The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Joyful and Satisfying Law Practice Through Mindfulness and Meditation

Book Synopsis: "This book offers an easy to follow program for beginning a meditation practice, written by lawyers and for lawyers. I highly recommend this book for anyone in the legal world who has wondered about meditation but hesitated to get started." -- Congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation and The Real Food Revolution

Interest in meditation and mindfulness has skyrocketed in recent years, thanks largely to neuroimaging and the body of scientific research that has validated the many benefits of these practices. Sadly, the legal community has for the most part been left out, even though lawyers would clearly benefit from mindfulness. Many lawyers feel hesitant to try meditation, which can seem alien and inaccessible from the vantage point of a professional culture that places great value on logic and reason. Jeena Cho and Karen Gifford set out to help address this gap in The Anxious Lawyer. Both Cho and Gifford began meditating as practicing attorneys, and have firsthand knowledge of the difficulties and rewards of legal practice. They experienced how meditation and mindfulness practices support a more effective and enjoyable legal practice. Both also found unexpected rewards of meditation that go deeper: better self understanding, more rewarding relationships and a deeper feeling of connection with the world.

The Anxious Lawyer provides a straightforward 8-week introductory program on meditation and mindfulness, created by lawyers for lawyers. The program draws on examples from Cho and Gifford's professional and personal lives to create an accessible and enjoyable entry into practices that can reduce anxiety, improve focus and clarity, and enrich the quality of life.

The program includes:

• Instruction on a number of simple meditation techniques
• Concrete guidance for establishing a daily meditation and mindfulness practice
• Exercises designed to give the reader practical experience in bringing the insights of meditation and mindfulness to meeting the challenges of daily life - and particularly of legal practice
• Practical examples of how mindfulness and meditation can help to cultivate a more joyful and satisfying law practice
• Discussion of scientific research on the effects of meditation and what the evidence shows about its benefits
• Practical tools, including access to guided meditations and worksheets that allow the reader to track his or her progress