Learning to Slow Down and Listen

By Karen Munoz

May 8 of this year marked my third year practicing law. It was an exciting milestone for me and also a good time to reflect on where I’ve come and where I want to go.

Coincidentally, this was right around the time I decided to take my yoga practice a step higher and participate in a 40-day seminar. The seminar was pretty intense: six times a week of yoga practice, meditation and weekly Sunday afternoon meetings. It required some serious commitment and some trepidation on my part of doing something which was unknown.

I started to see uncanny similarities between the practice of each when the practice of law and the practice of yoga consumed most of my spring.

I started to compare the two. They both require commitment, persistence and the knowledge that you will some days do a lot of sweating. There were times during the program where I questioned myself, my abilities and my focus. There are days in the office where I do the same and wonder if I am cut out for this. But luckily those days are few in number.

The days where I feel a sense of accomplishment because I helped someone who needed a hand outnumber the others. I realize after practicing both, I have built the foundation necessary to keep growing my metaphorical tree. Before you can accomplish a headstand you have to work really hard at it. It doesn’t come easy, and if you attempt to do it without any training, you will fall over. Similarly, I have had to learn to crawl before even thinking of trying my first case or arguing before the appellate court.

It has taken me a lot of patience, determination and willingness to learn from my mistakes and keep trying. It is far too easy to give up, it takes something more to keep at it, and that’s what keeps me coming to work with a smile and showing up to yoga everyday. Yoga has helped me grow as a young lawyer and as a person.

I wanted to write this article to reflect on what the last three years have meant to me and talk about some of my personal observations. Sounds simple, but really it’s not.

First, finding the time was not easy. Most of my weekdays are hectic and filled with running around, multiple projects, meetings, phone calls, e-mails and deadlines. I have the hardest time being on time. In yoga, there is no room for tardiness. Class starts when class starts. I am trying to incorporate that mentality in every aspect of my life. I had to force myself to sit down and focus to write this article. I had a realization after I forced myself to sit down and write: Why am I in such a hurry all the time? Well, the nature of litigation doesn’t lend itself to taking it slow (although sometimes it feels like getting anything accomplished takes forever). Living in Chicago doesn’t either. It’s go go go from the time I wake up to whenever I leave the office. Getting from one place to the next, dealing with traffic, lines at the grocery store and looking for parking.

I’m learning to slow it down. It’s a process and not an easy one. I’m learning to appreciate and focus on the present. Which brings me to my second observation. I am a plaintiff’s attorney. And have been so since I graduated.

In three years, I have represented people who have gone through some pretty tragic and painful things and who really needed help. People whose husbands, daughters and sons had tragically passed away because of the mistakes of others.

So many bad things happen because we are all in such a hurry to get somewhere, anywhere. What I’ve learned in my practice, I will carry with me for as long as I can. When I slow it down, I discover more about myself. I would like to think I have become a better friend, a better sister, a better lawyer. I have become a better listener. I think about how many car accidents could be avoided if we all just slowed down. Did we really need to catch that yellow? How many stories have we heard where we shake our heads in disbelief? What about medical malpractice? I applaud all of the hard work physicians do day in and day out. I have met some doctors who work tirelessly and advocate relentlessly for their patients.

But on the flip side, how many stories have we heard about failing to diagnose or a misdiagnosis? When a medical malpractice case goes to trial, it all becomes so clear and obvious. How could the breast cancer or appendicitis have gone undiagnosed when presented with each of the plaintiff’s symptoms? Well very easily. Sometimes we don’t listen as much as we could. We live in a society where time is everything. We become obsessed with worrying about the future, living in the past and we are never in the present.

In this 24/7 world of technology, it is hard to be present. The truth is it’s easier to be in the past or in the future. Being in the present forces us to live with the person we are now, not the person we once were. I really believe if we all just slowed down and really listened, life’s mistakes would decrease. A motorist who was OK with not making it through the yellow would avoid that horrible accident. The doctor who really listened to their patients would rule out and diagnose the real problem before it caused damage or death.

What I have learned in my last three years as an attorney is I enjoy helping people. I want to do my best for people who have been hurt or who have lost someone they love because of someone else’s mistakes.

What I don’t love is how easily some of these disasters could have been avoided if we just listened. Tragedy will always strike. It is a part of life. But some tragedies can be prevented if we just listen. What yoga has taught me is I can learn to be a better listener. It has also taught me everything I do really is practice for the next time.

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