Bringing your “A” game to your trading platform and ensuring that you are “in the now” of the trade is crucial to getting the results that you want. You’ve got to be able to focus with intention and attention to decrease the pain associated with being out of control. There is great value in being aligned, centered and grounded in order to optimize all of your system’s resources toward seeing reality for what it is, being on the right side of the order flow, and dancing with the price action by following its lead. Among the many ways that help you with alignment, centeredness and being grounded, few are as powerful as “mindful” meditation. Over the years, the usefulness of mindful meditation has been scientifically documented in hundreds of studies with regard to physiological, mental, emotional and behavioral benefits. Some of those benefits include:

• Sharpening attention

By reducing the amount of internal conflicting dialogue the individual is supported in the ability to focus more intently on the trade or investment at hand

• Lowering heart rate

While trading it is very easy to become overly excited and experience a racing heart, consistent meditation relaxes the overall system and helps the trader and investor to track incoming data with greater clarity

• Lowering stress

Stress levels become elevated when trading and investing due to hard earned capital at risk, meditation eases stress levels and helps the individual navigate through complexities of the market

• Easing anxiety

For many traders just opening their platform increases anxiety…about being wrong, making mistakes and losing money. Meditation helps the trader/investor to align body, mind and emotions to go in the same direction and for the same goals thereby reducing internal turmoil and conflict.

• Increasing patience

Meditation helps the trader/investor to appreciate the moment and develop the capacity for waiting, which is a mainstay of successful trading.

• Inducing calm

Through the process of sitting still and focusing on breathing, mindful meditation calms the body and the mind which expands the trader’s ability to reduce distorted judgement and better deal with distracting negative emotions and thoughts.

• Reducing susceptibility to fear and greed

Successful trading/investing stems in part from the effective management of fear and greed, two of the most disruptive emotions to the process. Meditation helps one to maintain a grounded and centered perspective that puts distance between these emotions and the task at hand.