Stoic Mindfulness: Live in the Moment with Stoicism

Stoicism is a practical philosophy that offers a logical framework for thought. The philosophy builds largely on focusing on what you can control and living with virtue.

However, Stoicism cannot benefit anyone who isn’t aware of their unconscious thoughts. We make decisions all day. It requires awareness of our thought patterns to make Stoic decisions. And when we make Stoic decisions, we are rewarded with mental clarity.

Because Stoic thoughts and actions are not the default for most people, becoming Stoic often requires an entire rewiring of the mindset. This is where a proper mindfulness practice like meditation comes in.

In this post, we’ll discuss how you can start practicing Stoicism regularly enough to start thinking like a Stoic by default. But before you can become Stoic, you must first be mindful.

We’ll start with a brief introduction to mindfulness before diving into Stoic mindfulness and reflection exercises. This is the quickest path to becoming a Modern Stoic.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a state of mind, where we are fully aware of our thoughts and feelings. If we had to choose a synonym for “mindfulness”, this would most likely be “awareness”.

Our “monkey minds” are often chattering away, distracting us from rational thought. The monkey mind worries us when we fear the future and upsets us when something “bad” or unexpected occurs. With mindfulness we learn to take a step back and understand that we have control over our thoughts and judgments.

Meditation is a form of mental exercise where we help the mind stop fixating on irrelevant chatter. Classic mindfulness meditation focuses on the breath to disconnect from the monkey mind. This simple practice provides a host of benefits related to mental health and well-being.

Mindfulness Exercises

Buddhism offers several meditation practices to learn to become mindful of your thoughts. This concept is known as cognitive distance and is routinely used in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Learning to differentiate your automatic “monkey mind” thoughts and feelings from your conscious thoughts will help you become less reactive to whatever life may throw at you.

Regular practice with the following exercise can help us distance ourselves from our automatic thought patterns. That is the ultimate goal of mindfulness.

Leaves on a Stream Exercise

Close your eyes and sit comfortably. Take a moment to relax and settle down. Then, begin by observing your stream of consciousness (thoughts that appear in your mind).
Picture a slowly-flowing stream or river. Imagine a few leaves falling into the river, slowly being swept past you along with the current. Imagine you’re observing things from a distance, whether high up on a bridge or a cliff above. You can keep bringing your attention back to this place.
Your attention will wander from time to time, and various thoughts and feelings will pop into your mind. Rather than interpreting these as distractions and struggling to prevent them, just accept your automatic thoughts as normal and harmless. You should try to view them with “indifference” and use them in the rest of the exercise.
When a new thought appears, or your mind wanders, just catch yourself as early as possible. Rather than allow your attention to follow the content of the thought, gently bring your attention back to the river.
Next, turn the thought into an object. For example, if words cross your mind, imagine they’re written down on a piece of paper; if a memory or image pops into your mind, turn it into a photo; if a feeling or sensation grabs your attention, picture it as a colour or shape.
Now place that object on one of the leaves on the river, and just let go of it. Allow the object on the leaf to drift naturally downstream, until it eventually disappears from your view.
Keep catching your automatic thoughts and impressions early, turning them into objects, putting them on leaves and letting them flow out of sight. Even if the same thoughts or feelings keep popping up, just keep following the same practice.

Stoicism & Mindfulness

‘Prosochē’ is the ability to apply the key concepts of Stoicism to everyday situations through the practice of attention.

Easier said than done, developing a focused mind is the Stoic method to living with virtue and focusing on what we can control. The Stoic To Do List is a simple concept to help us focus on what we can control.

Developing mindfulness helps us achieve these goals, which are the two key principles of Stoicism. We cannot allow ourselves to become upset by things outside our control. After all, life should be challenging. We need to be able to manage our expectations.

Stoics distance themselves from good/bad judgments and only expect the world to be as it is. Accepting anything that might happen is the true power of this philosophical practice. We should not be upset by something outside our control. Instead, we should focus on what we can control in the moment – our voluntary actions, thoughts and judgments.

As it’s more impactful to learn by doing, the following exercise is a gateway to understanding Stoic mindfulness practice.

Why should I meditate like a Stoic?

When most people think about meditation, they draw instant connections with Buddhism, Hinduism and other ancient Eastern philosophies. However, meditation also developed in other regions of the world – most notably in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics were a group of philosophers in this region who valued meditation highly.

Stoic mindfulness differs slightly from Buddhist mindfulness, as it takes a more cerebral approach. It’s important to start with a foundational mindfulness practice, such as the Leaves on the Stream exercise above, to learn to recognise unconscious thoughts.

The Stoics believed that we must take time alone to reflect. Stoics believed that it is within each of our own control to live a happy and fulfilling life. And therefore, it is our duty to do so.

My personal takeaways

I have had three profound experiences with Stoicism that have helped me stick with the practice.

First, I began to understand that happiness is a mindset we are all able to achieve. We can control our thoughts and actions, but many things are still outside our control that we should learn to embrace. This is the concept of Amor Fati.

I’ve also begun to value treating others with kindness in a new way. After all, all humans are parts of the same whole. This understanding came largely from reflecting on Marcus Aurelius’s personal meditations that we are all connected and part of the same universe.

Whether the universe is a concourse of atoms, or nature is a system, let this first be established: that I am a part of the whole that is governed by nature; next, that I stand in some intimate connection with other kindred parts.
Marcus Aurelius

I’ve also learned to understand that life should be difficult. We should have great ambitions and not quiver in fear. Any perceived setback is just an opportunity.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Marcus Aurelius

In this sense, The Obstacle is the Way.

We can all become the best version of ourselves, what the Stoics called our inner Daimon, through Stoic meditation.

How can I be mindful like a Stoic?

Much like the Leaves on a Stream exercise, we can use Stoic mindfulness to detach from our negative thoughts. The Stoics thought of any negative thoughts as those that cause overwhelming emotions, such as intense anxiety, anger or fear.

Similarly to mindfulness meditation helps you become less reactive, Stoic meditation focuses on separating your thoughts from your ego. The goal is to take things that happen to you less personally and to see them as they truly are.

While mindfulness meditation can be helpful, Stoicism offers a complete framework for reflection to overcome our negative thoughts.

Stoic reflection exercises

As Stoics, we meditate to understand how our unconscious and automatic thought patterns may be essentially misled and destructive.

We’ve previously discussed focusing on what you can control and living with virtue. These are great things to contemplate during Stoic meditation. Many Stoics had a morning and evening routine to plan and reflect each day.

Unlike animals who escape danger and return to anxiety-free lives, humans often worry about things long gone or yet to come. Ask yourself: “In this very moment, here and now, what is so unbearable?”

Looking at a moment in isolation may help us calm our minds, as we focus on what we can actually control in the moment. Marcus Aurelius once wrote that in any moment you will only ever need:

Certainty of your judgment
Acceptance of external events
Action for the common good, following our deepest values

In the next section are some meditation exercises you can try out to practice Stoicism. Practicing Stoicism with these mindful activities helps us instil Stoic mindsets in the real world.

This mindful breathing technique may come in handy during these exercises.

Exercise: Separate Events from Value Judgments

As mentioned, we should learn to focus on what we can control. In a similar sense, we must understand that most things in life are not good or bad. Events are “neutral” and it is our value judgments that cause us to think that they are good or bad.

Start this exercise by thinking of events that you consider bad. This can really involve anything from getting fired or dumped to falling ill.

The first thing to do with upsetting events is to tell yourself that it’s not things that upset us but our judgments about things. As one of Epictetus’s favourite sayings, ancient Stoic students were told to always have this maxim “ready-to-hand”.

By understanding that our actions and judgments are the only things that are truly good or bad, we can learn to cope with adversity. Therefore, repeat it to yourself resolve any anxious or stressful moments.

Exercise: The view from above

The next exercise is called the view from above and aims to understand our place in the universe. It becomes easier to be detached from the things that happen to us with this contemplative exercise.

The exercise can take many forms, though you can start this exercise today in two parts:

Think about the universe in its entirety, e.g. stars and planets expanding throughout the cosmos.
Think of the sun rising, and imagine everything it reaches on Earth.

In comparison with the cosmos and everything on Earth, our day-to-day activities are not so large. As long as we live every day virtuously, we are doing all we can.

When we feel overwhelming negative emotions it is often because we have a sort of tunnel vision. Sometimes, the smallest setback can cause the greatest stress. Because the inside of our own minds is the only thing we ever experience, a minor detail can feel like the entire world.

When we think cosmologically, we learn that things are not actually as pivotal for our happiness as we may think.

Exercise: Contemplation of the Stoic Sage

While the View from Above puts our lives into perspective, the Contemplation of the Stoic Sage exercise helps us understand our values and how to live virtuously.

This exercise revolves around our understanding of the Stoic philosophy. Learn more about Stoicism if you’re unsure what a Stoic Sage might be like.

Begin by reflecting on any significant thoughts in your mind.
Ask yourself what the perfect Stoic would do in this situation. For example, would the Sage take a detached approach, focusing on what they can control and disregard any thoughts outside their sphere of influence? (Hint: Probably.)
Over the longer term, we can aim to become more like the Stoic Sage by imitating their decisions.

This exercise helps direct ourselves to becoming the best version of ourselves.

Stoic Mindfulness in a Nutshell

The exercises above are some of the ways we can reflect on our lives through Stoic mindfulness. They are particularly useful in adopting a more Stoic approach to life.

We learn to take a more rational approach to our thoughts, actions and lives in general through contemplative reflection. Ultimately, Stoicism revolves around putting theory to practice; this all starts with the mindset that we can develop through reflection and Stoic mindfulness.

By reviewing our thoughts with a few Stoic exercises and maxims, we can live our best lives.

Stoicism comes down to mindfulness and behavioural change – Mind and Practice.