Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)

Week One: Orientation & Basics

Introduction

Week One will act as your introduction and orientation. It will also involve
some essential training in basic Stoic concepts and techniques, which provide
a foundation for the rest of the course. You’ll be practising a simple
mindfulness meditation technique each day, to become more grounded in the
“here and now”, while viewing your experiences from a detached perspective.
You’ll also learn a quick and easy self-monitoring technique, which will
contribute to your self-awareness and help you track your progress.

These exercises are supported by a special “Stoic Attitudes” audio recording,

which you’ll listen to daily, to contemplate what it would be like to think and
act like a Stoic. The central focus is on learning to distinguish more carefully
between things that are “up to us” and those which are not.

Image: Zeno of Citium, founder of Stoicism.

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YouTube Live Webinar

Set a reminder now for the introductory live webinar on Youtube, which will
take place at 4pm Eastern Time on Sunday 10th May (9pm UK time) . Missed
it? Don't worry because you can watch the replay via the same link.

[Link]
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The Questionnaires

The first time this course ran we collected data from around 500 participants
for the purposes of research on Stoic practice. Many people told us they found
completing the Stoic Attitudes and Behaviours Scale (SABS) extremely helpful
as a way of understanding Stoicism. Filling in the well-being questionnaires at
the same time, before and after the course, really helped people to evaluate
exactly how doing the course impacted their well-being. So we ask you to fill
in the questionnaires now and then at the end of the course (and potentially
after 3 months as a follow-up).

We’re extremely grateful for the time you take in completing these forms. The
course is free, so in a way it’s a donation of your time to help Modern Stoicism
in return!

You’ll receive email confirmations automatically when you complete the online
form, containing information on your scores. If you provide a a valid email
address we will also email you the scores. Check your email within a few hours.
If you haven’t received a confirmation then check it’s not been blocked by
your spam filter.

Complete the Stoic Attitudes and Behaviours Scale

(SABS) and other Well-being Questionnaires
before you proceed
Please complete the questionnaires before proceeding any further. Tt may
take up to 15 minutes so this is your first chance to exercise a Stoic virtue -
patience! Click on the link below to open the form in a new browser window.

[Link]
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Facebook Discussion Group

Please consider joining the Facebook discussion group below. Social media
provides us with a powerful way to connect with participants during the
course. It's not mandatory but it's a big help. (Not everyone is a fan of
Facebook but feedback from previous participants has been that it is their
preferred option for discussions on social media.)

Join the SMRT Facebook Discussion Group

SMRT on Twitter

Please consider following us on twitter (@StoicWeek). We aim to post relevant

materials each day.

Follow us on Twitter - @StoicWeek

 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics

Welcome to Week One

Welcome to Week One of Stoic Mindfulness

and Resilience Training! You should read this
lesson through completely on the Sunday, and
apply the exercises throughout the rest of the
week.

If you’ve made it this far, you

should already have read through the
Preliminary Section and completed the initial
intake questionnaire(s). If for any reason you haven’t, then please go back and
complete that part of the course before proceeding any further.

During Week One you’ll be training yourself to become more mindful of the
present moment and to view your experiences objectively, from a detached
“philosophical” perspective, as a way of living more in agreement with the
nature of the world.

It won’t take you long to read this short lesson. We’ve kept it quite brief and
focused on the practical and interactive components. If you want more
information you’ll find there are many additional resources available on this
site and elsewhere online.

So let’s get started…

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Course Structure

First a quick recap, to put things in context… This training course lasts four
weeks in total. Each week has the same format, as described in the Preliminary
Section, where you saw an overview of the whole thing. The structure looks
like this:

1. Lesson. There’s a short online lesson or reading (like this one), which
you should complete on the first day, as it explains what you’ll be doing
throughout the rest of the week.

2. Daily exercise. You’ll read a description of a brief psychological exercise

or meditation that we’d like you to practice at least once each day,
which should only take a few minutes.

3. Audio recording. For each week, there’s a different audio recording,

containing a guided contemplative exercise, which you should listen to
at least once each day. These range from about 5 – 15 minutes in length
but you can listen to some of them in bed at night.

4. Self-monitoring. There’s a simple self-monitoring component to each

week, which will help you to develop greater mindfulness of your own
thoughts, feelings, and actions – these aren’t just about gathering
information, though, as people often report they also lead to
beneficial changes.

5. Discussion questions. There will be one “big question” for group

discussion each week, which we’d like everyone to contemplate, reflect
upon, and post a comment about to the course forum, to help generate
collaboration and a sense of community.

6. Optional Webinar. You'll be emailed details each week of a webinar,

including the link to follow and information on the correct time of day.
These usually last 30-60 minutes. You'll have a chance to post questions
in the chat area of the webinar and we'll try to answer as many as
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
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possible. Don't worry if you can't attend as these are completely
optional. They're a chance to review the week's material live. Remember
that all of our webinar's are given in Eastern Time, so adjust for your
timezone if necessary.

The idea is that the whole training should take a fairly negligible amount of
time to follow each day. One of your goals throughout the next four weeks
should be to save yourself time, by simplifying life where possible, and
reducing the frequency and duration of unproductive trains of thought or
activity. In general, we’ll be focusing on three overarching practical themes:

• Developing greater mindfulness of your own (mental and physical)

actions, particularly your value judgements, and the relationship
between your thoughts, actions, and feelings.

• Distinguishing very clearly between things under your direct control,

and things not, i.e., between your own activity and everything else that
happens to you.

• Placing greater importance on the quality of your own character and

(voluntary) actions in life, which the Stoics called “virtue”.

Now let’s look more closely at what you’ll be doing this week…
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Overview of Week One

So that’s the general format. This is what the content looks like for Week One…

1. Lesson. You’re doing it now! You’re going to be reading some more

about the basic Stoic concepts we’re employing, though, over the next
few pages.

2. Daily exercise. This exercise is designed to help you ground your

awareness in the “here and now” and view your experiences from a
detached and objective perspective, as the ancient Stoics described.

3. Audio recording. This recording contains some simple relaxation

followed by a script describing basic Stoic values and attitudes, which
you should contemplate and mentally-rehearse each day. Listen with
headphones using an MP3 player or computer – or burn it to a CD.

4. Self-monitoring. You’re going to begin self-monitoring simply by

keeping a careful tally or count of how frequently you find yourself
doing things you’d like to stop, such as dwelling on unhealthy thoughts,
feelings, or desires, etc.

5. Discussion questions. “What do you think would be the pros and cons
of living a life in which you take excellence of character (Stoic ‘virtue’) to
be the only thing that’s intrinsically good?”

6. Optional Webinar. There will be a webinar on Sunday, details of which

we'll email you shortly. Don't worry if you can't attend because it's
completely optional. However, if you can make it along then we're
confident you'll get more out of the course as a result. This week's
webinar will review the orientation and basics material and we'll also try
to answer as many of your questions as possible.

This week is very important because it provides a solid foundation for the
concepts and practices to follow. If you really reflect on the questions we’re
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raising, observe yourself very closely, and stick with these initial daily exercises,
you’re bound to get much more out of the weeks that follow.

If there’s anything you don’t understand or get stuck with, let us know
immediately, by posting on the Comments section on Teachable
([Link] or contacting the
course facilitator, and we’ll do our very best to help you.
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Stoic Mindfulness

Those who fail to pay careful attention to the motions of their own souls are
bound to be in a wretched [Link] Aurelius, Meditations 2.8

This course will require you to pay attention to yourself more carefully than
normal, and to the way you actually live your life each day. As Socrates said:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” You should aspire to “know yourself”
by using this opportunity to study your own daily routine, and train of
thought, from the detached perspective of a natural philosopher. Learn to
patiently examine your way of living each day as if you were an ethnographer
studying an exotic tribe, and documenting their culture and rituals, or a
naturalist studying the behaviour of some newly discovered species of
mammal.

There’s a special form of continual self-awareness that ancient Stoics trained

themselves to develop, which we can reasonably describe as “mindfulness”,
although it differs in some respects from similar ideas in Buddhist meditation
practice.

What thing, out of all those that go to make up our lives, is done better by
those who are inattentive? […] Do you not realize that when once you let your
mind go wandering, it is no longer within your power to recall it?Epictetus,
Discourses 4.12

According to the ancient Stoics, we should naturally be mindful, from moment

to moment, of the most important thing in life: the character of our own
thoughts and actions. They even used a technical term in Greek, prosochê, to
describe this mindful attention to oneself. The eminent French scholar Pierre
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Hadot, has probably done more than anyone else to document the extent to
which psychological exercises can be found in the literature of ancient
philosophy, particularly Stoicism. He wrote:

Attention (prosochê) is the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude. It is a

continuous vigilance and presence of mind, self-consciousness which never
sleeps, and a constant tension of the spirit. Thanks to this attitude, the
philosopher is fully aware of what he does at each instant, and he wills his
action [Link], Philosophy as a Way of Life

For Stoics, mindfulness of breathing, for example, wouldn’t necessarily be a

particularly helpful exercise. (Although, maybe there are ways it could be made
appropriate.) It’s attention to our judgements that really matters, especially
our value-judgements and whether we lapse into placing too much
importance on things outside of our direct control or not. In doing this, don’t
try to force yourself to change. You may find that many things change just by
being observed. However, you may also find that you can simply step
back from certain trains of thought or actions, from the outset, and choose not
to go along with them or waste your time on them. Sometimes, less is more.
This strategy may help you save time and energy throughout the day, by
reducing the frequency and duration of unnecessary activities and, in a
sense, simplifying your life. It starts with self-observation, though, and
noticing what you’re actually doing, from moment to moment, as you’re doing
it.

That’s the theme that runs through this course. It might seem a bit challenging
or paradoxical at first but we’re confident it will come to make more sense to
you if you persevere with the practical exercises each day and, perhaps more
importantly, if you engage in discussion with the other participants about the
“big questions” we’ve prepared for each week.
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The Handbook of Epictetus

The Handbook of Epictetus | Learn Modern Stoicism

Visit
[Link]
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics

The Basic Concept

There are lots of components to this course but we want to keep the focus on one or
two key things. So the main question we’d like you to keep asking yourself and
reflecting upon throughout the first week, and even beyond that if you like, is as
follows:

“What aspects of this situation are under my direct control?”

One of the central recurring themes of Stoicism is the importance of

continually distinguishing between what is “up to us”, in the sense of being
under our direct control and what is not. We tend to call this fundamental
distinction the “Stoic fork” or "dichotomy of control".

The Stoic “Manual”

If you’re new to Stoicism, it may come as a bit of surprise to discover that
there’s literally a manual, dating from the Roman Imperial period, designed to
teach Stoicism as a way of life to novice students. It’s just called the
Handbook or Manual (Encheiridion) of Epictetus and consists of the key
sayings of the famous Stoic teacher Epictetus, compiled by his student, Arrian.
If you want to learn more about Stoicism, it’s one of the first things you should
consider reading. We’re just going to get you started, though, by focusing on
what the initial passages say, because they’re arguably the foundation of
everything that follows. The very first sentence makes it pretty clear where
Stoic students should begin their training:

Some things are “up to us”, or under our direct control, whereas others are not
up to [Link], 1
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In the next sentence, Epictetus explained that Stoics mean what is “up to us” in
the sense of being completely voluntary and within our sphere of control. In a
word, as he puts it, this means our actions. That includes our external
behaviour but also certain mental acts, such as voluntarily judging something
to be desirable or undesirable. Everything else is only under our
control indirectly, as a consequence of our actions, which means that other
factors can always intervene to thwart our intentions. Those things, which are
not our actions, are referred to as “externals” or “indifferent” things. The Stoics
often sum up the most significant and problematic externals as: health, wealth,
and reputation. Pain and pleasure are also “indifferent” in the sense of being
things that happen to us, rather than things we do. When our voluntary
actions are good, that’s called “virtue”, and when they’re bad, that’s called
“vice”. So acting with virtue rather than vice, in this sense, is the main thing
that is “up to us”. Indeed, we’re told the Stoics sometimes defined the
fundamental goal of life as “living in accord with virtue”.

Epictetus goes on to say that the root cause of most emotional suffering is
placing too much value on these external things, on things beyond our direct
control. Becoming overly-attached to externals makes us all the “slaves” of our
passions, he says. That’s definitely something worth thinking about, isn’t it?
The Stoics therefore repeatedly advised their students to notice when they
were experiencing unhealthy emotions or desires, feelings they might want to
change. When this happens we’re to pause for a moment and try to grasp very
clearly what aspects of the situation are entirely within our sphere of control.

Their advice seems like it must, ultimately, have been the inspiration for the
famous Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous and many modern
counsellors and therapists:
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God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

The Stoics similarly advise us that “wisdom” consists in making a clear

distinction between things under our control and things not. However, they
make it more explicit that the only things we can truly change in life are our
own thoughts and actions. When we do influence other things, including other
people, it’s always indirectly, as a result of our own action. Placing absolute
importance on the nature of our own character and voluntary actions
encourages us to focus attention on the very centre of our sphere of
responsibility, the point from which they arise.

Doing so obviously requires paying close attention to your own judgements

and actions, throughout the day, which is the subject we’ll turn to shortly, after
a brief practical exercise and example…
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Worksheet: Two-Column Exercise

Take moment right now to think of a situation that seems to make you upset
or irritated… Practice distinguishing between the aspects under your direct
control, and those not. You could draw two-columns on a piece of paper
headed “control” and “not control”, or use the form below.

Two-Column Form
First consider how much control you have over the situation, while thinking
about it right now. Probably not much because it's in the past, right? But
remember that you do still have some control over the way you think about it
and respond, and that, in turn, may affect how you feel about it.

1. What’s the problem you want to evaluate?

Try to describe the troubling scenario you're imagining as concisely and

objectively as possible.

2. How much control do you have over the situation?

Rate your control over the situation as a whole, including your reactions, from
0-100%.
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3. Why don’t you have zero control?

If you rated it above zero, then what aspects are actually under your direct
control? Try to draw up a short list.

4. Why don’t you have complete control?

If you rated it below 100%, then what aspects are not under your direct
control? Try to draw up a short list.

5. What would happen if you adopted a more “philosophical” (Stoic)

attitude toward the things beyond your control?

Consider how it might change things, over the longer-term, if you were to
consistently focus on doing the things that are up to you to the best of your
ability while completely accepting that other aspects are simply beyond your
direct control.

Review: Are you sure you identified your level of control correctly? Take a
moment to think about your responses above and modify them if necessary.
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Daily Meditation Exercise

This exercise is designed to help you

ground your awareness in the “here and now” and view your experiences from
a detached and objective perspective, as the ancient Stoics described.

Your main goal during the first week is to develop more self-awareness and
insight into your own thoughts, actions, and feelings, and how they’re related
to each other. You’ll be trying to do this more or less continually, from
moment to moment, throughout each day. That will mean developing greater
“mindfulness” of your own judgements and actions, and a greater awareness
of what’s happening “here and now” in the present moment, as it happens.

Mindfulness of the Present Moment

You can develop greater self-awareness and attention to the present moment
by using the following mindfulness exercise derived from Gestalt Therapy.
You’re going to practice the art of patiently observing and describing your
own experiences from a detached perspective. The ancient Stoics employed a
number of similar exercises, involving attention to the “here and now”. These
often involved adopting an attitude comparable to that of a “natural
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philosopher”, suspending any value-judgements or emotive rhetoric, and
patiently describing the observable qualities of physical objects in completely
neutral and objective language.

1. Begin with your eyes open, although you may close them in a moment if
you wish to do so. You might want to take a minute just to settle down
and bring your attention to the present moment.

2. Say to yourself, silently in your mind: “Right now I am aware of…” Keep
repeating that phrase and putting your own ending it, as you slowly
describe your experiences.

3. Try to suspend any value judgements and just describe specific things
that you notice, as concisely and objectively as possible.

4. Use the tactic of putting things into words to make your attention linger
for longer than normal on the features of the present moment that you
experience.

5. Take your time and proceed very slowly and patiently; don’t rush to
describe everything. Just notice what comes to your attention.

Let go of the past, the future, and the realm of imagination, for a few minutes,
and train yourself to remain with the present moment and the reality of your
immediate surroundings. Allow yourself to notice what you’re actually doing
right now, from moment to moment. What do you think the long-term
consequence of training yourself in this way, and getting good at staying with
the “here and now” for a while, might be? You don’t have to keep doing this
forever, but it might be useful to be able to do it whenever you choose to, and
to spend more time noticing your own experiences and what’s going through
your mind in response to them. In a sense, you’re learning to make the
unconscious conscious, or at least to become more aware of yourself and what
you’re actually doing.
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The more you practice doing this simple exercise the more you’ll develop a
number of basic psychological skills, which will provide a solid foundation for
the rest of the training that follows. The first time you do this you might want
to spend a few minutes away from distractions. However, as you practice you
should find that you can do it more or less in any situation. You could be
sitting on a bus, pausing for a couple of minutes while sitting at your
computer, or relaxing in a bath. Some people have told me that they take time
to do this exercise during the commercial breaks between segments of a
television programme, or even while sitting on the lavatory. It doesn’t really
require any additional time or effort during your day – you just need
to rememberto do it. So try to do this as often as possible for as long as seems
helpful. We’d recommend doing it for a minimum of 3-4 minutes, at least once
per day during the first week of the training. If you want to do it more
frequently, for longer periods, or throughout the subsequent weeks of the
training, though, that’s absolutely fine. Later in this lesson we’ll look at some
ways to prompt or remind yourself to practice mindfulness throughout the
day, in case you forget…

Stop reading: go ahead and do the exercise above right now!

Once you’ve finished, continue to the next page…

Image: Stoic clock by Rocio de Torres

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Example & Questions

Here’s an example of what this exercise

might be like in practice…

I’m sitting typing these words at my computer right now, of course. I’m going
to pause right now to do the exercise. I’ll keep an eye on the clock on my desk
and aim to do it for about 3-4 minutes but I’m not going to worry too much
about the time…

Well, how did I get on? I actually got interrupted by someone – which I didn’t
expect – but after they’d left I just started again. I got a little distracted
thinking about what I would write but once I noticed that I just brought my
attention back to my experiences in the present moment. I said things like
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“Right now I’m aware of the ticking of the clock… Now I’m aware of the rise
and fall of my breath… Now I’m aware of the sunlight on the desk… Now I’m
aware of a twinge in my lower back… Now I’m aware of the sound of traffic
outside…”, etc. It took some effort, some self-discipline, to let go of thoughts
that threatened to take my attention away from the present moment but one
way to do that is to say “Right now I notice that I’m starting to think about
work…”, to step back from the train of thought, and look on it as just another
activity happening in the present moment…

Afterwards, I’m left noticing more of what’s going on around me for a while,
although that’s not the main goal of the exercise. The key thing is that I’ve
practiced taking a step back from my experiences and observing them, as they
happen “here and now”, in a more detached way.

Questions for Reflection

After doing the exercise, please take a few minutes to carefully think over the
following questions:

Reveal Questions

Marcus Aurelius explains, for example, that for Stoics everything is, in a sense,
“indifferent” except our own mental activity, because this is ultimately our
locus of control in life. He goes on to spell out that because our
own past and future actions are not within our immediate control, they are
also classed as “indifferent” (Meditations, 6.32). According to the Stoics, from
moment to moment, only our own current thoughts and actions can be said to
be intrinsically important – everything else lies outside our direct control in the
“here and now”.
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Then post your comments in the Discussion on Teachable at
[Link] Take a moment to
read and respond to at least on other person's comments.

If you like, with this in mind, pause for a few minutes longer, and repeat the
same exercise again, before continuing…

Image: Stoic Mirror by Rocio de Torres

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Self-Monitoring

Modern research on therapy often begins with

some form of self-monitoring, such as a record sheet in which you note down
your thoughts, actions, and feelings in separate columns, in response to
upsetting situations. You may wish to employ a similar method if you have
time and you’re experiencing difficult feelings such as worry or anger, etc.
However, for the purposes of this study, we’re going to recommend that most
people employ one of the very simplest approaches used today: keeping a
simple count or tally. Epictetus actually told his students to do something
similar, keeping a count from day to day of the number of times when feelings
such as anger became a problem for them (Discourses, 2.18).

You might do this by literally keeping a tally in your diary, on a piece of card,
or your mobile phone. Some people like to use a mechanical or electronic
counter, concealed in their pocket, such as those used by doormen, golfers, or
knitters. An added bonus with this somewhat minimalist approach to self-
monitoring is that it’s more confidential. Even if someone else saw your tally,
they would probably have no idea what it meant unless they knew what you
were counting.

What should you count? Anything you might want to change, basically.
Epictetus’ advice was to keep a tally of what the Stoics called the “passions”,
which includes both unhealthy emotions and desires. You might also want to
record whenever you engage in some “bad” habit or external behaviour that
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you want to change, including things you say aloud or even things you fail to
do.

Reveal Some Examples

This is a useful way of measuring your progress. However, there’s also a more
subtle and potentially more important reason for keeping count in this way. It
will often help you develop greater self-awareness and detachment, particularly
if you manage to spot undesirable habits at the earliest possible stage, before
they have a chance to develop. Catching habits early makes it easier to “nip
them in the bud”, sometimes just by choosing to mentally “take a step back”,
as we’ll see later. We call this spotting the “early-warning signs” of unhealthy
emotions or behaviour and gaining psychological “distance” from them.
You’ve been practicing viewing your own experiences from a detached,
objective perspective during the “mindfulness” exercise this week. Approach
keeping your tally in a similar way. Each time you notice something and add it
to the count, pause for a few moments and view it as if you were an impartial
scientist calmly studying and recording someone else’s thoughts, actions, and
feelings. Research shows that when approached carefully and systematically,
self-monitoring of this kind can, all by itself, reduce the frequency and
intensity of emotional distress and bad habits. This part of the training should
also take virtually no time as it’s very quick and easy to keep a simple tally. In
fact, if you find yourself reducing the time spent worrying or engaging in bad
habits, then you’ll almost certainlysave a lot of time each day.

Modern therapists might advise clients to spot the early-warning signs of

anger and to take a “time-out” rather than “acting out” their feelings through
aggressive behaviour. The Stoics often gave very similar advice. For example,
the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, reputedly had anger-management
problems and was counselled by his Stoic tutor Athenodorus: “Whenever you
get angry, Caesar, do not say or do anything before repeating to yourself the
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twenty-four letters of the [Greek] alphabet.” Seneca later confirmed that
Augustus was particularly renowned for dealing with provocations without
losing his temper.

This sort of strategy is often misused as as a way of trying to suppress feelings,

though, which is something you should be careful to avoid doing. Accept the
presence of your feelings or bad habits, with “indifference”, but pause, and
take a step back from them rather than going along with them and allowing
yourself to act on them impulsively.

If you think you’d benefit from a more detailed self-monitoring technique, try
the one we developed for Stoic Week 2013, based on modern Cognitive-
Behavioural Therapy (CBT). There’s a Stoic Self-Monitoring Record Sheet you
can download and print, which will help you monitor your individual thoughts,
actions and feelings, and the relationship between them. See this article by
Tim LeBon for some examples of how to complete the form.

Download

[Link]

[Link]
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Worksheet: Self-Monitoring

Use these questions to practice completing the Stoic Self-Monitoring Sheet.

Date/Time

And briefly describe the situation.

Feelings (Passions)

Include early-warning signs.

Thoughts (Impressions)

Particularly those causing feelings.

Control

Is this 'up to you' or not?

Actions

Were they helpful or not?

 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics

Download Audio Recording

This MP3 audio recording contains some simple relaxation followed by a script
describing basic Stoic values and attitudes, which you should contemplate and
mentally-rehearse each day. The Stoics didn’t expect people just to agree with
them but to rationally evaluate the truth of their doctrines for themselves. So
we assume there will be two ways of using this recording:

1. If you’re new to Stoicism you may just want to listen to and contemplate
the ideas in a detached manner, giving yourself a chance to critically-
evaluate them later.

2. If you’ve come to agree with some, or all, of these ideas, or share similar
values, you might want to use this as an opportunity to absorb them
more deeply.

The Stoics believed it was important to continually remind themselves of their

core philosophical doctrines and values so that they would come to
gradually permeate their character and behaviour. Marcus Aurelius did this by
writing down hundreds of memorable sayings, which formulate related Stoic
ideas in different ways, thereby immersing himself in contemplation of their
meaning. Some people find it extremely helpful just to relax and listen
contemplatively to some basic Stoic attitudes being described.

How to Use the Recording

Just press play on the embedded audio player below to listen to the recording
on your computer. We recommend that you use headphones for this. You can
also click the link below to download the Stoic Attitudes Meditation exercise
audio recording in MP3 format, so that you can play it back on your computer,
mobile device, or MP3 player.

Stoic Attitudes (Compressed).mp3

 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics

Download

[Link]
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Script: Stoic Attitudes Audio
[We've included the transcript from the recording as an optional extra for
those of you who want to read it. Otherwise, don't feel you need to read
through the whole thing.]

Take a moment to settle down and make yourself comfortable… either lying
down somewhere or just reclining in an armchair… Find a position where you
can be at ease and rest for a while without having to move around much… Lie
down with your legs straight and your arms by your sides, if possible, or sit
with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting on your lap… If you
wear glasses, you can take them off … Close your eyes and relax… Allow
yourself to enter a more contemplative or receptive frame of mind…

Notice the sensations in your body and any thoughts or images that pass
through your mind… Become a detached observer of these things for the time
being… If you notice any sensations in your body or hear any sounds from
around the room, or outside, that’s okay… Develop indifference toward
potential distractions, rather than trying to block them from your mind… Just
acknowledge whatever enters your awareness, shrug it off, and return your
attention gently to the process at hand… If you doze off, that’s fine too… for a
few minutes after awakening, just continue to imagine what it would feel like
to really adopt a more profoundly Stoic attitude toward life...

By listening to this recording, you’re going to give yourself an opportunity to

contemplate certain typical ideas from Stoic philosophy… We’d like you to use
it at least once per day, for a few weeks, so that you can really observe
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
the consequences of doing so… If these ideas are new to you, you can just
begin by contemplating them patiently in a detached manner, studying their
meaning… You can always choose what to accept and what to disregard from
this recording… However, if the words you’re listening to are consistent with
your own beliefs and values, you might want to try absorbing them more
deeply, by mentally-rehearsing these attitudes and ways of thinking…

If you like, imagine that with every inhalation of breath, you’re absorbing Stoic
values and beliefs more deeply into the core of your being... and with
every exhalation you’re allowing wisdom and virtue to spread through your
character and out toward the world around you, through your words and
actions… Imagine what it would be like to completely identify with the
attitudes being described… Ask yourself, what would it be like to really absorb
these attitudes, take them for granted, and live in accord with them? What sort
of person would you become if you accepted Stoic ideas and made them part
of your character? What would it feel like to really think about things this way?
Keep the Stoic goal in mind: you’re listening to every word with the intention
of improving your character and progressing toward wisdom and virtue...

Now let’s begin… In a moment, I’m going to start counting from ten, all the
way down to zero… Imagine that with each number I count you’re relaxing
more deeply into a comfortable posture and state of mind… becoming more
absorbed in this process and the ideas you’re now contemplating… If you’re
ready to absorb these attitudes more deeply you might want to imagine that
you’re now entering a progressively more open and receptive frame of mind…
Let go of everything else for the time being… relax… and allow your attention
to become totally absorbed in these words…

Now take a deep breath in… hold it… exhale slowly… relax... and let go
completely… Breathe naturally… Now on the count of ten… Let go and relax
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
more deeply… On the count of nine… Keep letting go and relaxing… On the
count of eight… Relaxing deeper and deeper… On the count of seven… More
and more relaxed… six… keep letting go… five… half-way there… four…
relaxing deeper and deeper and deeper… three… almost completely relaxed…
two… relaxing in your body and deep within your mind… one… letting go of
everything else… and zero… just let go… relax completely… and do nothing for
a while… give all of your attention to the words and ideas you’re hearing right
now… Allow yourself to relax into a positive frame of mind and to benefit from
what you’re doing...

Now listen carefully to these words and try to imagine what it would be like to
really hold some of these Stoic attitudes very deeply indeed…

Some things are under your direct control and other things are not… You’re
mindful of this distinction throughout the day, especially when faced with
challenging situations… Your priority is to do what’s up to you to the best of
your ability, with wisdom, integrity, and strength of mind. You calmly and
rationally accept that external events sometimes do not turn out as you may
have wished, and that some things are not under your control in life… The
most important thing in life is the quality of your own actions, that they should
be wise and good, healthy and praiseworthy in your own eyes… everything
else is of secondary importance...

Peace of mind comes from abandoning fears and desires about things outside
your control… It’s not things that upset us but our judgements about things,
especially irrational value-judgements... or placing too much importance on
external things beyond our direct control… You can rationally prefer that
things go one way or another, without demanding that they do so, and
becoming upset if they do not… You’re prepared to face either success or
failure, in external events, with equal calm and serenity… Difficult or
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
challenging situations don’t have to make you distressed. You remind yourself
of this daily, especially when faced with challenging situations: It’s not things
that upset us, but our judgement about things… Dwelling on unhealthy
feelings such as excessive anger increasingly seems pointless and unnecessary
to you. You can take a stand against things and assert
yourself without becoming upset...

You love the truth… You love wisdom, truth and understanding… and you seek
to grasp your own nature and that of the world around you… Virtue, or
strength of character, is grounded in practical wisdom, and knowledge of
what’s genuinely good, bad, or indifferent, in life. Your true values are
becoming clearer to you, and your actions more consistent with them… You
love virtue, excellence, and strength of character… You admire wisdom, justice,
courage and self-mastery in others... and seek, day by day, to cultivate these
virtues in your own life… You love to contemplate heroic, admirable and
praiseworthy individuals… Historical figures, fictional characters, and people
you’ve encountered in your own life… You pinpoint their good qualities, study
them, and seek to emulate their virtues appropriately in your character and
actions...

You view strength of character as both healthy and praiseworthy, and as the
basis of true fulfilment in life… A good person can have a good life even when
facing difficult circumstances. It’s your attitude toward life that determines
whether it is good or bad, whether you flourish or not as a human being.
Other people’s opinions are far less important to you than your own sense of
what’s wise or foolish, right or wrong… Health, wealth, and reputation may
sometimes be preferable in life but they’re not necessary to excel and flourish
as a human being - all you truly need is virtue and strength of character.
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
You dare to be wise... You dedicate each moment of the day to improving
yourself, to living wisely and in accord with your own true values and the
virtues you hold most dear. You don’t allow negative feelings to hold you back
but you act in accord with wisdom and your underlying values, even if it takes
you outside of your comfort zone, and requires patience, courage, endurance,
and self-discipline… You take pride in your ability to face adversity calmly and
rationally...

You love what’s best in yourself and others… You feel a growing sense of
affinity for your own true nature, as a rational and social being, and your place
within the world… You feel a natural affection toward the rest of mankind, and
a sense of being at one with the universe as a whole… You never lose sight of
your own and other people’s capacity for wisdom and virtue...

You live centred in the present moment… You’re constantly aware of the
transience of material things, including human life itself. You’re conscious of
your own mortality... and make the most of each day that’s given to you, as if
it were a sacred gift... The past is gone and the future is unknown. You focus
your attention where it belongs in the “here and now” and on the quality of
your voluntary thoughts and actions, as they shape your life.

You’re mindful of your thoughts, actions, and feelings… You pay attention to
your character, the type of person you’ve become, in any given situation…
When you notice the early-warning signs of distress, you respond by telling
yourself that your initial thoughts and feelings are merely impressions in the
mind, and not the things they claim to represent. You take a step back from
troubling thoughts and feelings… You view them calmly and rationally, from a
distance, almost as if they were the thoughts of another person. You consider
where they’re leading you and whether or not they’re contributing to genuine
happiness and fulfilment in life. Do they serve your fundamental values? How
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
would someone who truly lives with wisdom respond to the same situation?
Do your initial impressions upset you by placing too much importance on
external events?

You enjoy contemplating what the ideal Stoic or wise person would say or do
in the face of different challenging situations. You train your mind in
emotional resilience, by facing the full range of human catastrophes in your
imagination while your practice rising above them and viewing them serenely,
with detached indifference. You patiently wait for your feelings to settle down,
allowing you to reflect on things calmly and rationally and to consider how
best to respond in accord with your values.

You measure everything against your true goal in life… You’re always watchful
as to whether your thoughts and actions accord with your deeper values and
the character strengths or virtues you wish to develop… You’re gaining
enough serenity to accept the things you cannot change, courage to change
the things you can, and wisdom to know the difference between them. You
flourish by living wisely and in harmony with nature… the nature of the
universe as a whole… meeting with equanimity the events that befall you and
the people that you encounter in daily life… and cultivating your own true
nature as a rational and social being by making progress every day toward
wisdom and strength of character…

Now, just allow those thoughts to sink in for a moment longer, and continue
to imagine what it would mean to live in accord with Stoic attitudes and
behaviours… imagine becoming more and more Stoic every day and making
progress toward genuine wisdom and strength of character...

In a moment, I’m going to begin counting from one up to five… As I do so,

allow your attention to expand throughout your body and out into the room
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
around you, and the wider world, as you prepare to conclude the exercise…
You’re getting ready to take some of those ideas into the real world, and your
daily life… Taking them forward in your character and actions, and the way you
deal with people you meet and whatever events may befall you…

Beginning now, on the count of one… Expanding your awareness through your
whole body, into your fingers and toes… two… beginning to breathe a little bit
more deeply… three… getting ready to move and interact with the world
around you… four… starting to blink and open your eyes… five… opening your
eyes in your own time… take a deep breath and begin to move your arms and
legs… rub your eyes if you want and make yourself comfortable as you start to
move your body… Continue to be mindful of your thoughts, actions, and
feelings, as you gradually begin to engage once again with the world around
you...

Week 1: Knowledge Check

Quiz

You will need to log in to Teachable to do the quiz and test your
understanding of week 1!

What Next after Week One?

You’ve made it. You’ve finished the lesson for this week. Now it’s time to start
putting things into practice!

Remember, one of the most common mistakes people make is just to read
self-help material without testing it out in practice. The ancient Stoics
 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
constantly warn us against becoming lazy armchair philosophers. There’s no
better time to start changing things than right now. The Stoic gauntlet has
been thrown down before us. It’s up to us whether we choose to pick it up or
just stand and look at it. It’s time for you to start engaging with the material,
interacting with the rest of the community, and testing what you’ve been
reading out in practice – in the laboratory of your own experience.

Your first step should be to visit the Discussion area below, as soon as you’re
ready, and post your thoughts on the question for this week:

What do you think would be the pros and cons of living a life in which you
take excellence of character (Stoic “virtue”) to be the only thing that’s
intrinsically good?

As you read this, think it over, and type your responses… do it with
greater attention to the present moment and observe your own character,
attitude, and actions. What’s “up to you” about this training and what’s not?
What would it mean to approach the course itself with a more “philosophical”
attitude and to make use of it wisely?

Here’s a second question for you to consider, and discuss, if you want:

How do you think Stoicism might be adapted to suit our modern world-view
and way of life?

Go to the Discussion section on Teachable now and post your response. If

there’s anything whatsoever you could use help with, either technical stuff or
the course content, please don’t hesitate to contact the course facilitator.

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 Stoic Mindfulness & Resilience Training (SMRT)
Week One: Orientation & Basics
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