Definition
Reflective practice is the deliberate, repeated act of stepping back from experience to examine it. In the Stoic tradition it took concrete forms: a morning preparation that rehearses the day's likely challenges, and an evening review that audits the day's words, actions, and judgments.
It is practice in the literal sense — a recurring exercise, not an occasional mood. The Stoics treated the philosophical life as something trained, and reflection was the loop through which each day fed lessons into the next.
Why it matters
How it works
The evening review, attributed to the Stoics by Seneca, asks three questions of the day: what was done badly, what was done well, and what could be done better. The questions are posed without harshness — the goal is correction, not self-punishment.
The morning counterpart prepares the mind: it anticipates difficulty, recalls the relevant principles, and sets an intention for how to meet whatever comes. Together the two bookend the day and turn ordinary living into a deliberate curriculum.