East and Southeast Asia
Welcome to MILS East Asia and Souteast Asia Chapter
About
Established in November 2025, the East and Southeast Asia Chapter is a place for us to gather for community in mindfulness. Our intention is to be an open space of support, exploration, and connection for anyone from the region’s legal profession, whether you are a legal professional, academic, or student. We will learn and experience the benefits of mindfulness through breathwork, mindful movements and other practices.
The Chapter is Chaired by Lillian (Lining) Zhang. We welcome you to join us in the ways listed below. You will receive monthly updates, including invitations to local events; your email address will not be shared or used for any other purposes.
MILS Mission
Why is Mindfulness practice the easiest tool for self care and happiness for those in the Legal Profession?
3. Substance Use and Addiction
Alcohol Abuse: The same 2016 study reported that 21% of licensed, employed lawyers qualify as problem drinkers, significantly higher than the general U.S. population.
Drug Use: About 9% of lawyers were found to have struggled with prescription or illicit drug use.
Coping Mechanism: Many legal professionals report using alcohol and drugs to cope with workplace stress, high expectations, and emotional distress.
4. Anger and Aggression
Adversarial Culture: The inherently confrontational nature of legal proceedings tends to normalize — and sometimes reinforce — anger, cynicism, and even aggressiveness.
Impaired Relationships: These tendencies can harm professional relationships, reduce job satisfaction, and lead to higher rates of conflict at work and at home.
5. Other Mental and Physical Health Issues
Sleep Problems: Lawyers report high rates of insomnia and sleep disturbance, often tied to ongoing stress and long working hours.
Suicidality: Studies have shown elevated suicidal ideation among lawyers, with many legal professionals at higher risk than other high-education professions.
Reluctance to Seek Help: Stigma within the profession and concerns about career impact often deter lawyers from seeking the mental health or addiction support they need.
“ Mindfulness is not hard work. It’s very pleasant and relaxing, and we don’t need extra time to do it. There’s an art to finding creative ways to generate the energy of mindfulness, peace, and happiness in everyday life.”
— Thich Naht Hahn
Key facts about the Legal Profession and Health
1. Higher Rates of Stress
Chronic Stress: Legal professionals consistently rank among the most stressed of all occupational groups.
Drivers: High workload, billable hour requirements, adversarial environments, and client pressures contribute heavily to chronic stress levels.
Manifestation: Chronic stress can lead to burnout, impaired job performance, and physical health problems.
2. Anxiety and Depression
Elevated Prevalence: Studies show that lawyers experience anxiety and depression at rates 2 to 4 times higher than the general population.
A 2016 ABA/Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation study found that around 28% of lawyers struggle with depression and 19% with anxiety.
Early Onset: These issues often begin in law school, where students show a marked increase in anxiety and depression.
6. Impact on Work and Ethics
Impaired Decision-Making: Chronic stress and mental health issues can impair judgment, attention, and ethical decision-making.
Professional Negligence: There's a higher risk of malpractice and disciplinary issues among lawyers suffering from untreated mental health or addiction problems.
Key facts about Mindfulness
3. Stress Reduction
Lower Cortisol: Mindfulness meditation is associated with reduced cortisol, the primary stress hormone.
Relaxation Response: It activates the body’s relaxation response, counteracting the harmful effects of chronic stress (e.g., high blood pressure, cardiovascular strain).
Better Coping: Individuals develop healthier coping strategies and greater resilience to stressors.
4. Anxiety Relief
Reduced Symptoms: Clinical studies show mindfulness can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and social anxiety.
Mindful Detachment: It enables individuals to observe anxious thoughts without identifying with or reacting to them.
5. Physical Health
Immune System: Mindfulness can boost immune system function, helping the body fight illness.
Pain Management: It helps manage chronic pain conditions, decreasing the perception of pain and need for medication.
Improved Sleep: Mindfulness reduces insomnia and improves overall sleep quality.
Heart Health: Practicing mindfulness can lower blood pressure and promote cardiovascular health.
1. Brain Benefits
Structural Changes: Regular mindfulness practice can increase gray matter density in areas related to learning, memory (hippocampus), emotion regulation, and perspective-taking.
Neuroplasticity: Mindfulness supports the brain’s ability to reorganize and form new neural connections, enhancing cognitive flexibility and mental resilience.
Amygdala Activity: Meditation can reduce activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with stress, fear, and anxiety responses.
2. Mind & Mental Health
Attention & Focus: Mindfulness enhances the ability to sustain attention, reducing mind-wandering and improving concentration.
Emotional Regulation: It helps people recognize and manage their emotions more effectively, increasing emotional intelligence.
Self-Awareness: Practicing mindfulness boosts self-awareness and insight into thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Lillian (Lining) Zhang
Lillian is the Founder of Coaching With Compassion, and serves as the lead coach and consultant for individuals and teams.
As a long time practitioner of mindfulness, Lillian received training in mindful yoga, meditation, mindful improvisation and tea meditation, and have facilited group meditations among higher ed, nonprofit, school and corporate communities and contexts for the last 10 years. She is a certified ICF coach and received certifications from Yes And Institute, Minds at Work and Harvard University Convu Coaching Initiative.
Lillian has a passion for supporting the legal profession. She has been working with law students and graduate students in Harvard for the last three years, and previously as the clinical director at Peking University School of Transnatonal Law, worked with students as mentors too. She has also worked with attorneys and law firm partners in both Big Law and public interest and public services legal professionals, supporting them with compassionate coaching integrating mindfulness.
She graduated from Peking University School of Transnational Law with a JD and received an LLM from Harvard Law School. She practiced law in Kirkland & Ellis and public interest law firms before joining her Alma Mater Peking University as a clinical professor and director in 2014, and her second Alma Mater Harvard University as a teaching and research fellow, upon receiving her master in education focusing on adult learning from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an advocate for underserved communities as a legal professional and an educator.