How Spirituality Supports Professional Well-Being

By Kyra Hazilla

Does spirituality have a place in legal practice? According to the research on attorney well-being, spirituality is an important facet of sustaining our health in legal culture.

Consider this fascinating article from the Boston Law Collaborative on law as a spiritual practice. We don’t often think of legal work as spiritual (although I have heard some mission-driven legal services practitioners refer to theirs as “God’s Work” in the most secular meaning of the words). Lawyers who see their work as service, who see themselves as healers, or who find great meaning in their vocation, are often those who are inoculated against the grueling and traumatizing aspects of the legal profession.

Researchers have begun to drill down into the benefits of a spiritual framework in the workplace  as a whole and have found that “workplace spirituality” resources employees and organizations by fostering socio-emotional well-being, psychological safety, organizational support, and resilience.

Attending to spiritual well-being outside the practice of law is equally vital. Connecting to ourselves, each other, a higher power, or nature fosters resilience. Tuning in to our sense of wonder, awe, delight, creativity, purpose, and meaning-making can shift our neurobiology as we settle into these positive states as a form of spiritual practice.

Interested in trying out a new practice or two? Here are some ideas:

Watch this: Three Research-Backed Tips for a Grateful Workplace

Listen to this: How the Great Outdoors can Improve your Life

Try this: Microdosing Creativity through Switch Drawing