Later in this book, we tell you more about how, why, and for how long people have been using calming techniques like meditation and yoga to improve their lives. These techniques are sprinkled throughout this book, and in Chapter 8 we review the history and development of mindfulness, as well as some of the many mindfulness techniques you might find useful. Here we give you a taste.

WHY BE MINDFUL?

Being mindful and practicing simple mindfulness techniques, even in small doses, can strengthen your intellect, improve your resolve, and improve your interpersonal skills. Mindfulness techniques can also help you relieve stress. Although being an attorney is not an easy job, it can be very rewarding. The difficulties of the job are part of what make the work of an attorney meaningful. As Tal Ben-Shahar explains in his book, Happier, we are happiest when we work in jobs that combine our strengths with what we find pleasurable and meaningful. We also grow deeply and steadily through adversity. As Ben-Shahar explains, “we are designed for the climb.”

Adversity happens to us and those around us every day, yet we survive and often thrive. Part of what helps me survive and thrive is the practices of mindfulness. I have been practicing the techniques shared in this book, in one form or another, for a long time. While I still get upset, hurt, and even depressed sometimes, and while my own life ebbs and flows with the same sort of problems as everyone else, I have been able to ride the currents a little easier because of these techniques, and also get more done, more effectively, because of the way mindfulness techniques improve focus and flow.

MODERN VIEWS ON MINDFULNESS MUDDY THE WATER

Admittedly, mindfulness is now in vogue, almost to the point where it means nothing. Everyone is now talking about mindfulness, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and many other publications. When the subject of mindfulness first went mainstream, this seemed to be a great development. As mindfulness has flourished as a topic of conversation, it has also lost some of its meaning. Magazines feature the obligatory “Ten steps to making you happier and more mindful.” Popular culture makes mindfulness sound new, complex, and difficult, when it is none of the above.