Rethinking Reactions to Stress

• Author: Jeena Cho
• Pages: 26-27

Mindfulness is t he practice of bringing clear-

minded attention to what is happeni ng in

the present moment. This seemingly simple

practice has been show n to have a wide range of

benefi ts, including decrea sing stress and anxi-

ety. Meditation is the primar y tool for practicing

mindfulness on a reg ular basis.

I started pra cticing mindfulness and medi-

tation to overcome social an xiety disorder and

overwhelming stress. The pra ctice has given

me relief from negative think ing and constant

feelings of anxiet y and worry. My own lived

experience has shape d my deep desire to help lawyers

interested in incor porating mindfulness and medita-

tion into their daily lives. W hen I teach well-being and

mindfulness work shops to lawyers, one common theme

emerges: Most lawyers wil l readily admit to feeling

almost constant st ress and anxiety, yet few possess strat-

egies for managi ng these struggles.

Here’s the thing about law practice: Many of us are in

the human su eri ng business, where clients come to see

us with complicated problems, bot h legal and emotional.

It’s a stressful profession where we necessa rily place the

client’s needs fi rst. The st akes are often high, and there

are many demands. Many t imes we’re asked to deliver

nearly impossible results. The litig ious nature of our

legal system lead s to incivility. Yet there’s little discussion

about the toll this work takes on our wel l-being. Lawyers

are often taught to ig nore their emotional well-being, but

that is a mistake b oth for the lawyer as a person and as

an advocate for the client.

Stress is defi ned as a reaction to a stimulus that dis-

turbs one’s physical or mental equilibrium . Often when

I teach stress ma nagement workshops, the lawyers talk

about the various stimuli but ra rely talk about their own

reactions. They ta lk about wanting to force opposing

counsel to change, to ge t her to stop acting like a jerk or

stop engaging in other irr itating behaviors. This

is often a fru itless e ort and likely wasted c ogni-

tive energy.

In looking at the defi nition of st ress, it is clear

that the only part of str ess that one has complete

control over is his or her own react ion. This is

where a mindfulness pra ctice helps. By getting to

know our own knee-jerk reac tions, we can open

the door to changing our automatic t houghts and

behaviors.

FEAR FACTOR

I used to get overwhelmi ng anxiety before every court

appearance. Weeks before the hear ing, I would start

rehearsing and thin king of all the things that could go

wrong. It was like a broken record that I could not st op

playing in my head. Every scena rio led to the absolute

worst-case resu lts. I would regularly fall asleep thi nking

about the hearing, wake up in t he middle of the night in

a panic and think about the c ase as soon as I opened my

eyes in the morning. My mind would replay every nega-

tive experience I’ve ever had i n the courtroom. Soon, I

would experience panic, t ension headaches and tightness

in the chest.

What I learned was t hat by paying attention to the

moment-to-moment experience of this an xiety cycle, I

can interrupt the fa miliar pattern and engage in more

helpful reactions. For example, when my mind produce s

the thought: “You’re going to lose this hearing, and your

client is going to lose her house,” it would lead to a physi-

ological react ion such as shallow breathing. Rather than

allow my mind to automatica lly continue and produce

more catastrophic thoughts, I lea rned to add a moment

of pause between the stimulus a nd the reaction. If I can

slow down, I can see that the t hought is only one of the

many possibilities and outc omes. I can learn to question

my thoughts, and for example, ask: What ev idence do I

On

Well-

Being

PHOTO COURTESY OF JC LAW GROUP; SHUTTERSTOCK

Rethinking

Reactions

to Stress

YOU CAN’T CONTROL

THE SOURCES OF YOUR

ANXIETY—ONLY YOUR

RESPONSE

Practice

26 || ABA JOURNAL MAY 2019