On-grounds interviews, moving into a new apartment, classes starting, not to mention moving to a brand new town for your first year of law school … the beginning of a new academic year can feel overwhelming! The law library is offering peace and quiet to help you ease back into the school year … and we’re not talking just about the new study carrels! We are building a collection of books (in print and on CD) and DVDs about mindfulness, meditation, and yoga.
What does mindfulness have to do with law school and law practice? A lot, say a growing number of law schools like the University of California at Berkeley, which has an Initiative for Mindfulness in Law and a student-run meditation group. As profiled in this recent ABA Journal article, “Mindfulness in Legal Practice Is Going Mainstream,” attorneys are also exploring its benefits. Hey, Google is bringing mindful meditation into its workplace, so it must be a catchy trend!
If you could use a deep breath or are just curious to learn more, come check out these new additions to our collection. They’re available in the library’s first floor reserve room, next to the DVDs:
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn – Dr. Kabat-Zinn broke new ground integrating mindful meditation with medicine in founding the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program he developed is used in schools and workplaces throughout the country to teach people how to work with the challenges and stress we face everyday in order to relax and enjoy life more. The University of Virginia Medical School’s Mindfulness Center teaches MBSR to U.Va. students and employees. They will be offering a six-week program tailored to law students here at the law school in October! Look for blog postings and flyers with more information in September.
- Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn (audiobook on CD)
- Guided Mindfulness Meditation, Series 1 by Jon Kabat-Zinn (audiobook on CD)
- Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown (book) – Dr. Brown, a professor at the University of Houston, delivered a Tedx talk in 2010 that has been viewed over 10 million times. She has been interviewed by everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Forbes to National Public Radio.
- Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind by Kristin Neff (book) – Kristin Neff is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who researches the health benefits of being kind to yourself. Check out her Tedx talk on self-compassion. (Also worth checking out is a fascinating documentary about her family’s trek in Mongolia, available in Clemons Library’s collection of movies.)
This is just a start! Let us know if you have favorite books, CDs, DVDs about mindfulness, meditation, and yoga that you think your classmates would enjoy. Also keep an eye out for announcements about Library-sponsored mindfulness and meditation events coming this fall!
– Kristin Glover
