One of the well known benefits of a regular meditation practice is that it helps us to be in a state of equanimity more often, which is a state of calmness and composure, even in difficult situations.

This is similar to the inner calmness, self-mastery and self-reflection that are some of the main principles of Stoicism.

A philosophy that was founded around the year 300 BC. Some of the principles you will find in Stoicism are:

Being in control of your own reactions, even in a crisis
Accept that there are some things you can control and some things you can’t
What we can control is our inner state of being, not the outer world

There are many other aspects to this philosophy but these are the ones that most relates to the positive effects of meditation.

When we meditate regularly, the peace and equanimity that is felt in and just after meditation spills out into the rest of our day and life.

It helps to balance our nervous system and it makes us less reactive and more reflective. However, in my experience, I don’t think it makes us less reactive in situations where we do need to react.

I think Stoicism is related to other traditions that advocates for meditative and self-reflective practices. Although it came out of a particular time and place, Hellenistic Greece, its philosophy is not so different from Christian contemplation practices or the Buddhist practice of mindfulness.

Most meditation techniques essentially do the same thing. It reduces and sometimes even eliminates mental clutter and trains the mind to be still.

And that stillness is a powerful state to be in…