When I teach mindfulness, I try to remind people that it is more than coping strategies. For one thing, mindfulness is not a practice or a strategy at all. Mindfulness is a faculty of mind that most human beings have. In addition, mindfulness is not merely about coping. A big part of it is, instead, being with an experience as it is.
As a lawyer who deals with stress myself and represents officials who themselves face many stressful situations, I have seen firsthand how much better coping can mean. It can mean less fighting. It can mean less fear and angst. It also mean more creativity, better communication, and better results.
To that end, I created the Coping Strategies for Difficult Times Ebook. It is an approximately twenty-page guide with practices offered to help you cope in difficult situations. It is divided into 5 chapters:
I offer this book as a simple resource that may offer some support in difficult times. This is not to say that one can or should be expected to cope with all life situations on one’s own. In case you are like me and struggle to ask for help, let this serve as a reminder. Social support is the very best coping strategy available. If you need or might benefit from the support of loved one or trained medical professionals, please give that gift to yourself.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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We just finished Well-Being Week in Law. One of the biggest struggles for many lawyers when it comes to well-being is stress. Even though our jobs are very stressful, many lawyers never learn good strategies for stress management.
To be sure, I believe in a holistic approach to stress management. As I have written before, change is needed in workplaces, our culture, and in the legal profession when it comes to mental health. Firms and companies should consider the overall impact of their policies and practices on employee mental health. In addition, lawyers in a position of power to reduce or avoid stress for ourselves or others should certainly do so.
Why Individual Stress Management Can Help
The thing is, though, that not matter how good our workplace policies or personal practices, stress always happens. It is a function of life. For lawyers, too, the challenging circumstances in which we often work play a big part. As a result, it is a good idea for lawyers and others in stressful jobs to understand stress and learn good stress management skills.
In part, this is because the way we respond to stress can have a huge impact in how it affects us. When we respond with awareness and self-kindness, we can learn approaches that work better for us and help us treat others better in the midst of stress.
Stress Management Is Not Doing It All on Your Own
That is one reason I speak and teach about stress management for lawyers and other professionals. Of course, as an introvert, I know that group discussion is not the only way to gain insights. Sometimes personal reflection may help us learn about ourselves too.
For those who want to consider stress management for themselves, I developed the Stress Management Workbook. It will help you bring awareness to practices and habits around stress and consider other ways of responding to it. Of course, social supports and help (including from trained professionals) is a huge element of stress management. Do not take this resource as a sign to manage stress all on your own. Instead, use it as a tool for fostering better connection with yourself and others.
Where Can I Get the Workbook?
To get the workbook, follow the link here, enter your email address, and download. That’s it.
While you’re at it, you can check out our other downloads for:
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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If you are interested in this topic, you start Googling or searching on Amazon for resources to explore self-compassion further. Doing this is likely to direct you to two prominent names in the field of self-compassion cultivation: Kristin Neff and Chris Germer.
Which one is best? As a lawyer, I can’t resist saying “it depends” but I can also offer some analysis here to help you decide.
How they Are Different
As I discuss below, both books have a lot in common. I don’t truly think you can go wrong reading either and there are benefits of reading both. Even so, they do have a few critical differences.
Perspective of a Clinician v. a Researcher
The most obvious difference between the two books is the perspective from which they were written. Germer is a clinician while Neff is a researcher. As such, Germer focuses far more on the practices to cultivate self-compassion, while Neff focused on the research. Likewise, Germer relies on more examples from working with patients. Neff offers more examples from studies she has conducted of reviewed.
Male v. Female
Another important difference is that Germer is male and Neff is female. This does not always matter for every book, but when it comes to self-compassion men and women may for cultural reason face different challenges. As a male, Germer speaks more to his experience as a husband and father. On the other hand, Neff shares about the challenges of being a woman professional and her experience with motherhood.
Voice
Although both books cover substantially similar material, the voice of the two authors may be the biggest area of difference. Germer’s voice is down-to-earth, practical, direct, and analytical. This isn’t to say it is hard-charging by any means, and certainly not compared to the content most lawyers read. But, as a left brained person myself, I prefer this style and many lawyers or professionals may feel more at ease with it.
In contrast, Neff’s style is soft, warm, and intimate. She shares her personal experiences more often than Germer does and offers less explanations of the practices. Even her arguments regarding the meaning of the various studies on self-compassion don’t feel like arguments. This is most likely an intentional choice to help readers who struggle with self-compassion open their minds to it.
How Are They Similar
Despite all of these differences, Neff and Germer’s books are very similar. They have worked together and both addressed different aspects of self-compassion. This is one reason why you can’t go wrong with either book. They both offer:
In truth, I like both of the books and think any reader could benefit from either. I have a slight personal affinity for Germer’s book, since it appeals to my direct, practical and analytical personality. However, as a working mom and special education attorney, I certainly appreciated Neff’s decision to share her story, including caring for son after his diagnosis with an autism spectrum disorder.
In case you need a clear conclusion, though, I will say that Neff’s work may be ideal if you really need convincing that self-compassion is worth it. This is a reality for many lawyers and there’s nobody better to convince you on the power of self-compassion than someone who has researched it for years.
On the other hand, if you need more tools to internalize self-compassion and implement it in your life, Germer’s book is the way to go. Germer’s down-to-earth writing style and lived experienced a clinician may be a great tool to help you build self-compassion in your own life and work.
The links to the books mentioned in this review are affiliate links. The review is unsponsored and sincere but the links to Amazon are paid.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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How many times have you lamented in stress or frustration that life doesn’t come with an instructional manual? It’s a statement that all of us from time to time have exclaimed when we don’t really understand what’s going on and we are just doing our best to get through it. Emotions are often like this. They come along every so often and we have no choice but to ride the wave.
Now, some of you may be skeptical about the need for a book that explains our emotions. You may think “I know when I am happy, or sad, or mad.” And I bet you do. Those emotions are pretty easy to recognize and differentiate. But are you clear about emotions like jealousy or shame or anxiety or loneliness? Can you tell the difference between sympathy, empathy, compassion and pity?
When I ask this question, I’m not requesting a dictionary definition alone. What I really mean is: can you recognize the signs of these emotions in yourself and in others? Can you also understand them well enough to know their causes, cures, and significance?
That’s what Atlas of the Heart offers. It categorizes the range of human experience and uses geographical terminology to help us understand them. Rather than defining emotions as a range of symptoms, the book is structured into chapters for clusters of emotions grouped by experience. Each experience is described as the “places we go” when things are uncertain, we’re hurting, or we search for connection.
Because the chapters cluster emotions in this way, it instructs the reader on the many flavors or shades of emotional experience. For example, it helps you understand the difference between envy and jealousy, or shame and guilt, boredom and frustration, and joy and gratitude.
Moreover, the book avoids a clinical perspective on these emotions. As a social scientist, Brown has usually focused on articulating lived experience. Thus, her book isn’t broken down into “good or bad” or “healthy or unhealthy” emotions. Instead, it covers the full range to help us understand and identify emotions at any stage in our lives.
Why does it matter if we can identify our emotions? I mean, haven’t I told you that emotions are in the body? Doesn’t this mean that they just need to be felt? In the direct experience, this is often true when we can tolerate them. As Brown explains in the book’s Introduction, though, “the ability to name this emotion or experience is essential to being able to process it in a productive and healing manner.”
If you want this kind of understanding, Atlas of the Heart is worth a read. If you’d rather watch, there is one season of a TV show by the same name but as of yet the show only covers about a third of the chapters from the book. Though I am usually an audiobook listener, I got the hardback as a birthday gift and love having the print copy available as a reference tool.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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It’s Black History Month, so you are bound to see articles or social media posts about Harriet Tubman. Most of us learn in elementary school that she was the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad. I was an adult, however, before I learned the full extent of her heroism.
Not only had she endured the physical hardships of slavery, including a devastating head injury early in life, the loss of her family while in bondage, and escaped to find her freedom. That would be heroic enough in itself. Harriet Tubman, though, went back to the south more than a dozen times. At first she went to locate and free her relatives. Then she returned to assist others. And during the Civil War, she returned again to assist the Union, both as a spy and a leader of military operations.
When I learned the full scope of Tubman’s story, the emotion I recall feeling was nothing short of awe. To say her story was courageous is an understatement. Awe is a better word to describe my reaction because I could not understand the level of courage she displayed.
I could understand Tubman’s escape. As a mother, I could understand Tubman’s impulse to free her loved ones. Tubman’s willingness to continue to put herself at risk for others, so many others, was what was hard for me to understand.
Washam is not just a meditation teacher; she’s a spiritual teacher. In addition to Buddhist meditation practices, Washam also has studied shamanic traditions. Thus, in Spirit, Washam does not merely tell Tubman’s story. She channels it. This is to say, Washam tells the story as if she is channeling the spirit of Harriet Tubman.
I have written before that I tend to be pretty practical and down-to-earth. I struggled early on with meditation because I was always skeptical and on guard against anything woo-woo. When I first began reading Spirit, I struggled mightily with the idea that Washam was claiming to “channel” a great figure from American history.
After a while, though, I let go of my concerns about whether this was a literal truth. How many classic poems have I read in which the author claims that the words were guided by the muse? How many times have I, as a writer, felt like I didn’t fully control the writing process? Even if I wasn’t sure Washam truly channeled Tubman’s voice in a supernatural sense, I saw enough truth in what she meant to keep reading.
As I did, I felt my resistance fade because I was so immersed in the story. The experience of a firsthand account is just different, even if it is aided by a literary device like the one Washam employed. Despite my early skepticism, reading the book felt a bit like it was being told by Tubman herself. I could feel, to the extent any reader could, what Tubman had felt and understood what she might have thought. By the end of the book, Tubman’s courage made a lot more sense to me.
In such situations, our brains and bodies may be screaming for us not to proceed. The reason that humans can go forward in such situations, therefore, is likely not going to be a purely logical one. Instead, it is far more likely to be one motivated by the heart. In this way, Washam’s decision to channel Tubman’s story may be the only way us humans could understand it for what it really means.
What I also liked from Washam’s telling, though, was that she incorporated some of her own story and the story of modern life into the book. This helped me as a reader be more than temporarily inspired by Tubman’s story. Instead, it helped me consider the ways in which I could be braver, more expansive, and look for opportunities to help others in my own life and community.
Those reading for Black History Month may be reading to learn more about history, to be better citizens, or to broaden their perspectives. Even if you already know Tubman’s story, Washam’s book will do all of these things. It will also challenge you because it calls you to do more than be inspired by Tubman’s story.
Instead, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman asks you to live a piece of American history from the perspective of one of its greatest heroes. If you give the book a chance, it might change your understanding of courage and expand your capacity to demonstrate it in your own life.
If you want to cultivate courage in your meditation practice, check out our Courage Guided Meditation. In this practice, you can can sit in the presence of loved ones and others working to achieve a common goal, which may include historical figures. You can access the practice on Insight Timer or on YouTube here:
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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A lot of people on the internet are talking about mental health these days. Like most things on the internet, not all of this talk is productive. Content on the internet is usually going for clicks, shares, and likes. As a result, it is targeted at producing visceral emotional reactions instead of deep introspection. Outrage at “society” or an unspecified “they” is so much more satisfying to experience than thoughtful self-reflection.
This blog, I’m sorry to say, is about promoting mindfulness. Therefore, I apologize in advance for refusing to follow the paradigm of pointing the finger elsewhere when it comes to mental health.
Now, maybe you are thinking, “I’m not trained to deal with mental health issues. How on earth can I help?” That’s exactly what this post is suggesting. Getting trained is one thing you can do to help. If your next question is “but what training, though?” all you have to do is keep reading.
1. QPR Gatekeeper Training
Did you know that the risk of suicide is higher for those in the legal profession than other professions? This may mean that the people reading this blog are more likely to encounter those at risk for suicidal ideations. Despite this and the fact that lawyers deal with people in crisis frequently, most of us never got training for how to respond to someone at risk for suicide.
QPR Gatekeeper Training does just that. In a 60-minute webinar, you can learn to identify the risk factors for suicide, how to detect if someone is expressing a risk to you, and strategies for how to respond.
Though many of us may feel that these situations are unlikely to happen, many of us may know people who have attempted or died by suicide. While this is an intense topic, I can speak from first hand experience that it is reassuring to at least know the right steps to take and things to say if someone close to you is in need of support.
2. Mental Health First Aid
If you are in a position to make a bigger investment of time and money, another worthwhile program is Mental Health First Aid Training. This program includes a few hours of self-paced work, a day-long seminar, available live or online, and a written examination.
Mental Health First Aid truly is about learning to handle and offer first line support to individuals who may be dealing with a variety of mental health conditions. The purpose of this training is to help lay individuals support and stabilize individuals so that they can locate and seek support from trained professionals.
With the training, you will learn how to approach, listen, and respond to individuals who may have a variety of mental health challenges. You will learn how to assess the varying levels of risk and respond appropriately to promote the safety and well-being of everyone involved.
The Mental Health First Aid website has a searchable directory with teachers who offer the course live and online at various rates and locations. If you have a day to offer, the program is well worth your time.
3. SHRM Mental Health Ally Certificate
Since I practice in, among other things, employment law, I got SHRM (“Society for Human Resources Management”) certified last year and am active with my local SHRM chapter. This means that I am now responsible for completing my annual CLE requirements as well as professional development credits (“PDCs”) for SHRM.
The good news is that SHRM’s Workplace Mental Health Ally Certificate program earns PDCs and is otherwise an excellent use of time. SHRM’s Mental Health Ally program is similar in scope to Mental Health First Aid, but it is applied directly to workplace situations.
Unlike Mental Health First Aid, however, the Mental Health Ally Certificate program is entirely self-paced. It is a series of seven interactive online programs that address mental health conditions which may arise in the workplace as well as strategies for appropriate responses. One thing I especially liked about the program was that the final program included instruction in motivational interviewing, a research-backed intervention aimed at facilitating others to make health choices.
Conclusion
If you are too busy to consider any of these options, don’t take this blog post as a homework assignment. As a lawyer, I know that many of us are too busy to seek additional training just to get a gold star for citizenship. As someone who has both given and received support in the midst of a mental health crisis, I can say for sure that the time and money is worthwhile because it literally could save a life.
Along the same lines, if you are in a position of leadership in your bar association, company, or other organization, you could consider offering or providing these program to your members or employees. Years ago, my state bar association made QPR Gatekeeper training available for free and for CLE credit and it was well-attended and well-received.
Our culture and workplaces are in need of a shift to become more supportive of individuals facing mental health challenges. Part of that shift, though, can and must include greater awareness and understanding of individual actors. Getting trained is one simple thing you can do to promote mental health in your workplace, family, and community.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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I was in college in the early 2000’s. Outkast was such a big deal at that time that it was almost impossible to walk into any campus community space without seeing their videos on TV. I’m not a visual person but the image of the iconic video from “Hey Ya!” playing on the TV in the student gym is burned in my mind.
Outkast was a rap group, but that video and song made it abundantly clear that the group’s constituents, Big Boi and Andre 3000, weren’t overly concerned with genre. Given this, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by Andre 3000’s latest album but I admit that I absolutely have been.
If we had to put Outkast and Andre 3000 in a genre category, the best categorization would probably be rap, right? Well, what kind of album did Andre just release? A new age flute album entitled New Blue Sun.
This is not a joke, but when I first read about this I swear that I grinned from ear to ear. I wasn’t laughing at Andre. Far from it, I was elated for him. It appears that he became somewhat obsessed with the flute, started doing pop up concerts, and let himself play enough to generate an entire album.
I am here to say that New Blue Sun is one of those great things that comes from having fun. Unlike some of Andre’s prior work with Outkast, I would say it fits squarely within the new age genre. It’s all instrumental and the vibes are similar to what you’d get from artists like Enigma, Enya, or Deuter.
But what I like best is that you can hear Andre playing with sound. Flute is present on most tracks, but it is used in so many ways you may not always realize it is the sound from a flute. You can also hear other sounds blended in throughout, such as shells rattling.
Though the tracks have a feeling of being random, Andre’s skill with sound is apparent. The tracks come together in the end to create a cohesive whole and convey an emotion. The changing quality of the tracks, however, is what I like best.
Because so many varieties of sound, rhythm, tone, and mood are used in each track, the album is perfect for meditation. The music in general is calm and introspective, but the shifts and changes help keep your attention.
Does New Blue Sun signify that Andre 3000 may defy expectations entirely by venturing beyond the bounds of music into the world of spiritual teaching? I don’t know. Rumors are that a new Outkast album may happen first and I personally can’t wait to see what might come from that.
As I start my new year in a new law firm, I for one am thrilled to have Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun as an example of the beauty can emerge when you learn to just play with life.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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It’s that time of year when you may be getting winter coats and clothes out of the closet. If you are lucky, you may find a dollar or too in a pocket of one of your coats. Recently, I had the writing equivalent of that experience.
I was perusing the blog’s pages to check on links from guest posts I had written to see if they were still current. I saw that my old posts for Ms. JD were no longer available on their blog because they revamped their website. As a teacher of mindfulness, it was an opportunity to reflect on impermanence. Apparently even aspects of the internet are temporary.
I was sad for a minute and thought “wow, has it really been 5 years since I wrote those posts?” Indeed, it has and it’s closer to six for the early ones. But then I remembered something awesome.
In 2020, when I first started experimenting with Canva and just before I decided to launch this blog, I had created an e-book with my Ms. JD posts. I had originally intended it for another group, MothersEsquire, with which I had been involved and wrote for previously. Then I got invited to write a chapter for the #Networked book, started my meditation teacher training, and launched the blog.
In short, I forgot entirely about the e-book and just let it sit. That’s how writing projects sometimes go. You set them aside for a while as you focus on something else. It’s been a great three years and, with the publication of 2 other books and the continued growth of the blog.
Though all of these wonderful things may have provided an excuse to forget about the e-book, they also presented a wonderful opportunity to celebrate. I started writing for Ms. JD almost 6 years ago and had no plans, no goal, and no confidence that my writing would go anywhere.
Many lawyers and other professionals ask me about writing frequently. They express that they want to write more but are afraid to get started. I’m sharing the e-book for any people who might want to see how a single blog post a month can add to something bigger.
In addition, the e-book has some good things in it. It is aimed at young women lawyers because that is Ms. JD’s mission and the focus of their blog. However, it may have some ideas, practice tips, and humor for any lawyer or working professional. It addresses topics like:
the best career advice I ever received;
work-life balance and dispelling the “how do you do it all” myth;
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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As I discussed last week, it’s easy to get caught into the trap of identity about the kinds of people we are. When I teach mindfulness, therefore, sometimes I find myself subtly hinting at the idea that identity is not nearly as stable as we’d all like to think. But I usually try to avoid launching into a direct attack on identity because that can be pretty scary.
But here are the facts. The last two election cycles in the United States have been brutal. The next election coming in 2024 doesn’t look like it is going to be any easier. As someone with personal experience letting politics drive me crazy, I don’t judge anyone who feels this way.
Having been tossed about by polarized politics in America for years now, I started to wonder whether there is a better way. I don’t claim that this post offers the better way. That is, I don’t know that there is one way to do things better. In truth, I think there may be many better ways.
How to get ready for election year
What has been the better way for me? Well, it has been trying to learn how to judge a little bit less when it comes to politics. When I say this, I don’t mean to disengage. I still vote- even in primaries and especially in local races. I still donate. I pay attention to the issues and I call my representatives. However, the internal reactions- to elected officials, my neighbors, and the situation – I have had to learn to relax to save my own sanity.
Obviously, sticking with my meditation practice has been an essential component to this solution. Calming down and becoming aware of thoughts is a fundamental step to being mindful of judgments. But I noticed that I had been engaging in another form of mind training over the last year or so. I looked at my reading list and I saw a pattern of books that I had read (or read again) to help me watch my judgments this election year.
Here are the 5 books that have helped me understand things a bit better so I could judge a bit less and have more peace in the coming election year.
1. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown
I‘ve talked about loneliness a few times on this blog. Has it ever occurred to you that political polarization is happening at a time when loneliness is being recognized as a public health crisis? Sure, there are other factors at work here too, but Brown makes an interesting point in Braving the Wilderness (paid link).
She helps us see that what we want as humans – belonging and connection – is the exact opposite of what we find when we polarize and segregate ourselves. The point here is not to judge anyone for wanting a safe space with like-minded individuals, but instead to help us reevaluate how we can make spaces truly safe for all. If you need some courage or help eliminating shame and dehumanizing speech from your vocabulary (and trust me most of us do) check this book out.
2. Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
So, you may be thinking, “fine I agree that we all want connection, but how can I possibly relate to people with whom I can’t even talk?” I’m not telling you to rush into protracted debates with people on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Nonviolent Communication, though, may help you learn some skills so you can understand people better (paid link).
This book is about owning and respecting our human needs and interests and doing the same for others. This sounds simple but it’s something you will probably hardly ever hear in ordinary communication at work and at home. Some of the references in this book are a bit dated, but the practices remain valuable and practical today.
3. Against Empathy by Paul Bloom
This one may sound surprising in this context. Nonviolent Communication, which I just recommended, strongly encourages empathy as a tool for communication. And, in fact, it can be. As Bloom points out in Against Empathy, though, it can also become a block to it. This book really isn’t against empathy in all cases. Rather, Bloom argues instead that empathy can create problems for us in moral decision-making.
Why? Well, in part because empathy “spotlights” certain individuals. Depending on our morality, we may disagree on who deserves the spotlight. Bloom argues instead for a “rational compassion” to guide our moral and policy decisions. As a teacher of compassion, I’m certainly inclined to agree. This book can help you see how emotions may come up in morality and politics in ways you may not have noticed before. That awareness may help you understand better how others process things so you can judge less and understand more.
4. Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I have to admit that I recommend it with some hesitancy. This book didn’t make me feel better exactly, but it definitely helped me judge others different from me less. In Why We’re Polarized, the Vox founder did what he does best: he explains polarization (paid link). In particular, he explains why American politics as a system tends toward polarization and how that system polarizes all of us individuals in turn.
It examines the government structure, the parties as organizations, American history, and even the media to explain how polarization has evolved. Did this book change my political beliefs? No, not at all. Did it help me understand the factors that shaped my beliefs better? Absolutely. And it helped me consider how my fellow citizens are subject to the very same forces.
5. Love Your Enemies by Sharon Salzberg & Robert Thurman
Even if you learn to talk nicer and you understand more, the reality remains that people can still piss you off. That’s why the final book, Love Your Enemies, is about how to not get so pissed off all the time (paid link). Authors, Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman, say it is about loving enemies, but make no mistake it is really mostly about loving yourself.
Quite appropriately, the book starts off by talking about “external enemies” – the other people in our families, workplaces, and communities who drive us nuts. But you will be surprised to see how much of this is devoted to getting clear on your own pain and frustration and learning to care for it. Like I’ve discussed before when talking about compassion, this book is not about being a doormat. Instead, it’s about being brave enough to be kind in a world that sometimes isn’t.
These are the books that have helped me prepare to judge less, stay kind, without checking out too much during the next election year. As I said before, this isn’t an exhaustive list. What books would you add to this list? What other resources or practices are helping you stay steady these days?
The links to the books mentioned in this post are affiliate links. The reviews are unsponsored and sincere but the link to Amazon is paid.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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If I were to tell you that an Instagram influencer under 40 is a source of healing and wisdom for millions of people, you’d probably be skeptical. Instagram is the source of social comparison and makeup how-to videos. It’s not where people interested in meditation (like I am and you are) traditionally go to find wisdom.
Maybe some of that is true, but a big exception to this rule is Yung Pueblo (Diego Perez). Perez is a former community organizer and now famed writer who has published 3 books (with a fourth on the way) and has a following on Instagram exceeding two million.
Who Is Yung Pueblo?
He healed himself through meditation after struggling with emotional turmoil, conflict, and addiction. Then he started sharing the insights he gleaned from the practice in short poem-like verses on Instagram.
At the time, this was almost unheard of on Instagram. That platform is filled with glossy and well-manicured photos of celebrities and curated video content meant to sell. Against this backdrop, though, you can almost see how someone bold enough to share only a white background and simple text might stand out.
And stand out they did. Yung Pueblo – writing for “young people” – got the attention of millions of followers and ultimately secured a book deal. How did he garner this attention? With insights. Pure and simple.
What Yung Pueblo Can Teach You about Meditation
Insights? Maybe you’re reading this and you feel like it’s a let down but I assure you it’s not. I haven’t written much about insights on this blog because they are hard to describe. You can’t really meditate to get a particular insight. Instead, if you do vipassana (“insight”) meditation, you often just sit with very little structure and await the arrival of wisdom.
Or how about this understated little gem that is so easy to forget:
I am
at my
strongest
when
I am calm
Now that you’ve prepared a bit, try this one on for size:
self-love is doing the work
we need to be free
Boom.
Yung Pueblo Offers Fresh Simplicity
Again, these are hopefully obvious to most of us. But imagine you saw this on Instagram after scrolling for minutes to avoid thinking about some stressful situation at work. Then think how you would respond. In my imagination, I’d double tap and probably comment with something like a “100” emoji followed by a few flames.
Now imagine that you follow and have more of these statements showing up in your feed on a regular basis. Who couldn’t use reminders like these? Of course, we all can. Though meditation is a great way to see insights in our own lives, it never hurts to have some support from other wise people.
Meditation and Mindfulness Simplified
More recently, though, Yung Pueblo has shown he can offer even more than the modern-day equivalent of The Tao Te Ching. In Lighter, Yung Pueblo offers a work in full prose that is part memoir and part self-help. He shares his story as a first generation American after his parents emigrated from Ecuador. He details his struggle with addiction and how meditation helped him heal. And he even offers insights about how mindfulness can help us achieve positive social change and healing across the world.
This book was stylistically different than the others but it offered many of the same insights you’ll see in Yung Pueblo’s other works. In general, Yung Pueblo’s work doesn’t focus on meditation practice, but it gives you a clear idea about why you might want to meditate. He’s not a meditation teacher per se and doesn’t describe himself that way, but I wouldn’t call it a stretch to call him a teacher of insights.
Books from Yung Pueblo
This is not to say that I think you could read Yung Pueblo as a substitute for meditation practice. But his gentle reminders to let go of what you don’t need and pursue what really matters can sure help. Whether you meditate or not, Yung Pueblo offers a wisdom that is well beyond his years. For insights, healing, and calm clarity, find him on Instagram or check out his books:
Founder’s Note: I share these books because I sincerely enjoyed them. The links to the books are paid affiliate links through the Amazon Associates program.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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