TATIANA POSADA: LAW STUDENT DIVISION, CHAIR
This month’s Member Spotlight is on Tatiana Posada. Tatiana is the Chair of MILS Law Student Division and MILS Student Ambassadors. She also serves as a conflicts and ethics attorney for King & Spalding in Atlanta and is currently expanding her health and wellness background to include licenses and certifications in motivational interviewing, coaching, and trauma-sensitive mindfulness. Tatiana graciously took the time to respond to our questions about her interest in mindfulness and some of the exciting things going on with the Law Student Division.
Q: How did you first start practicing mindfulness and meditation?
A: I was first introduced to mindfulness and meditation in 2015, during my first semester of law school. The school partnered with the Atlanta Mindfulness Institute and brought an instructor in to facilitate an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course. That course launched my exploration of yoga, Metta, and Vipassana practices.
Q: When and how did you first become involved with MILS?
A: I also first became involved with MILS during my first semester of law school. I helped found the first student chapter of MILS at Georgia State University College of Law.
Q: Welcome aboard as the new Chair of MILS Law Student Division and MILS Student Ambassadors. Does the Student Division have any activities happening this Fall?
A: The Student Division held a Welcome orientation event for law students this past September, during which we described mindfulness, MILS, the Student Division, and our Student Ambassadors program.
We also hosted a World Mental Health Day event for the wider MILS community on October 10th in an effort to help break the stigma of depression and anxiety within the legal community. During this event, we heard reflections from practicing attorney and MILS Treasurer Maria Bries, Pitt Law Dean of Students Allie Linsenmeyer, and MILS Student Ambassador Alex de Almeida. Maria also led trauma-informed mindfulness practices for the group. It was both beautiful and powerful to hear everyone’s mental health stories. It was also a great reminder of how it will take everyone within the legal community–be it student, professor, practicing attorney, paralegal, etc.–to improve the state of mental health within our community. Each of us plays an important role, from the professors fighting to create and offer wellness courses and the students fighting to set boundaries and standards for their future jobs, to the practicing attorneys shifting the culture and expectations within their work environments to ones in which attorneys are truly encouraged and incentivized to take breaks, take vacation, spend time with loved ones, and more.
Q: Are there any upcoming plans for the Student Division and Ambassadors?
A: The Student Division is working on several tasks related to logistics and organization to help our efforts in expanding both Student Division membership and our Student Ambassador program. For example, we are creating a database of leadership’s alma maters and bar associations for purposes of reaching out to schools, a list of leadership’s areas of need for purposes of bringing on more Student Ambassadors who can assist, a protocol for contacting law schools that have MILS or other student wellness organizations on campus for purposes of offering support, and a protocol for contacting law schools that do not have a wellness organization on campus for purposes of assisting with starting one.
Q: Do you have a go to mindfulness practice for those days when you do not have time to do a formal sitting?
A: I was listening to a Dharma talk on a podcast one time and the speaker was sharing a story about a suggestion from his teacher regarding how to stay mindful during daily chores. His teacher told him that for every task he was completing, pretend like he was handling the baby Buddha. For example, if he was washing dishes, pretend like each dish he held in his hand was the baby Buddha. That story resonated with me because it automatically brings a certain awareness and tenderness to what you are doing. Even if I do not have time to formally sit, I try to bring mindfulness to each task I do throughout the day by utilizing this reminder–pretend like I am handling the baby Buddha. I choose a task and start with this motto as my reminder to focus on the singular task at hand with complete, nonjudgmental attention and tenderness toward the task and toward myself experiencing completing the task. I then repeat the motto as I progress through my task when I find that I have wandered. Whether I am washing the dishes, taking out the trash, or completing an assignment for work that is causing a negative internal dialogue, this motto tends to continuously help me practice mindfulness throughout the day.