Attorney Profile

ATTORNEY PROFILE By: Hannah Lowe

HANNAH LOWE

In her book, Daring Greatly, New York Times bestselling author and academic, Brene Brown, encourages us to have the courage to be vulnerable and put ourselves out there, despite the inevitable feelings of discomfort or fear of criticism. Brown writes that “[v]ulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.”1 She reminds us that it is when we have the courage to present our authentic self to the world that we are able to experience love, belonging, joy, empathy, and creativity, and to forge genuine connections with others.

When I was asked to co-chair the newly formed KBA Wellness Committee, I knew the role would require me to be vulnerable, and to ask for the same of others. I believe Marsha Watson recommended me as a co-chair for the Wellness Committee because she knows I am interested in prioritizing and advancing not just my own physical and mental well-being, but in finding practical ways in which we can all do so as a Bar. She knew I obtained a Registered Yoga Teacher certification as I had volunteered to teach a yoga class via Zoom as part of the KBA Wellness Conference in September 2021. When my co-chair Beth Ford and I learned that almost 50 people from the Bar had signed up to join the Committee, it confirmed for us that many others also share our interest in promoting and advancing wellness in the Bar.

What I have most enjoyed about co-chairing the Committee has been the opportunity to talk with other members of the Bar to hear their stories and share ideas. We come to the topic of attorney well-being with different perspectives, as we all face different challenges in life and law practice. In 2018, the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being Report told us what many of us already knew: “our profession is falling short when it comes to well-being.”2 The Report outlined the results of the 2016 American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Study of nearly 13,000 practicing attorneys and the 2016 Survey of Law Student Well-Being, which surveyed over 3,300 law students from 15 law schools: both studies indicated lawyers are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, stress, and alcohol and substance abuse disorders.3 The Report is the natural starting point for attorney well-being efforts, but listening to the stories of members of the KBA Wellness Committee has demonstrated other areas of wellness important to our Bar, for example financial wellness, and the need for support in times of grief or illness. I appreciate those who have already shared their stories with Beth, myself, and the rest of the Wellness Committee, which will help us to work to identify the specific wellness needs of our Bar, and encourage others to share their stories with us.

My own story begins in the United Kingdom, where I was born. Growing up in the UK in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, the wartime attitudes of “stiff upper lip” and “Keep Calm and Carry On” persisted to leave a stigma around conversations about stress and mental health issues. Physical exercise has been my stress-relieving tool of choice. While studying for my undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter, I tried various exercise classes to de-stress and connect with others. After I immigrated to the United States in 2003, I discovered that, while Americans can be more open to talk about their mental health, stigmas around mental health persist here as well. This is particularly true in the legal profession, perhaps even more so than other professions. The law school curriculum teaches us to think like a lawyer, but provides few tools to cope with the stresses of life after law school. Before and during law school, my exercise of choice was running, mainly because it can be performed at minimal cost and can be done anywhere. I still love to run and walk outside4, but it wasn’t until I had been practicing law for a few years that I discovered the benefits of regular yoga practice for both mental and physical wellness. Yoga has helped me through many different stressful times, including grief/bereavement, and career challenges. The word yoga comes from the verbal root yuj, which means “to yoke or join,” and yoga is commonly associated with the word “union.”5 While other forms of exercise can have meditative qualities, yoga is specifically designed to unite the brain, the body, and the breath, which can provide benefits both inside and outside the yoga studio. Yoga helps me to be fully present in the moment, which is particularly challenging for my lawyer brain!

Studying yoga has also helped me to understand the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Journalist Dan Harris explains that mindfulness is “the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.”6 You may not realize it, but you are practicing mindfulness every time you take a deep breath and think carefully about your response to an email from opposing counsel rather than firing off a reactionary reply! Yoga, mindfulness, and meditation have been valuable tools in my law practice, including in finding the courage to be vulnerable and put myself out there to navigate career challenges. I look forward to continuing my own wellness journey and connecting with more KBA members through the Wellness Committee.

1 Brene Brown, Ph.D., LMSW, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable

Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, Avery, 2012. 2 Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, November 9, 2018, available at: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/lawyer_assistance/task_force_ report/ 3 Id. 4 Join me and the Wellness Committee on the weekly walk at Lakeshore Park, Tuesdays at 6 p.m. 5 Eddie Stern, One Simple Thing: A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How it Can

Transform Your Life, North Point Press, 2019. 6 See Why Mindfulness Is a Superpower, available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=loioz7novpQ