Ed. note: This post is by Jeena Cho, a Legal Mindfulness Strategist at Start Here HQ. She is the co-author of The Anxious Lawyer (affiliate link), a book written by lawyers for lawyers that makes mindfulness and meditation accessible and approachable. Jeena offers actionable change strategies for reducing stress and anxiety while increasing productivity, joy, and satisfaction through mindfulness.
Anxiety is part of the mental landscape for many lawyers. I used to be an anxious lawyer (hence, the title of our book, The Anxious Lawyer). At some point, the anxiety went from mild to acute. The recovery from an anxious lawyer to a mindful lawyer wasn’t easy, there were no shortcuts, and it profoundly changed my understanding of anxiety.
First, let’s start by defining, anxiety:
The Trump Gold Card: A New $1 Million Pathway To A U.S. Green Card
A new proposal would let wealthy foreign nationals secure an opportunity for a U.S. green card with a $1 million 'gift' to the government, sparking legal and ethical debate.
Anxiety is the subjectively unpleasant feelings of dread over anticipated events.
Two things to note. First, anxiety is subjective. This opens up the possibility of changing your response from anxiety to something more helpful. When you are faced with an anxiety-triggering event, the body reacts. Think back to the last time you felt anxious. How did you know you were experiencing anxiety? What physical experiences or mental thoughts led you to know you are experiencing anxiety?
The second thing to note is that anxiety is all about anticipating some future event. Like when you’re rehearsing 201 ways in which the hearing might get derailed. Yet, ever notice that even with all the rehearsing, fretting, worrying, and anxiety in the world, when the case does go off rail, it never does in the exact way in which you anticipated?
Continue reading over at Jeena’s website (with guided meditation!)…