Mindful Moment

On any given day, dealing with a pressing matter may win out over a personal wellness routine. For example, working an extra hour and missing an exercise class; prepping for a half-day on a Saturday and skipping a hike; or pushing through lunch to respond to time-sensitive messages. As lawyers and judges, we are trained to think in terms of urgency, risk, and responsibility—frameworks that naturally push less urgent personal health needs to the margins.

When urgency takes over, does getting healthy again feel overwhelming? Overwhelm is natural–likely even–especially if you try to overhaul all of your physical needs all at once, such as diet, exercise, relaxation, health care appointments, sleep, hydration, preventative care.

The good news is that your physical well-being can be supported through small, consistent practices that are achievable even in the midst of demanding caseloads and court schedules. Mindfulness can help you assess your current health and identify realistic next steps. Clarifying a few changes your body needs most—and why they matter to your mind—reduces the pressure to “fix everything” and increases follow-through.

Below is a brief five-part mindful self-inquiry process you can use to check in with your physical well-being and goals.

Five-Part Mindful Well-Being Check-In:

1. Overall Physical Well-Being Check
   • On a scale of 1–5, where am I right now with my physical well-being?
   • On a scale of 1-5, where would I like to be?
   • What are three key things that are standing in the way of being where I want to be?
2. Clarify what matters most:
   • What physical health or prevention goals are most important to me right now?
   • What are the three most meaningful changes I could make in this area?
   • How would my life/body feel different if I made these changes?
3. Movement check-in:
   • How often do I move my body?
   • How often would I like to?
   • What would be the most meaningful change I could make in this area?
   • What can I do daily to get myself closer to my movement goals?
   • How would my life/body feel different if I made this change?
   • What is one step I can take today to get me closer to feeling the way I want to feel?
4. Sleep and rest recovery check-in:
   • How much rest/sleep am I getting?
   • How much would I like to get?
   • What would be the most meaningful change I could make in this area?
   • What can I do daily to better support sleep and rest recovery?
   • How would my life/body feel different if I made this change?
   • What is one step I can take today to get me closer to feeling the way I want to feel?
5. Preventative & Routine Care
   • Am I up to date on preventative appointments that support my long-term health?
   • Which preventative appointments are the most valuable to me?
   • What would be the most meaningful change I could make in this area?
   • How would my life/body feel different if I made these changes?
   • What is one step I can take today to get me closer to feeling the way I want to feel?

Try this self-inquiry now as a 10-minute mindful reset. Jot down your answers in a place you can refer back to, perhaps monthly or quarterly to note progress. You may want to start with just one area, and once you have success with it, build on that momentum to take on another area. Physical well-being is foundational to sustainable legal practice; healthy bodies think more clearly, are less distracted by physical pain, and can better focus, make fewer errors, and sustain longer, more satisfying careers. The goal is not perfection – it’s moving in the right direction, using the clarity of your trained legal mind to discern which small, consistent shifts will make the most lasting impact over time.

Laura Mahr is a North Carolina and Oregon lawyer and the founder of Conscious Legal Minds LLC, providing well-being consulting, training, and resilience coaching for attorneys and law offices nationwide. Through the lens of neurobiology, Laura helps build strong leaders, happy lawyers, and effective teams. After bringing herself back from the brink of burnout with the tools she now teaches, Laura brings lived experience and compassion to thousands of lawyers, judges, and support staff each year in her writing, coaching, and CLE trainings. Her work is informed by 13 years of practice as a civil sexual assault attorney, 30 years as a teacher and student of mindfulness and yoga, and ten years studying neurobiology and neuropsychology with clinical pioneers. If you would like help setting health goals for yourself or your legal team contact Laura at www.consciouslegalminds.com.