There was a ~month long period where I cycled through Headspace's starter 10-day course a few times. I found it immensely useful. I stopped short of enrolling in their paid app and haven't tried it since, but I honestly see the utility in it.

I think there's value in exercising the "muscle" of mindfulness--of not identifying with every thought and feeling that spontaneously arises, but letting them pass non-judgmentally. This ability, paired with a larger overarching life goal or set of deeply examined principles, makes for a potent human being. It's not the only kind of potency (Kanye West is a pretty potent guy, but I think he identifies with every thought that passes his consciousness), but mindfulness steels you in a quintessentially stoic kind of way.

Question: Is the desire for the benefits of stoicism at odds with stoicism? Because I view stoicism as a means to an end--that end being a peaceful and fulfilled inner life. But wanting a peaceful and fulfilled inner life seems to violate the stoic creed of not wanting for things, or otherwise living a life free of desire. (I imagine this paradox has parallels in a buddhist context.)