"I disagree. Jail is the perfect place to meditate. What else have you got to do here? If you let me, I'll give you a quick lesson, then we'll see what you can do on your own."
"I don't know, Constance. This seems pretty far off track. You're supposed to be my lawyer, not my life coach. Do they teach meditation in law school these days?"
Constance chuckled. "No, but they really should. Look, I'm still working on your case, but so far nothing has turned up. This meditative technique has actually worked for me, and I really want you to give it a try. Will you?"
Nick shrugged. "What the hell. Let's do it."
Constance took a few seconds to prepare herself. "Okay, the first step in meditation is to clear your head and actually stop thinking. You think too much. We all do. We live in a complex world that keeps us thinking all day long. Most of our thoughts concern the past, fretting about things that happened, or the future, worrying about things that are going to happen. All this fretting and worrying makes us unhappy and can even make us sick.
"So one of the things that meditation can do for you is to stop these thoughts. And when you clear away the past and the future, you're left with the present moment. The now."
Nick dropped his head and shook it. "The now that you speak of is no prize either when you're stuck in a jail cell."
"Wrong. All the negative thoughts you have about being in a jail cell are still about the past and the future. Forget that disgusting meal they just fed you-it's in the past. And forget, for a while, about getting out-that's the future. Think about yourself, right now. You and every other person on this planet are a miracle of creation. Your body has far greater powers than you know. You can actually reach out and affect the world with your thoughts and intentions."
Nick groaned. "Groovy, hippie chick. Are you going to slip me some hallucinogens?"
I wondered when he'd push back. Her lecture was too much for most people, but she needed to teach him meditation and quickly. What were the chances of being able to do that?
Constance stayed grounded. "Some people take drugs to let go of their busy minds. Obviously, you don't get to do that right now." She stared at him. "So are you going to take this seriously, or are you going to bash me for it?" She kept staring and refused to back down.
Nick smiled and shrugged. "Okay. Teach me."