[Induction]

Make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, and allow yourself to pause for a wh
ile and become more mindful, self-aware, and centred in the present moment Take t
ime to settle down and get comfortable before we begin. Notice what's going on in
your body and mind, right now, in the present moment Your goal in this exercise
is to learn to face troubling situations patiently in your imagination, rehears
ing and strengthening a Stoic or philosophical attitude toward apparent adversitie
s You're going to do so longer and more carefully than normal to develop greater mi
ndfulness, or awareness of the role of your own thoughts and judgements viewing
them with calm, rational, detachment You're not trying to control or eliminate an
y of your feelings but simply to stay with them for a while, letting go of any s
truggle against them. You may find by doing this exercise that anger, anxiety or
other unpleasant feelings tend to reduce naturally over time, but that's not your
immediate purpose, and initially you may even find that you actually become mor
e conscious of uncomfortable feelings. Your goal in this exercise is simply to l
earn how to observe your own thoughts and separate them from external events
For now, with your eyes still closed, just be aware of what you're currently exper
iencing, from moment to moment, without evaluating it, analysing it, or interpre
ting it any further If your mind wanders, that's fine, just acknowledge the fact an
d bring your awareness patiently back to the exercise you're doing You're going to ch
oose a scene to picture throughout this exercise You can start by working through
a mildly upsetting event and then, in later sessions, progressively working on
more challenging ones So pick a situation to imagine yourself in, if you haven't al
ready Employing all of your senses, as if it's actually happening right now, and yo
u're seeing things through your own eyes Make it as realistic as possible and pay c
lose attention to the most upsetting parts of the scene rather than trying to av
oid them Turn it into a brief sequence of events, like a video clip, and imagine
going through it as realistically as possible Beginning middle and end Don't try to
change anything Just observe things in a detached way and allow yourself to accep
t and fully experience your internal reactions so that any novelty or surprise g
radually wears off and events begin to seem more and more familiar as you get us
ed to contemplating them
Keep imagining yourself in that situation, right now but throughout this exercis
e, also have the following advice from the ancient Stoics constantly in mind Peop
le are not upset by events but by their opinions about events, especially their v
alue-judgements Keep reminding yourself, as you picture that scene before you Th
ere are many alternative ways to view external events and so different people fe
el differently about them Your attitude toward events is the most important thin
g in life rather than the events themselves Keep guard constantly, therefore, ov
er your judgements and intentions, and watch them closely. When automatic thoug
hts or feelings cross your mind, you always have the freedom to suspend your res
ponse withholding your agreement from your initial impressions, rather than allo
wing yourself to be carried away by them so pause for a moment and observe your
thoughts Say to yourself in response to them: You are just an impression, a menta
l representation, and not at all the thing you claim to represent. Take a step b
ack from your initial impressions, rather than allowing yourself to be swept alo
ng by them Instead, silently examine whether they're about things that are up to yo
u, under your direct control, or not Remember that sovereign precept of Stoicism:
That only things that are up to us are intrinsically good or bad, and that bodily
and external things are indifferent with regard to our ultimate wellbeing neither
helping nor harming our character in themselves, but only through the use we mak
e of them
[Repeated Premeditation of Adversity]
You're going to review that whole sequence of events very patiently, a few more ti
mes, from beginning to end Start at the beginning right now going through things s
lowly and with mindfulness Remind yourself that it's not events that upset you but
your opinions about events, especially your value judgements So don't try to chang
e anything Instead, as you go through events, practice taking a step back from y
our thoughts and actively accepting your feelings as harmless and indifferent As
you continue to go through those events slowly, allow your mind to become more a
bsorbed in the scene, using your senses, as if it's happening right now Notice what
you see Notice any sounds you hear Notice what you're saying or doing, and how you
experience that Notice any thoughts, images, or associations that go through your
mind Notice your feelings and the sensations in your body Just allow yourself to
acknowledge each experience as it arises not trying to get rid of or change anyth
ing Patiently going through the whole event, using all of your senses, as if it's
happening right now Stay with your feelings for a while, as if you're creating a sp
ace around them, giving them the freedom to come and go naturally Now gradually d
raw the scene to a close in your mind, and rate the level of discomfort you felt
From 0-100% how distressing was it to imagine? Just make a mental note of that n
umber.
[Pause]
Okay, now patiently go through the whole experience once again from just before y
ou noticed the earliest signs through the peak or middle to the end, once the scen
e is over Remind yourself: it's not events that upset you but your opinions and val
ue-judgements about events Again, patiently watching your thoughts from a distan
ce while you radically accept your feelings Don't try to change anything; don't try to
stop anything from changing Just take your time Notice any sounds you hear Notice
what you're saying or doing, and how you experience that Notice any thoughts, image
s, or impressions that go through your mind Notice your feelings and the sensatio
ns in your body Just allow yourself to acknowledge each experience as it arises No
tice your automatic thoughts and feelings but don't allow yourself to be carried a
way by them, pause and take a step back from them instead Patiently going through
the whole event, using all of your senses, as if it's happening right now [Pause]
Now gradually draw the scene to a close Make a mental note of your how distressin
g it was this time, from 0-100%.
[Pause]
You will probably find it helpful to repeat this exercise daily, reviewing the s
ame situation in detail in your imagination, several times, and visualising thin
gs more vividly and for longer than you normally would You can use this time as a
n opportunity to practice both distancing from your thoughts and actively accept
ing your feelings It will often help if you carefully observe and note down what
effect the exercise has upon your problem, both immediately and over time As your
distress reduces, and you begin to feel more confident, you can also consider h
ow you might solve problems and cope differently with similar situations in the
future However, the most important thing for a Stoic is to calmly evaluate whethe
r the thoughts and feelings that you experience in response to apparent adversity
refer to things that are up to you or not. If they're about external things, the St
oic practice is to remind yourself that these are neither good nor bad, but ulti
mately indifferent with regard to your moral character and wellbeing. Over time
, begin to ask yourself how a perfectly wise and just person, with complete self
-control, would respond when faced with the same situation you're imagining. What
would the Stoic Sage do under these circumstances? Let that be your role-model
and guide in this and similar situations
[Emerging]
Now let go even of the scene you were imagining and gradually begin to expand you
r awareness throughout your whole body and into your current environment Continue
to be aware of your breathing and any internal experiences that you've been attend
ing to but, in addition, allow your awareness to begin spreading through the res
t of your body throughout the trunk of your body your arms your legs your neck and h
ead your hands your feet your face and eyes Become aware of your whole body as one
Now gradually spread your awareness out further beyond your body and into the en
vironment around you, where you are and what you're doing right now, in the real w
orld Continue to notice how you're using your body and mind as you slowly open your
eyelids and look around you As you finish the exercise and begin interacting wit
h the external world or other people, continue to be mindful of the way you're usi
ng your body and your mind and aware of how you relate to environment and any tas
ks at hand becoming more focused on the real world around you and the way you're in
teracting with life, right now, in the present moment, as you move forward into
action