The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

By Jon BrooksSociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health Education Self-Improvement Philosophy

The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks episodes

December 10, 2021 A Stoic Wake-Up Call For Procrastination
This guided reflection is meant to make you slightly uncomfortable. You will sit with the questions procrastination helps you avoid: Am I using my time well? Am I making excuses and calling them reasons? What would I do next if I stopped waiting to feel ready? I leave space for the questions to land. The discomfort is part of the practice. Use it when you know what needs doing and still cannot get yourself to begin.
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The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
18 min
December 02, 2021 Stoic Insult Training: Practise Staying Calm Under Verbal Attack
An insult only stings if you let it through. The Stoics had specific methods for taking the heat out of it, and in this one we do not just discuss them, we drill them.
I walk through how the ancients handled verbal jabs, then run an audio simulation where I insult you and you practise meeting each one with a steadier frame. It feels odd at first, maybe even funny, but that is how skills get built. You rehearse them in low stakes so they are there when someone has a go at you in real life.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
8 min
November 25, 2021 Stoic Negative Visualisation For Gratitude And Resilience
This is a guided meditation in the Stoic practice of premeditation of adversity. You will spend time imagining how much harder your life could be, and in doing so you will start to see how much you already have.
It also lets you rehearse meeting hardship calmly, before it ever arrives. A gentle note: the imagery here is vivid and some may find it upsetting. If you are sensitive to that, sit with the other meditations first and come to this one when you feel ready.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
12 min
November 18, 2021 Stoic Guided Reflection On Desire And Aversion
Epictetus had clear advice on the two pulls that run most of our lives: what we want and what we are trying to avoid. This is a guided reflection on both.
You will sit with the questions slowly. Is it wise to steer clear of everything outside your control? Where is the line with desire, when does wanting something tip into being owned by it? No rush, just space to consider where you stand.
Read more on these ideas: stoichandbook.co
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
9 min
November 11, 2021 Stoic Object Deconstruction to Reduce Cravings and Attachments
We rarely see the things we crave plainly. We wrap them in a story, and the story is what hooks us. This guided reflection uses the Stoic practice of object deconstruction to strip that story back and see the thing as it actually is.
It is built on Chapter 3 of the Enchiridion, where Epictetus suggests naming what something really is, starting small. Fond of a favourite cup? Remind yourself it is a cup, and when it breaks you will not be thrown. Practise this and the same calm becomes available for the bigger attachments too.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
9 min
November 02, 2021 A Guided Stoic Reflection On The Death Of Seneca
Seneca met his death the way he had spent years preparing to. This guided visualisation places you inside his body on his last day, so you can feel your way through what he faced.
It draws on premeditation of adversity, the Stoic practice of fortifying the mind against what is to come, in its most demanding form: contemplating your own death. As you move through it, notice what rises in you, and let yourself lean toward the steadiness he showed. Find somewhere quiet and give it about fifteen minutes.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
14 min
October 20, 2021 Stoic Goal-Setting Visualisation: Focus On What You Control
Stoicism can look paradoxical at first. We are told the outer world is not ours to control and that our energy belongs on the inner one. So where do goals fit?
The Stoics were not against having goals. They warned against the kind that quietly set you up for suffering. In this guided visualisation I walk you through their approach to setting and reaching what you want, in a way that raises your chances of getting there while sparing you a lot of needless heartache along the way.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
9 min
September 10, 2021 The Stoic Guide to Overcoming Anxiety
I lived with intense anxiety for the better part of a decade. It sent me down a lot of rabbit holes in personal development and philosophy, and most of what I now teach came out of trying to find my own way through.
Anxiety is hard to escape in modern life. The news is built to make us worry, advertising feeds performance and health anxiety, and social media has not made real connection any easier. In this lesson I start with the four scientific models I use to understand where anxiety comes from, then bring in the Stoic side of working with it.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
15 min
August 07, 2021 Learning Stoicism: A Systematic Approach to Stoic Praxis
People often treat Stoicism as something you read rather than something you train. This episode is my attempt to lay out a more systematic way to actually practise it.
It is a full talk I gave on The Stoa, the open space hosted by Peter Limberg, who runs regular free workshops and conversations with genuinely interesting thinkers. Big thanks to Peter for having me.
Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/4PTCMptc-y0
The Stoa: thestoa.ca
Peter Limberg: twitter.com/peternlimberg
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
1 hr 9 min
June 01, 2021 Welcome to The Stoic Handbook Podcast
Welcome. This is The Stoic Handbook, where I share short lessons and guided meditations on using Stoic ideas in modern life. I am not a guru, just someone who has spent years testing this stuff and reporting back honestly.
You can find the podcast on Spotify and every other major platform. Hit follow and you will hear whenever a new lesson or meditation goes up.
Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com
3 min

About The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

From the publisher's feed

You've read the books. You know what Marcus Aurelius would do. But when life gets hard, the philosophy disappears. This podcast is for people who want to close the gap between knowing Stoicism and…