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The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

By: Jon Brooks
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Modern practical breakdowns of the best ideas in ancient Stoicism.

© 2025 The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks
Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Become Untriggerable: Masculinity, Intimacy, and Healing with Adam Rice
    Sep 30 2025

    Send us a text

    Most “men’s advice” teaches tactics. In this conversation, Adam Rice shares a deeper path: becoming untriggerable, relating consciously, and integrating the masculine and feminine so you can lead, love, and live without the drama spiral.

    We cover how to spot ego flares in your body, the language of conscious communication, why intimacy beats performance, how to use rituals and rest without sliding into apathy, and when (and how) plant medicines are used in a safe, ethical container.

    You’ll learn:

    • A 3‑step trigger protocol you can use mid‑argument
    • The difference between performance sex vs. intimacy‑building sex
    • Right Thought • Right Speech • Right Action—applied to daily life
    • How to challenge a partner without escalating
    • Why rest and “softness” are part of true masculine strength
    • Ceremony vs. recreation and the role of integration

    Guest:

    Adam Rice — evolution coach, yoga teacher, shamanic guide, and men’s work facilitator.

    • Instagram: @adamriceyoga.
    • Co‑founder of Activate Your Alchemy.
    • Co-founder Order of Honorable Men

    🔥 🧰 Free SPQR Stoic Reset Kit — 5-min audio + 1-page protocol to stop anxiety spirals fast. → stoichandbook.co/toolkit

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    2 hrs and 6 mins
  • NVC in Real Life with Hans van Veen
    Sep 24 2025

    Send us a text

    If “be nicer” hasn’t fixed your toughest conversations, try Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in the wild. Coach Hans Nav Neev shows how to turn trigger moments into clarity, how to stop taking things personally, and why conflict—done well—becomes a portal to connection.

    What you’ll learn

    • The OFNR model (Observations, Feelings, Needs, Requests) that actually de-fogs conflict
    • Jackal vs. Giraffe ears: hearing judgments vs. hearing needs
    • The guilt process (“the art of being torn”) to end inner civil wars
    • Enemy images and how to dissolve them
    • When to set boundaries (and use protective force)
    • Bridging NVC with BIFF (Brief, Informative, Friendly, Firm) for high‑conflict exchanges

    Timestamps

    00:00 Cold open, intentions, how we’ll talk
    02:40 What NVC is: surface techniques vs. deep worldview
    05:40 Taking things less personally; the guilt process
    08:10 Inner work vs. changing the world
    10:05 The OFNR model explained (Observations–Feelings–Needs–Requests)
    13:15 Practicing OFNR + the floor exercise
    14:50 Hardest skill: observations without interpretations (Krishnamurti)
    16:20 Anger = story about the event (not the event)
    18:30 Jackal vs. Giraffe ears (with props)
    21:20 Chronic “jackal mode,” boundaries, and dignity
    24:40 Needs, requests, and withdrawing from harmful dynamics
    26:30 Needs vs. rationalizations; congruence
    28:00 Language: “need” vs. “value/prefer”; needs as “frequencies”
    31:10 Family impact, social ripple of communication
    33:20 Trusting conflict; repair vs. rug-sweeping
    35:20 Intergenerational trauma; “enemy images”
    39:10 Avoiding the “obnoxious giraffe” (NVC police)
    41:30 Stoicism link: embody, don’t preach
    44:10 External validation; “seeds grow in the dark”
    45:50 Where NVC applies; protective use of force
    49:10 BIFF for high-conflict exchanges; bridging to NVC
    53:20 Filtering vs. entrenched relationships
    56:20 “Warm bath of empathy” and relationship risks
    59:30 Practice in low‑stakes settings first
    1:02:00 Resources and Insight Timer courses
    1:04:30 Two mantras: it’s never personal; guess the need
    1:06:40 Empathic guessing as a question (not a label)
    1:08:50 Measuring progress; conflict may rise first
    1:10:00 Positive gossip; humility as embodiment
    1:15:20 Self-image, overcorrection, and growth
    1:18:50 Vulnerability as success
    1:21:40 Beginner’s mind in communication
    1:24:10 Sensitivity with equanimity
    1:25:06 Rosenberg’s “tragic expression”; the third compassionate voice
    1:27:20 Metta vs. Tonglen; Michael Taft guidance
    1:30:27 Wrap-up, thanks, next steps

    Guest:
    Hans Nav Neev — NVC coach and Insight Timer teacher with practical courses and tracks.

    • Insight Timer (teacher page)

    https://insighttimer.com/hansvanv1

    • Instagram

    https://www.instagram.com/nondualcommunication/

    • Website (bio + offerings)

    https://www.nondualcommunication.net/bio

    --

    Host:
    Jon BrooksThe Stoic Handbook (stoicism + practical tools).
    • Site: https://stoichandbook.co
    • Newsletter (Nous): nous.xyz • YouTube: youtube.com/jonbrooks

    If this helped, follow the show, share the episode with a friend, and join the newsletter for weekly tools.


    🔥 🧰 Free SPQR Stoic Reset Kit — 5-min audio + 1-page protocol to stop anxiety spirals fast. → stoichandbook.co/toolkit

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 24 mins
  • Good Kid, Tricky Moment: A Calm‑Parenting Reset
    Aug 26 2025

    Send us a text

    When your child’s “No!” sparks your own surge, this guided reset helps you find your soft voice again. We begin with 4–6 breathing to settle the nervous system, set a one‑line intention, and repeat the cue phrase “Good kid, tricky moment.” Then we practice holding two truths—kind and firm—so you can keep connection first and offer clear guidance once the charge is gone. You’ll choose one calm sentence or boundary, visualize setting the shaken “snow globe” down, and close with a simple, honest repair script you can use later: “I’m sorry I snapped. I’m on your side.”

    Use this any time the day feels heavy—before pick‑up, after a meltdown, or when you want to stop the spiral and lead with steadiness. For parents and caregivers of kids of any age. If this helps, share it with a fellow parent who could use a calm reset today.

    🔥 🧰 Free SPQR Stoic Reset Kit — 5-min audio + 1-page protocol to stop anxiety spirals fast. → stoichandbook.co/toolkit

    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
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