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The View From Above: A Stoic Exercise for Perspective and Calm · Hardiness with Dr Paul Taylor

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  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to you this week's Mojo Monday. Now,
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  Speaker 1: before I start, I just wanted to offer you something,
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  Speaker 1: especially if you are trying to spend a little less
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  Speaker 1: time on social media like me, but still wanted thoughtful,
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  Speaker 1: kind of meaningful content in your week. So I have
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  Speaker 1: a free substack, which if you don't know, substack, it's
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  Speaker 1: a platform where writers can share articles directly with their readers.
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  Speaker 1: You can choose all sorts of different topics that you're
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  Speaker 1: interested in, and each week I write a practical article
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  Speaker 1: based on the work that I do, the ideas that
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  Speaker 1: I'm exploring, and the tools that I find helpful in
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  Speaker 1: everyday life. And there is nothing commercial about it. I
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  Speaker 1: just wanted to put that out there. It's free, simply
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  Speaker 1: my way of offering something a little slower, a bit
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  Speaker 1: more considered, and hopefully meaningful alternative to the algorithm driven
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  Speaker 1: echo chamber that so much of social media has become.
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  Speaker 1: So if it sounds like something you would enjoy, you
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  Speaker 1: can find me on Substack. You just have to open
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  Speaker 1: up an account Carlie Taylor Coaching and subscribe for free
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  Speaker 1: and the articles come every Tuesday. So let's get into
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  Speaker 1: today's Mojo and Monday. So Stoic philosophy has had a
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  Speaker 1: huge revival over the last I'm not sure how many years,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm a huge fan of its teachings because it's
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  Speaker 1: a philosophy for life, and what I love about it
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  Speaker 1: is that it's really practical. It gives us a way
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  Speaker 1: to work with our thoughts and emotions and behave in
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  Speaker 1: a way that's good for us and for the people
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  Speaker 1: around us. And I have recently been diving a bit
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  Speaker 1: deeper into Stoicism and practicing some of its principles in
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  Speaker 1: my own life. And there's one exercise that I want
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  Speaker 1: to share with you. It's a really effective way to
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  Speaker 1: ease stress, anxiety, worried thoughts, and all those very human
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  Speaker 1: emotions that we can so easily get entangled up in.
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  Speaker 1: It's a very intentional practice that anyone can do, and
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  Speaker 1: it's called the View from Above. And I find it
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  Speaker 1: incredibly humbling because what it does is it takes our
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  Speaker 1: attention away from the emotional quicksand that we can get
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  Speaker 1: stuck in and allows us to take a wider perspective.
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  Speaker 1: So what I find is it lightens the load that
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  Speaker 1: I feel, it quietens the ego, and gives us a
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  Speaker 1: little more space to consider who we want to be
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  Speaker 1: in this moment. So I'm going to get straight into
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  Speaker 1: the exercise, and if you like, you can do this
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  Speaker 1: now as I talk. So, think of a situation right now,
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  Speaker 1: or something that has been quite recent that has created
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  Speaker 1: stress or worry, anxiety, anger. In other words, think of
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  Speaker 1: a moment where you've struggled. Really connect with that internal
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  Speaker 1: emotional experience. For a moment, you may feel your body tents,
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  Speaker 1: your heart races, or worried thoughts start to appear. So
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  Speaker 1: this is your body and mind doing their job. So
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  Speaker 1: it's alerting you to something that feels important and that
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  Speaker 1: you need to pay attention to. So the first step
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  Speaker 1: start to imagine that you're floating above yourself. You float
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  Speaker 1: up to the ceiling, then through the roof and outside,
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  Speaker 1: and you begin to rise up and up and up
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  Speaker 1: towards the clouds. All the while you can still see
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  Speaker 1: yourself below and the situation that you're struggling with. You
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  Speaker 1: can see the emotions and thoughts that are wrapped around it,
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  Speaker 1: and you keep rising upwards until you reach out of
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  Speaker 1: space and you're now viewing yourself on planet Earth. And
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  Speaker 1: the next step is to see yourself as one tiny
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  Speaker 1: speck on the planet. From there, you can see all
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  Speaker 1: the other humans in different countries, all living their lives,
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  Speaker 1: all moving through their own struggles in different ways and
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  Speaker 1: in different degrees. You can see nature, the land, the oceans,
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  Speaker 1: the cities and mountains, the forests and the sea. And
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  Speaker 1: then step three is now imagine that you can see
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  Speaker 1: the history and the future of the planet. You see
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  Speaker 1: all the life that came before you and all the
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  Speaker 1: life that will come after you. You see the expansive existence
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  Speaker 1: of planet Earth, stretching far beyond this one moment that
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  Speaker 1: you are in, and you can even look around and
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  Speaker 1: see the expansive universe, the starts, the planets, the blackness
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  Speaker 1: of the unknown. And the next step is to now
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  Speaker 1: look again at the situation, the thoughts, the emotions, the
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  Speaker 1: struggle that you're experiencing significant. Does it feel in the
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  Speaker 1: grand scheme of things at this moment? Does it feel
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  Speaker 1: as big as it felt before? Is this a problem
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  Speaker 1: that you can handle, problem solve or meet with courage
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  Speaker 1: or calm, patience or order. And now gently come back
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  Speaker 1: to yourself, see whether you can allow yourself to feel
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  Speaker 1: what you feel without becoming caught up in it. See
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  Speaker 1: whether you can decide what action you need to take
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  Speaker 1: and how you want to live with virtue in this moment.
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  Speaker 1: So this exercise is not about dismissing your problems, because
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  Speaker 1: of course our struggles matter and our feelings matter. But
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  Speaker 1: what I've found, though, is that it takes some of
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  Speaker 1: the sting out of them. It helps me realize that
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  Speaker 1: maybe this situation isn't the catastrophe or the drama that
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  Speaker 1: it needs to be. I can handle this moment, and
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  Speaker 1: I can still choose who I want to be within it.
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  Speaker 1: I can choose to be someone who displays courage or
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  Speaker 1: kindness or patience. I can choose to be someone who
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  Speaker 1: focuses on what is within my control. I can choose
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  Speaker 1: to be someone who is focused on solutions rather than
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  Speaker 1: being completely swept up by the storm inside my mind.
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  Speaker 1: So try this exercise and see whether it gives you
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  Speaker 1: a little more space, a little more perspective, and a
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  Speaker 1: little more steadiness in the moments when life feels like
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  Speaker 1: a struggle. So that's it for this week. Try the
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  Speaker 1: view from above, even in the small stuff that you
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  Speaker 1: find that you struggle with, and see if it makes
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  Speaker 1: a difference. And I will catch you next week. See
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  Speaker 1: yea y