www.thebutterflygift.com In this informative and entertaining video, Lillian shares some of her unique experiences in the practice of daily meditation and intuitive living. She extols the teachings of Red Eagle, a Native American shaman and meditation teacher from East Texas, as well as sayings and wisdom from Paramahansa Yogananda, the bringer of eastern teachings to the west. From these teachings and her own first hand experience, Lillian outlines the basic steps for you to master Silent Meditation as a daily spiritual practice. She guides you through these steps in a way that is simple and easy to follow. The purpose of Silent Meditation is to allow you to listen to the “still small voice within” and create a time and space for communication with God. It is the counterpart to prayer, loosely defined as talking to God. Silent meditation creates an openness and willingness to receive insights and guidance from a Higher Source. It is listening from within. Lillian walks you through some important tips and techniques for meditation, and she illustrates some of the benefits of meditation, the importance of daily practice, and how to carry the attributes of meditation into your daily life. In addition, Lillian strongly advocates and teaches a method for enriching your life with her 10-10 Plan to Develop Your Intuition. She teaches that developing your intuition will help you find more beauty and meaning in life. Finally, she concludes the program with a Guided Medication …

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Video Rating: 4 / 5

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As a Palm Springs, Newport Beach and Carlsbad civil litigation attorney who has settled hundreds and hundreds of litigation cases without the expense and time involved in trial, and who has settled these cases for amounts that clients were very pleased with, I tell other attorneys that there are a number of steps that bring this success, none more important than using mediation to your advantage.

A mediation, if arranged properly from the very start with the choosing of a good mediator can settle almost every type of litigation, from personal injury to business litigation, from real estate cases to construction disputes and other civil litigation.

Whether your case is in Mission Valley, CA or Oceanside in San Diego, in Newport Beach or Anaheim in Orange County, or in the Coachella Valley for example in any of the cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert or Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Twentynine Palms, Thermal, Indio, Coachella, La Quinta, there are good mediators available and those who are not so good.

The most important step an attorney can take when a case won’t settle for whatever the reason, is first to convince the other attorney and your client to go to mediation. This usually isn’t that difficult as almost every attorney has had a bad experience with it’s alternative, arbitration. Once the parties have agreed to go to mediation, the key is choosing the right mediator.

Many states have legal newspapers that are published daily and many of those newspapers have annual lists of the best mediators. This is one good source for finding a neutral mediator that will take the time to both understand the issues and wrangle with the parties until a settlement is achieved.

Another good source for mediators that are evenhanded and conscientious are other attorneys. You can almost always count on the opposing attorney to recommend a mediation service that has scores of mediators, each with their own specialty. This type of mediator is hit or miss.

If you are a plaintiff’s attorney, you want a mediator that is 1) Recommended by other plaintiff attorneys, 2) Acceptable to defense attorneys, 3) Known to read mediation briefs, 4) Known to have a slight persuasion toward Plaintiffs, 5) Knowledgeable in the subject of the lawsuit, and 6) Known to stay as long as it takes to settle a case.

If you are a defense attorney, you want a mediator that is 1) Recommended by other defense attorneys, 2) Acceptable to plaintiff attorneys, 3) Known to read mediation briefs, 4) Known to have a slight persuasion toward being conservative, 5) Knowledgeable in the subject of the lawsuit, and 6) Known to stay as long as it takes to settle a case.

The second most important step an attorney can take to have a case settle for a figure that the client will accept is to prepare a well thought out and organized mediation brief. The difference between a short argumentative brief and a well-reasoned and more substantial brief with exhibits attached is the difference between winning and losing.

The third most important step is to prepare the client. The client needs to be prepared for what questions you, the other attorney or the mediator may ask. And the client needs to be prepared as to the process of the mediation and how long it may take. If possible, the client should also be prepared as to what his bottom line is, i.e. what he or she will be prepared to take or to pay.

If these steps are taken, there is a good chance your case will be settled in the mediation. If you don’t take these steps, you may very well be wasting your half of the mediator’s hourly rates which, for a good mediator, are 0/hr and up.

If you have litigation starting in San Diego, Long Beach, in San Diego, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Palm Springs Litigation Lawyers, and Rancho Cucamonga and Riverside Litigation Attorneys. For this reason, be sure to hire a California law firm with litigation lawyers who know mediations and can represent you from Palm Springs, Laguna, Newport and Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar, Anaheim, Irvine, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Yorba Linda, Carlsbad, San Diego, Costa Mesa, Westminster, Murrieta, to Chula Vista, and Coachella.

If you have a case that needs to go to mediation, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you. You can also call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson on the phone about your legal matter.

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By Steven G. Mehta

Many news stories have tragically addressed the issue of two pre-teenage boys who committed suicide because they were bullied.  These stories focus on the child and the things that parents and schools did to avoid the problem.  One thing that more schools need to do to avoid such problems of bullying, conflict resolution, and dispute management is the concept of peer mediation.

 Peer mediation is a strategy that teaches student mediators strategies to help resolve conflict among their peers. Peer mediation can be instituted at any age in school from early elementary to high school.  In peer mediation, students are trained as conflict managers.  They learn ways to solve problems and to assist their peers in settling disputes in a way that everyone can live with.  Peer mediation helps to keep many minor incidents from escalating over time into more serious incidents.

 One of the advantages of peer mediation, is the fact that in the case of a dispute, the disputing parties’ peers are helping to resolve the dispute instead of a parent or teacher.  The students, with the assistance of the peer mediator, learn how they can resolve the dispute themselves in a peaceful fashion.  In addition, several social studies have found that children are often influenced by their peers more than their parents.  According to Nancy Kaplan, in an article originally published by School Safety, Winter 1996, entitled “Student mediation: opportunity and challenge ” teaching students to employ conflict resolution skills produces significant results in decreasing school confrontations and violence.

One of the critical things that is taught by peer mediation is the ability to resolve conflicts in a peaceful fashion.  Rather than escalating, the peer mediators are shown life long conflict resolution skills. 

 It is the job of the mediator to assist the parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution.  In litigation, mediators help the parties to avoid a legal  battle. Similarly, in peer mediation, student mediators are taught how to communicate to best solve problems and help to resolve conflicts without confrontation or violence.  The student mediators, like adult mediators, learn that conflict can be constructive and positive, and that their role as mediators is not to judge, nor to force an agreement or solution.

 Peer mediation training is not a simple one hour course.  Instead, training can last for many hours.  Some programs, for example, train their mediators for 12-15 hours.  Often when those student mediators are leaders in the student community who are respected by their peers, that 12 hour training could pay in numerous dividends throughout the community.  Frequently, other children will start to mirror behavior of people they respect.  As such, the training can have long term benefits on everyone. 

 The following techniques can help anyone to act as a mediator:

 ·         Let Each Person tell their story to the mediator uninterrupted

·         focus on issues and concerns, not on who did what,

·         Repeat the story until the person lets you know that you understand their position 
(not that they necessarily agree with it)

·         Summarize the facts and feelings of both sides

·         acknowledge the difficulty in dealing with these issues

·         Ask both parties if they can think of solutions

·         Write down all suggestions regardless of your thoughts

·         Identify what the alternatives are to not getting a solution through mediation (ie. Expulsion, suspension, etc.)

By learning and using skills from mediation, children and adults can help to confront and break the vicious circle of violence associating with bullying.

advanced.learntomediateonline.com Advanced mediation training for experienced mediators.

Related Learn To Mediate Articles

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www.CreateWithEric.com In this video I do a Centerpointe review. Learn to meditate like a Zen Monk. I share my thoughts from my personal experience using the Holosync meditation audios from Centerpointe. If you want to really learn to meditate on a level that you’ve never felt before then check out the rest of this post over at my blog www.CreateWithEric.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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What is divorce mediation? What is custody mediation?

Divorce Mediation and Custody Mediation are ways to resolve your divorce or custody dispute which lets you keep full control of the outcome. The only people making decisions are those involved in the dispute, unlike arbitration or litigation where a judge or an arbitrator makes the final decision.

Divorce Mediation and custody mediation typically consist of several joint meetings between spouses (or parents, if you are not married) which last 3-4 hours each. During those meetings, you and your spouse discuss the issues which need to be resolved in your case. The mediator is there to facilitate the discussion, assist with communication, provide information and suggestions, and use specialized training to assist the two of you to resolve your differences and write up an agreement which is fair to both of you, and, if you have children, in their best interests as well.

What happens at the first mediation meeting?

Many mediators offer a free mediation orientation so that you can meet the mediator(s) and decide if you’d like to try using mediation to settle your divorce or Family Law matter. Usually, the orientation lasts just 20-40 minutes. The mediator will explain the process, and you can ask any questions that you wish. The mediation orientation is about the mediation process, and not the details of your particular case. Ask if the mediator you’re considering offers an orientation because getting divorced and choosing a mediator are very personal, very important decisions. Make sure you choose the right professional mediator and mediation office for your needs.

The actual Mediation process involves sitting down at a table in a neutral location where both parties will have the opportunity to present their stories in a balanced and non-confrontational way. Each person gets a chance to tell their side, and you’ll decide in the session how the session will unfold, like who goes first and how long they speak, whether you’ll stay in joint session or speak separately with the mediator, and whether you’ll have your individual attorney present at the session.

Generally, mediation sessions are structured with a short intake, setting an agenda (a list of the issues) and then the decision of which issue to discuss first. Generally, you’ll start with the smaller issues and work your way up to the tougher issues so that you can build some momentum. You’ll work through each issue until there are no more issues left.

Ask if your mediator will write a summary letter about your session, including the agenda, tentative agreements, things to think about, and to do list for the next session. These letters are a lot of work for the mediator (ours are billed at 1 hour but usually take 2 or 3 hours to prepare) but they’re very valuable. With a summary letter, everyone starts with the same “memory” of what happened in the session, and if you need to see an attorney, accountant, or therapist in between sessions, you can share your summary letter with him or her so that they know what you’re working on.

Sometimes, people find they need more information before they can make an agreement or before the session can continue. When that happens, you can either go on to another issue, or stop the session and make another appointment, so that you’ll have time to gather the information you need, or speak to your accountant, lawyer, or other advisor(s). Mediation works best when people don’t feel rushed to make an agreement and when they have all of the information they need to make a good agreement.

Why mediation?

Mediation is the most practical and healthy choice for a person to make when facing a divorce. It helps you avoid the stress of litigation, saves you money, and helps you put the unpleasantness of divorce behind you as quickly and peacefully as possible. Generally, the agreements reached are more thoughtful and tailored to your individual circumstances, and your family’s circumstances, than the typical court judgment. As a result, the adherence rate to mediated agreements is much higher than that of adherence to court orders.

Why is mediation cheaper?

Mediation is cheaper because it’s faster and more direct. Most people come to mediation willing to work on the issues and to learn how to communicate better. That willingness translates into a less expensive divorce because resolving a case is almost always cheaper than taking it to trial. Rather than speaking through lawyers, you speak with each other (with the mediator’s help, of course) about your goals and issues.

Even if lawyers are involved with your mediation, they aren’t spending hours and hours in court waiting for the judge to be free to hear your trial or billing for endless back-and-forth phone calls about the smallest details of your case. When you’re using your lawyer, they’re actually working on your case and helping to settle. Consequently, their fees are typically much lower than in a case which is brought to court to litigate.

Many mediators’ fees are lower than local divorce lawyers. On average, clients resolve their cases with a mediator’s help in 4 to 10 hours.

Why is mediation more effective?

Mediation is more effective because:

* you get a chance to fully discuss an issue before you agree on it
* you can try out agreements before the judge makes the divorce final
* you learn to communicate better which makes new and old issues less likely to turn into arguments, or worse still, days in court
* you can take time in between each appointment to think about whether or not a proposed solution makes sense
* if you need to change a solution before finalizing your divorce in court you can do it quickly and easily

What if we can’t even talk? How can we mediate?

If you are willing to try to learn to talk to each other, then it’s worthwhile to try mediation. Mediators are professionally trained to help people to build agreements and to learn to communicate with each other. If you’re willing to try, a skilled mediator can get you talking.

As mediators, we’ve found that everyone who wants to reach an agreement and who is ready to reach an agreement will reach an agreement in mediation. If you don’t want to reach an agreement or you’re not ready to agree, there’s not much a mediator can help you with. On the other hand, if you’re in a lot of conflict, not speaking, and ready to go to court yet you’re ready to and want to reach an agreement, a mediator can help.

If being in the room together is too difficult, ask to schedule separate sessions either at different times or at the same time, but in separate rooms (called a caucus). This can let you take advantage of the benefits of mediation without the stress of being together in the same room.

What happens if we don’t agree in mediation?

Even if you cannot agree on everything, you will probably be able to agree on some things. Each issue that you resolve in mediation translates into less time in court, less legal fees and less aggravation for you. And, for those issues you could not agree upon, at least you understand what those issues are, and where you stand. At the very least, you will feel like you tried your best to reach an agreement before resorting to court intervention.

Sometimes new information, proposed solutions, or the passage of time makes it possible to resolve a previous disagreement, so even if you don’t resolve your issue immediately, you may be able to resolve it a week or a month later, without having to go to court. Because mediation is flexible, you’re free to schedule an additional appointment at any time. You’re also free to stop the mediation at any time if you don’t feel you’re making progress toward resolution.

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