The Unexpected Benefits Of Mindfulness

For those of you who have been reading my column for a while, you know that I first started practicing mindfulness to work on my overwhelming anxiety and chronic stress. Without a doubt, mindfulness did just that. This isn’t to suggest that I no longer experience stress and anxiety, but rather, I now have more tools to be able to recognize and work through stress and anxiety.

After many years of dedicated practice, I now see that reducing mindfulness practice to simply “stress and anxiety management” is to grossly underestimate its benefits.

When starting a mindfulness practice, I encourage lawyers to set an intention. As we discuss in the book, The Anxious Lawyer (affiliate link):

Setting an intention is a little like setting your compass: it is always there in the background guiding you in a certain direction, even though you may not consciously be thinking about it at any given moment. There’s something a tiny bit magical about setting an intention—you may be surprised to find the world may seem to reflect your intention back at you, once you’ve taken the time to define it.

Many people, ourselves included, have had the experience of setting a clear intention only to stumble on a helpful book or have a very useful conversation about the object of that intention almost immediately afterwards. Or we may have a very satisfying experience, only to realize it almost exactly fulfills an intention we set for ourselves some time ago. An experience like that feels uncanny in the best possible way—like the universe is taking care of us and wants to support our best hopes for ourselves.

Here are a couple of unexpected benefits of mindfulness practices that I experienced. I encourage you to consider these deeper possibilities when you’re setting an intention for your mindfulness practice.

How To View And Experience Conflict

How do you relate and view conflict? Does it make your stomach tie into knots? Do you engage in avoidance behavior, finding it easier to file a motion rather than picking up the phone to work through the issue? Do you immediately move to the “nuclear option” rather than looking for the intermediate options?

When confronted with a conflict, I now notice my reaction to the situation. Starting to notice the increase in heart rate, the tightening in the stomach, the tension in the arms and legs, these early signals of fight-or-flight response allow me to focus on defusing rather than reacting.

I recently sat down with Jennifer Mikulina on The Resilient Lawyer podcast. She is a partner with McDermott Will & Emery. As a longtime mindfulness practitioner, she shared:

One of the techniques that I use a lot is the concept of stepping back and taking a deep breath. A lot of my work deals with negotiation so that’s been very helpful — instead of responding quickly to a particular ask from the other side or a difficult personality, I add a moment of pause. It’s been easier for me to just step back and say, “Okay, this is their perspective. Let me think of the best way to address that and what’s going to be the best thing for my client in this situation.”

More Joy and Contentment

I’m not sure why but lawyers seem to avoid joy. We don’t talk about it in the context of our work or personal life. Perhaps it’s because lawyers are in the suffering business. We think discussing joy in light of a client who is facing the death penalty is trite.

However, I think it’s critical for professionals with the most challenging and difficult work to intentionally focus on fostering a deep sense of internal joy and contentment. It’s the only way we’re able to get up another day, fight a good fight, and not completely lose oneself in the misery and suffering of the people we’re fighting for.

Mindfulness practice has given me the ability to be with the difficulties of others. No one comes to see a bankruptcy lawyer with happy news. It’s my job as their bankruptcy lawyer to make space for the sorrows, the deep despair, and to get them through, protecting them from further injuries (which, let’s face it, the legal system can often cause.)

For me, intentionally feeding the internal sense of joy, contentment, and yes, even happiness is a defense mechanism against completely losing myself in the darkness of human suffering.

P.S., You’re invited to Designing the Future of Legal Workplace, An Unconference in Chicago on September 16th. We’re reimagining, rethinking, and redesigning the legal workplace.  

---

Jeena Cho is the author of The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Joyful and Satisfying Law Practice Through Mindfulness and Meditation (affiliate link). She is a contributor to Forbes and Bloomberg where she covers diversity/inclusion, resilience, work/life integration, and wellness in the workplace. She regularly speaks and offers training on women’s issues, diversity, wellness, stress management, mindfulness, and meditation. You can reach her at[email protected] or @jeena_cho on Twitter.