Have you ever been in a conversation only to realize that, for the past few moments, you haven’t really been listening? Perhaps your mind drifted to something that happened earlier in the day or something you need to do later. At some point, you realize what has happened and return your attention to the conversation.

For a time, the conversation, an important part of your present-moment experience, faded from awareness.

This happens to all of us, and not only in conversation. We become lost in thought, caught up in memories of the past, concerns about the future, or simply operate on automatic pilot — including the practice of law — moving through familiar activities with little awareness of what we are doing. When this happens, we can overlook important information and miss what is happening right in front of us.

At any given moment, you are having an experience. Part of that experience comes from the world around you, what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Part of it comes from within, your thoughts, feelings, memories, and other mental activity. Taken together, these make up your present-moment experience.

Mindfulness helps us see more clearly both the world around us and the world within us. Strengthening our mindfulness gives us greater access to information, to data, that can be crucial to making good decisions, maintaining healthy relationships, and enhancing our well-being. And when we are more aware of our present-moment experience, we may be less likely to make inaccurate assumptions or react in ways that are not as thoughtful or skillful as they otherwise might be.

The Present Moment Pivot

One simple way to strengthen this capacity is a practice I call the Present Moment Pivot, or PMP. The PMP refers to an intentional shift toward becoming more fully aware of your present-moment experience.

The practice is a simple one and takes about 30 seconds. It consists of three steps:

Pause. Settle. Open.

The Pause is an intentional slowing or stopping that creates the opportunity to become more fully aware of what is happening.

The Settle helps you relax more fully, both physically and mentally.

The Open broadens your awareness to more fully take in what is happening, both around you and within you.

There are many ways to Pause, Settle, and Open, and in time you may adapt these steps in ways that work best for you. For now, here is one simple way to put them into practice that many find to be a meaningful interlude in the day.

1. Pause. Begin by slowing or stopping what you are doing and intentionally stepping out of whatever has been occupying your attention. The act of pausing itself begins the pivot.
2. Settle. Take one slower, deeper breath. As you breathe in and out, allow the body to settle. Allow the mind to settle.
3. Open. Look around, opening your gaze to take in the visual field without trying to analyze or figure anything out. Simply observe what is here.

Notice colors. Light. Shadow. Movement. Shapes. Distance. Perhaps sounds as well.

Take it in with a soft gaze, without focusing on anything in particular.

Then note silently, or aloud: “I am here.”

Allow the meaning of those words to register.

Of course, you already know you are here. But something has shifted. By stepping out of whatever was occupying your attention, you have woken up a little more fully to your present-moment experience.

Getting Your Head Back in the Game

The PMP can be practiced almost anywhere and at any time. You might use it before walking into a meeting, beginning a difficult conversation, responding to an email, or entering the courtroom. Or, returning to our opening example, you might use it when you realize that your attention has drifted during a conversation. You may also find it useful when you are feeling a little stressed or scattered and want to get your head back in the game.

As you become familiar with the PMP, you may find that you prefer your own ways of pausing, settling, and opening. For example, you could pause by stopping what you are doing or simply slowing down. To settle, you could use box breathing or another relaxation technique already familiar to you. To open, you could bring to mind something that is true and useful, such as, “I can listen before responding” or “I don’t have to respond right away.”

A Short Mindfulness Practice

You can also think of the PMP as a very short mindfulness practice. If you already practice mindfulness regularly, on days when time gets away from you, a PMP offers a way to still get in a period of practice and maintain your routine. Because the practice is much shorter, and perhaps because you are feeling a little stressed or scattered, you may find it helpful to take three slower, deeper breaths instead of one.

I first wrote about the Present Moment Pivot a few years ago, describing an approach in which you select a location you pass most days and allow it to become a cue to pause and reconnect with your present-moment experience. The PMP can also be adapted in a variety of ways, including as a practice to cultivate gratitude, as explored in this video. In this column, we bring the PMP into the everyday moments of our lives.

As you move through your day, there will be countless moments when your attention drifts, your mind becomes caught up in thought, or you find yourself operating on automatic pilot. And when you do, you can pivot.

Pause. Settle. Open.

And perhaps wake up a little more fully to the moment you are already in, seeing things a little more clearly.

Scott Rogers, M.S., J.D., is a nationally recognized leader in the area of mindfulness in law and founded and directs the University of Miami School of Law’s Mindfulness in Law Program where he teaches mindful ethics, mindful leadership, mindfulness and negotiation, and mindfulness in law. He is the creator of Jurisight, one of the first CLE programs in the country to integrate mindfulness and neuroscience and conducts workshops and presentations on the role of mindfulness in legal education and across the legal profession. He is author of the recently released, The Mindful Law Student: A Mindfulness in Law Practice Guide, written for all audiences.

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