Mindfulness & Self-Compassion Tools for Legal Professionals

Free & Confidential for the Massachusetts Legal Profession

Lawyers, law students, judges, and other legal professionals are invited to learn the powerful practices of self-compassion to find a greater sense of happiness, joy, social connectedness, and life satisfaction and decrease secondary traumatization and burnout in this 4-week thematic class designed for the legal profession. We will meet weekly for one hour to build the skills to begin a sustainable meditation practice.

Program Content

Research has found that mindfulness and self-compassion practices can improve quality of life and decrease feelings of isolation, disconnection, depression, and burnout. However, it can be very is difficult for many of us, especially legal professionals to give ourselves the care and compassion we need to thrive. This 4-week course is designed to show legal professionals how to weave more self-compassion into our daily lives and recognize that these practices are not self-indulgent, but actually hold the key to our overall well-being and sense of belonging.

There will be a strong emphasis on practicing self-compassion meditations including:

• Mindfulness of breath,
• Affectionate body scan,
• Supportive touch,
• Self-compassion break,
• Compassionate breathing, and
• Guided visualizations for inner strength.

Educational Objectives

1. Define self-compassion and describe the positive effects on life satisfaction, social connection, and overall happiness.
2. Utilize self-compassion practices to experientially learn to take better care of yourself through the interplay of the mind and body.
3. Learn how to develop personal self-compassion practices with mindfulness of breath, affectionate body scan, supportive touch, self-compassion break, compassionate breathing, and guided visualizations.
4. Learn how to enhance the resiliency of clients we serve through different self-compassion practices designed to decrease depression, anxiety, emotional avoidance, and anger.