A New Stoic Meditation | The Virtue Of Humility

This meditation begins with some simple mindfulness to quiet the mind and become centered. After this, we shift our attention toward the principle of humility and how we can implement it in our daily lives.

Transcript

Okay, Welcome to your daily stoic meditation. This meditation will begin with some simple mindfulness and then we're going to transition to conscious reflection on the principle of humility. We'll be going off of some writings by Marcus Aurelius and we'll be sort of working our way into that. But let's begin by arriving all at once. You can close your eyes. You can begin by focusing on your breathing. You might notice the sensation of the rising and the falling of your chest. As you begin to become a little more aware of the sensation of breathing, We might make a decision to turn over all of the things that tempt to pull us out of the meditation. Things that happened earlier today, Things that might be happening later today. Racing thoughts about things you need to do. That's all fine. But for now, Let's just make a decision to postpone worrying. Agonizing over whatever it is. Now, As you become more aware of the sensation of breathing. You might notice that your inhalation naturally becomes a little deeper. A little fuller as you. Commit to the practice for today. Letting the in-breath become deeper and fuller. Until you feel comfortably full. And then letting the out-breath sort of tumble out of you. However at once. We use the breath as an anchor to the practice. You might also. As you continue to breathe. You might take notice of any sounds you hear around you. Obviously, You hear my voice. What else do you hear? Are there birds outside? Are there noises coming from the kitchen? Is the TV playing in the background? Whatever it is. Notice the organic. Collision. Of the noises arising in the environment with. Your perception. Notice the sounds coming and going. Now that we've. Sort of become mindful of. Slowing down our breathing. Noticing the sounds around us. Now that we've noticed that. We might shift our attention to. The quality of our mind. Quality of our thoughts. How are you? Are you? Restless. Are you anxious? Do you feel serene? Peaceful. Angry. Tired. Any of the emotions or. Thoughts that are coming up inside of you. Just notice the weather pattern there. Is it sunny? Is it storming? Is it overcast? Maybe a little combination of all of the above. Becoming a witness. An observer. To the weather patterns inside of you. What do you feel? How do you feel? Oftentimes we can. Be. Dragged around. By emotions and. Thoughts and feelings that. If we're not careful, They're operating under the surface. We're not quite conscious of them. Although they. Can dictate our behavior. The way we interact with other people. The way we interact with ourself. So just clearing a space here. For a simple practice of. Checking in observing it. And now that we've. Hopefully. Arrived. We've checked in with our breathing. We've checked in with. Sounds coming up around us. And we've checked in with. The emotional. Psychological. Weather inside of us. Now that we've. Checked in with these three anchor points. We might turn our thoughts. To the stoic. Principle of humility. There's a line from Marcus Aurelius's meditations and. Book 6 verse 21. It says. If anyone can refute me. And show me that I am making a mistake. Or looking at things the wrong way. I will gladly change. For it is the truth that I see. Seek. And the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us? Is to persist. In self-deceit. And ignorance. What Marcus appears to be referring to in this line. He's pointing out that. Often humility can be the difference. Between a life of pain and futility. And a life of wisdom. What does he mean by that? Well. We might. Begin by. Shifting our attention to. The question of. Where am I? Refusing. To acknowledge. My errors. My shortcomings. In my. Daily life. Again. Where am I refusing to acknowledge my errors. Or my shortcomings. In my daily life. Let that question. Settle into your mind. You might notice that. The answer to this question will often come from. Our closest relationships. Our wives. Our husbands. Our kids. Our boss. Our parents. Sometimes they. Are a mirror. For us. To teach us. Where we could be doing better. And when we're lacking in humility. We can. Deflect and deny. Rather than. Graciously absorbing the blow. Of the difficult truths that they're mirroring back to us. I know for me. Sometimes. My partner mirrors things back to me that. Ways I'm falling short ways that I could. Be a better partner. In my thoughts. My first impulse. Is to reject that feedback. I don't want to know. Over the years I've learned that. That knee-jerk rejection of feedback from a loved one. Prevents me from. Quite literally becoming a better man. What does that look like for you? Not to be clear. As you. Breathe into this question this reflection. This is not an opportunity. To denigrate ourselves to beat ourselves up. This is a softening. Softening into this question. Where am I ashamed of? Needing help. Where am I ashamed of? Needing help. Or. Accepting feedback from others. I know for me for a long time. I thought that. Not needing help was somehow courageous. I was sorely mistaken. And looking back I can see that. The refusal to. Ask for help or integrate feedback from others. Was quite literally the opposite of courageous. It was. Fear. I was afraid. I didn't want to know. Really wanted to bury my head in the sand. As you continue to breathe into these questions to reflect on these questions. You might notice a resistance coming up inside of you. You might notice the impulse to. Brush something aside that's coming up as a example in your mind. In your life. Let's just be. A witness. To. That resistance. I'm just noticing that if it's happening. Now. As we wrap this up. Towards the end of our reflection here. We might ask ourselves. What is one thing? I can do today. To move towards. The courage of humility. What's one thing? For me. One thing that comes up is. The courage to. Tell my partner. When I. Am afraid of something. When I need help with something. When I'm feeling emotions, I'm afraid of. That doesn't mean. Dumping all of my problems on my partner. It just means. Being. A congruent person. Or an authentic person. What does that look like for you? Okay. We'll finish this. Reflection. With another line from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. This is from book seven. Don't be ashamed of needing help. You have a duty to fulfill just like a soldier on the wall of battle. So what do you do if you are injured and can't climb up without another soldier's help? Okay. Thanks for stopping by. I hope this. Brought some clarity to your day. And I hope it helped. Maybe reorient you to the principle of humility. Maybe a more mature. Sense of what humility means. Okay. Thanks for stopping by. See you next time.