Yoga, Mindfulness, Red/Green Mug Coffee Circles and Feeling Good in Challenging Times

Feeling Good in Challenging Times

I wrote my blog for this week yesterday, saving it to my computer at 5:00 and turning the news on as I moved from work-from-home to leisure-at-home. My blog was called “Feeling Good in Bad Times” and it was about simple activities for building well-being when continuous bad news was wearing us down. As if being in the midst of a pandemic in winter wasn’t enough, we were hearing concerns about vaccine shortages and our neighbour to the south experiencing an armed insurrection.

But there was a glimmer of good news being announced—reopening of personal care businesses and permission to have outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people (observing social distancing and wearing masks)! I jumped on the roller coaster of excitement, knowing that this was not going to be a smooth journey to the end of the pandemic. This ride will have plummets of despair and soaring passages of joy. Pessimists will say that we shouldn’t get our hopes up because we are only going to be disappointed, but whether we are pessimists or optimists, we all can all benefit from taking basic steps to well-being.

And I reopened my laptop and began re-writing. Let’s talk about being well in challenging and changing times!

January is always a tough month—it is cold, it is dark and it feels long, and the pandemic just increases our feelings of isolation. I have a rule for myself that I don’t watch 24/7 news channels because those shows marinate me in angst, but last Wednesday when I learned about the mob storming the US Capitol, I tuned into CBC Newsworld, but all it did was whet my appetite for something harder core and by Thursday I was fully immersed in CNN. These are historic times, I justified—I was watching some of the most significant events in the western world that would have repercussions for many years. It was just soooo interesting. And, not surprisingly, I wasn’t sleeping well and felt on-edge.

The violent occupation of a centre of democracy is frightening in and of itself, but my sister lives in in the US and I have 20 year old twin nephews who are of draft age. You can see the path I was on—and I was internally making arrangements to bring them here and figuring out how they could quarantine.

And the local news didn’t help—we were learning of potential interruptions in the vaccine supply chain and the issue was being politicized. I was steeping in bad news.

Is it just me, or do media outlets seem to focus more on scary and negative stories? There’s an old expression that good news doesn’t sell newspapers—and there is research that backs this up. Research conducted at McGill University revealed that the concentration on bad news stories is not due to journalist’s own cynicism; it is that we, as consumers of news, tend to choose news stories with negative impacts, i.e., we are the ones with the negativity bias. Researchers speculate that this may be part of our instinct to identify and scope out danger. We know that when we perceive danger, our physiological stress mechanisms ratchet up to enable the flight or fight response, but we also know that human beings were not designed to be in a chronic state of stress.

Many of us feel compelled to immerse ourselves in unsettling news stories—like looking at accident scenes or watching horror movies. But while these stories may be monumental, they concern events that are beyond our control. Indeed, we have almost no control over issues like gaps in our vaccine supply chain or the discord in the US. I stepped back from media coverage and resolved to limit my CNN consumption to one hour (cumulative) per day and I am starting to breathe more easily.

I view being informed about current events as being part of good citizenship, but at what cost? I realized that I had to take a step away for my own well-being.

There are other things we can do to stay well in the face of negativity and uncertainty—simple strategies that may take 15 minutes a day (but can be more if you like them!)

The British New Economics Foundation developed Five Steps to Mental Well-Being based on a review of over 400 research studies. This was pre-COVID, and was actually in response to financial issues (the credit crunch and economic uncertainty) as well as concerns about climate change. This review indicated that well-being was not dependent on consumerism and spending money. Rather, well-being was linked to:

Having strong social relationships
Being physically active
Continuing to learn
Giving to others
Being in the present (mindfulness).

The 5 Steps have been incorporated into programs across the western world, but my favourite iteration is the Legal Profession Mental Health Toolkit created by Resilience@Law and Black Dog Institute** in Australia.

Many resources support the 5 steps to well-being with simple actions we can take in our personal and work lives. Unfortunately, not all of the actions work well in our socially-distanced COVID reality, so here is my take on the 5 steps and supporting activities for Alberta lawyers, articling students and law students during our current circumstances:

Connect We know that having strong social relationships is linked to well-being, and that while interacting with family, friends and colleagues is tricky due to restrictions on gathering, it is more important than ever.
- Personal: January has been unseasonably warm so far, which made the ban on outdoor gatherings sting even more. When the weather is reasonable, let’s seize the opportunity to gather outdoors with up to 10 people (with social distancing and masks.) And while Zoom and telephone calls aren’t the same as seeing people in person, keeping in touch via technology is better than not connecting at all. Connecting around positivity is helpful—can you share photos and happy memories with the people you can’t see in person? If you have someone in your circle who is prone to negativity, consider having a “Good, Bad and Interesting Conversation” where everyone has to identify at least one good thing that happened that day as well as something bad and interesting.
- Workplace: When you are on Zoom calls, consider taking a few extra minutes to ask people how they are doing and listen actively to their responses. It is easy for Zoom calls to depersonalize us, but we can consciously choose to reach out to people--if your group celebrates birthdays and workplace anniversaries during normal times, can you continue this practice (but without the cake 😊) as part of a Zoom meeting? Can you share fun videos and appropriate humour online with your colleagues? People bond over shared experiences, so online sports pools can create community as can discussion groups about popular tv shows or books. If you don’t have colleagues (that you enjoy), join Assist for a coffee circle—free and no commitment—you will meet other lawyers and law students in a non-threatening setting.
Be Active When we exercise vigorously, we generate endorphins which create feelings of euphoria and general well-being. Being physically active was easier in the summer, and we know that overcoming inertia in the dark days of winter takes more energy, but getting exercise will help us remain strong and health. We need physical activity and exercise more than ever.
- Personal: Walking briskly outdoors has many benefits—you may get some Vitamin D from being out in the mid-day sunshine as well as generating endorphins. And if you walk with a friend, you can also build social connections. If you can’t go outside, can you source a home workout video through online providers? If looking for those videos feels daunting, can you dance along with upbeat music or walk briskly to music in your home? Step-counters can be good motivators—I have done many laps around my house in order to reach a milestone.
- Workplace: Assist tried group online workouts earlier in the pandemic and learned that linking people via Zoom consumed a lot of data. But with the new relaxation order, you can catch up with a colleague while you walk. There will be days that are too cold for outdoor activities. Consider having a workout accountability colleague with whom you can share details of your workout. Remember Assist’s weekly free yoga class—no experience required, and colleagues, family members and pets are welcome.
Keep Learning Learning something new can boost our confidence and it can be fun! It is easy to turn the TV on at the end of our workdays—and sometimes, after a hard day, we need passive entertainment—but expanding our knowledge can be invigorating.
- Personal: Consider a new hobby or check out the online tools for learning a new language. Many language apps are free and are packaged as short lessons you can do every day. New hobbies and skills can make us more interesting, which can help us build social connections. I am a bookworm with a weakness for mystery series. I started reading Louise Penny’s Quebec-based Inspector Gamache series and asked for books in the series for Christmas—I have one more to go and if anyone is looking for well-written Canadian fiction, I highly recommend this series!
- Workplace: In law, we engage in intellectual tasks through the day so perhaps we don’t need as conscious a learning strategy as much as people who don’t exercise their brains for a living. The pandemic lockdowns have caused us to look at what we are doing and assessing if it is meaningful. If you are realizing that your practice area has stopped fulfilling you, this may be a good time to learn more about an area of practice you would like to migrate to, or you may want to hone your skills in everything from effective advocacy to time management to best position yourself for the post-pandemic work world. Think about potential interviewers asking you what you did with your free time (if you have any) during the lockdown—how would you like to be able to answer? Both Legal Education Society of Alberta and Canadian Bar Association have online courses. Consider combining learning a new skill with a social connection by doing an online course with a colleague.
Give Giving to others helps inspire gratitude and it feels good.
- Personal: There are many ways we can engage in random acts of kindness even in the socially-distant world. We can pay for someone else’s coffee order at the drive-through while treating yourself to a special coffee—let’s face it, most of us are making coffee at home and spending less money buying coffee during the day. We can use some of this “found money” to make someone else’s day. Acts of service can be wonderful as well. Consider shoveling a senior’s walk while you do your own.
- Workplace: Challenge yourself to give one colleague positive affirmation or feedback every day and encourage others to do the same. Some teams set aside time in staff meetings for this kind of feedback. Would it work for your team?
- Volunteering in a personal capacity or as a lawyer (perhaps as an Assist peer support volunteer) is a good way of giving to others.

Take Notice (Mindfulness) Be present. Take a few moments to appreciate the beauty of our natural world. Reflect on your experiences.
- Personal: Join Assist for a 15-minute mindfulness break every Tuesday at 12 led by a lawyer who is a certified yoga instructor.
- Workplace: invite your colleagues to join Tuesday mindfulness and talk about what you experienced afterwards. Mindfully separate your work-from-home from leisure-at-home at the end of your workday by going for a walk from work and returning to leisure. Consider setting up a meeting at the end of the workday—I was going to say 4:20 since many people finish their workday at 4:30 but a 4-20 meeting may not set the right tone—where people can share one positive thing or relate the best thing that happened to them.

Right now our plates are full, our reserves are running low and the last thing that we all want is to have more To-Dos added to our lists. We know that we need to stay strong and resilient since it will be several months before most of us are vaccinated, so let’s invest in our well-being. We can start small, with one activity in either our personal or work lives. Be mindful of how it makes you feel and if you feel good, consider adding other activities that support these themes.

Oh—and this one is for me: Limit CNN to one hour a day….(turning it off now.)

Loraine

** If you are new to the Black Dog terminology, it is a metaphor for depression. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiCrniLQGYc&t=20s