I have been practicing daily meditation now for about 5 months and can say that it has probably done more for my trading than any other change I have made during that same time. For those of you who are unaware of what Mindfullness really is, Here is a Resource Link and brief overview.

Or you can check out any of Jon Kabat Zinn’s books as they provide more than enough information on the subject to get you started.

Basically though, mindfulness is becoming fully aware of the present moment instead of letting it pass us by unnoticed as is so often the case. It means that when we drive to the store, we actually DRIVE TO THE STORE and are aware of leaving our house, walking to the car, starting the car, driving down the road, etc, ect…Often, so much of our day goes by in the blink of an eye and at the end of it we look back and realize how little we actually experienced or fully appreciated.

Applied to trading it means becoming more fully in-tune/aware of what the markets are doing on all levels. It means trading with the knowledge of what we are doing with each passing moment. Even when we don’t appear to be doing anything, that is doing something and we can do it mindfully. By becoming more aware of our physical actions & emotional reaction from day to day, minute by minute, we can greatly reduce the number of mindless mistakes that are so frequently the cause of much of our trading losses & drawdowns.

I can promise you one thing, if you start to implement a daily mindfulness practice, you will notice differences in your trading and in your life not very long after beginning.

Dr. Tharp recently wrote an article on his blog on Mindfulness Based Trading, well worth a look for some specific techniques you can employ now to become a better trader through mindfulness.