Trading Secrets of a Mindful Trader

Not each day is a trading day. These are some lessons I learnt being a mindful trader doing mindful trading.

Only days where your body (and breath) is in sync with the Universe, should be a trading day.

How does one get one’s body in Sync with the Universe?

The correct Yoga – even 10 minutes – done at the appropriate time each morning, can get your body in synch to start a trading day.

Is that it? Just do yoga and then start trading?

There are two variations of the ‘Yoga to get the body in synch with the Universe…’. The first technique relies on the visualization of ‘floating on a lazy river’. This, I refer to, as a PASSIVE synchronization with the Universe.

There is an ACTIVE version of this. Think, instead of simply floating along the lazy river, of doing a gentle, breast stroke. Here, you are in control of your direction and movement, as opposed to the passive floating visualization.

This latter frame of mind / visualization is what you need to try and attain for a productive trading day. A trading day will require action to be taken at certain times – the only thing is – that if you are in sync with the Universe, you will know which action to take when.

aDoesn’t the market control the price? What does my state of mind have to do with it?

Incorrect. The market does not control the price. YOU do.  When you are in synch with the Universe, YOUR thoughts are more powerful than the entire market at large. YOU dictate the price movement. Takes a little getting used to – but essentially, the Universe is working WITH you, alongside you. So – if thousands of new buyers suddenly enter the market, that’s the Universe bringing them in, to assist with YOUR directional movement.

You said that not every day is a trading day. Why can I not do my yoga and get in sync every day – and make every day a trading day?

You can try. There’s nothing stopping you from attempting that. In reality, only a few individuals, in the entire history of mindfulness, were able to get centered and stay centered, at will.

Along with yogic practices, it take proper diet and sleeping practices as well.

How long do I have to maintain this ‘Synched with the Universe – Trading state of mind’?

As long as you can. Often, it needs to span across days. You may make a trade on monday, that doesn’t yield your target price till the following monday. It is on you to keep and retain that state of mind each morning when you awake.

Okay. Say I feel in sync with the Universe. How do I know that? And what do I do next?

The trick is to stay with your breath. Stay with your breath – and BLOCK ALL INCOMING Thoughts. Incoming thoughts will typically be those that throw you off your mindset.

Coffee helps me stay focused and alert. Isn’t that helpful?

The type of attentiveness that results from coffee is the exact anti-thesis of mindfulness. Coffee is to mindfulness what a wrecking ball is to a building.

If you DO need a mental alertness boost, opt for tea  of some sort.

The Belief System of a winner – using Mindful Trading

Think of your past victories – think of how often you were right about a particular stock / crypto / trade. Even if you sold early or late – and missed out on the gains – the fact that you picked a winner, should be part of your consciousness. You only pick winners. You are incapable of picking losing stocks!

Summary

Mindful trading is like mindful anything – it just works. Since you keep emotions out of it – and extraneous thoughts out of it. Try being a mindful trader for a few trading sessions and see if it works for you. You DO need to have the pre-requisites of being able to do simple yoga to get your body movements in synch with the Universe. That’s about the only pre-requisite – apart from being able to actively BLOCK thoughts during a trading session.

Tips on Actual Trading

Volume is king. If you see volume, but not quite at the target you were hoping for, just wait. Price always follows volume. Especially if the float is low.

70% of all volume is in the first and last hour of trading. However, with some trending / hot stocks – 1:30 EST (right after lunch) is also a high volume slot.

Always buy (CALL) options contracts when your favorite stock is SINKING (not when it is rising). And vice versa (buy PUTS when your stock is rising – not when it is falling).