Mindfulness. A word you've heard more and more lately, particularly when the topic of mental health is on the table. But what exactly is it--and why is it so important for lawyers?
Mindfulness is simply paying attention and living in your present moment. Meditation, deep breathing, and other techniques can improve mindfulness and by extension, improve your mental health. It sounds simple enough, but the noise of everyday life can easily drown out our inner peace and distract us from the little things. Let's explore together five methods to achieve better mindfulness.
1. Hit the pause button. Remember what it was like, being a kid? Every experience was always so fresh and new. The little details of your surroundings stood out in stark contrast. You could spend long car rides watching raindrops race each other down the window. At some point, we left these little observations behind. It's hard to stop and appreciate the fine details when you've got a busy career and heavy mental load weighing on you. Spend too much time on the daily grind without really seeing your surroundings and you will find life passing you by in a blur.
If you're serious about practicing mindfulness, you need to master hitting the pause button--both literally and figuratively--and cultivating awareness. Let your endless list of tasks fall away. Observe your present moment. Put away the distractions. If you're eating a meal with someone, put away your cell phone and turn off the TV to give the food and conversation your full attention. Present technology has made it all too easy to fill our day with constant stimulation, which ultimately makes mindfulness harder to achieve.
To make "hitting the pause button" a habit, wear something that reminds you to stop and think when you see it, such as a mindfulness bracelet. If that's not your style, plant little reminders around your workspace. Perhaps a vase of flowers to brighten up the room and literally remind you to stop and smell the roses.
2. Meditate. A more structured form of mindfulness would be the act of meditation. When it comes to meditation, most people imagine sitting cross-legged and focusing on their deep breathing. That's one effective way of doing it, but you can mold your meditation practice to your preferences! Your form of meditation could be a walk in nature. Leave the ear buds at home so you can truly soak in the natural world. Nature is a wonderful way to build mindfulness.
Another form of meditation is the body scan. Lie down and check in with one part of your body at a time, starting with your toes and moving on up. How do you feel? Where do you hold the most tension? Stretch your arms and legs and soften areas of stress. Don't forget to think of your internal organs! Have gratitude for the incredible work they do so that you can carry out your day-to-day life smoothly.
3. Sonder. Sonder is the realization that every single person you encounter is living a life as full and complex as your own, with their own hopes, dreams, struggles, and relationships. As I like to say, we're all the main characters of our own story. No one is scrutinizing you as much as you might think because we're all too busy being wrapped up in our own lives, moving along on autopilot.
Sonder is a reminder of the grand scheme of things. It can help give you a healthier perspective on life and aid in navigating the hard times.
4. Sit with your stress. Stress is a major problem in the legal world. We spend a great deal of time researching how to reduce and eliminate stress. What if, instead, you took the time to get to know it? The feelings from stress aren't pleasant, but it's our body's attempt to warn us and protect us from negative factors in our life. Choosing to view stress as helping us rather than hindering might be the first step in lessening its effects. By choosing to sit with your stress, understanding why it's here, then finding a healthy way to address it (such as exercise) is a great way to boost your mindfulness.
5. Practice acceptance. Even the best attorneys don't win every case. There are simply too many variables at play. Sometimes the best thing to do for yourself is acknowledge that not everything is within your control. This may serve to stress you out further, or perhaps lighten your load a bit, depending on the kind of person you are. Either way, you might not always be able to "fix" things and have no choice but to accept things as they are.
If you ever feel stressed or defeated, remind yourself that "this too shall pass." Mistakes happen, and that's okay. That's life. Sometimes the only thing you can do is accept things the way they are and just keep moving.
