February 5 through April 2

Register now!

• What is mindfulness, & how is it helpful in law school/practice? Law students and attorneys across the country are using mindfulness techniques to improve their focus, manage stress, and communicate better with colleagues and clients. You can apply mindfulness to just about anything you do: mindful listening, mindful exercise, mindful eating, mindful test-taking.
• What is the workshop? The U.Va. Mindfulness Center has been teaching mindfulness for over a decade. They have developed a workshop for U.Va. Law, sponsored by the Law Library. In each of the 8 workshop sessions we will learn and practice a new mindfulness technique, including: breathing meditation; mindfulness of emotions; and mindful movement.
• But I know nothing about meditation….You do not need any prior experience to participate in the workshop.
• How do I sign up? The workshop will meet each Thursday, 3:45 to 5pm, February 5 to April 2 (except for Spring Break). Email Kristin Glover in the Library to sign up. To get the most out of the workshop, commit to attending each session. The workshop is free to participants.  

– Kristin Glover 

Got a lot on your mind? We’re offering free tools for staying focused and being a happy law student (and lawyer)!

Mindful lawyering is catching on in law schools and law practices across the country. Students and attorneys report that practices like meditation and mindful listening are powerful tools that help them focus, manage stressful situations, and communicate more effectively with colleagues and clients. The University of Virginia’s Mindfulness Center, which has been teaching mindfulness tools for over a decade, has developed an introduction to mindfulness workshop especially for U.Va. law students. The workshop is sponsored by the Law Library and is free to law students! No prior experience with mindfulness or meditation is needed – the workshop is an introduction designed for all levels of experience. The workshop will meet each Thursday, 5:15 – 6:30pm, September 4 to October 23. To get the most out of the workshop, students need to commit to attending each session. Sign up by emailing Kristin Glover (klg3n@virginia) in the Library by August 29. 

In addition to the workshop, we’ll be hosting weekly 15-minute meditation study breaks in the Law Library’s Klaus Room (2^nd Floor), every Tuesday at 3:45, starting August 19. Anyone who would like to drop in is welcome at any of these study breaks. No prior meditation experience is needed. 

Want to explore mindfulness and mindful lawyering on your own time? Check out the books, audio CDs, and magazines in the Law Library’s Mindfulness and Happy Lawyering collection. It’s in the 2^nd floor Klaus Room.

 – Kristin Glover  

Want a quick afternoon break from bar studying and summer research projects? Curious about how meditation can help you better focus, manage stress, communicate, and be happier? Stop by a Mindful Minute Study Break in the Law Library this summer, 3:30 every Wednesday. 

The study breaks will be 15 minute to half-hour guided meditations. You don’t need any prior meditation experience – the guided meditations will tell you exactly what to do (basically, sit, breathe, & relax!). We’ll use guided meditations from the University of Virginia’s Mindfulness Center, & other sources. 

No need to sign-up ahead of time– just come on by the Law Library’s Fox Room (1^st floor, across from the Circulation Desk). Each week’s meditation will have a different theme – here’s a schedule: 

Wednesdays, 3:30pm

Law Library, Fox Room
(1^st floor, across from Circulation Desk)

• May 28, Take a Deep Breath: Simple meditation on breathing to help you relax

• June 4, Keep breathing: More meditation on breath & the five senses

• June 11, Focus Your Energy: Meditation to help with concentration

• June 18, Show Yourself Some Love! Meditation to help you be kind to yourself under stress

• June 25, Moving Meditation: Stretching & walking meditation

• July 2, Fireworks! Meditation to help you handle stressful feelings

• July 9, Show Yourself, & Others, More Love! Kindness meditation

• July 16, Sit Back & Relax: Meditation with stress-reducing nature sounds

– Kristin Glover 

Studies show meditation helps you relax and focus your attention. The Law Library is hosting a series of meditation study breaks this week and during finals period. The U.Va. Mindfulness Center is guiding the first study break meditation this Wednesday (April 23), at 3:45 in the Law Library’s Klaus Room (second floor). No sign-up necessary, just come on by.

The finals period meditation study breaks will be in the Library’s first floor Oasis Room (the McBeal group study room near the Caplin Reading Room). The Oasis Room will be available throughout finals period (starting this Friday) as a space for you to retreat away from your books, outlining, and papers.  It will have meditation cushions, yoga mats, and guided meditation CDs to help you take some deep breaths, relax, and re-focus.

All are welcome to the meditation study breaks, no sign-up necessary, just come on by. Here’s a schedule:

• Mindful minute study-break: Focus your study energy. Studies show meditation improves memory and focuses attention. Start your finals period with a 10-minute guided meditation in the Oasis Room on the Library’s first floor. Fri., April 25, 3:30pm. 

• Mindful minute study-break: Beach, rainforest, open fields . . . anywhere but here! Want to get away from the outlining, the practice exams, the research paper footnotes? Travel around the world in a 10-minute meditation on restful nature sounds. Library, first floor Oasis Room, Mon., April 28, 3:30pm. 

• Mindful minute study-break: Exercise your right to relax! Congratulations First-Years – you’ve checked constitutional law off your list for the semester. Rejuvenate in the Library’s first floor Oasis Room with a 10-minute guided relaxation meditation. Wed., April 30, 11am.   

• Mindful minute study-break: Stop and smell the flowers. Spies Garden is in full bloom, the perfect place to spend 15 minutes to reconnect with the smells, colors, sounds, and warm feel of Spring. Meet in the Oasis Room on the Library’s first floor and we’ll head to the courtyard for a short walking meditation. Fri., May 2, 3:30pm. 

• Mindful minute study-break: Tea and Sympathy.  If this homestretch of finals period is feeling like Mile 22 of a marathon, show yourself some compassion and come commiserate with others in the Oasis Room. We’ll listen to a 10-minute guided meditation on being kind to yourself. Free iced tea & cookies, too! Tues., May 6, 3:30pm.  

– Kristin Glover 

Congressman Tim Ryan Talk: “The Quiet Revolution: How Mindfulness is Transforming Our Country”

Friday at noon, Main Grounds (Nau Hall Auditorium)

Congressman Tim Ryan has represented Ohio in Congress for more than a decade. He believes that people, our country’s leaders included, can use mindfulness and meditation to improve our lives and communities. He will speak on Main Grounds as part of the UVA Contemplative Science Center’s speaker series.

Check out Congressman Ryan’s 2012 book A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit in the Law Library’s Klaus Room mindfulness collection. 

– Kristin Glover  

SBA Wellness Week’s Mindfulness Lunch Hour, Tuesday, 12:15-1:15 (WB152)

What better way to transition back after Spring Break than a free lunch and tips on how to stay relaxed?! As part of SBA’s Wellness Week, a U.Va. Mindfulness Center expert will present time-tested tools for staying calm, balanced, and on top of your game no matter what classes, work, and life send your way. Everyone is welcome, no pre-registration required. 

– Kristin Glover 

Time magazine says “The Mindful Revolution” has begun! * 

What does this mean for lawyers and the practice of law? Rhonda Magee will explore this question in depth in her upcoming presentation, “Wise Warrior, Peacemaker, Healer of Broken Systems: Contemplative Approaches to Law, Lawyering, and Social Justice,” Thursday, February 6 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Purcell Reading Room (a.k.a., “The Fishbowl”).

U.Va. Law graduate Rhonda Magee ’93, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, is a leader in scholarly and hands-on work to humanize legal education and the practice of law. Professor Magee will talk about mindfulness and meditation as powerful tools for exploring our intentions to learn the law, advocate for clients, and improve our justice system as law students and attorneys. All are welcome to attend. You can register ahead of time on the U.Va. Contemplative Sciences Center’s website, or feel free to just come on by. If you are interested in chatting with Professor Magee in a small group about her path from U.Va. Law to law practice and her current work, email Kristin in the Library.

To learn more about the mindfulness and meditation tools Professor Magee will talk about, sign up to participate in the Introduction to Mindfulness workshop that the U.Va. Mindfulness Center is offering at the Law School this Spring. The workshop begins February 5, and will meet Wednesdays 3:45-4:45 until April. Email Kristin in the Library now to enroll for free.

– Kristin Glover   

*The Feb. 3 issue is available in the “mindfulness” collection in the Klaus Room.