Mindfulness Community Circle at Georgetown Law

Georgetown Law held Community Circle meetings throughout the fall. Third-year law students led other law students in themed groups over Zoom. In our mindfulness and meditation Circle, we gained insights into “mindfulness” and how awareness can lead to a greater perspective, stress reduction, focus and effective lawyering skills. Our Mindfulness Circle introduced us to healthy ways to cope with stress and law school’s competitive culture. Community Circles were casual, relaxing, non-academic ways to create strong bonds with students on a deep level in an otherwise isolating time.

Sessions began with opening meditations to help leave law school behind. Then we checked-in and reflected on different prompts. Typical check-ins included sharing how we applied the prior week’s technique at home or in the classroom and if it was helpful. Each week, we discovered techniques (meditation, guided imagery, journaling etc.) to identify what calms and centers us. Our hours and meditations were guided by the following themes:

Session 1: Intro & Breathing Meditation

Session 2: Intro to Mindfulness
“It’s often mistakenly assumed that during meditation you’re doing it correctly if you can “turn off your thinking.” Let thoughts come and go. It’s how you relate to them that matters – not the fact that you are thinking…. When we are not mindful, we are driving on automatic pilot. How did we get there? It means we aren’t present – which leads to a sense of vague dissatisfaction – of going through the motions. Think about a time when you were fully present. Mindfulness helps us to focus on right now, the pleasure, the insight, the joy, the gratitude right in front of us.”

Session 3: Guided Imagery
“The mind cannot tell the difference between real events and vividly imagined ones. When your mind vividly imagines something that is safe, pleasurable or pleasant, your body interrupts the stress response and goes into relaxation… imagery can reduce stress that comes from cultures of high expectation. It won’t eliminate it –but it can help “be” with the feelings.”

Session 4: Walking Meditation
“Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Instead suppose we’re walking to a sacred place. We would walk quietly, taking each gentle step with reverence. We should walk this way every time we walk. The earth is sacred, when walking like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing.”

Session 5: Gratitude Meditation
“We can give gratitude more opportunity to appear in our lives, simply by taking time to focus on what is good in our lives”

Session 6: Lovingkindess Metta

We tried to find inner voices and thoughts. The Mindfulness Community Circle gave us tools to feel confident and calm. Our commitment and intention to meet and mediate weekly helped improve our realities. Our Mindfulness Circle taught us – future attorneys – that we’re not robots. To meet life’s challenges and be professionally successful, we must take care of ourselves, be mindful and emotionally resilient, and socially fulfilled.