., director of the Institute, attorney, and longtime practitioner of mindfulness, after working closely with law students and attorneys interested in bringing greater balance into their lives and enhancing their well-being and performance.  The Jurisight programs incorporate imagery and concepts integral to the law, thereby facilitating a students understanding of, retention, and application of these techniques.  The effectiveness of Jurisight is found in its seamless application to a law students busy and stressful life.

When people incorporate mindfulness practices, they are better equipped to deal with the unexpected, however it presents itself.  In addition, they develop and enhance their capacity to be more genuine and present for what arises in their interactions with their classmates, professors, partners, and family. They are also able to focus with greater clarity on assignments and work.

The result is a momentous shift in well-being and efficacy as the student responds to stressful and uncomfortable events with greater ease, from a newfound place of balance. The mind is clearer and the moment fresher. Performance is optimized.  Carryover changes realized in family and personal relationships can be extraordinary.

Each moment offers us all the opportunity to see life anew, to fulfill the promise of our true natures, and to embrace one another from a place of balance and openness.

If you are an educator with a law school, contact us to learn more about how we might work together to help bring greater clarity and purpose to your students educational experience. You can read some law studnet comments from recent programs by clicking here.

Click here to sign up for The Mindful Law Student Newsletter.

Click here to visit The Mindful Law Student Blawg.