Marcus Aurelius says “Nowhere you can go is more peaceful, more free of interruptions,
than your own soul.
Retreat to consult your own soul and then return to face what awaits you.”
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD and is considered as the last of
the Five Good Emperors.
During his time, he constructed a series of autobiographical writings known as the Meditations,
in which he constantly advocated for finding stillness in life and while his meditations
regularly speak of the importance of waking up early and seizing the day, he also stressed
the importance of taking time to retreat into oneself and find stillness.
Thanks to his journalling, we have a fair idea of what his evening routine would have
looked like and in this video we will be diving into 7 different things Marcus Aurelius would
have done in his evenings and how we can follow or adapt that routine to our modern day lives.
1.
Eliminate external Stimuli Marcus Aurelius says, “It is in your power
to retire into yourself whenever you choose.”
It is known that Marcus Aurelius used his evenings to disconnect.
While he is particularly known for his philosophy advising us to live everyday like it could
be your last, he also believed in taking time to find retreat within his own mind in order
to renew himself.
He did this in an effort to cleanse himself from stress or negative feelings by disconnecting
from external stimuli and finding value in looking inward.
External stimuli are changes outside the body, or knowledge that is passed to us through
our senses.
Today we face constant external stimuli especially when engaging with people and technology and
in order to meet the superfluous demands of our modern day society, we overcommit and
our days have become jam-packed with tasks, to-dos, meetings, emails, and deadlines.
We have lost our freedom and our peace of mind and even if we work hard to create a
work-life balance, it’s inevitable that we come home feeling exhausted, overworked,
and stressed.
Our evening routine then typically involves catching up with social media, watching television,
or trying to answer those last minute emails.
We need to cut down on these stimuli and declutter our brain.
Hence your evening routine should be time you spend with yourself.
This probably means eliminating many of the night time activities you’ve gotten used
to and replacing them with new ones that will actually help you disconnect and focus on
yourself.
It means putting your technology to bed at least half an hour before you go to bed yourself,
and instead seek stillness.
This can be as simple as a 5 minute guided meditation such as a body scan or breathing
exercise.
Mindfulness meditations help to slow down an overactive mind and tune into your physical
body.
This type of meditation can serve as a retreat within ourselves and the impact of incorporating
this into an evening routine can be incredibly beneficial.
Meditation is known to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and also significantly improve sleep.
Your bedtime routine should be a vacation from the busy world and a retreat into your
peaceful self.
While indulging in binge watching shows, playing video games, catching up with friends, or
scrolling through social media may feel like taking a personal break these activities aren’t
actually helping you achieve stillness.
In fact, they are distracting you from finding it, and while sleep is important, it’s often
not enough to restore you after a busy day.
The ultimate relaxing evening routine actually needs to contain something that allows your
mind to switch off.
2.
Get some physical Exercise Marcus Aurelius tells us “It is a shame
for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable”
Even though Marcus Aurelius lived nearly two thousand years ago, he understood the importance
of physical exercise.
He believed that a healthy mind cannot exist without a healthy body.
Stoics believed that even a simple fitness routine can teach us virtuous life skills
such as perseverance, self-improvement, discipline, overcoming challenges, and building self-confidence.
They understood it was more important to exercise to achieve these skills of self-mastery, rather
than for the sake of external approval.
Despite what the media might have us believe, Stoics knew even then that trying to have
‘beach-ready bod’ just to show off rarely leads to true happiness.
We often skip our workout session with excuses like "I'm too tired."
"I have a big meeting tomorrow, so I don't want to be sore."
oh ah "I'm so stressed at work I can't even think about exercise".
While most of us dread exercising for various reasons, it has too many amazing physical
and mental health benefits to ignore it as a part of your routine completely.
Any form of exercise routine - whether you play a sport or go to the gym is good for
you as it releases a flood of feel-good brain chemicals — known as endorphins — that
reduce your stress levels and boost your mood and if you work out in evenings, it can even
help you fall asleep faster, leaving you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the next day.
You can also incorporate the concept of having a quick mind-cleansing evening walk outside
and while walking, notice the air and the environment that surrounds you.
Let your mind shift from ruminating thoughts of the day to observing the night sky you
walk under.
By gently moving your body, and taking in the beauty of the nature around you will help
you clear your head from a busy day and prepare you for a good night’s rest.
We should exercise to lead a better life in accordance with Nature – that is, keeping
our bodies ready for when we need them and keeping them in good working condition.
3.
Review your day According to Marcus Aurelius, “Nothing has
such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all
that comes under thy observation in life.”
The Stoics believed that the two best times for reflection were in the morning and evening:
Prepare for the day ahead by journaling in the morning and reviewing the day that just
passed.
Marcus Aurelius wrote his meditations with the intention of reviewing his own daily life
and thoughts to achieve personal clarity.
He kept a constant eye on his daily actions and choices.
Stoics emphasized being mindful of your own actions and stressed the importance of taking
time at the end of each day to review what happened as a way to become more mindful in
general.
Stoics called this type of mindfulness ‘Attention’ which is meant to bring self-awareness to
your actions and whether they are aligned with your higher self.
Some stoics compared this type of daily self-reflection to pleading your case to a court.
You recall and judge your day through taking the time to self-examine your daily actions
and choices and then systematically review them.
This is not meant to be a judgmental practice, but instead a compassionate review that will
guide you into making better choices in the future.
You can incorporate this type of daily review in your evening routine by setting aside some
time before getting into bed to recall the day you just had.
Go through each moment of the day from the second you woke up to the moment you are in
now.
Meditate on the various choices and actions you made: What did you do well today?
What emotions did you experience?
What parts of your day brought you discomfort?
How can you learn from what happened to you today?
What did you not get done today that you wish you had?
Daily reflections serve a critical role in Stoic philosophy.
They help us prepare for the day ahead by noting what we wish we had gotten around to
today.
They are also key in assessing whether our daily actions are in line with the person
we actually want to be.
For example, while reviewing your day you may recall an event such as an unpleasant
interaction you had over a miscommunication while buying your morning coffee.
You’ll be able to identify how that one interaction left you feeling uneasy and annoyed.
You’ll be able to highlight the time you spent dwelling on the encounter and how it
impacted your mood throughout the morning.
You can take time to reflect on how you wish you’d handled the encounter differently
or how insignificant the interaction ended up being in your day overall.
Just by becoming aware of this event the next time you face a similar situation you can
approach it with heightened mindfulness.
Setting aside time at night to review your daily progress is an important step in leading
a Stoic lifestyle.
It may also serve you as a chance to catch up on your daily journaling if you were unable
to journal in the morning.
4.
Contemplate your personal sage In the words of Marcus Aurelius “Mastery
of reading and writing requires a master.
Still, more so life”
A sage is someone who is considered to be wise or experienced in a certain field, and
who is revered for their wisdom, judgment, and expertise.
For many people this is a role model.
Stoics spent time reflecting on their sages and whether their own actions were consistent
with those of their sage.
Marcus Aurelius considered the sage to be someone full of wisdom and knowledge.
His sage was Zeno, the founder of Stoic philosophy, and he would often ask himself ‘What would
Zeno do?’.
Contemplation of the sage should essentially be a period of time in the evening where you
reflect on your day, or the person you are, and ask yourself ‘What would your role model
do?’.
Your role model could be someone you know or maybe just a concept of an ideal person.
It is important to have a clear definition of this person so that you reflect on whether
your actions are in line with your role model.
As part of your evening routine take a few minutes to recall your role model and ask
yourself - Did you act as your role model would?
In what ways can you improve tomorrow so that your life is more in line with your role model?
What traits does your role model have that you saw in yourself today?
Incorporating a few minutes in your evening routine to consider the situations you experienced
today and whether you reacted as you believe your role model would have may boost your
awareness in your choices for tomorrow and make you a better person - the kind of person
you admire so deeply.
5.
Take a view from above In the words of Marcus Aurelius “Think of
substance in its entirety, of which you have the smallest of shares; and of time in its
entirety, of which a brief and momentary span has been assigned to you; and of the works
of destiny, and how very small is your part in them”
Marcus Aurelius advises us to contemplate life from ‘the point of view of the cosmos’
or to take ‘a view from above.’
A view from above means taking a zoomed out perspective of your life and looking at yourself
and your day as if you were watching from a third person's perspective to remove personal
emotions and anxieties.
It is known that in his evenings, Aurelius would reflect on his life from the point of
view of the cosmos to overcome his own limited personal perspective.
In today’s world, there’s a lot of “noise”.
Every time we step out the door we’re presented with advertising, marketing, news, opinion,
and distraction.
When we’re not at work, or with our family, we’re on our phone, or our radio is on,
or the TV is on, or on the computer.
All of this causes “Mental Burn out” It is difficult to find space to think, and breathe.
Our attention is being captured by apps, games, videos, and shows and the fact that our attention
is often on other things, makes it more difficult for us to work through our problems, anxieties,
stresses and commitments.
To help with this, this Stoic exercise of taking a view from above can be used to lessen
the burden of our problems as it shifts our perspective to a level high above ourselves.
You can start by spending some quiet time in the evening looking at your immediate surroundings
and your body, your home and the people you live with.
We start to think about what they feel, how we relate to one another, what problems, hopes,
and fears they might have.
Then zoom out to see your own city, and how everyone who lives around you has a unique
life that you know nothing about, they have hopes, dreams and fears just like you.
Then zoom out to view your country, then further, broadening your perspective to the entire
planet, considering all the people on Earth, all of our lives spread across countries,
social classes, races and cultures.
Think about what hardships some of the worst-off people are going through.
You can keep zooming out to the solar system, the universe and to the entirety of existence.
When we look at ourselves from above, we see ourselves not as individuals, disconnected
from the things around us, but as part of a greater whole - A participant in everything
around us.
Looking at ourselves from the outside helps us to see ourselves and our concerns more
objectively.
When we distance ourselves from the worries, anxieties, and problems we face, we can see
them more clearly, less emotionally, and have a better chance of understanding their causes
and solutions.
It becomes easier to see things in context.
If you are feeling down because someone insulted you, try this exercise.
It is far easier to overcome the emotional hurdles we experience when we put things into
perspective.
Bickering and minor disagreements seem silly in comparison.
Many of our problems can dissolve when we hold them up to the problems of others, or
the vastness of space.
6.
Spend time with family Marcus Aurelius tells us “The longest-lived
and those who will die soonest lose the same thing.
The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do
not have, you cannot lose.”
For Marcus Aurelius, as the day came to a close, it was time to be around family.
Marcus clearly loved his children and his wife dearly.
Even though he was important, famous and extremely busy, he didn’t ignore them.
He would tuck his children into bed at night and kiss them, he would say quietly to himself,
“Don’t rush this.
This might be the last time you do this.
It’s not guaranteed that either of you will make it through the night.”
He loved them.
He cherished this thing in front of him, which really was the most important thing in his
life, and then he said goodnight.
He would repeatedly do this - for as long as he was fortunate enough to live.
Stoics used the contemplation of death as a practice by which to remind themselves of
the impermanence of life.
Nurse Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who focused on caring for the terminally-ill,
said that one of the most common regrets of a dying person is they wished they had spent
more time with their family.
Her patients often complained about missing out on their children's youth and their partner's
companionship.
Because of the demands of modern life, families are spending a little over half an hour of
quality time together during the week and even when families do get together as many
as seven in ten parents say the time is spent in silence in front of the TV because they
are busy reading, playing computer games or simply too tired to talk.
Like Stoics, if we regularly contemplate our death, remind ourselves that there will be
a day where we or our kids won't wake up to enjoy the beautiful chaos of life, we will
start making some changes to spend more time with family, and often tell our children or
our family that we love them.
Family time is an essential factor that helps to create strong bonds, love, connections,
and relationships among the family members.
Spending quality time with family helps in coping with challenges, instilling a feeling
of security, inculcating family values and filling children with confidence.
7.
Prepare for mornings
Marcus Aurelius says, “In your actions, don't procrastinate.”
Marcus Aurelius strongly advocated the importance of waking up early each morning.
He did this to create a morning routine that would take the most advantage of every living
moment.
Therefore, sleeping was meant to be a restorative experience and not a time to overindulge in
laziness.
A morning routine was essential to Aurelius, however part of this morning routine started
even before the morning as he prepared for the next day the night before.
Stoics often prepared for their day by setting aside time in the morning to rehearse their
days.
They did this through considering what they wanted to achieve that day, preparing for
different possible outcomes, and reflecting on themselves.
These types of reflections were done by many Stoics in the morning and as well in the evening.
To start, you can prepare the night before to make waking up as easy as possible.
This may mean laying out your clothes for the next day, packing your bag for work, or
having a clear morning routine you stick to.
This also means going to bed at a reasonable time so that you get a good 6-8 hours of sleep.
Not only is this beneficial for your health, it will make waking up a more pleasant experience.
Preparing for tomorrow during your evening routine will not only help you with your morning
routine, it can reduce anxiety about the tasks that lay ahead of you when waking up.
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Thanks so much for watching.