Brains On Purpose™

Upcoming event in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for sharpening your attention and performance

2009 Lawyer’s Retreat in Santa Fe

Genius is nothing but the power of sustained attention
                                         -- William James

Attention Pays:  From Reactive Brain to Reflective Mind

Friday November 13 - Sunday November 15

Registration Fee: $749.00
(Early bird $99.00 discount available
through September 30, 2009)
Register Now

Note (added September 29, 2009): Two ways to get significant savings on the fee until October 8. Click for details.

The Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Brains on Purpose invite you to participate in a weekend workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, developed for lawyers interested in developing:

their focus of attention,
and a deeper sense of well-being,
as well as achieving optimal performance
throughout their personal and professional lives.

Program Overview

What You Will Learn.  Our system will teach you practices that combine focused attention and mindful awareness to enable you to reach a new levels of mental clarity and resolve.  As a direct result, you will be less influenced by momentary distraction and more effective at accomplishing that to which you set your mind.

When all is said and done, the lawyer with a laser-like focus is a genius. Distraction does not penetrate their single-pointed concentration nor disturb the beam of their mental flashlight. Like a Samurai warrior, they place their attention where they choose, there it remains fixed, and they are prepared for anything -- harmony and war. 

What Science Will Illuminate.  Science is confirming what experience has long taught -- the development of expert levels of attention is possible and pleasurable.  In this program, attention mastery becomes your mental armor. And, because of the close connection between mind and body, you will explore the ways that the changes you experience improve your health, immune function, and reduces stress.

What Can Change. You have probably run into lawyers who behave like  zombies; they are reactive, a slave to knee-jerk responses, and always putting others on edge.  Perhaps from time to time you’ve noticed in yourself this behavior.  At other times you’ve found yourself acting like a warrior -- supremely confident, competent, and calm.

Journey to Santa Fe this November and reconnect with that Warrior.

Because of their reflective minds (as opposed to reactive brains), Samurai lawyers have many advantages not accessible to zombies.

•Sharp focus
•Equanimity
•Excellent client service
•Highly functional personal and professional relationships
•Precision alertness
•Achievement of goals
•First-rate memory
•Insight into the minds of others
•Awareness of options and choices
•Ability to choose the appropriate option for the situation

Join us in Santa Fe for a groundbreaking “recharge” (it’s really not a “retreat” because Samurai warriors seldom retreat).  You will:

•develop a laser-like focus of attention
•cultivate insight and penetrating awareness
•explore cutting-edge neuroscience.

A unique setting for a unique recharge.

Workshop Facilitators

The workshop will be conducted by Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., director of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies and Stephanie West Allen, J.D., founder of Brains on Purpose and author of the syndicated blog, idealawg.

You can learn more about Scott and Stephanie by clicking here.

This event takes place at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe, only three blocks from the Plaza yet quiet and removed from the bustle, nestled in a secluded and beautiful setting.

Not only will you experience mind-enhancing professional development, we also will incorporate this unique setting into the program.

We will be in The City Different and the Land of Enchantment, a  setting and location that will enhance the experience and facilitate your learning.

To preserve the quality, space, and spirit of the recharge, we are limiting the number of attendees so we recommend registering soon.

You may register online by clicking here. You may also register by calling 786-239-9318, or faxing a registration form to 305-538-4676.  Group discounts are available.

The registration fee includes lodging and meals:

Meals include:

Dinner on Friday
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Saturday
Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday

Lodging includes:

Rooms beginning with check in on Friday, November 13, 2009 through checkout approximately noon on Sunday, November 15, 2009. Rooms are double occupancy.  You may upgrade to a single room for an additional $50. per night.*

Click here to register:  $749.00.

Early Bird Registration (valid through September 30, 2009): $650.00.  Click here.

If you have questions, send us an e-mail by clicking here.

*If you choose to upgrade to a single room, please let us know in the comments field while registering.  A separate PayPal link will be sent to you to pay the difference.

Upcoming conference on culture and the brain

Clashing cultures can result in conflict. I have posted about culture before. Here's a Notre Dame conference that may interest some of you. From The Encultured Brain Web site:

The Encultured Brain conference will promote neuroanthropology, the integration of anthropology, social theory, and the brain sciences. As the first conference exclusively in this area, The Encultured Brain will provide a vision for the future of this line of integrative research, sparking conversations and establishing connections across disciplinary boundaries.

More here. Any of you attending?

Contemplative Practices for Lawyers: Retreat in Santa Fe on November 13 - 15

Click for all the details.

On a related note, a recent post at idealawg: Colorado Contemplative Lawyers Society: "Meditating Lawyer No Oxymoron".

Image credit: ms.kdat.

Download the articles from the 2009 Mind & Life Research Institute here

Click here to read the various articles assigned by this year's Mind & Life Research Institute faculty. The event was held this week and ends tomorrow.

From the brochure [pdf]:

The purpose of the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute is to advance collaborative research among behavioral and clinical scientists, neuroscientists, and biomedical researchers based on a process of inquiry, dialogue and collaboration with Buddhist contemplative practitioners and scholars and those in other contemplative traditions. The long-term objective is to advance the training of a new generation of behavioral scientists, cognitive/affective neuroscientists, clinical researchers, and contemplative scholar/practitioners interested in exploring the potential influences of meditation and other contemplative practices on mind, behavior, brain function, and health. This includes examining the potential role of contemplative methods for characterizing human experience and consciousness from a neuroscience and clinical intervention perspective.

The 2009 Mind and Life Summer Research Institute (MLSRI) will be devoted to the theme of the self, its development in sociocultural and contemplative contexts, and its implications for human flourishing

This blog is 2 years old today!

The time has flown for Brains on Purpose™ and me. I am particularly grateful for all the people I have met as a result of this blog, and hope to hear from even more of you in the coming year. Thank you!

Four upcoming programs: Will I see you at one or more?

The 16th Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference begins tomorrow in Seattle. Here's the flyer [pdf].

May 5 and 6 brings the 9th annual SuperConference in Chicago, "the premier event for legal executives." More here.

On May 29, in Toronto, I will be giving a day-long program. Read all about it here.

Contemplative Practices for Lawyers Retreat will be held in Santa Fe, on September 12 and 13. More here.

I hope to meet some of you in Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, or Santa Fe!

The Brains on Purpose™ classes in Denver continue almost every month. We will be offering one in June, July, August, and October); contact me for details. And this summer I AM mastering the art and science of Webinars so watch for an announcement of those here—soon.

16th Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, May 1-2, 2009

This conference is one you won't want to miss. Speakers include Leonard Riskin the guru of mindfulness in conflict resolution and the practice of law. (See some of his writings here.) Others speakers include Sam Imperati, Robert Benjamin, Kay Haaland, Kenneth Cloke, Rebecca Hiers, James Melamed, and me.

For more information, here's the brochure.

Open your conflict professional mind: University of Massachusetts Med School holding its annual conference on the science of mindfulness

Researchers and practitioners will gather in March to discuss the science of mindfulness, as well as many of its applications. Some of the workshops may be informative for conflict professionals. For example, those still doubting that mindfulness has real and provable benefits will be able to learn the latest in research. Topics such as anger and forgiveness will be covered, too. And one of the stated goals for the conference: "Participants will discuss how mindfulness meditation practice influences attention and emotional reactivity to social transgressions."

Take a look at the conference brochure [pdf] to see if any of the programs would be helpful to you in understanding conflict and possible methods of resolution. Let's be more interdisciplinary as we look at what others outside our field have to offer.

Image credit: jpkwitter.

Professional Artistry of Mediation: Accessing more of your brain and the knowledge of your body

The people offering this workshop are on the same wavelength as I am, but they may not know how aligned they are with neuroscience. In the past, I have posted about using images to access different parts of the brain and of finding ways to access the body's knowledge, both of which can add much, including creativity, to dispute resolution.

That's why I was delighted to learn of the workshop Professional Artistry of Mediation [pdf]. It will access the image nuggets in the brain and discover what the body knows, all in service of redefining how mediators see conflict and their roles as resolvers. From the workshop description:

This workshop is designed to challenge and inspire you! The workshop provides an experiential and reflective space for participants to engage in creative processes and conversations to reflect on the artistry of their practice.

Participants will explore in a playful and hands-on way the art of what we do, our identities as mediators, how we think about conflict and its resolution, and where we might like to take our practice in the future.

The workshop will include a range of arts-based activities including improvisation, drawing, storytelling and working with artifacts.

A workshop like that would certainly facilitate the kind of shift I recommended to mediators in my last post, don't you think?

Image credit: ppdigital.

Upcoming conference on neuroscience and conflict resolution

Jeff and I are happy to be delivering the keynote at this year's conference of the Southern California Mediation Association. The organization has titled the conference

The New Frontier
Science of the Mind: Tools for Negotiators

Some of the seminars, in addition to our presentation, will address brain-related topics:

• Brain Biology of Fair Behavior
• Solution Focused Mediation: Quantum Mechanics and Neuroscience: The Power is in the Focus
• The Neuropsychology of Conflict—How the Brain Works in Mediation

Sounds like a very worthwhile event; the organizers have been very creative and cutting-edge. For a more complete list of the seminars, click on over to idealawg. For all the information about the conference on November 8 and the dinner and program the night before, click for the brochure [pdf]. We hope to meet some of you there. Please let us know if you are attending.

Jeff Schwartz will be interviewed tomorrow (August 4) on the topic of neuroscience of leadership

Added August 5, 2008: To hear the interview on neuroscience and leadership, click here.

You may either listen live tomorrow at 9 AM or 9 PM Pacific here. (As readers of this blog may recall, Jeff was co-author of the seminal and very popular article "The Neuroscience of Leadership.") I will also post here the link to the recording of the interview when it is available. More below.

 

Upcoming conference on neurospirituality: California in October

Neuroscience & Spiritual Practice will be held October 12-14, 2008, in Claremont, California. From the conference Web page:

What happens to the brain during spiritual practices? Recent neuroscientific studies suggest that meditation, contemplation, and prayer may change the brain and neurosystem in identifiable and possibly predictable ways. What are the implications of such findings for spiritual formation? For science? For theology and philosophy? For life?

For conflict?

In addressing such questions, this unprecedented conference will gather an international group of renowned scientists, philosophers, theologians, and contemplatives to probe the relationship between neuroscientific understandings and the contemplative practices of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The conference will offer presentations, conversations, and opportunities to engage in and reflect on spiritual practices from each of the religious traditions represented.

Confirmed speakers:

Fr. Thomas Keating - ( St. Benedict’s Monastery)

B. Alan Wallace - (Santa Barbara Inst. for Consciousness Studies)

Evan Thompson - (University of Toronto)

Daniel J. Siegel - (Center for Human Development, UCLA)

Richard Davidson - (University of Wisconsin)

Nahid Angha - (International Association of Sufism)

Michael Spezio - (Scripps College)

Monica A. Coleman - (Claremont School of Theology)

Shauna Shapiro - (Santa Clara University)

Thandeka - (Meadville-Lombard Theological Seminary)

Cassandra Vieten - (California Pacific Medical Center)

John B. Cobb, Jr. - (Claremont School of Theology; Center for Process Studies)

Clifford Saron - (Center for Mind & Brain, UC Davis)

Andrew Dreitcer - (Claremont School of Theology)

Steve Padilla - (L.A. Times)

Frank Rogers, Jr. - (Claremont School of Theology)

Roland Faber - (Claremont School of Theology; Center for Process Studies)

Rick Hanson - (Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience & Contemplative Wisdom)

Martinez Hewlett - (University of Arizona)

Petr Janata - (Center for Mind and Brain, U.C. Davis)

John Buchanan - (psychologist)

Ben Johnson - (Columbia Theological Seminary)

Richard Mendius - (Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience & Contemplative Wisdom)

Steve Odin - (University of Hawai’i)

David E. Roy - (Center for Creative Transformation, Fresno)

Mustafa Ruzgar - (California State University, Northridge)

Marvin Sweeney - (Claremont School of Theology)

William S. Waldron - (Middlebury College)

Are any of you planning to attend?