Goodbye Rambo, hello 'mindfulness': More lawyers embrace Zen-inspired techniques
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Unhappy with the aggressive side of the legal profession, a growing number of law firms and law schools are trying to develop “mindfulness.”
Inspired by Zen-based breathing exercises, meditation and techniques to help individuals focus on the present moment, the mindfulness movement seeks to reduce the legal profession’s Rambo-like characteristics, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.
Judi Cohen, whose Warrior One firm provides mindfulness coaching, says one exercise involves putting participants in pairs. They are to have a conversation, but are instructed to do so not only without interrupting but without thinking about retorting until the other person finishes a thought. If possible, they should also try not to mentally criticize each other.
Most participants give the exercises their best effort, she and others say. However, Cohen does recall one unidentified senior lawyer who, when asked to wish three people well, silently, during the course of the day, later sadly told her: “I didn’t see anyone worthy.”
Matrimonial lawyer Cari Rincker was one of 80 attorneys at a New York retreat organized by the Mindfulness Initiative at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law. It was held at the Garrison Institute, a meditation sanctuary near West Point.
Some sleep-deprived lawyers could be heard snoring, the newspaper notes, but Rincker said she found the experience refreshing for a different reason. “I forgot how nice it is to be outside and listen to birds chirp,” she said.
Hat tip: Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.)
