How Gratitude and Compassion Can Help You Manage Stress and Build Resilience

Cultivating gratitude and compassion can be powerful tools for managing and reducing stress. Recent research highlights the significant impact these practices have on our mental and physical well-being.

The Impact of Gratitude on Stress Reduction

Gratitude involves recognising and appreciating the positive aspects of life. Engaging in gratitude practices has been linked to decreased anxiety and depression. A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that gratitude interventions effectively reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. 

Furthermore, expressing gratitude can improve mood and overall mental health. Research from Purdue University indicates that gratitude enhances both mental and physical health, contributing to better stress management. 

Compassion as a Tool for Stress Management 

Compassion, defined as empathy and a desire to alleviate others' suffering, also plays a vital role in managing stress. Practicing compassion can lead to increased positive emotions and reduced negative emotional states. Studies have shown that compassion-based interventions decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, thereby mitigating stress. 

Practical Strategies to Incorporate Gratitude and Compassion

Integrating gratitude and compassion into your daily routines can be straightforward yet impactful:

• Gratitude Journaling: Spend a few minutes each day writing down things you're thankful for. This practice shifts focus from stressors to positive aspects of life, fostering a more optimistic outlook.

• Loving-Kindness Meditation: Engage in meditation that focuses on sending goodwill to yourself and others. This form of meditation has been shown to increase positive emotions and reduce stress. 

• Acts of Kindness: Performing small acts of kindness can enhance feelings of compassion and connection, which can buffer against stress.

Building Resilience Through Positive Practices 

Consistently practicing gratitude and compassion can build emotional resilience over time, making you better equipped to handle life's challenges. These practices not only improve personal well-being but also foster stronger social connections, essential components of effective stress management.

While stress is an inevitable part of life, adopting practices centered around gratitude and compassion offers effective strategies for managing it. By integrating these approaches into daily routines, individuals can easily and quickly experience enhanced mental health and overall well-being.

References

• Cregg, D. R., & Cheavens, J. S. (2023). Gratitude interventions: Effective self-help? A meta-analysis of the impact on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Journal of Happiness Studies. 

• Purdue University. (2022). Expressing gratitude can improve mood, reduce stress. 

• Jazaieri, H., Jinpa, T., McGonigal, K., Rosenberg, E. L., Finkelstein, J., Simon-Thomas, E., ... & Goldin, P. R. (2013). Enhancing compassion: A randomized controlled trial of a compassion cultivation training program. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(4), 1113-1126. 

Lawyers, Stress and The Navigation of Uncertainty

Lawyers, Stress and The Navigation of Uncertainty 

Uncertainty is one of the most common causes of chronic stress. We are wired to want certainty. The thinking runs that the more predictability we have in our lives, the greater our chances of survival.

This is why we feel calm when we experience a high degree of certainty. The need for certainty is one of the reasons people rewatch the same TV show or film. It may be boring, but at least it feels safe because we know what is going to happen next.

When we experience the state of uncertainty our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) kicks in and prepares us for fight, freeze or flight.  In other words, we start to become stressed. If this state of stress persists and becomes chronic, our emotional and physical health are impacted along with our cognition.  

Lawyers and VUCA

The modern-day challenge is that we exist in turbulent times where it feels as though there is an unprecedented and continuous level of uncertainty across all areas of our lives including health, finance, politics and nation security. This feeling is in part caused and exacerbated by 24/7 news that preys upon our inbuilt negativity bias.

Uncertainty is an inherent part of the lawyer’s working life. Uncertainty over whether you will get the case, win the case, get paid. Not to mention the many opportunities for curveballs being thrown in your direction by the client, other side or court.

Nevertheless, we will continue to exist and function in VUCA. VUCA stands for ‘Volatile’, ‘Uncertain’,’ Complex’, and ‘Ambiguous’. The United States Army War College was one of the first organizations to use the VUCA acronym, following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the term has since been adopted in the business and financial worlds. 

“Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected. ”

— George Soros

Sabre Tooth Tigers and Pandemics

For many, the pandemic was the first significant and persistent state of uncertainty they experienced. AI is another contemporary example of something that is moving quickly and constantly; its future potential having much uncertainty and fear surrounding it.  The reality is that uncertainty has always been with us and always will.

It used to be the threat of Sabre Tooth Tigers and other predators. Nowadays uncertainty might come in the form of the threat of nuclear weapon wielding leaders or out of control technology. 

Then there are the less dramatic but equally devastating unexpected events. While writing this post, close friends just found out their son had unexpectedly passed away. They did not see this tragic event coming.

Navigating Uncertainty

There are many effective strategies and practices for increasing the ability to manage and navigate uncertainty including mindset work, breathwork practices, shift and adapt techniques and HIIT workouts. These approaches help ensure that the fear response does not take over and keep a person in a state of perpetual stress. 

Special Forces warriors are masters at navigating and thriving during extreme, high consequence conditions of uncertainty. It is not simply their planning for every eventuality, e.g. the extensive planning for the raid on Bin Laden’s compound. It is also the mental preparation they engage in including the use of mental rehearsals and self-talk management. 

Jeff Boss, a former Navy SEAL awarded four Bronze Stars with Valor and two Purple Hearts, writes in his excellent book ‘Navigating Chaos’

“I’ve been fortunate in my life to have seen and experienced levels of performance that some people can only dream about, human achievements that bear no scientific explanation and no quantifiable evidence to explain how. And it all occurred under uncertain conditions.”

— Jeff Boss

Resistance is Futile

For those mere mortals who do not have the time, inclination or knowledge to retrain their minds and nervous systems to embrace and thrive in conditions of uncertainty, the starting point is a recognition that uncertainty is here to stay and will continue to appear throughout our lives. In other words, we must expect the unexpected. 

Resistance to uncertainty contributes to stress. This can manifest itself through an obsession with prediction and control. This does not mean one must always embrace uncertainty; albeit there are times when uncertainty can present an opportunity e.g. instability in the financial markets. 

We simply need to acknowledge that uncertainty is and always has been one of life’s certainties that we unavoidably coexist with.

“Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence.”

— Bernard Beckett

How to Decelerate After the Battle to Lower Stress and Increase Resilience

When Curveballs Land 

For many lawyers, some events require the ability to switch gears and ramp up at short notice in order to effectively deal with a situation. Whether it’s a short notice injunction, or a hearing when damaging evidence emerges unexpectedly; having to go from 30-100 mph comes with the territory.

When this happens, adrenalin and cortisol surge through your veins as you switch into fight, flight, or freeze mode. Your trusty autonomic nervous system enables you to adapt and respond by preparing you for action. You are now officially stressed.

The Upsides of Stress

This form of acute, short-term stress is not inherently bad and has several potential benefits including enhanced immunity, increased focus, alertness and resilience. When managed correctly, stress can be a powerful weapon and competitive advantage. 

Even in situations when your case is strong, at that moment when you are about to stand on your feet or engage with the other side, it’s normal (and helpful) to experience ‘the rush’. After 15 years of doing JR hearings, I always felt the adrenaline surge just before I was about to start my oral submissions.

Stress has protected us for as long as we have walked the earth, enabling us to become predator rather than prey. It even ensures we get out of bed every morning. These upsides are often forgotten or overlooked.

From Acute to Chronic

Acute stress can become destructive, however, when dust settles, and the crisis has passed. At that point, if you’ don’t rapidly switch gears, de-stress and decelerate, over time you’ll progress from acute to chronic stress and find yourself on the fast road to a town called Burnout.

This was a mistake I repeatedly made. The nature of my practice meant that many of my cases were fast moving with high stakes; but short. I would often have to burn the midnight oil for an important hearing the following morning and even if it was over by lunchtime, I would spend the rest of the day unnecessarily operating in fight mode.

To make matters worse, I would then spend the evening in a local bar talking about (and consequently reliving) the details of the case over too many glasses of wine. By 2005, after 15 years of being in full flight, I crashed, burned and came close to death.

Why You Need Real Time Stress Mastery Tools  

Stress coaching and literature typically focus on managing the stress response. The point that is rightly and repeatedly made, is that it is not the event but the perception of the event that results in the experience of stress.

Managing, mindset and self-talk are powerful tools that can and should be utilised as part of an overall long-term strategy for managing stress. I use them myself and with clients.

The on the ground reality for many lawyers, however, is that when the stress trigger event occurs, unless they have done the stress management groundwork in advance, the last thing they can think about is managing their mindset etc because they are focused on managing the situation rather than their emotions. This is why understanding the importance of post-crisis recovery is critical.

Stress + Recovery = Growth 

To mitigate the deleterious effects of stress, as soon as you have managed the situation, take yourself into a recovery mode. Instead of turning to alcohol to unwind, spend a few minutes engaging in a practice that takes you out of fight, flight or freeze mode and helps you recharge and rebuild for the next curveball

The Intersection of Technology and Zen

Neuroscience, technology, and ancient practices, provide us with an array of effective, fast acting recovery solutions that you can easily implement into your daily routine without the intervention of a third party. These include:

• 10 minutes of breathwork. Whichever technique you utilize the guiding principle is short inhale / longer exhale e.g. 4:6.

• The use of brain entrainment techniques such as Isochronic tones or Binaural beats that activate Alpha brainwaves. Just pop in your ear buds and press play.

• A heart coherence breathing practice.

• A virtual reality session.

• 15 minutes of Non-Sleep Deep Rest / Yoga Nidra.

• Wearable technology that restores balance to the nervous system, calming both body and mind. There are several effective devices that use vibration to stimulate the vagus nerve calming and conditioning the nervous system.

• A walk outside, ideally near a green space such as a park and many more. The Inns have some wonderful gardens to walk through.

Burn Bright Not Out

Practice is full of minefields and curveballs. If your intention is to stay in practice for long haul, then you will likely encounter numerous unexpected and unwelcome stressors. A modest investment of 5-15 minutes engaged in post-crisis recovery, however, will help ensure you avoid the devastating effects of long-term chronic stress, increase your resilience and enable you to burn bright not out.