For the most part, antique techniques have become obsolete. We no longer use horses and triremes as our principal means of transportation. Neither do we build houses and roads according to the methods employed in Ancient Greece and Rome.
However, we can still rely on anti-stress methods conceived by Seneca (4 BC-65 AD). Why have they remained effective? Because human nature has not changed since Ancient Rome.
The changes in technology have raised our living standards, but many individuals still suffer from worry, preoccupation and other negative emotions. The passage of the centuries has rendered human existence easier, but has not diminished the percentage of the population that is affected by anxiety.
Seneca held unorthodox views about stress and worry. He regarded those emotional phenomena as problematic, but didn’t recommend running away from hardship. Instead, he devoted his efforts to severing the connection between hardship and negative emotions.
Seneca’s call for physical and spiritual training
In his 78th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca noted that hardship can prove helpful if we allow it to strengthen our mind. Even when we are not to blame for the hardship, it can still prove useful in the future. It can still render us stronger and more resilient.
Seneca’s conception of hardship was different from ours. In Ancient Greece and Rome, it meant extreme physical privation or poverty. The concept would also encompass life-and-death threats such as war, shipwreck and severe illness.
Training was Seneca’s preferred anti-stress method; he held the view that, if we train ourselves to become tougher, we will not fall prey to despair if bad turns to worse. If we get used to a modest lifestyle, we will not grow depressed if our revenue is sharply reduced.
Seneca had followed this practice and attained good results. For instance, after his fiftieth birthday, he adopted the habit of walking barefoot and eating simple, inexpensive food. Those privations, he argued, had rendered his body and mind stronger and more resilient.
Note however that Seneca had copied his anti-stress habits from previous philosophers. For instance, in his dialogue “The constancy of the wise,” he mentions Socrates (470-399 BC) as an example of a famous thinker who had embraced a modest lifestyle for purely philosophical reasons.
Seneca recommended regular physical and spiritual training “with the goal of becoming a different person.” His 104th Letter to Lucilius emphasises that the difference must be in our heart, not on external aspects.
Seneca’s scepticism about the advantages of travelling
We cannot become different individuals by simply changing our clothes or relocating to a different city. Those changes will remain superficial if we do not change our attitude.
Seneca was of the opinion that travelling, taken in isolation, seldom changes people. Unless travelling involves a revelation or spiritual experience, the concerned person will not change at all.
We carry our worry and anxiety inside us, observed Seneca. If we want to get rid of those destructive emotions, we need to train ourselves to think more logically and objectively.
Seneca praises those who deploy steady efforts to improve their patterns of thought. If we do not adopt a better mentality, we will soon be consumed by our negative emotions, he writes in his dialogue “On Anger.”
Training should be carried out in stages, so that we do not become overwhelmed. The first step in the training, explains Seneca, is to slow down and avoid exaggerated reactions.
As a warning to readers, Seneca points to a contemporary of his, a Roman aristocrat named Fabius, who had reacted to an inconvenience in such an exaggerated manner that he broke his own hand.
Seneca’s anti-stress prescription leads to a new perspective, a new mentality. The practitioners of Seneca’s advice become highly resilient individuals.
Seneca’s anti-stress method in practice
When confronted with adversity, they’ll avoid exaggerated feelings and reactions. They will even refuse to employ words that carry a deep emotional tone. Their priority is equanimity, that is, to keep a cool head, irrespective of the circumstances.
Seneca views equanimity as the mark of wisdom. He gives the recommendation to moderate our feelings in good and bad times. We should remain emotionally detached at all times.
It does not matter if we are going through a period of good luck or bad luck, Seneca argues in his 9th Letter to Lucilius. Let us imitate Demetrius the Cynic, he advises, and adopt a modest lifestyle that protects us against the gyrations of fortune.
How long should we carry out our Stoic training? Seneca is providing a clear answer. His 101st Letter to Lucilius says that “we should start immediately, and keep going each day.”
Seneca’s anti-stress formula continues to work today. We do not face the same existential risks as people in Ancient Rome, but our challenges are no less daunting.
I view Seneca’s insights as potentially beneficial for people facing a severe financial or personal loss, health issues, or any other severe challenge.
I wish that everyone could benefit from the training method conceived by Seneca, but it’s up to each person to decide if the insights gained by Seneca are worth testing.
If you are interested in putting rational ideas into practice in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “Undisrupted: How highly effective people deal with disruptions.”