ForexSpirit

Meditating is one of the most beneficial activities that I now perform on a regular basis since I started on my journey to become a great trader. This is an activity that can be done by just about anyone in many different ways. Different people get different benefits from performing regular meditation. You don’t have to be a trader to avail yourself of the benefits that meditation can bring to you.

My main objectives for performing meditation are to achieve calm and centeredness. I want to maintain and project a positive mindset as a result of meditating.

I use a technique I came across in ‘The Way of the Warrior-Trader’ by Richard McCall, which I’ve been practicing every morning now for three to four months.

He uses a nice acronym to make the steps easy to remember: S.T.I.L.L.

S = Sit down
I generally use a martial arts stance whereby I kneel on the ground and then sit back onto the balls of my feet. You can do it sitting in a chair, or however you feel most comfortable, but you must make sure that your knees are below your hips. If they are not then you will not be able to able to breath fully as your diaphragm won’t be able to expand properly due to your body posture.

T = Take a breath
Perform three or more deep, slow, controlled breathes. Make sure you do abdominal breathing: as you breath in, imagine the air going down your esophagus and into your stomach first. Only when your stomach is full of air should your lungs start to fill up. Imagine the reverse when breathing out, starting with your lungs emptying followed by the air in your stomach. You should feel your stomach area expanding and contracting as you take these breaths with your diaphragm unhindered due to your correct sitting posture.

I = Imagine
Think of something positive. It could be the purpose of your meditation or just something nice that you’d like to happen in your life. Imagine being healthy and happy. Imagine clients getting in contact with you instead of you having to chase after them. Use your imagination. I generally like to imagine myself as a consistent, profitable trader. It can be helpful to imagine myself in the future in this role. What will my daily routine be? How will this change affect my interaction with family and friends? What changes will be necessary in my life?

L = Let it all in
Go through each of your five senses and concentrate on what it is telling you at that point in time. Most of us never pay much heed to what our senses of touch or smell are telling us all that often, so it helps to tune into each sense. In the long run it can help to make each sense hypersensitive so that you are able to pick up more information from your environment in your day to day life.

L = Let it go!
This is the hard part! Clear your mind of the random jumble of thoughts that race through our minds all day, every day. This definitely takes practice to make any headway with but is the most benefical part of your meditation. I find it helpful to think of my mind containing a revolving door. If a stray thought enters my mind, it has just entered through the revolving door and it gets spat straight back out again. Sometimes those stray thoughts can linger in your mind. Don’t beat yourself up over having strayed from your wish to empty your mind. Just release the thought and return to thinking about nothing. Make sure you don’t fall asleep! You want to stay awake, attentive and relaxed.

One of the best descriptions of the benefits that practising ‘emptying your mind’ brings is that you open your mind up to infinite thoughts and infinite possiblities. If your mind is empty then when you finish the meditation you are opening yourself up to having your first thought be almost anything.

I normally take ten to fifteen minutes out of my morning to meditate, after I’m showered and dressed, but before I eat breakfast.

It seems to quietly energise me for the rest of the day, which is a good enough reason to keep doing it!