The Wake Up Call for Lawyers

Hosted by Judi Cohen

Business Health Fitness Education

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Episodes

259

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

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

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.

July 16, 2026Episode 54020 min

The Mischievous Mind

I feel like most of us are trying to be good people: kind, caring, well-disposed towards others. So why doesn’t it turn out that way? Why don’t we have the power to simply be like that all the time? The problem may be with our mischievous minds. I don’t know about yours, but my mind is easily seduced by gossip, criticism, complaint, and a whole bunch of other nonsense. Is this just negativity bias? If so, is there positivity bias? If so, how do we cultivate that? This is what I’m trying to do: notice the mischievous thoughts. Drop them like a hot coal so they don’t combust. Remember we’re all in this together and that our one job is to take care of one another. Try it and see what happens. See if your mind lets go of its negativity bias if you have one, and begins to create a positivity bias. You might have more power than you think.

July 10, 2026Episode 53920 min

The Thousands of Ways We Fool Ourselves

I’m great at philosophizing and offering advice about how to be kinder, more compassionate, even wiser. But who am I fooling? My philosophy is theoretical, and honestly, on those topics, what’s anyone’s advice worth? Not much, because no one really wants to follow anyone else’s advice. But we all want to follow examples, especially the examples of people who know what to say, and do, and how, when someone is hurting, or scared, or hungry. Or at least I do. In the end I feel like it’s not complicated. There are plenty of people to learn from, once I stop fooling myself. And it’s simple to follow their example because usually it’s just one kind word or one loving action. Which is worth all the foolery in the world.

July 3, 2026Episode 53820 min

Bringing Faith to Our 250th Birthday Party

Faith is an old-fashioned word. Maybe its most well-known meaning is religious. But true faith predates religion. Ancient humans had faith in the earth, the animals, the stars. I don’t know much about that kind of faith, but I do know one thing: that I have faith in my own heart and mind, and in yours. I have faith in our ability to love, and to care, and to see, moment by moment, that we’re all just here for a moment, and that we’re all in this together – whatever is happening, and there’s a lot. And I guess I know one more thing: the power of that kind of faith to inspire – quietly, stealthily – and to move friends and family onto more stable, peaceful, ground. So this Saturday, this Fourth of July – and I’d say especially this one – here’s an invitation: bring your love. Bring your wisdom. Bring your barbeque, too, but bring your love and wisdom. Inspire your community, just by your presence. Happy Fourth!

June 26, 2026Episode 53720 min

Freedom Means Being Honest With Ourselves

It’s astonishingly easy for me to lie. “I didn’t say that, I didn’t mean that, you misunderstood.” “I’m sorry you feel that way,” instead of, “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you.” I admire people who are honest about their impact and can say, through embarrassment and even shame, “It’s my fault. I see how that hurt you. I’m sorry. How can I make things right?” I admire myself when I’m honest like that, too. Even more than admiration, though, when I’m honest, apologize, and repair, there’s freedom. The heart opens and the mind quiets. Change becomes more possible, personally, interpersonally, and on bigger levels as well: systemically, even politically. It’s our national birthday next week. What if we commit to moving forward into the next quarter millennium with honesty, courage, and a commitment to healing and repair?

June 12, 2026Episode 53620 min

We Are All Such Beloved Fools

The fool can beloved or not. Beloved fools are open-hearted and cultivate “don’t know” mind. Not-so-beloved fools think they know something, or know better, or are better. What I can see, so far, is that takes courage and fortitude to watch closely enough, over a long enough period of time (maybe a lifetime?), to see when foolishness is taking a beloved form, and when not. And to be humble when “not.” Which in my own investigation is *not* as infrequently as I’d like. Have you done this yet? If not, that’s today’s invitation. Take a look, now and for as long as you can. Playfully and joyfully, but also with diligence. See what you see. See when your own fool is beloved and when not. Decide what to shift. Have fun with it. See how it goes.

June 4, 2026Episode 53519 min

Acting Accordingly, and Other Good Ideas

It’s one thing to practice and study mindfulness. It’s a great thing. It’s another to act accordingly. What happens when you’re in the courtroom or conference room or family room? Does your heart stay open, or clamp shut? Is your mind filled with hate, or love? When my heart is shut or my mind is filled (or even tinged) with hate, sadly, I act accordingly. When my heart is open and my mind is filled with love, or even tipped in that direction, I tend to act according to that. In the end, and in these times especially, it’s why I study and practice: to be able to see, as clearly as possible, which way this heart and mind are leaning. And to have the tools, and the fortitude, and the courage, to course-correct to love.