{"id":13226,"date":"2022-06-23T15:58:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T19:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/?p=13226"},"modified":"2022-11-17T15:11:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T20:11:13","slug":"how-to-cure-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/how-to-cure-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Cure Anxiety: 9 Stoic Techniques That Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe suffer more from imagination than from reality.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 21st century has been described as \u201cThe Age of Anxiety,\u201d \u201cThe United States of Stress,\u201d \u201cThe World of Worry.\u201d The implication is that what we are experiencing\u2014pandemics, terrorism, political and economic turmoil, existential angst, and let\u2019s stop there\u2014is unique, unprecedented, uncharted. News headlines, tweets, email and text sign-offs\u2014you hear and see it everywhere: <\/span>the world has never seen anything quite like this\u2026 hope you\u2019re well during these unprecedented times\u2026 leaders facing unparalleled challenges\u2026 there\u2019s no playbook for this.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We have great news. None of our problems are new. And there is a playbook\u2014one that\u2019s been tried and tested since the 3rd century BCE: Stoicism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeno used it after he was shipwrecked and lost everything. Marcus Aurelius used it as the ruler of an empire ravaged by wars, famines, and a deadly contagion, which became known as the<\/span> Antonine Plague<\/span><\/a>. Seneca used it to withstand two exiles and two natural catastrophes. Epictetus used it to endure thirty years as a slave. George Washington used it in the darkest days of the American Revolution. James Stockdale used it to survive seven years or torture and unimaginable loneliness as a prisoner of war. Toussaint Louverture used it and rose up against Napoleon\u2019s armies to lead the Haitian Revolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

We created this guide to give you a time-tested playbook to help you cure your anxiety. It is rooted in the wisdom of the Stoics. This is a long post. It should be saved and revisited. It can be read straight through or if you prefer, feel free to click the links below to navigate to a specific section:<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Anxiety?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

What Causes Anxiety?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

9 Stoic Remedies For Anxiety<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Name Your Monster<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Focus On The Present Moment<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Put Your Impressions To The Test<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Assess Your Wants<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Do Less<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Practice Negative Visualization<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Take A Motionless Moment<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Let Go Of Everything But This<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[*] Think Differently About Money<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

10 Best Stoic Quotes on Anxiety<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>What is Anxiety?<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cWhat I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes\u2026some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anxiety is often defined as a feeling, an experience, or a state of worry, nervousness, or uneasiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

65 million people<\/span><\/a> in the U.S. alone struggle with some type of stress or anxiety.<\/span> Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)<\/span><\/a> is one of the most commonly reported. We know we\u2019re anxious, but we can\u2019t exactly put our finger on why.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the effects of the pandemic was, suddenly, we weren\u2019t doing the things that, in the past, we told ourselves were the causes of our anxiety. We weren\u2019t having to frantically get through security to catch a flight. We weren\u2019t battling traffic to get somewhere on time. We weren\u2019t dealing with people in the grocery store or the coffee shop or the subway. Prior to the pandemic, if someone told you would no longer have to deal with all of those things, you would be certain that your anxiety would go way down. But most likely, it didn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because anxiety has nothing to do with any of those things…<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>What Causes Anxiety?<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cWhat upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things.\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is nothing worse than the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. It\u2019s not a physical pain; but it\u2019s not all mental either. You can actually feel whatever it is sitting there, in your gut, tying you up in knots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stop. Take a breath. What is the source of this actually? No one and nothing is physically tying up your stomach. It\u2019s just you. You\u2019re doing this.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stoics actually talk about this. \u201cToday I escaped from anxiety,\u201d Marcus Aurelius writes in<\/span> Meditations<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i> \u201cOr no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions\u2014not outside.\u201d He writes this during a plague, no less.<\/span><\/p>\n

We tell ourselves we are stressed and anxious and worried because of the pressure our boss puts on us or because of some looming deadline or because of all of the places we have to be and people we have to see. And then when all that gets paired down, you realize, \u2018Oh, no, it was me. I\u2019m the common variable.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Anxiety comes from the inside. <\/span>We<\/span><\/i> are the creators of our anxiety. Which means, as Marcus said, we can discard it. We can let it go. We can cure ourselves of our anxiety…<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>9 Stoic Remedies For Anxiety<\/span><\/h1>\n

There\u2019s no question that Marcus Aurelius\u2019 life was filled with things to worry about. .<\/span><\/p>\n

Plagues. Wars. Natural Catastrophes. Financial crises. Frustrating colleagues. Personal insecurities. Existential angst. Health problems. And the loss of five children to boot, Marcus\u2019 life was littered with stresses and anxieties.<\/span><\/p>\n

And if it wasn\u2019t\u2014if everything had been easy\u2014we probably wouldn\u2019t be talking about him here two thousand years later. The historian Cassius Dio praised Marcus because he calmly persevered:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Marcus Aurelius] did not meet with the good fortune that he deserved, for he was not strong in body and was involved in a multitude of troubles throughout practically his entire reign. But for my part, I admire him all the more for this very reason, that amid unusual and extraordinary difficulties he both survived himself and preserved the empire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So how did he manage? How did he deal with all of these stresses and anxieties?<\/span><\/p>\n

He relied on his Stoic training. He used what he learned in studying the lives and the works of the Stoics who came before him: Zeno, Epictetus, Musonius Rufus, and Seneca, to name a few. He used these 9 Stoic remedies for anxiety…<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Name Your Monster<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cAlways define whatever it is we perceive\u2014to trace its outline\u2014so we can see what it really is: its substance. Stripped bare. As a whole. Unmodified. And to call it by its name\u2014the thing itself and its components, to which it will eventually return.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Marcus talked about how his stresses and anxieties were perceptions he latched onto. They were monsters of his own creation. He told himself to pierce through those perceptions and \u201csee what they really are.\u201d When he was overwhelmed because he felt \u201coccupied in the weightest business,\u201d Marcus would look at his royal purple robe and say this is just sheep wool dyed with shellfish blood. When he was stressed about money, he\u2019d think about what money afforded. Fine seafood dinners? That\u2019s just a dead fish. High-end noble vintage wines? That\u2019s just grape juice. He called it <\/span>stripping away the legend,<\/span><\/i> ripping off the monster\u2019s mask.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anxiety is overwhelming and ambiguous. It can be so profound as to leave us immobile. Doubt, uncertainty, fear, worry, pressure, nervousness\u2014they swirl around inside us and we don\u2019t know what to do about it, we don\u2019t know where exactly it\u2019s coming from, we don\u2019t know when or if it will go away.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first thing we <\/span>have to d<\/span><\/i>o is name it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience, used <\/span>an fMRI study to demonstrate<\/span><\/a> that the simple act of naming an emotion calms the emotional center of the brain. When research subjects were shown images and asked to label a strong emotion, they showed decreased activity in the region of the brain that triggers emotional responses, and greater activity in the region of the brain associated with vigilance and cognitive control. As Lieberman explains:<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same way you hit the brake when you\u2019re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses\u2026This is ancient wisdom\u2026Putting our feelings into words helps us heal better. If a friend is sad and we can get them to talk about it, that probably will make them feel better.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ancient wisdom, indeed. <\/span>Seneca\u2019s line<\/span><\/a> was that \u201cwe suffer more in imagination than in reality.\u201d <\/span>Marcus said<\/span><\/a> to lay things bare and \u201cstrip away the legend that encrusts them.\u201d If given free reign, negative thoughts and emotions will behave like uncaged beasts ready to turn on you. They\u2019ll stir your fears, rattle your emotions, and ruin your week. Stress, anxiety, and anger become chronic and debilitating when they linger and fester.<\/span><\/p>\n

They become what feels like an unbeatable enemy. Unless you summon the strength to put them down by writing them down. Tame them by naming them. And close the corral doors behind them.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Focus On The Present Moment<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let your reflection on the whole sweep of life crush you. Don\u2019t fill your mind with all the bad things that might still happen. Stay focused on the present situation.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We all feel pulled. To do more. To go more places. To make more progress. We are dogged by the constant worry we\u2019re in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing\u2014or rather, there is somewhere else, somewhere better that we could, that we <\/span>should<\/span><\/i>, be.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a feeling that manifests not just in anxiety, but in guilt, envy, fear, insecurity, to boot. Basically, misery. The exact opposite of being content, happy or grateful. Of being present.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marcus Aurelius knew this. Why do you think he mentioned \u201cthe present\u201d and \u201cthe present moment\u201d more than twenty times in <\/span>Meditations<\/span><\/i><\/a>? Each time he is saying, don\u2019t worry about the past, don\u2019t worry about the future, embrace what is in front of you right now. <\/span>Be here now,<\/span><\/i> he is saying. Don\u2019t be somewhere else. <\/span>Be here,<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>be here well.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reminder we seem to need constantly. Our restlessness, at an almost cultural level, is depriving us of the gift and beauty of the moment that is before us. Instead of doing what we\u2019re doing with the full measure of our attention, we give it whatever fraction has not wandered away or been stolen by the device in our pocket. And then we wonder why time flies by, why we have to return to clean up mistakes, or why we never feel good enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stop.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Do what you\u2019re doing\u2014whether it\u2019s washing the dishes, sitting in traffic or writing your thesis. Be where you are\u2014whether that\u2019s with your kids, or in a career transition or at the doctor\u2019s office. It\u2019s where you\u2019re supposed to be. In the right now\u2014there is nothing else. Just this. In the right here, the present is all there is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be there, be there well.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Put Your Impressions To The Test<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cFirst off, don\u2019t let the force of the impression carry you away. Say to it, \u2018hold up a bit and let me see who you are and where you are from\u2014let me put you to the test\u2019 . . .\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every minute of every day, thoughts pop into your head. About what\u2019s happening. About other people. About yourself. About what you see. About what you feel.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are you supposed to do with all these thoughts? Well, according to the core premise of Stoicism the one thing you\u2019re not supposed to do is <\/span>act<\/span><\/i> on them immediately. Epictetus talks about stopping and putting every impression to the test. Or, as <\/span>Dr. Stixraud said on the Daily Stoic podcast<\/span><\/a> , with every thought, we must have the discipline to ask: \u201cIs this true?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Epictetus referred to this as <\/span>putting your impressions to the test.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One of the wonders of your mind is the quickness with which it can comprehend and categorize things. We are constantly making split-second decisions. This subjectivity can be very misleading, it can warp reality itself. Which is why we have to slow down, submit every impression to the test, confirm that everything we think and feel is <\/span>true.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Because most of it isn\u2019t! We\u2019re not actually upset, we\u2019re just hungry. We haven\u2019t been wronged, it just looks like we have. There\u2019s nothing actually to worry about, that\u2019s just our anxiety talking. This situation isn\u2019t \u201cbad,\u201d because just as easily we could see what\u2019s \u201cgood\u201d in it. Or maybe\u2013as is so often the case\u2013we don\u2019t need to <\/span>think anything at all,<\/span><\/i> we can just turn off our thoughts about this or that altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Assess Your Wants<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cWhen I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn\u2019t wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?\u201d Epictetus<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The anxious father, worried about his children. What does he want? A world that is always safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

A frenzied traveler\u2014what does she want? For the weather to hold and for traffic to part so she can make her flight.<\/span><\/p>\n

A nervous investor? That the market will turn around and an investment will pay off.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of these scenarios hold the same thing in common. As Epictetus says, it\u2019s wanting something outside our control. Getting worked up, getting excited, nervously pacing\u2014these intense, pained, and anxious moments show us at our most futile and servile. Staring at the clock, at the ticker, at the next checkout lane over, at the sky\u2014it\u2019s as if we all belong to a religious cult that believes the gods of fate will only give us what we want if we sacrifice our peace of mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, when you find yourself getting anxious, ask yourself: Why are my insides twisted into knots? Am I in control here or is my anxiety? And most important: Is my anxiety doing me any good?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Do Less<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe will benefit from that helpful precept of Democritus, showing us that tranquility lies in not undertaking tasks, either in public or private, that are either numerous or greater than our resources.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s a simple recipe for curing anxiety. <\/span>It comes from Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you seek tranquillity,\u201d he said, \u201cdo less.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And then he follows the note to himself with some clarification. Not <\/span>nothing,<\/span><\/i> less. Do only what\u2019s <\/span>essential.<\/span><\/i> \u201cWhich brings a double satisfaction,\u201d he writes \u201cto do less, better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow this advice today and everyday. So much of what we think we must do, so much of what we end up doing is not essential. We do it out of habit. We do it out of guilt. We do it out of laziness or we do it out of greedy ambition. And then we wonder why we are so anxious. Or why our performance is suffering. Or why our heart isn\u2019t really in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course it isn\u2019t. We know deep down there\u2019s no point.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if we could do less inessential stuff, we\u2019d be able to <\/span>better<\/span><\/i> do what is essential. We\u2019d also get a taste of that tranquillity that Marcus was talking about. A double satisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Practice Negative Visualization<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cWhat is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. This is a reason for ensuring that nothing ever takes us by surprise. We should project our thoughts ahead of us at every turn and have in mind every possible eventuality instead of only the usual course of events…\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some time around the year 64 AD, <\/span>Seneca\u2019s friend Lucilius sent him a letter<\/span><\/a>. Lucilius was nervous about an ongoing lawsuit. We\u2019re not sure what the suit was over, but we know that it was a serious case and that Lucilius had made himself anxious about the outcome and had written to Seneca for some advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seneca\u2019s advice? <\/span>Why are you borrowing unhappiness? Why would you be miserable now just because you might be in the future?<\/span><\/i> Basically, he told him that \u201cwhat will happen will happen, so stop being anxious.\u201d Now this might sound like a strange thing to hear from Seneca, the creator of <\/span>the <\/span>premeditatio malorum<\/span><\/i> exercise<\/span><\/a> that we talk about a lot in the Daily Stoic email. It\u2019s stranger still considering that in the very same letter, Seneca tells Lucilius, \u201cLet us think of everything that can happen as something which will happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How does that work? Isn\u2019t that contradictory advice?<\/span><\/p>\n

Nope.<\/span><\/p>\n

The point of <\/span>premeditatio malorum<\/span><\/i>\u2014negative visualization\u2014is not to make you worry. It\u2019s to eliminate worry! By being aware of all of the possibilities that lay before us, we can now proceed with our preparations. Who has time for anxiety? We should be fortifying ourselves for what may come. Why waste time preferring one outcome to another? We are ready for all of them equally. But what if the worst case scenario happens? Ok, that won\u2019t be fun, so let\u2019s enjoy the present moment while we still can.<\/span><\/p>\n

Premeditatio malorum\u2014<\/span><\/i>whether you carry it in your pocket in the form of our medallion<\/span><\/a>\u2014or you just run through it before embarking on a project or a journey or a longhaul flight, is a form of freedom. A form of empowerment. A way to help you meet the future by seizing what\u2019s in front of you right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Use it.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Take A Motionless Moment<\/b><\/h2>\n

“To shrug it all off and wipe it clean\u2014every annoyance and distraction\u2014and reach utter stillness. Child’s play.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Marcus Aurelius headed an entire empire. He had books to read, writing to do, laws to pass, cases to hear, troops to lead. He was a busy man. He, like us, was pulled in many directions. He had anxieties, worries, hopes, and dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet he speaks frequently and beautifully about taking moments of quiet and calm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can cut free of impressions that cling to the mind,\u201d he said, \u201cfree of the future and the past\u2014can make yourself, as Empedocles says, \u2018a sphere rejoicing in its perfect stillness.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever had a moment like that? If you have, you know how special it is. You know what kind of insights you were able to access, how much happiness crept in, and how much anxiety crept out. Marcus wrote that taking these moments of stillness allows us to \u201cconcentrate on living what can be lived (the present moment).\u201d Only then, he said, \u201ccan you spend the time you have left in tranquility. And in kindness. And at peace with the spirit within you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You <\/span>deserve<\/span><\/i> moments like that. Moments where you watch the snow fall. Moments where you sit quietly with a book. Moments where you look out the train window, not on a conference call, not checking email, not wondering how long until you arrive in the city, but a moment to check in with yourself, to think about your life and what you want to do with it. Moments with loved ones. Moments where you are grateful, connected, happy, creative, in the zone\u2014doing whatever it is that you do best.<\/span><\/p>\n

What these moments have in common? They are free of anxiety. The mind is clear, rejoicing in perfect stillness, as Marcus put it. You are free of the future and the past, fully present and locked in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take those moments. You deserve them.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Let Go Of Everything But This<\/b><\/h2>\n

We all want that quiet confidence that comes from being on the right path, <\/span>as Seneca described it<\/span><\/a>, and not being anxious or distracted by all those which crisscross ours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, how do you get that?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple, Marcus Aurelius wrote. <\/span>Stop caring what other people think. Stop caring what they do. Stop caring what they say.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

All that matters, he writes, is what <\/span>you do<\/span><\/i>. Everything else is beyond your concern. You can let it all go. You can ignore it entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n

We find tranquility when we stop stressing about things we cannot control, whose influence we are impotent to constrain. We find tranquility when we narrow our focus, when we look inward, when we look in the mirror. When we still the uncontrollable passions in our heads, hearts, and bodies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stillness, we said above, is the key to a better life. The bad news is that there is only one way to get it. The good news is that it\u2019s easy. You just have to stop. Stop caring what they think or say or do. Start caring deeply about what <\/span>you do.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Stop\u2026and start now.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Think Differently About Money<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cThe founder of the universe, who assigned to us the laws of life, provided that we should live well, but not in luxury. Everything needed for our well-being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties. Let us use this gift of nature and count it among the greatest things.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even in his own time, Seneca was criticized for preaching Stoic virtues while accumulating one of the largest fortunes in Rome. Seneca was so rich that some historians speculate that major loans he made to the inhabitants of what is now Britain caused what became a horrifically brutal uprising there. His critics\u2019 derisive nickname for him was \u201cThe Opulent Stoic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seneca\u2019s response to this criticism is pretty simple: he might have wealth, but he didn\u2019t need it. He wasn\u2019t dependent on it or addicted to it. Nor, despite his large bank account, was he considered to be anything close to Rome\u2019s most lavish spenders and pleasure hunters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether his rationalization was true or not (or whether he was a tad hypocritical), his is a decent prescription for navigating our materialistic and wealth-driven society, and the anxieties that come when money looms so large in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stoics had a pragmatic instead of a moralistic approach to wealth. Marcus Aurelius once told the Senate that he did not regard himself in possession of any of his wealth. It belongs to the people, he said, <\/span>even the house I live in is not mine.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There is a tranquility that comes when we stop thinking so highly of money. When we stop thinking money is so rare. It isn\u2019t. It is all incredibly common. Most of the people who have it are not impressive, most of the great fortunes are, in fact, the opposite of great.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life gets a lot better when we break free from the chains of luxury. Anxiety slips away when we don\u2019t need to make decisions that force us to continue to work and work and work and in order to get more money to pay for the things we don\u2019t need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember: humans can be happy with very little.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>10 Best Stoic Quotes on Anxiety<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u201cMan is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions\u2014not outside.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything needed for our well-being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties. Let us use this gift of nature and count it among the greatest things.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself with are externals, not under my control, and which have to do with the choice I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest\u2014by longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy present things.\u201d \u2014 Seneca<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn\u2019t wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things.\u201d \u2014 Epictetus<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first step: Don\u2019t be anxious. Nature controls it all. And before long you\u2019ll be no one, nowhere\u2014like Hadrian, like Augustus. The second step: Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it.\u201d \u2014 Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have power over your mind not outside events, realize this and you will find strength.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole\u2026Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, \u2018Why is this so unbearable? Why can\u2019t I endure it?\u2019 You\u2019ll be embarrassed to answer.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Marcus Aurelius\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe suffer more from imagination than from reality.\u201d \u2014 Seneca The 21st century has been described as \u201cThe Age of Anxiety,\u201d \u201cThe United States of Stress,\u201d \u201cThe World of Worry.\u201d The implication is that what we are experiencing\u2014pandemics, terrorism, political and economic turmoil, existential angst, and let\u2019s stop there\u2014is unique, unprecedented, uncharted. News headlines, tweets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Cure Anxiety: 9 Stoic Techniques That Work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/how-to-cure-anxiety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Cure Anxiety: 9 Stoic Techniques That Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe suffer more from imagination than from reality.\u201d \u2014 Seneca The 21st century has been described as \u201cThe Age of Anxiety,\u201d \u201cThe United States of Stress,\u201d \u201cThe World of Worry.\u201d The implication is that what we are experiencing\u2014pandemics, terrorism, political and economic turmoil, existential angst, and let\u2019s stop there\u2014is unique, unprecedented, uncharted. 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