HBM Law Offices, LLC is proud to mark Mental Health Awareness Month by reaffirming a core value that guides everything we do – our commitment to mental wellness. Our legal team understands that clarity of mind and emotional resilience are essential not only to our own well-being but also to achieving the best possible outcomes for our clients.

Sharper Focus, Better Outcomes

A rested and focused attorney is better equipped to analyze complex legal issues, anticipate potential challenges, and craft innovative strategies. At HBM Law, wellness isn’t an afterthought – it’s a foundational practice that helps our attorneys stay sharp, present, and ready to advocate effectively.

Resilience Under Pressure

Legal cases often bring significant stress – not just for our clients, but for our team as well. That’s why mindfulness, stress management, and wellness routines are integral parts of our firm’s culture. These tools help us maintain calm and steadiness, even in the most challenging moments, so our clients can feel confident and supported throughout their legal journey.

Introducing Neuroscience-Backed Tools for High Performance

To deepen our commitment, our Principal Attorney, Himani Bhardwaj, introduces three neuroscience-backed techniques designed specifically to enhance focus and prevent burnout among high-performing professionals. These tools, in her own words, align with our mission to provide not only expert legal counsel but also compassionate, sustainable support for everyone who walks through our doors. 

As immigration attorneys, we carry an immense emotional and cognitive load: constantly juggling deadlines, navigating evolving policies, and advocating for vulnerable families. Amid this, stress can become an invisible but constant companion. I have found that the antidote isn’t to push harder, but to pause intentionally.

Three practices have anchored me through the most high-pressure moments of legal practice: box breathing, Dr. Andrew Weil’s 8-7-4 breath method, and my personal favorite, Yoga Nidra. Each technique is simple, free, and profoundly effective at calming the nervous system so we can show up fully present for our clients, teams, and families.

I was first introduced to breathing and meditation not in a workshop or yoga studio, but at home, watching my mother. She has practiced morning yoga and quiet meditation every single day for over 40 years. As a child, I didn’t fully understand the power of those rituals, but over time, I began to see how her calm presence and deep resilience were shaped by that daily commitment to breath and stillness.

Now, as an immigration attorney navigating complex, emotionally charged cases, I have come to deeply appreciate the practices she modeled. Breathwork and meditation aren’t just wellness trends (despite what social media makes you believe). They are ancient, time-tested strategies that help us show up with focus, patience, and strength, especially in high-intensity roles like ours.

Below are general overviews of the three practices. I invite you to explore, commit, and reap the compounding positive impact these practices will have in your daily work, work product, and beyond!

Box Breathing: Calm in Four Counts

Also known as the 4-4-4-4 breath, box breathing is used by Navy SEALs, elite athletes, and mental health professionals to stabilize the body and mind. You inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, and hold again for four. The rhythm anchors you in the present and restores balance to your nervous system.

• Use it before a difficult call, while waiting for a decision, or to reset between tasks.
• Takes only 2–5 minutes to complete.
• Slows you down so you can think clearly and act effectively.

Watch: Box Breathing Exercise (3 mins)

4-7-8 Breathing: Shift Your State in Just a Few Cycles

Dr. Andrew Weil’s signature technique—inhale for 4, hold for 7, and exhale for 8— helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, your body’s natural calming response. It’s one of the fastest ways to calm an anxious mind or prepare for rest.

• Use it before sleep, when overwhelmed, or after emotional news.
• Just 4 cycles (2 minutes) is often enough to shift your state.
• Longer exhales reset your system, improve oxygen flow, and sharpen focus.

Watch: Dr. Andrew Weil Demonstrates 4-7-8 Breathing

Yoga Nidra: Reset & Reclaim Lost Sleep

Yoga Nidra, or “yogic sleep,” is a guided practice that brings you into deep physical rest while your mind remains gently alert. A 20-minute session feels like hours of restoration. It has become my personal favorite tool for nervous system replenishment and mental clarity.

Personally, I lie down on my yoga mat (which is laid out in my home office) after lunch and before my school-going children come home. It has helped me tremendously to replenish my energy, gain clarity, and show up for my family rested and present. I naturally awaken seconds before the end of the yoga nidra session and feel like I regained an entire day’s worth of energy.

Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has helped bring this type of “Non-Sleep Deep Rest” technique (also known as Yoga Nidra, an ancient practice rooted in traditional yogic teachings).

• Use it after emotionally taxing cases, on weekends, or as a midweek reset
• Requires just 20–30 minutes, preferably daily or once/twice a week at least.
• Benefits include improved memory, emotional regulation, and reduced fatigue.

Watch: The Practice of Yoga Nidra to Improve Your Sleep and Stress by Dr. Andrew Huberman

My Most Used Yoga Nidra 30-min video by Ally Boorthroyd

Watch the 30 Minute Yoga Nidra Video For Deep Rest by Ally Boorthroyd

Yoga Nidra works because it brings the body into a hypnagogic state, which is a unique space between wakefulness and sleep (although I often fall asleep!). In this deeply relaxed yet conscious state, the sympathetic “fight-or-flight” system powers down while the parasympathetic “rest-and-repair” system takes over. This triggers a drop in cortisol levels, lowers blood pressure, and improves emotional regulation, all of which promote healing, clarity, and emotional resilience.

These breathing/resting techniques are especially impactful for people in high- intensity, high-accountability professions like doctors, nurses, ER staff, attorneys, pilots, firefighters, and first responders. In these roles, a split-second decision or a lapse in concentration can have life-altering consequences.

Practices like box breathing and Yoga Nidra help train the nervous system to remain steady under stress. They also enhance cognitive precision, situational awareness, and decision-making quality. These tools are not about relaxation alone: they are about performance sustainability. Moreover, they are easily accessible (especially if you work from home), free, and incredibly productive and restorative.
When the margin for error is small, mental clarity and emotional regulation become professional assets, which makes slowing down with intention a necessity and strategic in our fast paced, high-stakes, and challenging work.

Whether you choose a 3-minute breath or a 30-minute yoga nidra, these techniques will help train your mind and body to stay steady, focused, and resilient in our demanding profession. It might just change how you lead, serve, and live.

Wellness as a Foundation for Legal Excellence

Mental Health Awareness Month is a timely reminder that strong legal advocacy starts with strong mental health. At HBM Law, we continue to champion wellness as a vital part of our professional ethos – because when our team thrives, so do our clients.

Namaste, Himani Bhardwaj