Science of the SpiritS


Caesar

Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius - timeless stoic philosophy that is essential to the human spirit

Maria Popova
Brainpickings
Mon, 21 Nov 2016 00:19 UTC
Epictetus
The stoic Epictetus
Few words have been more corrupted by appropriation and misuse than the modern derivative of the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. Today, stoic is a word rendered vacant of the original quest for enlivenment that animated Stoic philosophy, instead warped to connote the very opposite — a kind of unfeeling forbearance that borders on pursed-lipped resignation. But two millennia ago, Stoicism emerged as a life-affirming platform for being — a kind of supervitamin for the soul, fortifying the human spirit against the trials of daily life, against the onslaught of the world, and, above all, against its own foibles. At its heart was the idea that the four cardinal virtues of courage, justice, wisdom, and self-control are the seedbed of human flourishing, and that all of our suffering arises from our perception and interpretation of events, rather than the events themselves — an idea that has as much in common with Buddhism as it does with Bertrand Russell.

Stoicism's wide appeal and application is reflected in the diversity of its originators and early proponents — a Roman emperor and military leader, a celebrated playwright, a former slave who freed and sculpted himself into a prominent lecturer, a successful merchant, and a former boxer who put himself through school by working as a water carrier. Over the millennia, Stoicism has continued to influence minds as varied as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Martha Nussbaum, and Tim Ferriss. Today, the Stoics' wisdom is as valid and empowering as ever — Marcus Aurelius's advice on how to begin each day is a potent recipe for sanity in the modern world; Seneca's meditation on how to stretch life's shortness by living wide rather than long remains the greatest consolation for the fact of our finitude, and his advice on the mightiest antidote to fear continues to fortify the spirit; Epictetus's notion of self-scrutiny applied with kindness is perhaps the best attitude we can cultivate toward ourselves and the surest strategy for true growth.
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Arrow Up

How facing your fear and self-doubts can change your life

Mark Sisson
Mark's Daily Apple
Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
possible vs impossible
In yesterday's post, "My 7 Favorite Practices for Engineering the Good Life," I included a curveball of sorts—right at the end. Chase down fear.

While all seven have been game changers, that one claims the pinnacle. The fact is, it's the hardest one to embrace time and again, but it's never ceased to move my life forward in very clear, tangible ways. Still, every time I have to talk myself through the same process.... How can I possibly take on something this substantial? What am I thinking? That one's just too big, too complicated, too ambitious. This time, surely, you've overstretched, Sisson.

But in that moment I remind myself that those feelings don't drive the bus for me. They won't be the ones doing the work to make a vision happen (they never are). A stronger, bolder, more adept self-concept will be leading the charge. Because that's what formidable challenges call for. If I want something big, resisting fear will keep me from it every time. If, on the other hand, I can bluntly tell fear, "You've met your match," suddenly the game looks much different.

Comment: Ultimately we're faced with a choice in situations where we believe we aren't good enough, can't succeed, don't believe we should succeed, or any other negative self talk: believe it and never try, fulfilling the self-fulfilling prophecy in the process, or step into the unknown and see where it leads.

If you want to change your reality, then the only way to do so is to face the fear and make the choice to go into the unknown anyway and to see what comes of it.

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People

Do smarter people need more time alone? Study says yes

Jessica Brown
Indy 100
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 18:44 UTC
person walking
There's no fighting it - humans are innately social creatures. But while it's widely accepted that socialising makes us happier, this might not be strictly true if you're highly intelligent.

Evolutionary psychologists from Singapore Management University and the London School of Economics and Political Science found exactly this when they studied more than 15,000 young adults.

They concluded that, while people generally feel happier when they spend time with others, very smart people are an exception to this rule.

The study said this could be because of evolution.

Smarter people can more easily adapt to their surroundings in the modern world, so they don't need close relationships to help them with food and shelter, like our ancestors did. Or, in the modern equivalent, the Wi-Fi password and a spare phone charger.

Comment: Lost, damaged, disordered and confused people digging their own psychological and emotional graves, legitimate social phenomenon or just bad research?

Surprising find: Smart people tend to be loners

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Pocket Knife

The writing assignment that changes lives

Anya Kamenetz
NPR
Sat, 19 Nov 2016 18:02 UTC
hands writing
© LA Johnson/NPR
Why do you do what you do? What is the engine that keeps you up late at night or gets you going in the morning? Where is your happy place? What stands between you and your ultimate dream?

Heavy questions. One researcher believes that writing down the answers can be decisive for students.

Comment:

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People 2

When it comes to gratitude, experiences trump materialism

Josh Richardson
Prevent Disease
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 16:51 UTC
gratitude
Feeling gratitude leads to important health benefits and it is both a state of mind and perspective. It leads to increased happiness and social cohesion, better health outcomes, and even improved sleep quality. However, one person's idea of expressing gratitude may completely contradict another, and while some people perceive they will be more grateful from the purchase of an antique sofa rather than a vacation, new research shows one truly outweighs the other on the gratitude scale.

There is growing support that money spent on experiential items increases an individual's happiness. However, there has been minimal research on the causes and long-term consequences of the tendency to make experiential purchases.

New research shows that we feel more gratitude for what we've done than for what we have -- and more importantly, that kind of gratitude results in more generous behavior toward others.

"Think about how you feel when you come home from buying something new," explains Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell Universty and co-author the new study published online in a recent issue of the journal Emotion.

Comment: More on gratitude:

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Candle

The gifts of grief: How sorrow can be a catalyst for growth

Edwina Shaw
Upliftconnect.com
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:59 UTC
grief
Not long after my infant son died of a neonatal heart defect, my wise friend Suzi told me - "You have to give thanks."

"I do," I said. "I practice gratitude all the time."

"No," she said. "You have to give thanks your baby died."

I felt like slapping her. What a stupid thing to say to someone who'd recently lost a child.

"Not just him, your father and brother's deaths too."

I was furious. But you know what? She was right.

It was hard. I won't pretend anything else. My mind scrambled for ways to be thankful. I could be grateful my father died at 42 because it relieved him of the pain he'd endured during his long battle with cancer. I was thankful that my brother's suicide at 20 finally ended the unendurable suffering his schizophrenia caused him. Death was an end to suffering — that I was grateful for. I could give thanks I had them with me for the time I did, that my father was a good man, my brother - a fun companion. But my baby? How could I be thankful he wasn't given a chance at life? How can people be grateful for the violent deaths of people they love?
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Light Saber

Face everything technique: How not to be an avoidance machine

Leo Babauta
Zen Habits
Mon, 16 May 2016 00:16 UTC
procrastination
We are, all of us, amazing at avoiding things.

Our minds are less "thinking machines" than they are "avoiding machines." And the incredible thing is that we aren't even usually aware that we're avoiding thinking about something.

I'll give you a few examples:
  • Right now you're reading this article but probably avoiding the difficult thing you don't want to think about.
  • We are constantly checking messages, news, feeds, notifications ... to avoid doing something we don't want to face.
  • When we're facing difficulties in life, we try to tell ourselves that's it's OK because (fill in the blank), or get busy with some activity or numbing agent (like alcohol) so we don't have to face the difficulties.
  • When a problem comes up, our reaction is to want to go do something else, put it off.
  • We put off paying bills, doing taxes, dealing with long emails, dealing with clutter, because we don't want to face these difficulties.
  • We put off exercise because it's uncomfortable.
In fact, there are thousands more examples, every day, that come up and that we don't even notice, because our minds switch to thinking about something else.

Try this right now: pause for a minute and think about what difficulty you're avoiding thinking about right now.

Comment: Further reading:

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Butterfly

The key to emotional control: Flexibility in situations you cannot control


Psyblog
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 19:37 UTC
emotions emociones
The key to healthy emotional control is to be flexible, new research finds.

People with lower levels of depression and anxiety tend to vary their emotional control strategy successfully depending on whether the situation can be explained.

Dr Peter Koval, one of the study's authors, said:
"Our results caution against a 'one strategy fits all' approach, which may be tempting to recommend based on many previous findings regarding reappraisal as a strategy for regulating emotion.

Simply using any given emotion regulation strategy more (or less) in all situations may not lead to the best outcomes — instead, contextually-appropriate emotion regulation may be healthier."
For the research, people were tracked over a week.

Comment: Good advice for all the precious snowflakes angsting over the recent election!

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Attention

Americans take note: Your post-election 'breakup' trauma is affecting your children

Natasha Daniels
PsychCentral
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
parents fighting affects child
Dear America,

I wanted to send this letter home because I am concerned about your kids. I know you are currently going through a breakup. It sounds like a particularly nasty split. You guys have been talking really poorly about each other. Spewing words of hate and oozing it onto your kids.

I know breakups are hard and you are having some pretty intense emotions right now, but I thought I would let you know that your kids are being affected.

As a child therapist, my week is normally spent helping kids navigate through their social life, their emotions and their kid worries. This week I had to spend too much time talking about you. I thought I should let you know that your breakup is destroying the kids.

I am hearing stories of hate. Your hate. Kids who were pure love until you filled them to the brim with your anger - your fears. I know this is a rough time for you. I get it. But your kids are suffering.

This week I listened as your kids told me their stories of woe. Woes you created as you spewed out hate over the dinner table.

Kids who were once best friends, no longer talking because they are taking sides - your sides. Kids being taunted on the playground because their beliefs are no longer respected. All sides are guilty. All beliefs are being attacked.
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Hearts

Breathing: The most powerful exercise to rejuvenate mind and body

Shems Heartwell
Prevent Disease
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:01 UTC
méditation
The way you breathe is the way you live. Breathing is absolutely essential to life, but it's often overlooked as a necessity for good health. Full, free breathing is one of the most powerful keys to enhancing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

Breathing fully and freely is our birthright. If you watch a baby breathe, you will see the beauty and simplicity of flow in the body. With each inhale, the baby's belly fills with air like a balloon, the pelvis rocks, the legs open, the chest rises and then falls, like swells across the ocean. This is natural, oceanic full-body breathing. It is the way we were meant to breathe.

Breathing effortlessly, a baby lives fully and freely in the now, in the expansiveness of the moment. There is no past to remember, no future to plan for or worry about. Each breath is a process of receiving from the universe and giving back to it. With each inhale, she receives and takes life in. With each exhale, she lets go and gives back. She is in touch with and part of the essential rhythm of life.

"Full, free breathing is one of the most powerful keys to enhancing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing."

The baby doesn't know or do this consciously, but simply experiences an inherent peace, joy, and connectedness with all things. Of course, a baby will also experience needs and be heavily influenced by the environment that she is in. She will have emotional outbursts or cries for attention, but what is important to notice is how easily a baby will settle back into a relaxed state of calm and peace. Much like animals, children have a great capacity for resilience. In one moment they may be screaming and then after a brief reassuring glance or embrace, settle back into a deep peace and calm.

Comment: For more on a breath-focused, stress-relieving meditation technique try Éiriú Eolas for free.

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