Reacting

If there is one thing I learned from Stoicism, it is that we don’t control what happens, but we can always control how we react to it.

A favourite quote of mine is from Viktor Frankl and it goes like this:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor Frankl

A similar concept in psychology is the idea of a “window of tolerance”. Developed by Dan Siegel, the window of tolerance (a.k.a. the space) is an ideal emotional zone where you can feel grounded and function optimally. In this window, you can feel everything, pain, stress, frustration, anger, but you don’t feel compelled to react to it.

Spending in solitude, during my ashtanga practice, on my daily walks or doing my breathwork allows me to increase this “space” or my “window of tolerance”.