Self Care in Law School

March 17, 2022

Fun fact, did you know my last name is Irish and that I have some Irish ancestry? Weird right? The cool thing about being Hispanic and Latina (yes I am both, they’re different – another fun fact lol) is that my heritage is a little all over the global map thanks to migration and some not so nice forms of migration. Anyway, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, do you? If you do, do you know the real meaning behind this special holiday? No, well if you want to know, check out the link in my IG bio for the story, or just google it! I digress tho, today I want to talk about self care in law school.

If you hadn’t noticed I haven’t posted in over a month because while a lot of shakeups happened in January and early February, even more happened the rest of the month and so far into March and I’ve just been trying to keep up. Enter, self care. Self care is so much more than just a face mask and a glass of wine, although thats totally self care too!

I’m a big fan of a wine night, especially all by myself, in my bath tub with the lights off and candles lit and music playing just relaxing – I even have a reel on it on my IG! But the best forms of self care go a little deeper and thats what I want to talk about.

Because in law school, self care is NECESSARY. In a way you have never needed it before. We all know and I’ve said it a million times on here but law school is freaking hard. It challenges you like no other, it makes you feel like a failure and like you don’t belong and you’re not good enough, not just for law school but in life. We can talk forever about just how messed up the law school process is but there’s enough posts and articles about that on LinkedIn, which you should totally read one day. But I’m not here to bash law school because I wouldn’t still be in it if it wasn’t important to me and it wasn’t a step along the path for me to get to where I want to be. I want to talk about how to get through law school, and how not to lose yourself in law school because it is SO IMPORTANT.

I have said in a previous post, here, that to keep your head up in law school you have to remember WHY you went to law school, even if it may change over time. It probably will change even, and that’s ok, its normal actually. But you have to remember WHY you decided to go to law school. Keep it in the forefront at all times so when times get tough you can do some self care – more on that in a minute, promise! – and get back on your feet.

Ok so now the actual self care…

THERAPY – Truly so so so necessary and if you’re not already in therapy, which you should be because we all can benefit from it, you definitely want to be while you’re in law school. I can do a post on this more in depth if you want, but either through private insurance, your university or an app, go to therapy. Therapy can teach you coping skills for anxiety and depression, help you manage them and a busy schedule and more. You’ll be so happy you decided to do it once you start.

REST – Take a break when you need it. TRUST ME. If not your body will force you to take a break and it won’t be so relaxing and restorative as it could have been before the burnout. This is what happened to me two weeks ago and why I’ve been MIA on here and a lot less active on IG lately. I felt like I got hit by a bus because I was forced to slow down when my body started developing cold symptoms and I was just so exhausted I barely ate or could get out of bed. I’m not 100% back to myself yet but I’m do better today and that’s what counts. When you are starting to feel overworked or overwhelmed or just like there’s so much going on and you can’t handle it all, TAKE A BREAK. Ask for a day off, don’t go to class, sleep in, go to bed early, cancel all weekend plans and meetings for a week and just take a break. If you can afford to do all those things, do it. But if you can only do one or two, do them. You’ll thank yourself later when you perform better overall when you come back refreshed and with a clearer mind.

BE KIND TO YOUR SELF – Mind and Body. Talk to yourself kindly, don’t pressure yourself to workout to loose those stubborn 3 pounds if its stressing you out more, tell yourself your beautiful, have a purpose and enough every night before bed, be thankful for another day of life and be grateful for what you accomplished that day, because even if it doesn’t feel like much, if you got out of bed that day, that’s an achievement too. And if you brushed your hair or changed your clothes, that’s even more of one! If exercise helps you, do it, but don’t kill yourself if you don’t do a full hour long workout or if you missed one gym day. Or if you had a not so healthy snack or meal, it happens, tommorrow’s another day.

TALK TO SOMEONE – Similar to therapy but not. I mean talk to a friend, a mentor, a professor, a classmate, your family, whoever. Talk to someone you trust, someone that has your back. Vent or just talk about the latest sports game or news scandal or celebrity story or whatever. Don’t isolate yourself. Alone time is healthy, we all need a minute alone to recharge but don’t get so in your head that you block out everyone and become a shell of yourself. I always feel SO much better when I call a friend and just get whatever is on my mind off my chest and its so cathartic. If you don’t have anyone to go to, shoot me a DM or email!

CRY WHEN YOU NEED TO – Don’t be afraid to cry. Let it out. Cry, scream, whatever you need to. It’s cathartic and makes you feel so much lighter. I’m known for being a very emotional person because I feel things very strongly. If you are like that too, own it. Even if you start crying in public, it doesn’t make you weak, it actually shows strength that you are able to release all that emotion. I cry to my friends on the phone all the time, probably excessively but I’m always going through something, especially now that I have unlocked a big part of what was holding me back in my healing journey. Keep this in mind, the only people’s opinions of you that matter are those of the people you love (shoutout to Jillian Dodd, my fave author, for this quote in her series The Keatyn Chronicles, 10/10 recommend this series, btw) so as long as you feel safe and loved when you’re talking to your friends and you start crying, then let it out.

BREATHE – Last but certainly not least on this list, and the one I tend to struggle with the most. My friends are always telling me to take a step back and just breathe. I usually start crying when they do so see above lol. Just breathe. If you feel stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or like you just need a break, take a step back and breathe. Then go take a break or do any of the above. If you can’t at that moment though, just keep breathing. Maybe go for a walk and get some fresh air if possible, thats always a good break, even if only a few minutes.

I really hope these help you. They go for anyone really, not just law school students, any student, high school, college, grad school etc or even adults. We all need to do better as a society of promoting and encouraging self care and not overworking ourselves. I want to help influence that, so by sharing this post, I hope I can start to.

If you ever need a friend, I am here for you, and as always, thank you for reading!

xo Kayla