What Is Mindfulness? An Introduction & 3 Essential Practices
“Mindfulness isn’t difficult,” writes Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness: The Power of Attention, “we just need to remember to do it.” Both statements are true. Mindfulness isn’t difficult. And we need to remember to do it. We need to remember to practice...
How To Practice Stoicism: An Introduction & 12 Stoic Practices
Stoicism is misunderstood. Unlike a common usage of the word ‘stoic’, Stoicism is not an emotionless, white-knuckled bearing of hardships. So, what is Stoicism? How can you practice Stoicism in daily life? Stoicism is not just a philosophy. It’s an experiential...
How To Breathe With Intention To Reduce Stress
It sounds funny to talk about ‘discovering breathing’ since we have all done it from the moment of birth. But breathing is like dreaming. It yields its spiritual treasure only when we practice the unnatural discipline of bringing into consciousness what has normally remained unconscious. The beauty of experimenting with intentional breathing is that it requires no belief, no faith, no dogma, no authority…
Your Core Values: Turning Good Intentions Into Good Results
There is no inertia or silent study with the Stoic virtue of Wisdom. The Stoics taught that Wisdom is about knowing things so that we can do the right things. What good is virtue at all if we’re stuck at home with it? What good is it to have silent, inactive values...
Non-Attachment: Breaking The Four Categories Of Attachment – Part 2
The following is part two of a two-part piece on the four categories of attachment and how we can begin to foster non-attachment to alleviate suffering. Click here to read part one. The third of the four categories of attachment: opinions and views The world is in a...
Life Untethered: Breaking The Four Categories Of Attachment – Part 1
The phrase ‘if you love something, set it free’ is used almost exclusively by the speaker to refer to another person. But why don’t we use this phrase on ourselves? We don’t usually think of setting ourselves free, probably because we don’t perceive ourselves as being...
Why The Name ‘The Mindful Stoic’? Finding Balance
I’ve been asked a few times why I named this blog The Mindful Stoic. When I first started the blog, my answer to this question was not well formulated. Back then, I knew that mindfulness was a life-changing practice because practicing it had changed my life. I...
Premeditatio Malorum: A Practice For Resilience
Our lives are controlled by external factors. When we fail to anticipate this, we suffer. The ancient Stoics were acutely aware of this. In fact, they developed an epithet for practitioners of Stoicism to keep at arm’s length to remember this crucially important...
Watering Roots, Not Leaves: Cultivating Compassion Effectively
In 1968, James Forest was traveling through the Midwestern United States with the late Buddhist monk and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh. They were thousands of miles from the napalm and Agent Orange that was raining down on Nhat Hanh’s native Vietnam. One evening,...
8 Ways To Be Humble And Confident
“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” This quote comes to us from the legendary Muhammad Ali. It’s not hard to find other quotes of his just like this—oozing with in-your-face, unapologetic confidence and swagger. This conspicuous confidence serves...
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