The Practice by The Stoic Handbook: Podcast

Are You Using Stoicism to Numb Out? | with Erick Cloward

Jon Brooks — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Stoicism is meant to help you master your emotions. There's a version of it that just teaches you to avoid them.

In this conversation I joined Erick Cloward on the Stoic Coffee Break to talk about "stoic bypassing" (Jules Evans' term): using the philosophy to suppress hard feelings instead of feeling them. We both grew up learning to push emotions down, so it got personal.

We cover the difference between suppression and reappraisal, alexithymia, why the Let Them Theory is thinner than it looks, how the manosphere funnels every emotion through anger, the case for voluntary discomfort, and a reframe from Epictetus that means you can never lose a first date.

This first aired on Erick's show, the Stoic Coffee Break. Go and follow him.

Erick Cloward / Stoic Coffee Break
Podcast: https://stoic.coffee
Original episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oBAAeiX5x1aMCqoahP3Dv?si=6av80YqGSmeIMG7wdTjGbg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stoic.coffee

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Marcus Aurelius Morning Preparation: Stoic Affirmations from the Meditations

Jon Brooks — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:00:00 GMT

During the 170s of the common era, while ruling an empire and often away from Rome, Marcus Aurelius wrote notes to himself in Greek. What survived is not a public book. It is a private notebook, the Meditations, sentences a man wrote to remind himself how to live.

This is a short morning practice built from eight lines drawn from the Meditations. Some are close to verbatim, others are rendered in modern English to be repeatable in the mouth and the mind. Between each line there is a little silence. At the end, one quiet commitment for the day ahead.

These were notes he wrote to himself. We are not the first to need them.

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Are Stoics Emotionless? Erick Cloward, Author of Stoicism 101

Jon Brooks — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Are Stoics really emotionless? It is the most common thing people believe about Stoicism, and it puts a lot of people off the one idea that might actually help them.

In this conversation I sit down with Erick Cloward, host of the Stoic Coffee Break podcast and author of Stoicism 101, to take the myth apart. We get into why the word "stoic" came to mean cold and shut down, and why the Stoics actually felt their emotions fully. They just learned to be masters of them rather than ruled by them.

Erick shares the example that makes it click: two people miss the same bus. One shrugs and reads a book, the other is furious. Same event, two reactions. The difference is never the event. It is the judgement you add to it. We also get into amor fati, the view from above, and what it really takes to react less and recover faster.

Try this after listening: next time you react strongly, name the event in plain terms, then name the story you added on top. The gap between them is where the work happens.

Erick's book and podcast: stoic.coffee
Companion article: https://www.stoichandbook.co/podcast/are-stoics-emotionless/

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Marcus Aurelius Was Terrible at Stoicism

Jon Brooks — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Marcus Aurelius is the most quoted philosopher on the internet, and his private journal shows a man who kept failing at the thing he's famous for. He struggled to get out of bed. He needed ten separate strategies to manage his temper. Near the end of his life he wrote, to himself, that he was "far from philosophy."

In this episode I read the passages most Stoicism channels skip. The two getting-out-of-bed debates, four books apart. The brutal self-talk about caring what people think. The procrastination confession. The contradiction of Commodus and the gladiatorial games. And the old distinction that makes sense of all of it: the sage versus the Stoic in training. Marcus knew which one he was.

If you've ever felt like a fraud for relearning the same lesson again and again, this one is for you.

Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/h1Rm4Cv_aQY

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Stoic Morning Practice: Quiet The Inner Critic

Jon Brooks — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:00:00 GMT

You haven't done anything yet, and the voice is already running its commentary. Too slow, too weak, not enough. The day hasn't started and you're already failing in advance. This guided Stoic practice works with the inner critic directly — not to silence it, but to strip it of the authority it doesn't deserve.

You'll practise the Stoic technique of examining your impressions: separating the bare facts from the judgements your mind adds automatically. Drawing on Epictetus's principle that it's not events but our judgements about them that disturb us, and on Marcus Aurelius's habit of asking "what is this thing in itself, stripped of my story?" — you'll learn to recognise the critic's voice as opinion, not fact.

For best results, listen every morning for 30 days. The critic gets quieter when you stop agreeing with it.

For mornings when the issue is letting go of what already happened, try "Stoic Morning Practice: Let Go Of What You Can't Control" — part of the same daily series.

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Stoic Morning Affirmations: Eight Truths for the Day Ahead (Guided Practice)

Jon Brooks — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Most morning affirmations ask you to declare a future you wish for. The Stoics did the opposite. They began the day by recollecting what was already true.

This is a short guided practice built from eight lines drawn from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. No manifestation, no raising your vibration. Just eight reminders, a little silence between each, a brief rehearsal of one difficulty you expect today, and a single quiet plan to carry into it.

Best listened to first thing, before you open your phone. Find somewhere to settle, and let the day start a little steadier.

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The Manosphere Got Stoicism Backwards

Jon Brooks — Thu, 21 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT

The manosphere has spent years quoting the Stoics to young men. Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus. Seneca. The version they sell, anger as strength, dominance as virtue, emotion as weakness, is the opposite of what those philosophers actually wrote.

In Meditations 11.18, Marcus Aurelius wrote in his private journal that gentleness is more manly than rage. Seneca, in Letter 63, wrote that we may weep but must not wail, and admitted he had been overcome by grief himself. Epictetus, in Discourses 2.10, said the man who turns into a wild beast has lost something essential. Musonius Rufus argued in Lecture IV that virtue is the same in man and woman. Cleanthes, Zeno's successor as head of the Stoic school, wrote a whole treatise on that idea in the 3rd century BCE.

This episode walks through what the original Stoics actually said about being a man, why the manosphere reading gets it backwards, and four traits of the Stoic version of manhood you can test yourself against.

Watch the video version: youtu.be/_CKtK4ajc2M

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Overthinking Is Not a Thinking Problem

Jon Brooks — Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Most advice for overthinking points you at the thoughts themselves. Journal them. Replace the negative ones with positive ones. Breathe. Meditate. Run. But what if the thoughts were never the problem?

Epictetus taught that it is not events that disturb us, but our judgements about them. Overthinking is not a volume problem. It is a judgement problem. Somewhere in the loop you added a meaning to something that was otherwise neutral, and that meaning is what keeps you awake.

In this episode I walk through phantasia, the Stoic science of impressions, and three ways to catch the judgement before it spirals: stripping back to the first impression, applying the dichotomy of control to your thoughts, and the rational observer technique.

Watch the video version: youtu.be/-Gwg4NDHkJQ

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The Anxiety Trap: Why Fighting Makes It Worse

Jon Brooks — Wed, 06 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT

For most of my adult life I had a low-level hypervigilance running in the background. I tried to fight it with books, breathwork, control techniques, willpower. The harder I fought, the worse it got.

In this episode I share the breakthrough that came when I stopped fighting and started welcoming. It is a Stoic and Nietzschean reframe called amor fati, the love of fate, and it changed my relationship with anxiety.

We get into the two layers of suffering and why fighting anxiety creates the second one, what Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus understood about welcoming difficulty, why Nietzsche called amor fati the formula for greatness, the Stoic idea of indifferents and why anxiety is not bad in itself, and a daily practice for treating anxiety as a training partner rather than an enemy.

Watch the video version: youtu.be/cY4AMcWhSko

Sources: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Hays); Epictetus, Discourses and Enchiridion (Hard); Nietzsche, The Gay Science; Donald Robertson, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.

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Why the Stoics Never Needed Willpower

Jon Brooks — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

You have quit every hard goal for the same reason, and it is not lack of willpower.

The Stoics worked this out 2,000 years ago. Instead of fighting discomfort with more discipline, they asked one question that bypasses the willpower battle entirely. In this episode I walk through the Stoic framework of virtue, vice and the indifferents, and the single question from Epictetus that replaced willpower in my own life, including the 12-pound cut I am on right now.

We get into why discipline is a finite resource and willpower always loses, the Stoic distinction between good, bad and indifferent, the one question that reframes hunger, hard conversations and difficult training, how to turn discomfort into material for character instead of an enemy to defeat, and the preferred indifferents caveat: why the Stoics were not masochists.

Watch the video version: youtu.be/uoAz9VCW0mE

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Stoic Morning Practice: Stop Dreading Day Before It Starts

Jon Brooks — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Some mornings the dread arrives before the alarm. A tightness in the chest, a list already forming, a quiet resistance to the day ahead. This guided Stoic practice meets you there, not with forced optimism, but with honest preparation.

You will practise the ancient Stoic technique of premeditatio malorum: facing what you are afraid of before it has power over you. Not to make yourself anxious, but to take the charge out of it. When you name what you are dreading, it shrinks.

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When the World Feels Unjust (A Stoic Response)

Jon Brooks — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Most people hear focus on what you can control and assume Stoicism means stop caring about everything else. That is not what it means, and it might be one of the most misunderstood ideas in the whole philosophy.

It starts with a line from Marcus Aurelius that most people skip: you can commit injustice by doing nothing. That is not an invitation to detach. It is a call to show up.

In this episode I cover three Stoic approaches for responding to injustice without losing yourself: premeditatio malorum, the pre-rehearsal of what is coming; redirecting anger into one concrete act of kindness; and a daily question, what is within my power right now. Practical Stoicism for anyone who cares about the world and refuses to look away. This one was inspired by a question from a member of The Stoic Vault.

Watch the video version: youtu.be/Vzg67EtqNK8

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Discipline Is a Skill, Not a Trait (5 Stoic Moves)

Jon Brooks — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

I used to think discipline was a character trait, like height or eye colour. Some people had it. I did not. That story is comfortable, and it is rubbish.

The Stoics did not treat discipline as willpower. They treated it as a set of five trainable skills that get stronger with reps and weaker with neglect. In this episode I walk through each one, using some of the best lines Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca and Musonius Rufus wrote on the subject.

The five moves: decide before the moment arrives, do before you discuss, guard what you let in, train in small frictions, and pause before you react. Each one is something you can practise starting tonight.

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91% of Goals Fail: A Stoic Philosopher Explained Why 2,000 Years Ago

Jon Brooks — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Most resolutions fail because they are built wrong, not because you lack willpower. Epictetus worked out why 2,000 years ago.

In this episode I break down three tests from Stoic philosophy that expose whether your goal is real or just fantasy dressed up with good intentions: Control, Cost and Consistency. Then I take six of the most common resolutions, get fit, save money, get promoted, be happier, quit social media, read more, and show you exactly how each one fails and what the Stoic fix looks like.

At the end there is a simple scoring system you can use right now to test whether your goals will actually stick.

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Stoic Morning Energy Boost: 5 Minutes To Wake Up Ready

Jon Brooks — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Some mornings you do not need calm. You need to wake up. This 5-minute Stoic practice is built for the mornings when your body is out of bed but your mind has not followed.

You will move through five rounds of power breathing to flood your system with energy, then a short visualisation of yourself moving through the day ahead with purpose. No easing in. No extended relaxation. Just a sharp, deliberate start.

The anchor is a line from Seneca: we do not lack time, we waste it. This practice makes sure you do not waste the first five minutes. Stand if you can. Press play before your phone gets a chance to set the tone.

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Your Opinions Aren't Observations, They're Demands

Jon Brooks — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:00:00 GMT

You form hundreds of opinions a day. About the news, about your colleagues, about the person in front of you in the queue. They feel automatic, like seeing. But they are not observations. They are tiny laws you are writing inside your own skull, and then you have to enforce them.

Marcus Aurelius buried one of his best lines in Book Six of the Meditations: it is in your power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in your soul. In this episode I unpack what that means in practice. Not suppressing your reactions, but noticing the gap between an impression and a judgement, and choosing not to legislate.

You will walk away with one question to ask yourself this week when an opinion forms: does this need legislating?

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"Remove Desire Entirely": What Epictetus Actually Meant

Jon Brooks — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 19:00:00 GMT

You read that line in the Discourses and your mind goes straight to cravings. Appetites. The stuff you are ashamed of. But that is not what Epictetus meant, and the real meaning is more useful than any advice about willpower.

In this episode I break down the Greek word orexis, explain why it has nothing to do with food or your phone, and walk through the three levels most people get stuck on: the demand, the indifference, and the preference with reservation. Only one of them is Stoicism.

I also share a personal story about driving to pick up my son on a difficult morning, and how I caught myself staking my whole peace on outcomes I could not control. It ends with one question to ask yourself the next time a plan falls through.

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Marcus Aurelius Morning Meditation: Face The Day With Stoic Calm

Jon Brooks — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:00:00 GMT

You know the feeling. The alarm goes off and the day is already rushing at you. The emails, the conversations you are not ready for, the low-grade dread of what might go wrong.

Marcus Aurelius knew it too. Every morning, before the weight of an empire landed on him, he sat quietly and rehearsed what was coming: the difficult people, the setbacks, the tests of character. Not with anxiety. With calm preparation. And something shifted.

This guided morning meditation follows his method. You will walk through the day ahead with honest curiosity, rehearse your response to the hard moments before they arrive, and choose a single word, one quality, to carry as your anchor when things go sideways. No forced positivity. No wishful thinking. Just the same preparation a Roman emperor used to face each day with steady clarity.

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Stoic Indifferents Explained: How to Want Without Suffering

Jon Brooks — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 19:00:00 GMT

If only virtue is good, why does anything else matter? Why go to the gym, build a career, or plan for the future?

This is the question that confused me for about a year of reading Stoic texts, and the answer is one of the most useful distinctions in the whole philosophy.

In this episode I walk through two ancient Greek concepts, axia eklektike (selective value) and apaxia (disvalue), that explain how Stoics can prefer things without being wrecked by them. You will learn why indifferent does not mean do not care, how to tell the difference between rational preference and emotional attachment, and a simple question you can ask yourself today when anxiety creeps in.

If you have ever wondered how Stoicism avoids becoming cold or directionless, this is the episode.

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Own What's Yours: The Dichotomy of Control (From The Vault)

Jon Brooks — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:00:00 GMT

This episode is a full lesson from one of the premium courses inside The Stoic Vault, my membership for people who practise Stoicism rather than just read about it.

The lesson comes from the course Stoic Morning Routine: Start Calm and Strong. It covers the dichotomy of control, the single most useful idea in Stoic philosophy, and the one that changes everything when it actually lands.

You will take one real concern from your day and sort it into two columns: what is mine and what is not. Outcomes, other people's reactions, delays, not mine. Preparation, breath, tone, when I choose to begin, mine. Then you will pick one controllable action that matters today and state it clearly. This is not theory. You will feel the difference in the body when you stop carrying what was never yours.

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