Some modern thinkers have suggested that there are no Stoic exercises.
For example, here's John Sellars:
concurs with Sellars’s full assessment and states that it is “exactly right.”Most of the things people tend to call Stoic techniques are not really that at all. … The idea of ‘Stoic practice’ makes little sense.
Both of them do excellent work, but this conclusion would be news to us. Is this correct?
I think not. Sellars himself goes on to make arguments that suggest perhaps he should have done more Stoic logic exercises. However, working through his arguments clarifies the nature of Stoic practice and what we mean when we talk about Stoic techniques.
First, Sellars argues that there are no distinctive Stoic practices:
Seneca famously talked about evening reflection. But there’s nothing distinctively Stoic about it and indeed it was a Pythagorean practice that Seneca adopted, and so not Stoic at all.
But even if that were true, it doesn’t support the idea that there aren’t Stoic techniques or exercises. Martial arts share techniques but that doesn’t mean that a common move doesn’t belong to both arts. Practicing good Judo throws is a key part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practice. Doing your scales is an important technique for both violinists and guitarists and can be properly said to be as such even though pianists also do it. Outside of the domain of martial arts and music, just think about how many athletes share physical exercises as a core part of their training. These are the exercises of their craft – things they do to improve and achieve physical and mental transformation. It doesn’t matter that they are common or not unique.
All the exercises that physical trainers use for the body might be applicable to our training as well, if here at school they’re directed toward desire and aversion.
Epictetus, Discourses III 12.16
Second, he suggests that most exercises are about how we think, not “actual practices that we actually do.” I don't think there's such a tight distinction for Stoics. What we think is the source of what we do. Anyway, there are plenty of Stoic practices that involve both action and thought. Consider voluntary discomfort or the Stoic’s diet advice for examples. Here’s Epictetus on moderation practices that require action (or omission) that develop Stoic discipline:
Train yourself also to use wine with discretion, not because you plan to drink a lot… but because you plan to abstain from wine, in the first place, but then also from girls and cakes. And then one day, by way of a test, if the opportunity arises, you’ll enter the fray favorably placed to find out whether impressions still get the better of you, as they used to. But the first step is to keep well away from things that are too strong for you.
Epictetus, Discourses III 12.11-12
We can also return to Seneca’s evening reflection: the content of one’s reflections concern both actions and thoughts. What one should bring to these reflections is Stoic principles. Think about your day from the standpoint of Stoic philosophy. Epictetus’s examples are instructive here too. The Stoic practitioner isn’t meant to simply abstain from drink and cake — they are meant to do so specifically with the goal of mastering their desires and aversions. That’s what makes it a Stoic practice, not merely a self-help practice for developing “self-control.”
Finally, it seems clear to us that there are distinct Stoic exercises. Carrying around a handbook of Stoic maxims, reflecting and acting on them is Stoic technique. The entire exercise of Marcus Aurelius writing the Meditations was Stoic practice, and modern Stoics who have followed in that tradition are engaging in the same philosophical work. See Michael’s tier list for more.
Perhaps, however, Sellars is just making the point that one can't completely divorce an exercise from its original philosophy. Memento Mori without the background of Stoicism isn't a Stoic practice. This is true but doesn’t support the idea that there are no Stoic techniques which is where we started. And it's obviously true for other domains. If you just practice Judo throws without a general training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you are doing Judo, not Jiu Jitsu.
Fundamentally, the people we speak to care about Stoic exercises because they want to train in Stoicism. They seek tools to help them progress on their path. It's one thing to warn against people divorcing Stoic technique from the philosophy, but it's another to say there aren't any practices at all. Stoicism offers a way to both live and practice philosophy.