129: Self-Care During Bar Exam Prep

Welcome to the Law School Toolbox Podcast! Today, we're talking about something that's incredibly important for everyone who's preparing for the bar exam, which is self-care. Because, let's face it, studying for the bar exam is stressful and, actually, so is legal practice. So, working on self-care during the bar exam study period is one thing that will probably help you pass and also help you in your career later.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Paying attention to your breathing, and using breath work for mental wellness and stress relief
• Making time to exercise – it’s good for your brain and memory!
• Laughter therapy – tricking your brain to produce more serotonin
• Mindfulness: what it is, why it works, and how to incorporate it in your daily routine
• Simple yoga poses for stress relief
• Allowing yourself breaks – you’re not a robot
• Real life ways of getting adequate sleep and nourishing your body with food and water

Resources:

• Yoga Breathing: Alternate Nostril Breathing Video Tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VwufJrUhic)
• Breath + Sound: 30 Minute Guided Breathwork Experience (https://eastsidebreathers.bandcamp.com/track/breath-sound-30-minute-guided-breathwork-experience)
• Harvard Health Blog, “Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills.” (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110)
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America – Laughter Therapy (https://www.cancercenter.com/treatments/laughter-therapy/)
• Kitten Therapy: The Prescription for Stress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35T8wtmTbVg)
• Getting Started with Mindfulness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35T8wtmTbVg)
• Being with Stressful Moments Rather Than Avoiding Them (https://www.mindful.org/being-with-stressful-moments/)
• Insight Timer App (https://insighttimer.com/)
• Free Guided Meditations: UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22&fr=true)
• Living Peace: Connecting Your Spirituality with Your Work for Justice (https://www.amazon.com/Living-Peace-Connecting-Spirituality-Justice/dp/1499798024)
• com (https://www.yogaglo.com/)
• Yoga Outlet - How to do Child’s Pose in Yoga (https://www.yogaoutlet.com/guides/how-to-do-child_s-pose-in-yoga/)
• Yoga Journal - Yoga for Inner Peace (https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/yoga-for-inner-peace-stress-relief-daily-practice-challenge)
• Get a Good Night’s Sleep by Filtering Your Phone’s Blue Light (https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/get-good-nights-sleep-filtering-phones-blue-light/)
• Mind Over Bar (http://mindoverbar.com/)
• Bar Exam Mind (http://mindoverbar.com/)
• Bar Exam Toolbox’s own Mindfulness archives (http://barexamtoolbox.com/tag/mindfulness/)

Episode Transcript: Download the Transcript  (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Episode-129-Self-Care-During-Bar-Prep.pdf)

If you enjoy the podcast, we'd love a nice review and/or rating on iTunes  (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/law-school-toolbox-podcast/id1027603976) (or your listening platform of choice). And feel free to reach out to us directly. You can always reach us via the contact form on the Law School Toolbox website (http://lawschooltoolbox.com/contact). If you're concerned about the bar exam, check out our sister site, the Bar Exam Toolbox (http://barexamtoolbox.com/).

Thanks for listening!

Alison & Lee