The Wake Up Call for Lawyers

Hosted by Judi Cohen

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Episodes

265

Latest episode

Sep 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Mindfulness for the Legal Mind: a 10-minute talk plus 10 minutes of guided meditation. A brief refuge. The musings of a long-time lawyer, law professor, and mindfulness geek on lawyering from a mindful perspective. Tools to cultivate more joy, ease, and wellbeing in this crazy profession. Ideas to become even better at what you do, and save the world. A few minutes of peace every week, which you definitely deserve.

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60 recent

October 2, 2026Episode 55019 min

Solving for Anger

Mindfulness never pulls any punches. There’s no leeway when it comes to anger. It’s not that there’s a prohibition against the feeling. That wouldn’t be realistic, or even healthy. But there is, against speaking angry words and acting out of anger. Instead, mindfulness invites us to solve for anger – “conquer” is the world in the teachings. If we can’t quite yet, then the instruction is to acknowledge and deal decisively with anger by shifting the mind: firmly and lovingly saying “no” to anger, and proactively saying “yes” to kindness, generosity, and truth. It’s a tall order. The ancient teachings acknowledge this and also say, we wouldn’t be invited to do this if it weren’t something we’re entirely capable of doing.

September 25, 2026Episode 54920 min

The Courage to Untangle

Hi, it’s nice to be back. We had an amazing final retreat for our 2026 Mindfulness in Law Teacher Training. What a cohort! Already there are two new Mindful Lawyering courses in U.S. law schools, presentations happening in BigLaw, public interest, immigration, and elsewhere, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We couldn’t be prouder of our sixteen courageous new teachers. Meanwhile today’s chapter of the Dhammapada, the great mindfulness poem we’ve been unpacking on the Wake Up Call, is all about the courage to untangle: about how easy it is to get tangled in longing, infatuation, and craving. How grief and fear come up when that happens. And how having the courage to untangle and let go, creates peace. Does it work that way in your life? It sure does in mine. With peace…

September 11, 2026Episode 54820 min

Avoiding Misfortune

It’s one thing to be passionate about something that might make for a better world. It’s another thing to be passionate about power or wealth or influence. Probably we all have both kinds of passion. I know I do. But if I pay attention, I can feel the difference. In the mindfulness teachings, it’s considered unfortunate to nurture passion for anything that could cause harm. There’s no judgment because, like I said, probably we all do because…we’re human. The key is knowing the difference. When I feel fiery and also remember to check in, and I realize what kind of fire I’m feeling, I have a choice. Move forward, when it’s a passion that might heal the world. Let go, when it’s not. A simple way to avoid misfortune. Not always easy, but simple. L’shana tova to those celebrating, and wishing everyone a sweet year.

September 4, 2026Episode 54720 min

Happiness in the Midst of Hate

What is happiness when there’s so much hate and misery? Hate as in hate, but also hate as in anger, irritation, disparagement, aversion? And misery as in desperation? And what if these states are contagious? If my response to external hate is to volley right back, aren’t I just perpetuating sorrow? If my response to my own tight heart is to hate myself (or even to quietly chastise, or despair), same question. But then what’s the “happiness” shift? It has to be to care about those in misery, and to love those who hate. Including ourselves. The more misery and hate I see, the more I think Dr. King and Mother Teresa and Gandhi and Siddhartha were right: hate never ceases by hate, but by love alone is healed – and they must have meant love, full stop, not just for the good guys.

August 28, 2026Episode 54619 min

What Else Can We Do But Sit Down?

What else can we do but sit down, if we’re trying to cultivate a settled body and mind? What else can we do but sit down and meditate, quietly, each day, noticing our wild mind and our broken heart? I wish there was a book or a podcast or even a teacher, to show me another way. Maybe an easier way or at least a quicker one. For sure the good books and podcasts and teachers are wonderful, essential. But they’re still just pointing the way. No one can actually walk the path but me. And you. After years and eons of wishful thinking, in the waning hours of my current trip around the sun, that’s where I’m landing: that there just isn’t anything else can we do, but sit down.

August 21, 2026Episode 54520 min

Is Mindfulness for Everyone?

I have a sense of good fortune to know a little about mindfulness. I feel like if everyone knew a little, the world would be a better place. So maybe “Is Mindfulness for Everyone?” is a sneaky question because to me, the obvious answer is yes. But does everyone agree? No. For sure there are people who feel that paying attention, cultivating kindness, patience, compassion, and generosity, loving everyone, is either not possible or not appropriate. Or maybe not even useful. Are they missing something? To me it feels like, yes, but to them? Again, no. The thing is, mindfulness includes seeing everyone in the same light. Seeing everyone as having at least the potential for love, for compassion, for realizing, someday, that we’re all in this together. Everyone, full stop. So I guess yeah, mindfulness is for everyone.

August 14, 2026Episode 54420 min

Discovering Our Work

The great news about mindfulness is that we’re all working on different things. It’s like the law, or any occupation. It keeps things interesting. With mindfulness, what this means for me is that at times I’m working on stabilizing my attention. At other times, I’m working on patience or compassion or generosity. There’s always something. The important thing is to not get caught up in the misunderstanding that I’m “done” training my mind, training my heart. After all these years, that’s the one thing I know for sure: I’ll never be done. I’ll always be discovering what my work is, right now. Also: eclipse, fire, tornados, floods, war, elections. I hope you’re safe. And I hope that, if you’re seeing, or part of, something amazing, awe is at least some of what you’re discovering.

August 7, 2026Episode 54319 min

The ABC Rule – Always be Changing

Sometimes I think, geez, I’ve done enough work. I don’t need to make any more changes. Been there, done that. And then I bump up against heartache or soreness in my body or anger or a pain in the tutu, as we say in our house. And my reflexive “no!” is right there, and I’m paddling away from the present moment as fast as I can. But then at some point, if I’m lucky, I remember: stop paddling! “No” isn’t a response to what is. It’s a response to the world – that and taking action – but to what’s happening right here, right now, “right now it’s like this” is the better response. Peace is the better response. Which takes practice. So. Much. Practice. Which means I have so much left to change. Which reminds me of Mary Oliver – and I’m editorializing The Summer Day, a beloved classic, so forgive me – when she says, “Tell me, what [else] is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

July 30, 2026Episode 54220 min

The Consequences of…Everything

There are times when I say something harsh or in anger. This feels hard to face and even harder to write, but it’s true – and maybe for you, too. For me there’s relief in facing and naming it. The consequences are also hard to face: the harm I’ve caused, and its boomerang effect. I don’t mean in some cosmic way, but right in that moment: the impatience that results in impatience, the scorn that flashes right back to me. Do you know what I mean? So I’m learning the consequences of anger and harsh words. And not only that those consequences are big, and wide, and something we see in the world, but also something we want to avoid moment by moment. Which we can, by practicing kindness instead. Which might feel like a tall order right now, but not so tall that we can’t see over to the other side, where there’s the possibility of peace.

July 24, 2026Episode 54119 min

Right Now It’s Like This

There’s such a temptation to treat mindfulness practice as something that’s getting me somewhere. But whenever I do that, I fall short. Sure, after all these years, I’m a little less reactive and a little happier. My set point has moved, a bit. But the distance I’ve come in 30+ years is hilariously short compared to the distance to go. Which is why it’s more peaceful, and useful, to remember that we’re not trying to get anywhere with our practice, and that it’s all about seeing that right now it’s like this. Right now I’m furious. Right now I’m exhausted. Right now I’m in love. Right now I’m back in the fight. It’s a shift into peace, so we can win the battles and ultimately, the war.