Key Points:
- Mindfulness is about being aware of what you feel, not changing those feelings.
- Present-moment awareness helps traders avoid anxiety, FOMO, and revenge trading.
- Sensing your environment can anchor you to the “now,” improving mental clarity and decision-making.
In this midday mindfulness session, Sean guides participants through a grounding exercise designed to deepen awareness and presence. He emphasizes that mindfulness isn’t about feeling better but becoming more in touch with one’s current emotional and mental state. By tuning into bodily sensations and imagining a comfortable place, traders can center themselves and become more attuned to the present moment. This helps mitigate the pull of emotions that often lead to poor trading decisions like revenge trading or fear-based actions.
Sean also reminded participants that everyone’s experience with mindfulness varies. “Some people will feel that effect; some people will actively dislike this kind of exercise—it doesn’t matter,” Sean shared, encouraging a nonjudgmental approach to the practice.
C.L.E.A.R. Mindset Connections:
Connect to the present moment and enhance your self-awareness with practical techniques.
- Noticing the environment: Sean’s guidance to focus on physical sensations (breathing, temperature) helps participants ground themselves in the present.
Loosen your attachment to thoughts and emotions, and cultivate mental clarity and resilience.
- Recognizing emotional pulls: By identifying how thoughts of the past evoke revenge trading, traders can learn to detach from those emotions.
Embody your core values and align them with your actions to foster authenticity and purpose.
- Staying present on the charts: Sean stresses that price action is the only thing in the moment, a principle aligned with traders’ need for discipline and focus.
Accept all the present moment offers, whether wanted or not, and find peace and strength.
- No right or wrong: The exercise isn’t about getting it “right.” Acknowledging wandering thoughts without judgment builds acceptance.
Respond with decisive, informed action, transforming challenges into opportunities for growth.
- Collecting data from sensations: Sean’s advice to gather data from body scans promotes awareness, offering traders a clearer mind from which to act.
In conclusion, this session centers on cultivating a mindful approach to trading, encouraging participants to stay grounded and responsive to their present emotions rather than being swept up by them. Whether or not this exercise resonated, it’s valuable for developing a presence amid market volatility.