The Mindfulness Memo

Question Presented

How might mindfully sitting and reviewing a complaint result in relief from judgment?

Answer

By mindfully sitting and reviewing the many complaints, i.e., wants, that continually arise in the mind, you gain clarity over what is genuinely needed in the moment, and are less distracted by worries about the past and concerns about an uncertain future.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is paying attention to what is taking place in the present moment. When practiced, it naturally brings about a non-judgmental state of mind that witnesses life as it unfolds without getting too hung up on every thing that doesn’t go quite right or how things might go wrong. You spend a great deal of time as law students learning to attend to precedent (the past) and how it might affect a client’s case (the future). This exercise in high-level thinking can exacerbate the mind’s natural tendency to become stuck in the past -- in regret and doubt -- and to become preoccupied about the future, -- in worry and fear. Mindfulness practices offer you greater insight into the workings of your mind and help you pay attention to what is arising moment by moment, doing so in a non-judgmental way that tones down reactionary thinking and catastrophizing. As Mark Twain said, “I’ve had a great many problems in my life, most of which never happened.”

Scientific research on mindfulness practices collected over the past thirty years has demonstrated that fixating on the past and future while ignoring the present moment drains your energy and facilitates procrastination as well as pessimistic thinking – which can ultimately cause anxiety and depression. The evidence shows that engaging in mindful practices, like the Body Scan, which is described below, helps reduce a host of health concerns from high blood pressure to cardiovascular disease to poor immune functioning. More recent research in the area of neuroscience finds it associated with beneficial changes to the structure and function of the brain.

The Complaint
In this week’s Mindfulness Memo, we explore mindfulness practices by looking to the Jurisight term “Complaint.” As is the case with a lawsuit, it all begins with the Complaint. Take a moment and consider what triggers a complaint. A complaint is the product of the human imagination, borne out of an event that is unwanted, unexpected, or unpleasant. When someone files a complaint, they want something. They want to have things made right. They want to be treated fairly. They want justice.

Wanting, Human Nature and Resistance
Wanting is an expression of the human condition. What have you wanted today? You probably have wanted a lot of things. The more you attend to your wanting mind, the more aware you will be of even the most subtle of wants – wanting the room temperature to be warmer, wanting to shift positions in your chair. At their core, wants are the symptoms of a mind that resists what is taking place in the moment. Mindfulness involves bringing awareness to what is arising in the moment and to seeing the mind that wants with greater clarity.

Wanting and Wisdom
Most of our wants contain the seeds of wisdom. For example, if you want to work at a top-tier law firm after you graduate, then there is a wisdom running through you that expresses yourself with this vision. Consider the possibility that your wanting has clouded your wisdom by causing you to be stuck in the past – perhaps by fixating on a poor grade you received in one of your classes – and by causing you to be preoccupied with an uncertain future – perhaps by convincing yourself that your life will be less fulfilling if you don’t get a job offer at that particular law firm. Freeing yourself from the grips of your wanting can make you become more effective at bringing about the outcomes you desire. Think studying, think relationships, think exams, think interviews.

Drafting Your Complaint and Moving Toward Wisdom
So that you can begin this shift from wanting to wisdom, let’s draft a complaint – one in which you are the plaintiff. This Complaint, as with all filings that are part of the Jurisight program is heard “In the Neural Circuit Court for the Great and Healthy State of Mind." The style of the case is ”You v. Reality.” Begin to note your wants, as they arise throughout the day. You’ll quickly realize that often you want things to be different than they are. It may be the amount of homework you have been assigned. Perhaps it is the amount of time someone is talking with you outside the library or what someone wrote in an e-mail or text message.

Identifying the “But-For” Cause
For every “want” there is a “but for” cause -- an event that precipitated the want. If you want less homework, it is because “the professor assigned a lot of homework.” If you want someone to end their conversation so that you can study, it is because “someone is still talking.” If you are angry, sad or frustrated because of what you read in an e-mail, it is because “someone expressed themselves.” You can glean great insight – and relief – by examining the but-for causes of your wants. You’ll note that they are simply “events.” Homework was assigned, someone is talking, someone expressed their feelings. What is distressing to you is not so much the event, but your resistance to it. You are probably having difficulty allowing things to be as they are or skillfully doing something about it.*

Mindfulness Exercise: The Body Scan
While the above discussion offers insight into why it is that you may become agitated, these words are easier said than lived. One mindfulness exercise that can be helpful is to becoming aware of the sensations arising in your body. Typically, during challenging times these sensations become more noticeable and uncomfortable. The tendency is to react by doing something about it – something that in hindsight probably wasn’t constructive. Instead, as you sense the agitation running through the body, sit with it as you would sit with your client "reviewing the complaint." Try the following for two or three minutes. Learning to identify the events that cause distress in your life by practicing the Body Scan is the first step to separating the immediate Pain caused by the distressing event from the long term Suffering that you can inflict upon yourself by obsessing about the past and catastrophizing about the future rather than being mindful in the present moment, a concept that we will explore in more detail in a future Mindfulness Memo. Stay tuned!

1. If possible, take a seat and close or lower your eyes.
2. Feel where your body makes contact with the chair or your feet touch the floor.
3. Bring awareness to your breathing, following your belly as it rises on the in-breath and falls on the out-breath.
4. Allow your breath to recede into the background as you slowly scan your body, interested in any sensations you may observe. Perhaps you’ll detect a subtle tension, an ache, or some discomfort.
5. Whatever you notice, just sit with the breath, allowing the moment to be as it just is. After a few moments – whether it ends up being five seconds or five minutes, return to what you were doing.

You will find that in the span of just a few moments, this practice can bring you insight and relief.



*The But-For Pause is a helpful mindfulness practice.