As defined by the National Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being (I’m a recovering lawyer), well-being is a continuous process—we can be well today or tomorrow, and maybe not so much next week or next month.
In addition, well-being is defined by the National Task Force as touching upon six different aspects of life: Intellectual, Professional, Social, Spiritual, Physical and Emotional. The idea is that we can be humming along quite nicely in one or more aspects of life and feel generally well, notwithstanding the fact that we may not be doing so well in others. Of course, that can (and almost inevitably, will) change--which gets back to the underlying notion that well-being is continuous, and ever-changing.
What particular well-being practices do I subscribe to? Well, I’m currently working on a book (I seem so think most clearly when I write things down), about three practices that I incorporate into my daily routine (both when I was practicing, and now that I retired): 1) “Me time”, 2) Meditative activity, and 3) Meditation—all of which are aimed at cultivating both mind and body fitness, as well as two other important things: Nutrition and rest (sleep).
“Me time” can be different things, for different people, but the idea is rooted in self-care. In my case, that usually involves some form of positive ideation and a liberal dose of nature-- real, imagined or pictorial.
“Meditative activity” is part two of my daily elixir (inspired by the movie Free Solo). It’s all about awareness of thoughts and emotions—how I am feeling at a given point in time. Whether that awareness comes while simply sitting, or as an incident to some form of exercise or activity, is really irrelevant. In point of fact, for those of us who may be best able to access awareness of thought and emotion through some sort of movement, there is the added benefit (which is important to some) that what we are up to inwardly, is not perceivable outwardly.
“Meditation” is, for me, where the proverbial rubber hits the road. Although it’s definitely necessary that we learn to develop an awareness of our thoughts and emotions, we ultimately need to develop a strategy to skillfully process them, in a way that is personally and professionally—and socially—appropriate. I think the best way to do that is to regularly exercise what I call the “let-it-go” muscle. Letting thoughts and emotions pass, without attaching a particular significance to them, and without judging or evaluating them. Simple, but not easy!
“Me time” is sometimes just a minute of reflection, one or more times a day. It often comes in the form of a relatively short burst, and almost always includes a deep breath, or two. Or three. “Meditative activity” is usually practicing yoga, or walking (I can’t run any more, after getting arthroscopic surgery). Even walking the dog can sometimes scratch that itch! Once the weather gets better, it’ll probably include swimming in Lake Michigan. “Meditation”—formal, seated meditation—is a habit I always make time for. The time of day can differ, depending on what else I have planned, but I’ve been thinking of tacking it on to the end of my meditative activity—being in a meditative frame of mind at the beginning of a formal meditation makes a lot of sense to me.
I wish I had become aware of the importance of well-being when I was younger—by the time I reached my fifties, I had already lost a lot of time and done a lot of damage. But better late, than never! I used to be a typical hard-driving hot-head, who routinely burned bridges and thought most everything I didn’t like, was somebody else’s fault. These days, I move a bit slower, and am not nearly as emotionally out-of-control. I’ve also given up the blame-game, and no longer think that everything bad is somebody else’s fault.
There’s a lot more to be said, but this short, introductory blog is not the place to do that. I’m just grateful for The Wellness Esquire and the community of like-minded souls Ariella is building. There are more of us than some would like to believe!
Jeffrey H. Bunn is a retired litigator and is the founding member of The Mindful Law Coaching & Consulting Group, LLC (“MLCCG”). He practiced in both State and Federal courts for nearly 40 years, and was previously a member of a Management Committee for a Chicago law firm. Jeff is a regular meditator, trained in the vipassana tradition and schooled in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction ("MBSR")”. Jeff was prior chair of the Chicago Bar Association (“CBA”) Commercial Litigation committee, and the founder and chair of the CBA committee on Mindfulness and the Law. He is also co-chair of the Chicago chapter of the Culture Collective organization and sits on the Boards of the American Institute for Cancer Research, as well as the World Cancer Research Fund UK and Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fond, in the Netherlands.
Jeff was the initial vice-chair of the Lawyers’ Assistance Program (“LAP”) Illinois Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being (modeled after the National Task Force, which was endorsed by the American Bar Association).Jeff has led guided meditation sessions for the American Association of Law Schools (“AALS”), the ABA Women in Litigation section, as well as the State Bar of Nevada, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Jeff has presented on matters concerning the incorporation of mindfulness and meditation into the practice of law for the CBA, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (“CVLS”), the National Association of Bar Executives (“NABE”) and the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, as well as other professional organizations. He has also presented to and led group meditation sessions for private law firms.
Jeff was featured in a CLE piece and a "Reimagining Law" interview posted by the Illinois Commission on Professionalism on it's 2Civility website, and has been invited to appear as a guest in webinars hosted by AwareHealth and the Lawyers Emotional Intelligence Book Club. He has also been a guest on The Thought Leadership podcast and the Nishant Garg podcast.Jeff's signature talk addresses the business case for introducing mindfulness and meditation as part of the business models of law firms (Episode 24 of the "in brief" podcast produced by ALPS Insurance--the United States' largest direct writer of lawyer malpractice insurance).Jeff was previous blogger-in-chief of the, “The Mindful Law Guy” blog, and has written two books (Canary In The Coalmine and Res Ipsa Loquitor ["The Thing Speaks for Itself"]) that are both submitted for publication, as well as a screenplay (The Meditation Hesitation Blues ), that has been submitted for sale and production.