Health / Wellness, State Judges

Judge Kristi Harrington On Why Every Lawyer Can Benefit From Practicing Yoga

The judge has helpful advice for lawyers on the importance of maintaining their well-being and setting boundaries.

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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.

Over on my podcast, The Resilient Lawyer, I had the opportunity to interview South Carolina Circuit Judge Kristi Lea Harrington. I met her during the South Carolina Bar Convention and she shared that she not only practices yoga, but also teaches it!

She offered some helpful advice for lawyers on the importance of maintaining our well-being and also on setting boundaries. You can listen to the entire interview here.

JC: What are some practices that you do on a regular basis to recharge so that you can continue to be a judge that’s attentive and just fully present?

The question that I struggle with on a daily basis is how do I get everything that I need to get done in the day done well and practice self-care? It’s constantly, for me, looking ahead and saying “What can I get done that is truly important? What can I either delegate or cut out in order to carve time?” We all know if we don’t put it on the calendar, it’s not going to get done.

I have been on Sunday afternoon looking at my calendar and scheduling in my favorite yoga classes and I started spin class. Scheduling to make sure that those things are on the calendar and I treat them like an appointment. I go ahead and sign up for the class so there’s a penalty to me if I don’t show up.

It does mean that some days I have to be at the gym at 5:30 in the morning. But I know that’s what I need to get done for the mental clarity.

Being really protective of your time and not wasting it, keep it a sacred space and saying, “I’ve got to concentrate or focus on this particular case but I’m going to give you the 2 hours that you’ve allotted. And then I’m going to move on to the next thing because that’s just as important.”

JC: Have you sort noticed the benefits of your yoga practice “off the mat”? Does it help you a better judge? Does it help you to be a better mom? Does yoga help you in other arenas of your life?

For me it puts what’s important back in focus. It’s a calming influence as well that I realize if I can hold the pose for 90 seconds, or 30 seconds, or work through the pain, then I can get through this situation. I could breathe in a certain way that I am able to take my emotions out of it and really start working from the conscience, in consciousness than the emotions.

Because people don’t come in front of me for happy reasons. I do felony criminal and common pleas which is civil. And, typically, I’m doing medical malpractice or a million dollar construction defect cases. People are coming to me because there’s a serious issue. People aren’t coming to me with happy thoughts. There’s a lot of emotion.

Somebody lost their child or their house has been taken away. For me, the yoga does help me put that emotion where it needs to be so that I’m not taking it home and giving it back to my child in an improper way. I’m not yelling at my son because of the way that a witness was on the witness stand. Or the way a defense attorney spoke to me in court. Think that it helps me get through the day and realize what the true emotion is and what the purpose of what it is that I’m doing.

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JC: That’s just the reality, right? There are only 24 hours in a day, and so time is one of our most precious resources. Talk more about overcoming the resistance to self-care practices.

My yoga instructor at Gaea, Kate Smith, was wonderful… She was teaching us to be in great health when we’re 90. As we are ageing and we’re becoming an older population, that people are breaking hips and needing knee replacements and hip replacements even now at younger ages and it’s because we had become so sedentary.

When I don’t want to exercise I think, “What is it that I’m not doing for my body that at 70 I will wish that I had done?” I think, as I get older — I just had a birthday, I just turned 48 — 70 seems to be coming quicker.

I think when you look at it like that, it’s not about the traditional concept of beauty and thinness and exercise. It is “What am I doing to create a healthy lifestyle that can fit into my daily life that does require me to be at work for a particular schedule.”

Listen to the entire interview over at Jeena’s website…

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