Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the

“Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the door to peace, tranquillity and joy” ~ B. K. S. Iyengar Yoga’s Key to Alleviating Stress in the Legal Profession Monica Bond 1 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

Overview of what my Elective Covers: (All research findings supporting my conclusions are set out in detail in my written Elective. NB. For speed, I will not read out all quotations: they are in the Handout I will given you. ) The Context: The legal profession has some of the highest rates of suicide, depression, stress and anxiety of all professions. Why are the rates for lawyers so much higher? What predisposes this situation? The nature of the work and its environment The nature/personality of the typical lawyer. The Solutions: 2 The solutions apply to us all! I will cover how yoga addresses ALL of these issues: in essence, I believe it is because: it is multi-faceted and holistic; & it observes and nurtures the symbiotic relationship between all parts of the mind, body and spirit How do we get the message across? Simple practical yoga solutions are desperately Strictly Private and Confidential needed. Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Context: (i) The Environment ‘There is something about the culture of law, legal education and professional practice that [makes] lawyers vulnerable. The culture is well known for poor work-life balance, long hours and a competitive environment. The legal profession also tends to attract perfectionist personalities, and this combination of factors can take its toll on wellbeing. ’ (The Law. Care CEO Elizabeth Rimmer) This year The Law Society commissioned a survey amongst young lawyers as to their levels of stress. Helpful, but disturbing, results e. g. Feelings of lack of control are such debilitating emotions. Yoga goes to the heart of this issue. 3 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Context: (i) The Environment Also rigid disciplinary rules, even for minor, innocent mistakes. Empathy with the client = stress 4 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017 Hardly! But the particular pressures which cause the stress are i. e. very specific. We, as yoga teachers, will be particularly effective if we can recognise the common difficulties - not only physical - but also emotional/mental of the group we are working with.

The Context: (ii) What personality traits in a lawyer predisposes them to stress, depression & anxiety? Resilience is a person’s capacity for stress-related growth, but research reveals that lawyers score low in this attribute. 5 In fact, many lawyers score in the 30 th percentile: revealing thin-skinned tendencies, taking criticism personally, & being overly defensive & resistant to feedback. Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Context: (ii) The Personality Traits Research indicates that the 2 main building blocks for resilience, viz: thinking flexibly about challenges & apparent adversity; & high quality connections with others are frustrated by deeply embedded personality traits in lawyers, such as: Sceptism – we have exceptionally high scores in this! 6 We Private and Confidential are trained to be highly. Strictly sceptical. But this is a double-edged sword. Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Context: (ii) The Personality Traits Worse still!. . . We have exceedingly low levels of sociability (measured in the 12 th percentile): and - particularly embarrassing…. . 7 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Context: (ii) The Personality Traits (Source: Dr. Larry Richard, former trial attorney, Ph. D. in Psychology, www. lawyerbrain. com) A sometimes absurd sense of urgency. The need for urgency is often real & necessary in our work, but this sense has become endemic throughout the profession. Dr. Richard: “A high score on Urgency is characterised by impatience, a sense of immediacy… The excellent lawyers in our study scored roughly twenty % higher on this trait than the general public. Urgent people charge around like they are on their way to a fire. There is an intensity to their behavioural style, since they are results-orientated. [However] urgency can have a negative side as well…The potential downside of this trait emerges. . in interpersonal relationships. Urgent lawyers who try to be “efficient at relationships” may eventually realise what an oxymoron this idea is”. 8 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

So, how does yoga provide the golden key to dispelling all this anguish? It is uniquely multi-faceted & holistic It observes & nurtures the symbiotic relationship between ALL parts of the mind, body and spirit It focuses on the individual in his/her context It provides many paths There is no obstacle to anyone taking it up, regardless of age, level of fitness etc. & is free of all restrictions Hatha Yoga provides very many physical benefits, improving physical & mental health in numerous ways The golden theme running throughout the teachings is one of encouragement 9 So, even if one feels utterly isolated, the old maxim of “surround yourself with positive people” is true of Privatereading and Confidential the ancient yogis & one can gain this. Strictly by simply their teachings - and, of course, the guidance & Sunday 19 th November 2017

The Efficacy of these Solutions increasingly being measured in scientific studies (More examples of Research, quotes & related References and citations are as set out in my Elective) They include: Meditation e. g. “Anxiety was significantly reduced in every session that subjects meditated. Brain imaging found that meditation-related anxiety relief was associated with activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and anterior insula. These areas of the brain are involved with executive function and the control of worrying. Meditation-related activation of these three regions was directly linked to anxiety relief”. (per: Fadel Zeidan, Ph. D. , postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre, US who led this research). Mindfulness; Asanas (=a self-evident truth, as soon as one begins); Healing using Prana; Internal and External Purification (e. g. as set out in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras): 5 Yamas – our ethical relationship with society e. g. non-harming others (Ahimsa); truthfulness (Satya); unflinching generosity spirit/non-stealing (Asteya); non-wasting of vital energy; non-greed 10 5 Strictly Private Confidential e. g. avoidance of all toxins & aiming Niyamas – our moral relationship withand ourselves Sunday 19 th November 2017

Getting the message across: vital to reflect the particular person, their needs & context How will I aim to do this? I am aiming to get one or more articles in The Law Society Gazette (based on my Elective)+focussing on training within law firms. I will specialise in this field/USP. My aim will be… to provide practical solutions to very real & pressing problems. It follows that there must be easy take-aways from each class, applicable away from the mat e. g. so, suggestions like: “Use every opportunity to exercise e. g. Body Awakening exercises at your desk”; “Use the discipline of attending yoga classes to put your pen down at night”; “Use yogic breathing techniques” - which will have been previously 11 Strictly Private and Confidential taught; Sunday 19 th November 2017

Provide Practical Take-Aways from each Class, easy to apply outside (continued): “Start with mindfulness - easy to build this into your busy day”; “Apply time tested philosophical, ethical & lifestyle principles in your daily life” Naturally, we do not state this so bluntly but, as Yoga Teachers, we firstly & most importantly demonstrate this in our classes & our personal lives. We all have our role models, so we all know how effective this is 12 e. g. the rules of conduct as set out in the Pradipika & similarly guidance on internal & external purification as in the Sutras. These are not only essential ethical guidelines but also eminently sensible ways of living e. g. “sparing diet” etc. Be forgiving of yourself when you lapse. Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

Mindfulness “Mindfulness is a deceptively simple skill that facilitates an individual’s non-judgmental focus on the present through awareness of cognitive and somatic states” (Salmon, Hanneman, & Harwood, 2010) Best summarised by William Blake research has established that the leading English Romantic Poet, (1757 -1827) knew the Bhagavad Gita in its first English translation by Sir Charles Wilkins (1785). Blake believed fundamentally that: “All Religions are One” & “The philosophy of the east taught the first principles of human perception”. 13 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017

Thank you very much for your attention. Any Qs? 14 Strictly Private and Confidential Sunday 19 th November 2017