What is Stoic Mindfulness?
Like many other wisdom traditions, Stoicism emphasizes focused attention or mindfulness. The psychotherapist and writer David Alexander (a recent podcast guest) writes in an article titled, Prososche: Stoic Mindfulness as a Modern Practice, “What is Prosoche? It is the ancient Greek word for “focused attention” used by the Stoics and considered the important initial step and skill to learn for a student of philosophy.”
For Epictetus, the slave-turned Stoic philosopher, focused attention is a critical aspect of our philosophy. In Discourses (4.12), Epictetus wrote this on the perils of distracted attention,
When you might relax your attention for a little while, do not imagine that you will recover it whenever you choose, but bear in mind that because of this mistake which you have made today, your condition must necessarily be worse as regards everything else. For, to begin with — and this is the worst of all — a habit of not paying attention is developed, and after that habit of deferring attention; and growing accustomed to putting off from one time to another tranquil and appropriate living, the life in accordance with nature, and persistence in that life.
Epictetus asked, “What are the things, then, to which I ought to pay attention? To learn more, I encourage you to listen to my conversation with David Alexander below and check out - The Prosoche Project.
There is much more to be said on the topic of practicing mindfulness in daily life. Expect additional posts on Stoic mindfulness in the coming week and my conversation with David on In Search of Wisdom next week.
I leave you with this quote from Epictetus, “But if it is good for you to pay attention tomorrow, how much better is it today.”
—
Thank you for reading/watching; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. As a reminder, if you’re interested in a free weekly meetup, I’m calling Reading & the Good Life; you can register now.