Stoic Control Mastery: Anxiety Meditation

Train in the Stoic dichotomy of control with this meditation to slash anxiety and spark gratitude. Focus on internals vs. externals, using guided visualization to release worries and appreciate what's yours. Keywords: dichotomy of control, Stoic meditation, anxiety relief, gratitude practice, morning routine. Daily use builds resilience; link to my evening unwind.

Transcript

In this meditation we will be exploring one of the key perspectives in Stoic philosophy,

That is the dichotomy of control.

You can use this meditation as a way to deal with any kind of negative situation that is happening around you now and also as a sort of general training device to implement this perspective into lasting ordinary experience.

The Stoics believed that there are some things that are not up to us,

That we are not responsible for and likewise there are some things that are up to us and we are responsible for.

Epictetus listed our judgments,

Impulses,

Desires,

Aversions and mental faculties as things that are up to us.

In other words our internal world to a large degree is our responsibility.

We do have control over our goals,

Our intentions,

Our conscious decisions.

The things he listed as not being up to us would include our body,

So our health,

Material possessions,

The external world if you will and other people's opinion,

Which would include reputation,

Status,

Fame.

They recognized that if you are caught up in the uncontrollable externals in life,

No matter what you are in some sense a slave,

Because you can't control what other people think of you.

If your emotions are dependent on the external world,

You are enslaved to the external world.

But if you draw your state from within and focus your energy only on the things you can control,

Then you are free.

By practicing the system that I'm about to go through with you,

You can expect to rid yourself of hatred and resentment.

You can rest assured that everything you do will be chosen by you.

Your life will orient itself around the decisions and actions you make and everything else will lack the power to affect you and knock you off.

Many people think of resilience as this ability to endure,

But resilience is more closely related to valuing the right things.

To get the most out of this exercise I encourage you to practice this diligently,

Repeatedly,

Over and over and over again and try your best not to see it like a technique that you just do here and there,

But as a fundamental perspective shift that becomes permanent.

So let's get into the practice of this.

Sitting comfortably,

Close your eyes with an upright posture.

Drop your attention into your body.

Allow your mind to freely wander over the space around you.

Sounds,

Sensations,

Emotions,

Anything you can see behind your eyelids.

Just drop back into that open space of consciousness.

What I'd like you to do now is to locate a challenge or an obstacle.

Ideally this would be something that you are going through now or you think you might go through in the future and if you can't think of those then a past obstacle will also work.

Anything that caused you some distress or quote unquote negative emotion.

I'd like you to try and separate the source of this event from the impression you have of it.

The Stoics recognize that we don't actually have access to external reality,

Ultimate truth.

Everything we perceive arises within our own consciousness.

When we perceive the world we are really looking at our own mind's interpretation of it.

So with this in mind,

Try as best you can to separate the true source of the event from your impression of it.

How would this event look if it was uncoloured by a human emotional mind?

How would this event look if it was uncoloured by a human emotional mind?

How much were your own bias and history and trauma and expectations shaping this event?

As human beings of course we don't have perfect understanding of the world,

But we do have a sense of the world.

As human beings of course we don't have perfect clarity over any source of any event.

The main point of this stage of the exercise is simply to recognize that there is a difference between our impression and the source.

Now going back to this event,

Now that you've created some distance around this event,

Ask yourself the following question.

Is this something that is or is not in my control?

Let me ask you again,

Is this something that is or is not in my control?

Is this something that is or is not in my control?

We have control over our internal world,

Our goals,

Intentions,

Choices and actions.

We do not control other people,

We do not control the world,

We do not control material possessions or our body.

Ask yourself again,

Is this something that is or is not in my control?

I'm going to give you a minute just to think about that.

So so if you determine that there is something substantial in this event that is within your control,

Then you can write it down and think about a few things that you can implement to make a positive difference in your life.

If you determine that there are elements of this event that are not within your control,

Not within your direct control,

They are externals,

Then say the following sentence to yourself,

That is none of my concern.

That is none of my concern.

That is none of my concern.

That is none of my concern.

So imagine if you have some important appointment to attend to and as you're walking down the street you see an argument breaking out between two neighbours and they say to you,

Please get involved,

Help us settle this dispute.

You simply say,

I'm sorry,

That is none of my concern.

I'm only going to put my attention in this moment on the things that are important and valuable to me and you two can focus on that dispute.

That is none of my concern.

So to recap this exercise,

Whenever we are faced with a strong emotion in life,

We first of all recognise that the impression of that event is not the same as the source.

Stage two is to ask ourselves what in this event is within my control and what is not within my control.

When you have determined the answers to those questions,

If something is within your control,

You decide to direct your attention towards it.

You decide to do something to improve the situation.

If you decide that it's actually not within your control,

You use the mantra,

That is none of my concern.

By practising in this way repeatedly,

You will learn to experience life in real time with what the Stoics describe as the Stoic fork.

In other words,

You'll be able to draw a line down your perceptions and divide the world up into things that are up to you and things that are not up to you.

And when you get good at this,

Unnecessary psychological suffering will dramatically reduce and your productivity and your ability to focus on what's important dramatically increases.

This is an indispensable core exercise of Stoic philosophy.

Thank you for practising with me today.

This is the end of the meditation.

Reviews

Loved this, thank you

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked on my first try. I noticed "picking it up again" (the issue), but its influence on me faded with the repeated words, "That is none of my concern." Thank you.

Fantastic and perfect timing for me. Great to find the down to earth approach I was looking for 😃

Thank you so much, Jon. Your sessions are very helpful in my recovery 🌼

Excellent practical method thanks mate

Thank you for the way you present stoic fundamentals ! Useful to me ✨

Very good exercise, thank you!

This was a great practice. I benefited a lot from it. It helped me to put this stoic concept into action. Thank you!

Awesome exercise. It really brought perspective to the things I allow into my mind.

Very interesting and helpful. Thanks!

Brilliant!

Excellent. I really appreciate the time you've put into these. They go great with my reading of The Daily Stoic. I'm hoping you continue adding to your playlist. 👍👍

“That is none of my concern,” is a helpful reminder central to this practice. Don’t worry yourself with things beyond your control. How true this rings right now with everything going on in the world. Good narration that drives the practice and a new take on mindfulness and self-care based on the timeless virtues of Stoicism.

Excellent information but more of a talk than a guided meditation.

Excellent. Thank you.

Very insightful, thank you!! 🙏🏻😊

Brilliant, 'is this something that is or is not in my control?'
I am able to give up control...
Thank you 😌