As slightly corny as this may sound, everything seemed to open up for me once I incorporated meditating into my trading day. No longer was I stressing out; that just went away almost entirely. Anxiety and anxiousness almost overnight went away as well. When I did find myself getting a bit overly anxious or stressed out, I used this as a big yellow flag and as a warning that I need to take a step back. It pays off, big time.
I find that I remain more balanced, both emotionally and with my overall mentality. My resilience goes way up, if something crappy or unexpected happens, I bounce back super fast. I’m able to keep things in perspective, I’m able to be emotionally aware of myself. That is, if I have meditating and/or breathing exercises incorporated fully within my day’s schedule. Meditating three times a day really keeps the ugly thoughts away.
I meditate first thing in the morning; in fact, it’s the very first thing I do in my day. I allow an extra 15 minutes in bed to just relax and meditate for that time. Honestly, that first meditation session isn’t really the best or deepest experience, but that’s not what it’s about here. It’s about starting things out on the right foot; it’s about getting in the groove for the day. On that note, it’s important to never beat ourselves up if we’re having troubles with our thoughts getting in the way. As long as we’re relaxing as best we can in the moment, giving our mind and body a chance to reset and find balance… that’s what it’s about. There is no such thing as a bad meditation session, I believe that’s not possible.
My next two meditation sessions come later in the day. The second meditation session for me comes in right before I actually trade for the day. I try to shoot for 8:30 am, an hour before the market actually opens for me. This session is a sitting up by my window sort of session; it’s a little quicker too. Just a fast 10-minute session to get my head right, just to get myself in tune with myself before the bell rings. I highly recommend doing at least one meditation session a day, and if you are a trader, do it up right before you actually trade. This for me paid dividends, and if I don’t meditate before trading, I feel gross and just wrong.
The third and final session for me comes in around dinnertime. This one is the hardest for me to adhere to. I mostly do well, but if I’m to slough off at all, this one is going to be it. So if you are having troubles incorporating meditation into your trading day, I suggest simply setting alarms. Either just on your phone, or I just set friendly silent reminders on my Calm app (which I love and highly recommend. This is the only app that I’ve ever paid for, ever). So I’m not perfect, I still occasionally miss sessions. Especially if life stuff gets in the way, sometimes it can’t be helped. Shrug it off and try to be consistent tomorrow.
The most important thing when attempting to make meditation a daily practice is not to get down on yourself. Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you’re not getting it or if you miss some sessions that you had planned for yourself. If you stress out about meditation, then you are going against the whole idea of it, so please don’t do that to yourself. For me, the biggest challenge with meditation was dealing with internal thoughts that kept chattering. To work around this, I count my inhales and continually focus on my breath. A helpful tip is to count up to 20 inhales, then start over again while focusing on your breath and the numbers.
If you’re having trouble with meditation, be easy on yourself. It actually takes practice, and it took me years of falling in and out of it before I finally made it a mainstay in my life. Once I did, I simply couldn’t imagine going back. It’s my gauge that I put on my life, and it allows me to keep myself in check if I start missing sessions. My inner negative beast hates the quiet, and it comes up with all sorts of excuses not to follow through. That’s how I know I need to stay vigilant and extra aware when this inner negativity starts up.
In regards to trading, meditation has been a lifesaver. It truly keeps me balanced, and I find I’m harder to rock emotionally and mentally. Any losing streaks are definitely lessened from constant meditation. I’m better at sticking with my biases and trading thesis, realizing that they need to change or be updated. I find I’m less attached to things too, not as emotionally involved. Losses and wins mean less to me. It’s easier to ditch clinging and resist the urge to repel reality. When I’m really in the zone with trading, I regularly adhere to meditating three times a day. It’s no coincidence. When I’m in a slump or just “off” for any period of time, I can clearly see that my practices have been waning.
So what is your experience with meditating as a trader? Did you find that it helped or was it inconsequential? For me, it really changed the game. It removed so much of the mental garbage and at least made it easier for me to figure out the sources of my inner disturbances. Personally, I could see it in my account balance. As soon as I got into meditation, my trading account balance became a nice, steady upward movement (and downward movements were not as harsh or dramatic). If you’re a newer trader having trouble with staying emotionally balanced, meditation is the way. The answers are all within, and practicing meditation most certainly and without a doubt helps in a major way.
