Tag: health

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The Crisis of Purpose in the Legal Profession

On By sdcountybar

By Marta Manus

Purposeful engagement is directly linked to a person’s overall well-being and quality of life. At the Yale School of Management, every MBA student takes a class on purpose at work. Unfortunately, my law school didn’t offer such a class. In fact, law school was primarily focused on creating individuals who “think like lawyers.” How do lawyers think? What are lawyers taught about the legal profession in law school and how is it serving lawyers, the profession, and the world at large? Read More

Categories : WellnessTags : 2 Comments

From Before to After: How I Shed Denial About My Health and Nearly 140 Pounds

On By sdcountybar

By Ray Estolano

I always used to argue, in true defense attorney fashion, that I was a healthy fat man.

Yes, my weight had ballooned up to 360 pounds since college. But, it was an athletic 360 pounds. I still worked out like I did in college and could last for an hour on the elliptical machine, so clearly I was still in good shape. What did it matter that the buttons from my tight dress shirts occasionally went flying when I sat down?

My family was alarmed at my weight gain and would try to prod me to lose weight. My wife tried being patient, kind and understanding — suggesting a salad when I would prefer a hamburger. My big brother Carlos decided on ridicule as a better course of action. He used to say that my Tomlinson jersey of #21 should really be #42! I had a number of “serious” conversations about my weight with friends and family.

Nothing really swayed me from my irrational belief that I was a healthy fat man. I would work out occasionally, but mostly ignored my weight. I never joined an organized weight loss program. When two of my closest friends underwent weight loss surgery, it gave me pause, but I told myself I would never do something like that. It was desperation to go under the knife, right? Still, occasionally I would look at old pictures of college and wonder.

Finally, my body started to have the final word. I began to find that I was tired all the time and started to feel sleepy even while driving. People would report that I would stop breathing when I was sleeping. I’d already suspected that I had sleep apnea from what an earlier doctor told me, but I went to be tested.

In 2012, when I took my sleep study for sleep apnea, my results were so grave that I got a personal call from the physician telling me to buy a CPAP machine immediately. A CPAP machine is a mask that you wear when sleeping which is connected by piping to an airflow machine. It keeps your throat from closing while you are asleep. My wife likens it to a Darth Vader mask. But aside from wearing a mask at night, I told myself that I was still a healthy fat man. I finished a 50-mile bike ride from Rosarito to Ensenada later that year to prove it.

Then came a court hearing in Department 6 in South Bay. I was looking at the wall calendar for a date and the images were blurring. I looked down at my phone’s calendar and couldn’t read it. My blurry vision lasted all week. By the time I made it to the urgent care later that week, it turned out that my blood sugar was so high that I had to argue with the doctor to not be hospitalized.

A few months after this, I’d been able to stabilize my diabetes through pills and a strict low GI diet, but somehow I could no longer fool myself into thinking I was healthy. I finally went to see my doctor, Dr. Sharma, to ask her about “going under the knife.” I was ready.

Instead, Dr. Sharma looked at me patiently and smiled. Then she asked me if I’d participated in an organized weight loss program before. I had to admit that I never had. It seemed to never work for any of my friends, so ….

“We have this wonderful program called positive choice that has had great results with my patients,” she said. I didn’t know it at the time, but the program would change my life.

The program was administered through Kaiser and was a medically monitored weight loss program using shakes as a replacement for food. For close to six months, all I had to eat were these awful tasting shakes. A friend in the group described them as dust with artificial flavoring. Once a week, we would meet to talk about our weight loss issues in a guided discussion. Sometimes, I think the conversations were harder than sticking to the diet, but I persevered in both.

I ended up losing close to a 140 pounds through the program. It felt strange to look at the mirror and see the man that I’d been a decade earlier. I went from a size 54 long suit to a size 46 long. My feet actually shrunk from a size 12 wide to an 11.5 regular. More importantly, my health was transformed. I no longer require medicine for diabetes or a breathing device for my sleep apnea.

It hasn’t been a completely easy journey. I think I’ll always have to be careful with my weight. I could easily regain the weight without proper discipline. But, I feel a long ways from the man who had claimed to be a healthy fat man. Now, I’m just a man who strives to be healthy.

Ray Estolano (estolano@gmail.com) is a solo practitioner.

This article was originally published in the Jul/Aug 2017 issue of 

San Diego Lawyer Read More

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Stress Be Banished: How local attorneys find peace among the chaos

On By sdcountybar

By Aleida Wahn

With a hard right hook, a punishing bike ride, the playing of a treasured musical instrument or the exhilaration of the open ocean, stress is magically banished. Hardworking attorneys reveal their go-to formulas for de-stressing during taxing trial days and intense lawyering.

Meredith Levin is a certified family law specialist and knows the deep satisfaction of helping clients through the most difficult period of their lives. Emotions run high in the family court arena, and not from clients alone. Meredith has had to remind more than one opposing counsel that “we are not the ones divorcing.” When stress and frustration rule the day, Meredith turns to boxing. “Boxing is an incredible workout where you burn calories while you learn the sweet science of the sport. Feeling strong can do wonders for your confidence, inside the courtroom and in engaging with opposing counsel. Hitting a bag with my beloved gloves allows me to deal with whatever may be bothering me that day. The act of punching is cathartic, plain and simple. When I am done with my workout, I feel more relaxed and energetic and the best version of myself, so I can help my clients. I would encourage anyone to try boxing. I promise you will feel great and be able to brag about your mean right hook.”

Keith Greer is a trial attorney through and through, moving from one trial to the next, seemingly without taking a breath. Keith confronts the stress from trial head-on through a razor-sharp focus on winning, and with the unwavering strength bestowed from his wife. “I’ve learned that the key to success is being completely focused and 100 percent committed to winning, regardless of the odds against you. That means there is no time for rest or relaxation during trial. I lost 20 pounds during the recent six-week Rebecca Zahau wrongful death case. During the intensity of a trial, my wife is always an enduring anchor of support. Our connection is unbreakable, and her presence calms me in any situation. After a trial is over, I escape with her to open waters behind the wheel of my boat to clear my head and recharge.”

Peter Liss runs a criminal defense practice representing adults and juveniles. As a former Legal Aid Society attorney and Deputy Public Defender, he has hundreds of trials under his belt, including intense death penalty work. When stress hits, he turns to his bike and friendship. “Through my spin class I met a UCSD scientist and doctor, Albert La Spada, who needed a biking partner. Al designed a grueling ride with hills and switchbacks from Carmel Valley to Rancho Santa Fe. Al was recently named the founding director of Duke’s Center for Neurodegeneration & Neurotherapeutics, yet his example of true humility and focus on family have taught me lifelong lessons. I find after a weekend of riding and spinning and not thinking too much about law, I am able to focus on my work with renewed energy.”

Brian White is a certified criminal law specialist and criminal trial lawyer. To him, making music offers priceless gifts. “Lawyers spend a lot of time using the left side of their brains. As a trial lawyer, I constantly need to find creative ways of persuasion. Playing music — guitar and blues harp — is a great way for me to get out of my lawyer head and access the creative side of my brain. Trial work involves a lot of thinking, but with music, you can’t overthink your playing. The less you think and the more you feel, the easier it is to be in the moment and the better you sound. When you play with other musicians, you communicate with another language. For me playing guitar and blues harp is a perfect way to release stress and transport myself away from the logical lawyer mind.”

Liz Bumer is without stop in the courtroom on criminal and civil cases. Although her expertise may span many fields from criminal matters to civil rights, personal injury and employment cases, she is forever steadfast in her devotion to surfing. “When I am not working, I enjoy being outdoors. My favorite activity is surfing. When I’m not surfing, I paddle with an outrigger canoe club on Mission Bay or paddle a stand-up paddleboard. I especially enjoy road trips to compete in surfing contests or outrigger canoe races. These activities enrich my life and get me out of the office environment. I am grateful for the opportunity to work in the legal field and to be able to surf. I am humbled by both.”

Wendy Patrick has spent decades in the courtroom as a career prosecutor, while also balancing media commentating and international speaking. “One thing I have learned over the years from the trial lawyers I admire is the necessity of balancing stress with satisfaction. I balance my trial schedule with faith and music, definitely in that order. I spend many Friday afternoons dashing from the courtroom to the concert hall to perform with the La Jolla Symphony, and Sunday mornings I perform with my church worship band. During holidays and special events, I have the good fortune to play my electric violin with a rock band comprised of a talented group of fellow prosecutors and defense attorneys. Speaking and teaching internationally does not break my routine. Here I am on a borrowed violin performing with the Handong International Law School worship band in Pohang, South Korea, where I was honored to teach a course on combating human trafficking.”

Aleida Wahn is an attorney at law.

This article originally appeared in the 

July/August 2018 issue of San Diego Lawyer. Read More

Categories : WellnessTags : 2 Comments

Self-Care for Lawyers: The Benefits of Building One Self-Care Habit at a Time

On By sdcountybar

By Rick Waite

The big changes started about 10 years ago, when I started surfing every day at 6 a.m. instead of getting on the freeway to go to work. Soon I started journaling every day, a practice I started at Harvard my freshman year and engaged in sporadically over the years, usually during times of crisis. Next, I began meditating again. I had learned how to meditate at the Cambridge Transcendental Meditation Center my freshman year and then promptly stopped. A few days after renewing my meditation practice, I quit drinking. Cold turkey. No cravings. No 12-step program. I just stopped.

Shortly after my decision to stop drinking I had an epiphany. My life’s purpose is to help as many people as profoundly as possible. This has been my path ever since. It is why I am writing this article on self-care for lawyers. Self-care for you.

Surfing, being in the water, in nature, paddling, riding the wave, sitting quietly waiting for the next wave — all these things nurture my body and my soul. A few times, very rarely, I have had transcendent moments surfing when I was one with the wave, the ocean and everything in it.

Journaling feeds my mind and my soul. It helps me process conversations, events, thoughts and feelings. It gives me a fresh perspective. It is reflective. I have frequent “aha” moments. Writing is often inspiring and enlightening. A welcome side effect is that journaling every day inspires me to live a life worth writing about.

Meditation also feeds my mind and my soul. It has been the most transformative of my daily self-care practices. I have regular transcendent experiences meditating. I often have creative downloads from God, the Source, the Divine, the collective unconscious, my own subconscious, whatever you want to call it. The inspiration to write this article came to me in a meditation. The idea of sharing the gift of meditation with lawyers through the San Diego County Bar Association on Wellness Wednesdays came to me in a meditation. The idea to have a post-surf Saturday morning meditation circle with my surfing tribe came to me in a meditation.

It is well-known that meditation can offer quick relief from the stress and anxiety that we lawyers face every day. With a daily meditation practice, the benefits are much greater. For many people, establishing a daily meditation practice brings them to a fairly constant state of equanimity, an evenness of mind, calmness and composure that cannot be shaken by events of the day, no matter how stressful.

These are my self-care practices. For you, it might be music, swimming, dance, painting, yoga, tai chi, knitting, prayer, cycling, running or rowing. The important thing is to choose something that works for you, that nurtures your body, mind or soul, and that you do every day or almost daily.

If you do not yet have a daily self-care practice, experiment until you find the activity that you like to perform that puts you into that altered state called flow. Whatever you choose, it should be easy, rewarding and something that you can and will do every day.

When you have found that self-care practice, make it a habit. To make it habitual, follow these four simple steps that were articulated by William James, the great 19th-century father of American psychology.

  1. Start immediately. Seize the first opportunity to act on the goal or resolution.
  2. Launch yourself with zeal. In other words, give it your best.
  3. Practice the new habit daily until it is engrained in you.
  4. Never permit an exception to occur. If you do slip, don’t beat yourself up. Start again.

It takes 21 days to begin to form a new habit and 90 days to confirm it. In 120 days the new habit is who you are.

If you follow these steps with a self-care practice that you enjoy and make the practice a part of your daily routine, it will change your life for the better.

It is probably best not to try to establish more than one self-care practice at a time. Start with one. After you have firmly established that daily practice, add another if you wish. And then another. I chose a crash course in self-care and it took me about three years to firmly establish all three daily practices of journaling, surfing and meditation.

I urge you to give it a try. If something doesn’t work, try something else until you have found something that is healthy and that nurtures you every day. You will be far better for it. Good luck.

Rick Waite is an attorney with Keeney Waite & Stevens.

Join a mindful meditation workshop led by Rick Waite at the Bar Center on the second Wednesday of every month. Go to www.sdcba.org/meditation to register.

This article was originally published in the

July/August 2018 issue of Read More

Categories : WellnessTags :

From Before To After: How I Shed Denial About My Health and Nearly 140 Pounds

On By sdcountybar

By Ray Estolano

I always used to argue, in true defense attorney fashion, that I was a healthy fat man.

Yes, my weight had ballooned up to 360 pounds since college. But, it was an athletic 360 pounds. I still worked out like I did in college and could last for an hour on the elliptical machine, so clearly I was still in good shape. What did it matter that the buttons from my tight dress shirts occasionally went flying when I sat down?

My family was alarmed at my weight gain and would try to prod me to lose weight. My wife tried being patient, kind and understanding — suggesting a salad when I would prefer a hamburger. My big brother Carlos decided on ridicule as a better course of action. He used to say that my Tomlinson jersey of #21 should really be #42! I had a number of “serious” conversations about my weight with friends and family.

Nothing really swayed me from my irrational belief that I was a healthy fat man. I would work out occasionally, but mostly ignored my weight. I never joined an organized weight loss program. When two of my closest friends underwent weight loss surgery, it gave me pause, but I told myself I would never do something like that. It was desperation to go under the knife, right? Still, occasionally I would look at old pictures of college and wonder.

Finally, my body started to have the final word. I began to find that I was tired all the time and started to feel sleepy even while driving. People would report that I would stop breathing when I was sleeping. I’d already suspected that I had sleep apnea from what an earlier doctor told me, but I went to be tested.

In 2012, when I took my sleep study for sleep apnea, my results were so grave that I got a personal call from the physician telling me to buy a CPAP machine immediately. A CPAP machine is a mask that you wear when sleeping which is connected by piping to an airflow machine. It keeps your throat from closing while you are asleep. My wife likens it to a Darth Vader mask. But aside from wearing a mask at night, I told myself that I was still a healthy fat man. I finished a 50-mile bike ride from Rosarito to Ensenada later that year to prove it.

Then came a court hearing in Department 6 in South Bay. I was looking at the wall calendar for a date and the images were blurring. I looked down at my phone’s calendar and couldn’t read it. My blurry vision lasted all week. By the time I made it to the urgent care later that week, it turned out that my blood sugar was so high that I had to argue with the doctor to not be hospitalized.

A few months after this, I’d been able to stabilize my diabetes through pills and a strict low GI diet, but somehow I could no longer fool myself into thinking I was healthy. I finally went to see my doctor, Dr. Sharma, to ask her about “going under the knife.” I was ready.

Instead, Dr. Sharma looked at me patiently and smiled. Then she asked me if I’d participated in an organized weight loss program before. I had to admit that I never had. It seemed to never work for any of my friends, so ….

“We have this wonderful program called positive choice that has had great results with my patients,” she said. I didn’t know it at the time, but the program would change my life.

The program was administered through Kaiser and was a medically monitored weight loss program using shakes as a replacement for food. For close to six months, all I had to eat were these awful tasting shakes. A friend in the group described them as dust with artificial flavoring. Once a week, we would meet to talk about our weight loss issues in a guided discussion. Sometimes, I think the conversations were harder than sticking to the diet, but I persevered in both.

I ended up losing close to a 140 pounds through the program. It felt strange to look at the mirror and see the man that I’d been a decade earlier. I went from a size 54 long suit to a size 46 long. My feet actually shrunk from a size 12 wide to an 11.5 regular. More importantly, my health was transformed. I no longer require medicine for diabetes or a breathing device for my sleep apnea.

It hasn’t been a completely easy journey. I think I’ll always have to be careful with my weight. I could easily regain the weight without proper discipline. But, I feel a long ways from the man who had claimed to be a healthy fat man. Now, I’m just a man who strives to be healthy.

Ray Estolano (estolano@gmail.com) is a solo practitioner. Read More