Mindfulness Study of Law Students Shows Positive Results

In 2013 and 2014, 1Ls at the University of Missouri School of Law participated in an empirical mindfulness study to see whether mindfulness practice would have a beneficial impact on stress reduction, well-being and academic performance. The students took a mindfulness training course, practiced mindfulness fifteen minutes a day, and completed a series of surveys. The results showed statistically significant positive effects for stress reduction, well-being, and mindful awareness, but did not show statistically significant positive results for academic performance. In a follow-up survey of the participants, a majority of the students felt that the mindfulness training was either somewhat or very helpful, and that law schools should offer voluntary mindfulness training courses. By their third years, most study participants had stopped practicing mindfulness, noting either lack of continuing structure or time as the reason. You can read the full study in the following article: Richard C. Reuben; Kennon M. Sheldon, Can Mindfulness Help Law Students with Stress, Focus, and Well-Being: An Empirical Study of 1Ls at a Midwestern Law School, 48 Sw. L. Rev. 241 (2019). [full text HeinOnline]