You're face-to-face with an obstacle. This exercise helps you "convert" that obstacle into "the way." As Marcus Aurelius writes in Book V of his Meditations, "Our actions may be impeded . . . but t...

In his "Discourses", Epictetus writes, "What would become of Hercules if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar, and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the abs...

Pain is information for us to help us learn where we can grow. In his essay "On Providence", Seneca writes, "You have asked me, Lucilus, why, if a Providence rules the world, it still happens that ...

One of Marcus Aurelius' most common exercise themes is the question of how to work with aggressive or difficult people. His meditations are filled with sentences like, "If he did wrong, the harm is...

"Seneca's Anger Explorer" is an exercise to explore our anger, and this exercise, "Seneca's Cure for Anger", is aimed at healing it. This exercise also includes a question from Marcus Aurelius as h...

Marcus Aurelius begins his Meditations with the words, "From my grandfather Verus: decency and mild temper..." (I, i). In this, the first and longest passage, Marcus Aurelius creates a list or "ind...

This exercise challenges you to see how both your hero and you yourself have risen to face challenging experiences in the past. Seneca writes, "Call to mind things which you have done that have bee...

All the time, we fail to practice the four Stoic virtues. What does that mean? What should we do next? Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations V.9: "Do not give up in disgust or impatience if you do ...

The oldest metaphor in the history of philosophy is the philosopher as a doctor for the mind and philosophy as a medicine for the soul. Martha Nussbaum, the great American scholar of the ancient sc...

Seneca considers anger the most dangerous passion and the one that is most important to learn, through philosophical practice, to ameliorate. He dedicates his play "Medea" to an exploration of a my...

In Book IV of his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius writes as an exercise for himself, "Does what's happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humil...

The French historian of philosophy Pierre Hadot describes the Stoic understanding of external fortune using Nietzsche's phrase "Amor Fati" - or "the love of fate." The Stoics ask the question, "wha...

Epictetus's three questions are a great exercise to perform at the close of a day, or as a daily evening exercise. But this exercise can also be helpful at any time of day to invite a Stoic philoso...

The Stoic philosophers borrowed happily from the exercises practiced by other schools of philosophy in the ancient world. One such school was the Skeptics, founded by Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus. T...

In his essay "On Anger", Seneca offers a description of a nightly exercise from the Skeptic philosopher Sextius. He writes, "That is what Sextius used to do: at the close of the day, when he retire...

One of Marcus Aurelius' most frequent exercise-practices is a reflection on the puniness of mortal indignations, vexations and frustrations in the light of the insane scope of the cosmos and infini...

Marcus Aurelius writes, "On the occasion of everything that causes you sadness, remember to use this 'dogma': not only is this not a misfortune, but it is a piece of good fortune for you to bear up...

At the end of his work the Enchridion, Epictetus asks the question, "What is up to us, what is not up to us?" In Greek, "Ta eph’hemin, ta ouk eph’hemin". Apply this simple question to the situation...