A Stoic Way to Practice Mindfulness
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Such as are your habitual thoughts, so also will be the character of your mind. For the soul is dyed by its thoughts. — Marcus Aurelius
Change your thoughts and you can change your life. That’s how I sometimes paraphrase a central Stoic idea: what unsettles us is rarely the world alone but the judgments we make about events. We don’t control every event, but we can notice our thoughts and choose whether to go along with them or not. Learning to do so is a daily practice.
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Over the past few years I’ve been asked for a practical, trustworthy way to cultivate that skill alongside our Stoic work here. Today I’m pleased to share something I believe will genuinely help. It’s something that many of my clients use and have frequently recommended to me.
When we practice attention deliberately, we make space between stimulus and response.
Why mindfulness matters to Stoics
Stoicism teaches us to distinguish between impressions (what merely appears) and assent (what we endorse as true). Modern psychology has a parallel: cognitive distancing—stepping back from thoughts and feelings long enough to see them as events in the mind, not commands we must obey.
Mindfulness is the moment-to-moment training ground for that ability. When we practice attention deliberately, we make space between stimulus and response. That space is where reason can breathe, values can speak, and courage can act. The ancient Stoics called this prosoche or “attention” to the mind — if you prefer, we could call it Stoic mindfulness.
A brief personal note
Some time ago I recorded an in-depth conversation with Sam Harris about Stoicism and mindfulness, after having spent some time exploring his Waking Up app. I found it to be an approach to meditation that invites you to understand what you’re doing, not merely perform a technique. The app weaves together lessons on philosophy and psychology in a way that feels very aligned with our work here—Stoic reflection, cognitive therapy, and the disciplined pursuit of a good life.
That’s why I’ve agreed to a collaboration. I’ve curated a Stoic Playlist inside Waking Up—hand-picked selections from my own series, our conversation, and a few carefully chosen lessons from teachers who cover related topics, including Prof. William B. Irvine, author of A Guide to the Good Life. Think of these lessons as a pathway for you, if you want to bring Stoic mindfulness into your daily self-improvement routine.
Explore my curated Stoic Playlist with a 30-day free trial:
👉 https://www.wakingup.com/donaldrobertson
What you’ll find in the playlist
Cognitive Distancing: a short, focused practice to help you step back from thoughts and feelings before endorsing them.
Facing your Fears in Imagination: navigating adversity first in your mind so you’re prepared to do so in the real world.
Living Virtuously: applying values as a compass for everyday action.
Conversation: Philosophy for Life with Sam Harris: a wide-ranging discussion on Stoicism’s modern applications and links with Buddhist mindfulness.
Additional mindful practices and reflections that support equanimity, clarity, and courage.
If you’ve ever thought, “I understand Stoicism—but how do I practice it consistently?” this is designed for you.
How Stoicism and mindfulness meet
The Stoics taught that disturbing passions begin with an impression—a rapid, automatic thought—followed by a judgment or act of assent that endorses it. For example: This is terrible; I can’t stand it! or What if something awful happens? How will I cope? With training, we can interrupt that sequence, notice the appearance, and avoid being swept away by strong emotions.
In cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) we call the same move cognitive distancing. You might say to yourself:
“Right now, I notice I am having the thought ‘What if I fail?’”
“I am angering myself right now by blaming other people.”
“Anxiety is present; I can accept the feeling and observe the thoughts.”
Naming the experience is not a gimmick; it’s a way of learning to see more clearly. Mindfulness practice strengthens that capacity in the real world. When we sit for ten minutes and repeatedly notice distraction, we rehearse the very skill that helps during conflict, grief, or pressure: look, label, let go, return to what matters. Over time, the mind becomes less of a battlefield and more a workshop for developing our wisdom and virtue.
Why I’m sharing this now
My work has always been about making philosophy usable—for parenting, leadership, adversity, and everyday life. I’m partnering with Waking Up because it offers a thoughtful framework for exactly that kind of practice.
If you’re curious, I’d invite you to try the playlist for a week and see what changes. You can listen to my whole course on Stoicism and Mindfulness with a free 30-day trial, giving you access to the whole app, with many other courses from other authors.
Start your 30-day free trial here:
👉 https://www.wakingup.com/donaldrobertson
A closing reflection
Earlier I said that Marcus Aurelius reminds us how the mind becomes dyed with the color of its habitual thoughts. Practice is how we choose the dye. A few minutes each day, applied steadily, can shift the tone of a life—from rumination to reflection, from impulse to intention. Philosophy gives us the why; mindfulness gives us the how.
I hope this playlist helps you strengthen both.
This is an affiliate partnership—if you subscribe via my link, I receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
PS. If you try just one thing today, make it the Cognitive Distancing clip in the playlist. It’s a simple exercise for stepping back from thoughts so you can decide—calmly and deliberately—what deserves your assent. Use it once when you’re clear-headed, and once when you’re stirred up. The contrast is the lesson.
Two of my favourite thinkers. I’ve long been a huge fan of Sam Harris and have seen him live here in Oz twice. I was very happy to hear about your contribution and like the practical aspects of a stoic approach along with the Buddhist input I’m not much of a meditator having tried off and on for the best part of 20 years and find a mix of REBT, stoicism and exercise my way of staying balanced 🫤
It is always delightful to see the sane people in the room collaborate. There was an interview where Sam talked about his terrible fall-outs with some other public figures, former friends. I honestly hope your team-up lasts as long as possible.