Brains On Purpose™

Upcoming conference has several workshops that will likely be of interest to mediators

Looks like an excellent conference next July in Vancouver. Some of the presentations being given at Brain Development & Learning: Making Sense of the Science:

• “The Human Mind and the Social World: Implicit Biases are Learned and can be Unlearned” - Mahzarin Banaji, PhD
• “Thinking Across Cultures: What’s Variable, What’s Universal, and Implications for a Culturally Diverse World” - Ara Norenzayan, PhD
• “Optimizing instruction: How we learn versus how we think we learn” - Robert Bjork, PhD
• “Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Love: Implications for Mental Health and Mental Illness” - Sue Carter, PhD
• “Creativity and Flow: Making Life and Learning more Enjoyable” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD
• “The Challenges of Intergroup Interaction: Enhancing Trust for Better Intergroup Relations” - John (Jack) Dovidio, PhD
• “Mindfulness-based Stress and Pain Reduction (MBSR)” - Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Are you promoting yawning in your mediations? If not, you may want to rethink that

Yawning can affect the way we interact with each other. Read what neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg has to say about that mouth-opened-wide action. From "Yawn: It’s one of the best things you can do for your brain" (Penn Gazette):

Several recent brain-scan studies have shown that yawning evokes a unique neural activity in the areas of the brain that are directly involved in generating social awareness and creating feelings of empathy. One of those areas is the precuneus, a tiny structure hidden within the folds of the parietal lobe. According to researchers at the Institute of Neurology in London, the precuneus appears to play a central role in consciousness, self-reflection, and memory retrieval. The precuneus is also stimulated by yogic breathing, which helps explain why different forms of meditation contribute to an increased sense of self-awareness. It is also one of the areas hardest hit by age-related diseases and attention deficit problems, so it’s possible that deliberate yawning may actually strengthen this important part of the brain.

For these reasons I believe that yawning should be integrated into exercise and stress reduction programs, cognitive and memory enhancement training, psychotherapy, and contemplative spiritual practice. And, because the precuneus has recently been associated with the mirror-neuron system in the brain (which allows us to resonate to the feelings and behaviors of others), yawning may even help us to enhance social awareness, compassion, and effective communication with others.

Now are you going to invite yawns to your next conflict resolution event?

Neuroscience to be included in upcoming international conference on contemplative practices in law and conflict resolution

Click to read more about this spring conference to be held at a law school in upper New York.

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.

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

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.

A tight grip on your mental flashlight is the deciding skill in conflict resolution

 Attention is a pivotal force in any conflict. More than that, it is the key to success in any arena because your attention defines you. Laurence Freeman said, "You are a disciple of that to which you give your attention." Gangaji said, ""Wherever your attention is, this is what you love." William James said that what we pay attention to is what we believe. They echo what philosophers have been saying for centuries and what neuroscience is now showing. From "Attention Density: New Big Thing?" (Consulting Today) [pdf]:

Where we choose to put our attention changes our brain, which in time can change how we see and interact with the world.

A mediator can facilitate where parties to a conflict put their attention and thus can orchestrate the brain circuits in their brains. This is why continuing to go over the grievance or the story of being wronged is not helpful or wise. The storyteller is strengthening his or her grievance circuits.

But people need to tell their story, you say. Yes, often that is true. I like the brain-friendly way Fredrike Bannink, in her solution-focused mediation model, handles that need. She asks each party to tell their story for as long as they wish and then not mention it again.

Because paying attention to where you and the parties are putting attention is an important part of conflict resolution, I bring to your attention (couldn't resist using that word again) a review of a new book on—you guessed it didn't you?—attention! From "Do Not Take Your Eyes Off This Review" (Washington Post), the review of Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life:

Take seriously, if just for a few minutes, what Winifred Gallagher describes as the grand unifying theory of psychology: Your life is the sum of what you focus on. Then consider the main implication of this theory: The skillful

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.

What's the brain doing during conflict?

In a book I am reading Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (more about the book here), I found a quote that beautifully describes what our brain does, whether we are in conflict or not. I hope some of you appreciate this paragraph from Una Vida as much as I.

The human brain is a creative organ — it interprets events, nor just records them. It functions more like an abstract painter than a realist. Its view of what happens is more important than what actually happened. Pain, smell, taste, touch, and fear are the visionaries of what we see. There is no pure, unmediated seer; no objective reporter. Our images are shaped by the context in which we choose to live. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear — or what we need to in order to preserve the image of ourselves and others that provide us with a sense of purpose.

In contrast to the brain, the mind can be an "objective reporter" but we must train it through attention and awareness before it becomes that "unmediated seer." The training process is simple but not easy; it takes discipline and, just as important, strong commitment. It's easier to let the brain run our life — and that is what most of us do.

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.

Conference in the Rockies: Topics include conflict resolution, neuroscience, meditation

Click for more information about Transforming the Practitioner: Attention to Intention.