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LEGAL PROFESSIONALS' MINDFULNESS TOOLS Judge LEGAL PROFESSIONALS’ MINDFULNESS TOOLS Judge Susan Miles April, 2017 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES BOOKS AND CD’S/DVD’S Anxious Lawyer, Jeena Cho, J.D., and Karen Gifford, J.D., 2016 (how to reduce anxiety and deal with difficult events through an 8-week program meditation program) Buddha’s Brain, Rick Hanson, Ph.D., with Richard Mendius, M.D., 2009 (positive psychology approach to rearranging neuropathways; includes interesting section on nutritional neurochemistry) Coming to Our Senses, Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., 2005 (employing mindfulness techniques to change the body politic; includes a section on judges) The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D. with Sharon Begley, 2012 (affective neuroscience and its impact on discerning the source of emotion and use of brain plasticity principles to rearrange neuronic pathways) Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.,1990 (seminal work by the creator of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program) Insight Meditation, Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein, 2001 (workbook and guided meditation CD’s designed as a comprehensive training source in basic mindfulness meditation) Kitchen Table Wisdom, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., 1996 (true stories about sufferers and those who treat them, including section on Judgment - strong parallels to judges and lawyers) Practicing Mindfulness: an Introduction to Meditation, Mark Muesse, Ph.D. (24 lecture program produced by The Great Courses – an excellent starting place for practicing mindfulness through sitting, walking, eating, and everyday life) Mindful Nation, Congressman Tim Ryan, 2012 (applying the benefits of mindfulness to personal and community challenges to create change) Stress and Your Body, Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., 2010 (The Great Courses DVD lecture series covering the impact of chronic psychological stress on physical and mental health) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: a Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., 2004 (chronic psychological stress and its impact on physical and mental health) ARTICLES American Bar Association, “How Mindfulness Can Improve Your Law Practice,” http://www.americanbar.org/publications/youraba/2017/april-2017/using-the-practice-of- mindfulness-to-improve-your-law-practice-.html Report on presentation by Prof. Scott Rogers, founder and director of University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law program at ABA mid-year convention. Gelles, David, “How to Meditate,” Well Guides, NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/well/guides/how-to-meditate A straightforward, easy-to- understand guide on the benefits of meditation and how to get started in practice. Regularly updated with current tips, e.g., how to be mindful in the voting booth. Highly recommended. Includes audio files for guided meditations. By a Business columnist for NYT who established his own practice. Magee, Rhonda, “Educating Lawyers to Meditate?,” Univ of Missouri, Kansas City Law Review. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1689769 The author argues that the contemplative practices movement does much more than merely specify skills missing from traditional legal education that are crucial to effective and sustainable lawyering, including the capacity for self-reflection, emotional intelligence, and moral discernment. Magee, Rhonda, “Making the Case for Mindfulness and the Law,” NWLawyer, April/May, 2014, p. 18. Traces the history of the contemplative law movement from Jon Kabat-Zinn to current widespread availability in continuing legal education and law schools. Ricard, Matthiew; Lutz, Antoine; Davidson, Richard J., “Mind of the Meditator,” Scientific American, November, 2014, p. 39. The authors, two neuroscientists and a Buddhist monk trained as a cellular biologist, provide evidence that mindfulness and related practices alter brain physiology and provide beneficial psychological effects. WEBSITES Center for Investigating Healthy Minds http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/ (affiliated with the University of Wisconsin – Madison and directed by Dr. Richard Davidson, engages in ongoing fMRI research on the effects of meditation on the brain) The Jha Lab http://www.amishi.com/lab/ (Amishi Jha, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, Univ. of Miami, studies impact of meditation on attention and working memory – and is funded by Dept. of Defense to conduct computer-based experiments and brainwave recording to investigate if and how resilience training may improve brain’s capacity to pay attention, be situationally aware, and be better able to manage and recover from stress). Mind and Life Institute http://www.mindandlife.org/ (nonprofit which joins foremost contemplative practicioners with leaders in fields of contemporary scientific inquiry, including the Dalai Lama, Antonio Damasio, M.D. [Univ. of Iowa Chief of Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience], William George [former chair and CEO of Medtronic], and Daniel Goleman [author, Emotional Intelligence]). The Mindful Judge http://mindfuljudge.com/index.html, and The Mindful Lawyer http://themindfullawyer.com/ (two of several projects spearheaded by Prof. Scott Rogers,J.D., Univ. of Miami Law School, founder of Institute for Mindfulness Studies) The Mindfulness Research Guide https://goamra.org/publications/mindfulnessresearch-monthly (comprehensive publication database collecting material on the scientific study of mindfulness and publishes a free newsletter – Mindfulness Research Monthly: enewsletter updating scientific research studies on the impact of mindfulness practice on the brain). Wellspring Institute for Neurosceince and Contemplative Wisdom http://www.wisebrain.org/ (lots of articles for the layperson on neuroscience and contemplative practices) APPS Headspace (Headspace, Inc.) (free guided meditations for busy people, plus coaching on how to develop a meaningful practice; much supportive content is included in the monthly paid subscription) Insight Timer (Insight Network, Inc.) (meditation timer for iPad and iPhone) JKZ Series 1 (Martin Strom) (guided meditations from the MBSR program) Meditation for Optimum Health, with Andrew Weil, M.D. and Jon Kabat Zinn, Ph.D. (Sounds True) (introductory level meditations) Wellscapes (Univ. of Minnesota Regents) (pleasant nature photos and music) OTHER videos Rick Hanson, Ph.D. video presentation of neuroscience in understandable language, in 3 parts: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWoKNAXST30 www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Tv5qJjBh4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOhXvWf58qw&list=PLE1407CB7614E5248 meditation equipment and supplies http://www.sunandmoonoriginals.com/ http://www.dharmacrafts.com/ 8-week mindfulness programs University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing http://www.csh.umn.edu/index.htm (regularly offers MBSR courses throughout the year in a variety of locations throughout the metro area) University of Massachusetts Medical Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress/index.aspx Common Ground Meditation Center, Minneapolis http://commongroundmeditation.org/ (occasionally offers MBSR – usually in the mornings) .
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