I recently attended a terrific webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association called “Longevity and Your Brain: How to Achieve Well-Being into Later Life” featuring Debra S Austin, JD, PhD, a law professor and author of The Legal Brain: A Lawyer’s Guide to Well-Being and Better Job Performance.
While her insights are crucial for long-term cognitive health, they also apply to younger professionals—especially lawyers, who often work in high-stress environments.
Here are some key takeaways backed by research:
✅ Sleep Well: Prioritize getting enough sleep to keep your brain functioning at its best.
🍎 Eat Healthy: A plant-based diet can support both brain and body health.
🧘 “Be”, Not Just “Do”: Spend a few minutes daily focusing on being rather than doing. This could be meditation (I like the Ten Percent Happier app, though Calm and Headspace are also great) or even something simple like a calming mani-pedi.
🚶 Move a Little: Even a short daily walk can improve your physical and mental health.
🙏 Practice Gratitude: In the practice of law, we are paid to be pessimists, anticipating what could go wrong for our clients. But if pessimism becomes chronic—spilling beyond work—it can harm our mental health. Starting each day by thinking about things you’re grateful for can help reframe your mindset. It could be something big like your family or something small like your morning coffee—or having a comfortable apartment!
⚠️ Manage Chronic Stress: Chronic stress pushes our brains into fight or flight mode, activating the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center. When this happens, the rational part of our brain—the hippocampus—becomes less accessible. This makes it harder to learn, adapt, and absorb new information, which is critical in the legal profession.
These small, intentional habits can help us build resilience, improve mental clarity, and support well-being now and in the future.
You can sign up for the replay on the ABA website. It’s free for American Bar Association members. See the link in the comments.