Quote from madf:
I prefer yoga and meditation....
Good. I have done yoga, too. However, if you had ever done Shotokan Karate or a discipline like it (Kung Fu is related), I doubt you wouldn't find it as enabling and relaxing as yoga - In fact, probably even a lot more.
Either way I can't find as many useful things in yoga that can be so fundamentally applied to trading behavior, such as critical application of discipline, judgment, respect for your opponents and the discovery of yourself and your 'opponents'.
As for meditation, that is a substantial part of Karate training anyway. Spritual development is the #1 focus for any practitioner. There are a lot of people out there thinking that Karate is a violent sport or something like that - That is far from the truth. It's an image that has been perpetuated by the "evil guys" in the Bruce Lee movies, trying to kill him everywhere. It has nothing to do with reality. The reality is that Karate focuses on the perfection of character and the restraint from violent behavior (this is the 5th of the 5 Dojo Kun rules).
Karate is about having a compassionate and objective (non-emotional) attitude towards those you encounter in competitive situations. In the instance of a fight, all focus remains on maintaining complete peace of mind, avoiding all the dangerous movements of the opponent, observing his flow, spotting an incongruity/gap in his flow, then to strike and exploit that gap with one or two strikes/throws in an effort to effectively and peacefully disable a dangerous opponent, thus avoiding possible injury to both the opponent and yourself. It is the most perfect example of engaging in combat with peaceful intent.
Does any of the things in the latter paragraph sound familiar to you? Perhaps we differ here, but for me the markets are just like that; Stay objective, observe and move with the flow, avoid dangerous moves, spot an incongruity and strike in the right moment. And let's face it, while trading seems like a peaceful endeavour to an innocent bystander, it is certainly very competitive, particularly in the futures markets, where you can only win by "disabling" others, and particularly in scalping, which is extremely competitive and efficient. That's the tough truth of it. On the other hand, it's just Darwinism. They chose to participate. You chose to challenge them.
If you don't agree on this perspective on the markets, then I would greatly appreciate you detailing your own points of view, since any new viewpoints that could expand old points of view will be welcome.
Since you strayed to the topic of yoga, I would also appreciate you detailing what exactly in yoga you find beneficial in application to actively trading the markets!
Warmest Regards,
Scientist