Sunday, June 24, 2012

Stoicism�/� Getting Stronger

Stoicism�/� Getting Stronger


Hormetism is a practical set of tools that can help you lose weight, get fit, or even improve your eyesight. But thinking of it as just “as set of tools” actually undervalues the benefits of Hormetism, because it leaves out the greatest benefit: a path to freedom from stress and a means of increasing your physical, mental and spiritual strength.  Hormetism is at once a broad perspective on living and a specific set of techniques that can free you from distractions and foster your ability to focus on the important things in life–even the most challenging ones–with greater engagement and joy, and with less distraction from negative emotions such as anger, fear, worry, and the other negative manifestations of stress. Hormetism is not just a set of tools, it is an overarching philosophy of life.
But did Hormetism come out of nowhere, or are there historical precedents?  Within the history of both Western and Eastern philosophies, there is one that comes closet:  Stoicism, one of the earliest and noblest of the philosophies to arise from the legacy of Socrates, over two millenia ago.