All psychological techniques described in the surviving Stoic writings are-grounded in one continual practice, paying attention to the way we use our judgment to form opinions, particularly our value judgments. 

Attention (prosoche) is the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude. It is a continuous vigilance and presence of mind, self-consciousness which never sleeps, and a constant tension of the spirit. Thanks to this attitude, the philosopher is fully aware of what he does at each instant, and he wills his actions fully. (Hadot, 1995, p. 84) 

Many people find it natural to refer to this continual attention to their own thought processes as the practice of “Stoic mindfulness” (not necessarily the same as “mindfulness” in Buddhism). 

Epictetus explains that what Stoics should pay continual attention to is the principle that good and evil reside in their own choices. Whenever we notice ourselves becoming upset we should pause to ask whether the thing we’re concerned about is up to us or not. If not, then we shouldn’t assign value to it in a way that causes us to become upset. 

We are often unaware of this because our thoughts become fused with our perception of external events. If I’m very upset with someone, I just view them as an awful person. Being good or bad is a quality they appear to possess. In order to be mindful, we first have to separate our judgments from reality. I have to realize that the “awfulness” I perceive is a quality projected onto the other person by me and not something I’m passively observing that somehow exists apart from me. 

Distancing” refers to the ability to view one’s own thoughts (or beliefs) as constructions of “reality” rather than as reality itself. (Alford & Beck, 1997, p. 142) 

Realizing that the outside world itself is neither completely pink nor blue but that it’s being coloured by the lenses through which you’re looking is cognitive distancing—the ability to notice the distinction between the lens through which you’re looking and the events at which you’re looking. 

Epictetus says that whenever you’re troubled emotionally by an impression concerning external events that’s a warning sign that you’ve fused it with a value judgement. It’s not a true objective representation of events. 

Here are some common ways of gaining cognitive distance: 

Translating your feelings into words by stating the thoughts that are causing them, e.g., “I feel as though everyone hates me and that’s awful.” 

Referring to your thoughts in the third person, e.g., “He is currently viewing this situation as if it were catastrophic.” 

Counting the frequency of certain thoughts or feelings so that you increasingly view them as independent events. 

Writing your thoughts down in a journal or on a whiteboard and viewing them in a detached manner, literally from a distance. 

Imagining that your thought is written on a pane of glass through which you’re looking at the event, a bit like looking through rose-tinted glasses but with words such as “This is a catastrophe” scrawled on them. 

Imagining being in the shoes of someone who views the same situation differently from you, perhaps even a wise person like Socrates, in order to develop the flexibility to move easily between different viewpoints. 

Repeating the thought several times with greater awareness of it being an activity in which you’re engaged, e.g., by saying it aloud very slowly or very quickly. 

Imagining how you might view the same situation differently years from now, e.g., if you encountered it many times and got used to dealing with it to the best of your ability or were looking back on it with the benefit of hindsight. 

 

Describing the same situation to yourself in a more matter-of-fact way, without using any emotive language or strong value judgments. 

Sometimes also considering the consequences of viewing a situation in a particular way can help you to separate your thoughts from external events and envisage other ways of looking at the same situation. The Stoics frequently reminded themselves of the paradox that, according to their philosophy, passions such as fear and anger do us more harm than the things we’re upset about. Viewing them in this way requires seeing the beliefs underlying them as, in a sense, arbitrary and unhelpful—we could easily look at the situation in a more helpful way. 

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Donald Robertson is an author and Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. His latest book is How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (https://amzn.to/2SswfJ1) 

 

 

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