The ongoing development of legal education has brought contemplative practices into the mainstream of both legal academia and traditional law practice.

Early examples include the 1998 mindfulness retreat organized by The Contemplative Mind in Society’s Law

Program for Yale law students and faculty.  Since that historic moment, the integration of mindfulness and the law has led to the development of programs, retreats and workshops that have made their way into major law firms, public interest legal organizations, state and national bar conferences, law schools, and the judiciary.  Much of this movement is in response to the heightened level of stress and reactivity taking place in the legal profession.  The infusion of contemplative practices acts as a counterbalance, as well as an end in itself, serving the bar’s and society’s interest in an honorable, compassionate, and insightful legal profession.

The Judge’s Breakfast

“The Judge’s Breakfast” is a program developed by the Institute for Mindfulness Studies to further the integration of mindfulness into the law, by cultivating a new conversation between the judiciary and the bar.  Its origins arise out of the Institute’s Jurisight program, where legal terms and imagery are used to teach mindfulness principles.

This insight into the nature of decision-making is firmly grounded in mindfulness principles. While we might tend to believe that decision-making is a purely rational act, insightful minds have always known better and neuroscience is beginning to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the many factors that play into the making of decisions.

The thoughts, feelings, and even bodily sensations arising within us, moment by moment, can play a significant role in the decisions we make.  By bringing awareness to this fact and to the experiencing of these events, a busy mind, sure of itself and its “judgments,” quiets as neural activity shifts, different perspectives are realized, and compassion and wisdom flourish.

The Judge’s Breakfast creates a context in which the dialogue explicitly recognizes these forces at play, and a new conversation emerges. For example, during the breakfast, a mindfulness exercises will introduce quiet and an alert awareness as both the Judge and his or her guests become witnesses of their coming together, and of the experiences arising across the table and within their own minds and bodies. To experience this silence, and to discuss what it offers, opens new doorways to all involved.

As a result different questions emerge and different answers arise.  A deepening sense of connection allows for a more heartfelt embrace of challenging situations. And where the traditional questions arise, they are understood more deeply and answered more directly.