What does wellness mean to you?
I'm a Type A person who is used to performing at a high level and that came at a great cost. Our wellbeing is everything and for me, it starts with mental wellness. Mental wellness means focus, confidence, stress resilience, pressure management, and mental performance; simply put, it means performing at your best and being happy in all areas of your life. I've found that if any of these things are out of alignment it affects my overall wellbeing.
What kinds of wellness practices do you do?
My days are busy as a wife, mother, and business owner. How I start my day is very important. I take high quality, whole food, microbiome boosting supplements to support my mental and physical wellbeing. This helps keep my body in balance because daily life and stress can take a toll on our bodies. I eat as cleanly as I can and do a microbiome (gut) "reboot" every few months as a reset. I’m not perfect. I have a teenager who loves to bake and when I start craving sugar I know it's time to reset. Adequate sleep and hydration are also important parts of my wellness practice. Most people are chronically sleep-deprived and dehydrated and this affects us both mentally and physically.
I also like to start the day with a quick and simple guided meditation or mindfulness practice to set my day up for success. You don't have to sit there for 45 minutes. Studies have shown that even a few minutes of focusing your mind on your breath will help the gut microbiome perform at its best; having positive results including cognition, depression, and anxiety scores. I'm no guru, my favorites are only 5-6 minutes long (and if my mind wanders, I just do my best to bring it back).
What led you to these wellness practices?
I developed severe sleep issues while I was in law school; which resulted in physical problems. I was prescribed antidepressants. When I started practicing law, I was prescribed more. I spent years chronically stressed, full of anxiety; and I was close to burning out. About 7 years into my career and after having my son, I decided that I didn’t want to continue a stressful lifestyle where I medicated myself to be a high performer. I walked away from my law career. I also walked away from the antidepressants. Over the last decade, I’ve been very interested in wellness. At first, my focus was on physical wellness. More recently my focus shifted to mental wellness and that made all the difference.
How do these wellness practices impact your life and your career?
These practices have been a game-changer for me. A few years ago I became overwhelmed with caring for my elderly parents long-distance and balancing my own life. The care for my parents was challenging enough, and I felt guilty leaving my husband and teenage kids at home. I was caught in a cycle of feeling that I was "never enough". I found it hard to find balance. The term "sandwich generation" was coined 40 years ago to address the stress of caring for your elderly parents while raising your own family. The impact has not been fully recognized. While my circumstances have not changed, my wellness practices have helped me tremendously with focus, stress resilience, and pressure management. I'm no longer overwhelmed and can maintain emotional balance. That's what makes it a game-changer.
How do you make time for wellness throughout the day? How do you incorporate wellness practices into your lifestyle?
Being a people pleaser, I have to fight my instincts and make my wellness a priority. If I don't I'm good for no one. My wellness has become a non-negotiable, and I discovered that it is a lot easier to be proactive rather than have to "repair" once the damage is done. As I said earlier, I like to start my day with a quick meditation or mindfulness practice. This doesn't come easily so I like to keep it simple with a few short ones that I enjoy. Consistency is more important than length. Mine average 5-6 minutes. I take my supplements every morning. Again, I keep it simple and use a simple system that focuses on the gut-brain connection and the heart-brain connection. Wellness doesn't have to be complicated, but it does have to be intentional.
How do you prioritize?
We’ve all heard the saying that “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. It’s absolutely true. If you don’t prioritize yourself it can lead to burnout and other health issues. I’ve been there.
How important is it to bring wellness into the legal industry? Why? What changes would you like to see?
It is extremely important to bring wellness into the legal industry. For me, it’s personal. I wish I had prioritized my wellness and had the tools and resources that are now available when I was a law student and early on in my career. The practice of law is not for the faint of heart. Lawyers deal with chronic stress, sleep issues, fatigue, focus issues, brain fog, a sedentary lifestyle, isolation, financial issues, confidence issues, PTSD, and more. The rates of depression, addiction, and suicide are staggering in the profession. Making wellness an absolute priority from day one in law school is essential and it needs to be discussed openly in the legal community. We know mental wellness is becoming part of the national conversation. I'd like to see holistic solutions as part of the conversation as well. I feel so strongly about this that I've made it my purpose and my mission to educate people about holistic wellness solutions. I hope to be a catalyst for change and am honored to be an advocate for the mental wellness movement.
How would your current practices have helped you earlier in your career?
There have been some ups and downs on my wellness journey since law school; which is why I'm so passionate about the topic. My current practices and the tools and resources that I have available would have made a huge difference. I left law almost burned out. I might have chosen to stay in my career... or I might have still chosen to leave, but in a position of strength, had I been in a better emotional state. And, most importantly, I might have been a more relaxed, present, and joyful, mom and wife.
Do you have a favorite wellness resource(s) you can recommend?
I recommend Amare Global, The Mental Wellness Company. Amare's platform empowers people to optimize their mental wellness and live a life full of vigor, positivity, and optimized performance. I was so impressed by the mission, the wellness programs, and the nutraceutical products that I partnered with them. Amare is the first-ever mental wellness company and we hope to make it a household name in a world where people freely discuss mental wellness and where everyone knows that there are holistic solutions. By eating healthier, taking the right supplements, and incorporating movement and mindfulness, we can live happier healthier lives.
Amare's scientific approach is designed to meet you where you're at on the mental wellness continuum and then, from there, optimize your potential. To begin any journey, you have to know where you are starting from. I invite you to take this quick assessment to self evaluate (the results are confidential). I'll connect with you and help you interpret the results. http://ltl.is/CPQV9
I'd love to hear your story, what challenges you may have, what has worked for you, and where you are stuck. We are all in this together. Let's connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/successwithdeirdre/
Deirdre McLean is a retired attorney. She is married, has two children, and lives in the Albany, NY area. She enjoys the Adirondacks, the Long Island beaches (LI girl) and loves to travel. She is a Holistic Mental Wellness Advocate: Helping Professionals Improve Focus, Energy & Emotional Balance. She is a Wellness Partner with Amare Global, focusing on the Gut-Brain and the Heart Brain Connections, and a humanitarian entrepreneur.
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