Monthly Wellness Pledge

Monthly Wellness Pledge

Lawyers look stress in the eye every workday. Managing clients, pleasing demanding partners, navigating a highly competitive and unforgiving work culture, battling stubborn opposing counsel, and logging long hours are just some of the demands placed on our shoulders. The heavy burden is reflected in lawyers suffering off the charts mental health and substance abuse problems. 

Committing to wellness is one proven way to make life, even as a lawyer, a little happier and a little healthier. Meditation, exercise, and so many other lifestyle choices are scientifically backed methods to combat stress and create mental clarity. Importantly, wellness can be engaged in on an individual and organizational level. While I can choose to meditate by myself, my organization can have a designated meditation room and organize a meditation retreat to encourage meditation organization wide.

To help make your life and your fellow lawyers’ lives happier and healthier, we are asking you to engage in a monthly wellness pledge. This pledge is designed to be more than words but a call to action. In fact, we ask you to strongly consider reporting your wellness activity to keep yourself accountable to the monthly pledge. The self-reporting wellness activity form is linked below. To keep this fun, wellness activities are assigned points to get the competitive juices flowing.
 

June Monthly Wellness Pledge

The San Diego County Bar Association invites you to try two simple acts of seasonal wellness this June.

First, choose one gray morning or afternoon and do something restorative indoors. Read a good book, play your favorite game, or call a friend. Make something warm to drink. Social connection is strongly associated with better health, and small rituals of physical warmth can help cue feelings of comfort and interpersonal warmth. The point is not merely to be cozy. It is to create a small, deliberate pause in which the nervous system can reset.

Second, use a gloomy day to spend time outside with less direct sun exposure. Take a walk, stretch by the water, or choose whatever outdoor activity feels accessible. A gray day can make it easier to get outside while still being mindful of your skin.

The best part of June Gloom is that it often pulls away in the late afternoon. When it does, step outside for a few minutes and let the light reach you. Natural light helps regulate circadian rhythm, sleep, and mood.

Above all, remember this: progress comes one day at a time. It will not always look like forward motion.

Sometimes progress looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like beginning again.

Keep going.

Mindful Minute: June Gloom

By David Present
For those of us who grew up outside San Diego or away from the coast, the term “June Gloom” may come as a surprise. It did for me.

Check Out the Latest Mindful Minute Article

Suggestions for wellness topics? Email Co-Chair Jim Eischen (jim@eischenlawoffice.com)