Judge Jeremy Fogel, Using Mindfulness on the Bench
Judge Jeremy Fogel, Director of the Federal Judicial Center, discusses his personal mindfulness journey and its application in the judiciary. He advocates for meditation as a tool to manage stress, enhance decision-making, and foster equanimity among judges facing complex, emotionally demanding cases.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Judges' Emotional Lives and Mindfulness
Judge Fogel's Personal Start with Meditation and Yoga
Early Impact of Meditation and Achieving Equanimity
Stress of Judicial Nominations and Meditation as Refuge
Mindfulness's Shift from Niche to Mainstream Acceptance
The Federal Judicial Center's Mission and Judicial Education
Emotional Challenges and Skill Gaps in Judicial Work
Mindfulness Application 1: Approaching Repetitive Tasks with Beginner's Mind
Mindfulness Application 2: Enhancing Cultural Awareness and Addressing Bias
Mindfulness Application 3: Improving Emotional Regulation for Judges
Positive Reception and Growth of Mindfulness in the Judiciary
Addressing Concerns: Mindfulness, Religion, and Public Schools
Judge Fogel's Personal Meditation Practice Details
Reconciling Non-Judgmental Awareness with the Act of Judging
Mindfulness as a Valuable Tool in a Judge's Toolkit
6 Key Concepts
Equanimity
A stable, present, and balanced state of mind where one can feel things intensely but they do not stick, allowing them to be noticed and let go. Achieving this state takes years of consistent practice.
Beginner's Mind (Shoshin)
The concept of approaching every moment or task anew, as if experiencing it for the first time, even if it's a highly repetitive activity. This helps individuals see more detail, take in more information, and communicate genuine presence to others.
System One Thinking
An intuitive, reactive, and habitual way of thinking, often engaged automatically, especially in high-stress situations. While useful for quick reactions, it can lead to unconscious biases or incorrect assumptions.
System Two Thinking
A reflective mode of thinking that involves consciously analyzing data, considering different perspectives, and making deliberate decisions. Mindfulness helps slow down the mind to engage in this more thoughtful process.
Emotional Regulation
The ability to notice one's own emotional states, such as irritation, before expressing them. This creates a space to choose a considered, dignified, and modulated response rather than an immediate, reactive one.
Non-judgmental Awareness
The skill of observing thoughts, feelings, and reactions as they arise in the mind without getting caught up in them or judging them. This practice helps clear mental clutter, allowing for a clearer and less biased view of situations.
7 Questions Answered
Judge Fogel and his wife started mindfulness meditation and yoga about 20 years ago, seeking ways to center themselves and make their lives more reflective, partly in response to the stress and complex decision-making demands of his judicial job.
It took quite a while, described as 'very, very slow growth' and years to truly achieve a sense of equanimity where feelings don't stick, rather than an immediate transformation.
Its secular origins, application to chronic pain and stress, and its role in performance enhancement in corporate, military, and athletic fields have contributed to its mainstream acceptance by helping people work more effectively and think more clearly.
The Federal Judicial Center conducts policy research for the federal judiciary to advise on best practices and court management, and it educates all personnel in the judicial branch, including judges and administrative staff.
Mindfulness helps judges approach repetitive tasks with a 'beginner's mind,' enhances cultural awareness by fostering a non-judgmental approach to interactions, and improves emotional regulation by creating space to choose a considered response over a reactive one.
Non-judgmental awareness helps judges clear the clutter of their own thoughts, feelings, and reactions, allowing them to see situations more clearly and bring less personal baggage to the analytical and discretionary processes of their job, ultimately leading to better decisions.
Judge Fogel believes it can be taught in a legally acceptable, constitutionally kosher way if done correctly, as its core practice of being in the moment is secular and found across many traditions without being inherently religious.
15 Actionable Insights
1. Regulate Emotions, Respond Thoughtfully
Practice mindfulness to develop greater emotional regulation, enabling you to notice irritation or other strong emotions before reacting, thus allowing for a more considered and dignified response.
2. Engage Reflective Thinking
In high-stress roles, use mindfulness to intentionally slow down your reactive “system one” thinking and engage more reflective “system two” thinking before making impactful decisions.
3. Slow Down to Address Bias
Employ mindfulness to slow down your thinking, creating space to acknowledge the possibility of unconscious bias and view situations through your own subjective lens with less defensiveness.
4. Approach Tasks with Beginner’s Mind
When performing repetitive tasks, adopt a “beginner’s mind” by approaching each instance as if it were the first time, which enhances perception and presence.
5. Cultivate Cultural Non-Judgment
Practice mindfulness to foster cultural awareness by refraining from making immediate assumptions about others’ behaviors, instead adopting a nonjudgmental approach to interactions.
6. Meditate for Stress Relief
Incorporate meditation into your routine to manage job-related stress and navigate complex decision-making by creating mental space and fostering a sense of centeredness.
7. Practice Mindfulness and Yoga
Engage in mindfulness meditation and yoga to cultivate a sense of centering, promote reflection in your life, and achieve deep relaxation, especially through styles like yin yoga.
8. Informal Mindfulness Breaks
When you feel “off center” or distracted, take short, informal mindfulness breaks, like closing your office door for five minutes to re-center yourself.
9. Recognize “Off-Center” Feelings
Develop self-awareness to identify when you are feeling “off center,” which manifests as a lack of equanimity, increased emotionality, or anxiety, indicating a need to re-center.
10. Mindfulness for Performance
Practice mindfulness to center and calm your mind, which can enhance performance by improving work effectiveness, clarity of thought, and accuracy in stressful tasks, providing “additional bandwidth.”
11. Enhance Presence in Relationships
Cultivate mindfulness to enhance your presence in personal relationships, such as being a parent or spouse, enabling you to be more engaged and give more of yourself.
12. Combine Mindfulness with Education
To combat bias effectively, combine mindfulness practices with cross-cultural education, including listening to others’ life stories, to gain broader perspectives.
13. Be Patient with Meditation
Understand that developing a deep sense of equanimity through meditation is a very slow, gradual process that can take years, so be patient with your progress.
14. Mindfulness: A Tool, Not The Only
Approach mindfulness as a useful tool in your personal toolkit, understanding that it’s not a universal solution and individuals may find different practices helpful at various life stages.
15. Meditate to Desensitize Allergies
Consider using meditation to desensitize yourself to allergies, as one individual found success by noticing an emotional component to his allergic reaction and subsequently taking better care of himself.
5 Key Quotes
It's very, very slow growth. You know, it's not like you start doing it and a week later, you know, your life is completely different.
Jeremy Fogel
One of the things that I, I like about mindfulness meditation is that, that its origins are completely secular.
Jeremy Fogel
You know, the judge is sort of the umpire. No one goes to the game to see the umpire.
Jeremy Fogel
The judging of my own thoughts, my own feelings, my own reactions gets in the way of my being able to see the situation as it is.
Jeremy Fogel
The point is that you can make decisions. You can have enough nonjudgmental awareness of your emotional churn so that you can let it go when you come to make a decision.
Dan Harris
1 Protocols
Judge Fogel's Personal Meditation Practice
Jeremy Fogel- Use a recording of resonant bells to start the session.
- Focus on the breath, feeling it come in and go out.
- When distracted, gently return attention to the breath.
- Use a bell recording to end the session.
- Optimal duration is 20 minutes, without guidance.