Are you new to meditation or want to understand mindfulness concepts better? Check out this series of posts intended to explain mindfulness practices and concepts in accessible terms.
Why Overthinking Lawyers Will Love Noting Practice
A blog post about the benefits of noting practice for lawyers and other professionals.
What Is the Difference Between Pranayama and Meditation?
A blog post discussing the similarities and differences between pranayama and meditation
What Does It Mean to “Check in With Yourself”?
A blog post explaining what it means to check in with yourself and offering strategies for how to do it.
Do You Really Need a Meditation Cushion?
A blog post discussing the merits of buying a meditation cushion and discussing what items to buy or use from around the house to support your practice.
What Is Walking Meditation?
A blog post explaining what walking meditation is and how to use it to cultivate mindfulness.
What Does Compassion Feel Like?
An explanation of what compassion is and the many ways it can manifest physically in the body.
4 Simple Words to Help You Start a Meditation Practice
This post was originally published as a guest piece for Constellation Marketing in July, 2021. It still rings true today and is perfect for anyone considering meditation for the new year. I get all kinds of questions from lawyers who are interested in starting a meditation practice. It’s normal to have questions with anything new; …
Why You Can’t Clear Your Mind in Meditation and You Don’t Really Want To
People commonly complain that they can’t meditate because they can’t clear their mind. This post explains why that’s not a problem and what having an unclear mind can teach you.
5 Healthy Ways to Handle Emotions as a Lawyer
The first question I ever asked a meditation teacher showed how uncomfortable I used to be with my emotions. In the Zen tradition, you get an opportunity for an interview with the teacher when you go on retreat. I was totally unprepared for this on my first one so I asked the question at the…
Noticing “Why” Questions Can Help You Be More Present in Life
Nonjudgmental awareness is the goal of most meditation sessions and cultivating it is the goal of most meditators. Teachers will tell us to “just notice what’s there” instead of getting lost in our reactions. But, for us lawyers, this is not an easy feat. We are trained to judge, evaluate, and appraise. Clients pay us…
Mindfulness Basics: How to Find Your Breath
Breath practice is what many people think of when they think of meditation. The instructions seem simple. You are supposed to focus on your breath and return–ideally without mentally flagellating yourself–to the feeling every time your mind wanders. But as soon as you sit down to get started, you may be greeted by the somewhat…
Grounding Practices Can Catch You When You Feel Untethered
When I was preparing for my first ever appellate oral argument, I remember a swirl of questions flurrying through my mind. What if the panel is hostile to my position? What if they don’t like my presentation? What if they ask the dreaded question that exposes the fatal weakness in my case? What if they…
Love Interval Training? Why Not Try It with Your Meditation Practice.
I previously wrote about how much I love Power Zone training and shared the lessons it taught me that could easily apply to life and meditation practice. Interval training, such as Power Zone, is an effective way to train the body and build physical fitness because it taps into the benefits of both high intensity…
What Is Body Scan Meditation and Why Should Lawyers Try It?
When people think of meditation, they typically think of the breath as the focal point. But in truth, meditation can use almost any focal point and the focal point doesn’t necessarily have to be a singular, stagnant object. One of the most beneficial practices that I incorporate in my routine is the body scan. With…
Meditation Is About the Practice and Not the Session
New meditators commonly worry whether their practice is doing anything for them. They often say that they struggle to sit still, experience a deluge or thoughts and emotions, and do not feel calm at all. Most teachers (including me) would say that this is normal and that the practice gets easier over time. But new…
Scrooge, “Not Self”, and the Holiday Lesson It Offers Us All
If you are interested in meditation or have studied Buddhism, you may know the concept of “not self”, but I bet you’ve never considered what that has to do with Ebenezer Scrooge. Of course you haven’t, but bear with me because they are connected and there’s a holiday lesson in it for you. “Not self”…
Discomfort Is the Food of Meditation Practice
I know you started meditating because you want more calm in your life. I know you are looking for peace. You want to not fight things in life so much. You want to stop overthinking everything. You want to be kinder, gentler, and just better. But there’s this problem. You don’t feel calm when you…
5 Ways to Rethink Meditation If You’re Worried That It’s Woo-Woo
As someone who writes and speaks publicly about meditation, it may surprise you to learn that I did not tell anyone—anyone—when I started meditating. At first, I didn’t know whether the practice would work for me or what I hoped it would help me find. It was a weird little thing I did because I’d…
Mindfulness Can Help You Stop Rushing and Feel Like You Have More Time
The first book on meditation that I ever read was Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana. The book had lots of practical tips that served me well when I started a meditation practice in earnest, but the text wasn’t quite as plain as it claimed to be. Gunaratana kept talking about how meditation can…
10 Simple Ways to Enjoy Your Meditation Practice More
Many people talk about the benefits of meditation to encourage people to try it. I agree that the science is compelling, but sometimes the point can get lost when we emphasize meditation’s wholesomeness. It can be like trying to convince a child to eat vegetables by telling them how healthy they are. I mean, making…
Just Learning to Say “This Is Hard” Can Change Your Life
My favorite unintended side effect of my mindfulness practice is that it gives me all kinds of opportunities to laugh at myself. I don’t mean mock myself in a cold or cutting way. Rather, I mean laugh out loud at how silly this thing I call my self can be. To be sure, there are…
You Can Meditate Even If You Can’t Sit Still
“I wish I could meditate,” people often tell me when I speak or present about mindfulness, “but I can’t sit still.” To be sure, meditation is associated with stillness. One of the most ubiquitous symbols of mindfulness is the statue of the Buddha. He sits there with that half smile, perfectly still, looking totally unbothered…
How to Find a “Quiet Place” When Meditating in a Full House
The stress of a global pandemic has made interest in meditation skyrocket. Unfortunately, part of the stress of the pandemic is living in close, sometimes cramped, quarters with our loved ones and four-legged friends. Almost every guide to meditation tells you to start your practice by finding a comfortable position in a “quiet” spot with…
Loving-Kindness Meditation Explained in Valentines
There is some incredibly promising research emerging relating to loving-kindness (metta) meditation. This practice, in which meditators send themselves and others well wishes, has been shown to impart incredible benefits, including stress reduction and improvements to relationships. It has even been shown to make people who do it consistently behave more ethically. Despite this, loving-kindness…
Mindfulness Basics: Emotions Are Feelings in the Body
I have a love-hate relationship with the month of February. I love it because my birthday and Valentine’s Day fall right smack in the middle. Associating things with chocolate and pink cupcakes tends to help improve my view of them. But February is also right smack in the middle of winter. It’s almost always grey…