There is a difference between mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness is just a secular technique that you can use to increase your mental performance, become a more profitable trader, be successful in life, whatever. Meditation is that spiritual path which could lead to awakening and realizing that trading is just a waste of time and energy and that you would rather give all your money to the poor. So be careful what you wish for.
I do and I find it really helpful, in all matters of life. However, just to be clear, I don't exercise mindfulness when I trade, but rather in preparing for trade. I wake up around 6h30 and have my morning routine which includes a very calm breakfast outside, which helps me calm the mind and prepare for the day I have ahead of me. After that I usually take a relaxing bath and write an article (I publish pretty much everyday in the Brazilian version of Investing.com). When it's time to get to trading (around 9 a.m. when the markets open here), I'm already pretty relaxed and shift into a highly focused state of mind. I then trade up until lunchtime (12h30), with occasional pauses in my concentration to, shall we say, "stretch the nerves". After that I focus on whatever other activities I have for the day, since I can no longer get in such a concentrated state for trading and try to exercise mindfulness then (that is, focusing on not thinking at all). Exercise also helps a load to keep your mind sharp and quick.
No, it isn't. It can be, but it doesn't have to be. It can be as "secular" as mindfulness. It is a means of narrowing focus.
Precisely the opposite, I try to be as focused as possible on my trading when doing so. But mindfulness, at least from the background I came from (buddhism), is about clearing your mind of any thinking, or judging. When I trade, however, I need to be doing the opposite of that: keep all my attention into this one thing and constantly judge the market behavior and make decisions. However, it is precisely the mindful activities (in which I do no judging or thinking) that allow me to keep laser-focused when I need to. In essence, in order to be completely focused, I need also be constantly completely detached from any thinking or judging. Does that make sense? Hahaha
narrowing focus = mindfulness And yes, there can also be mindfulness meditation. Humans are creative...
I don't use it specifically for trading. I started getting back into it few years back to beat the alcohol demon I had let myself become. It helped me get past that stupidity and I stuck with it instead of saying I'm good and stopping. I would say it has helped me focus more with my trading as well as other parts of life. I think like with most self help things, it involves a buy in on your part and follow through to make it effective and find a value in all facets, but I'm sure you could claim it is good for trading on it's own. My quick 2 cents.
Meditation as speedo pointed out will help in every facet of life. That being said, it has to be a consistent daily practice to reap the real rewards. Which include many things, like sleep, focus, more present, gratitude, etc. Not to mention the health benefits like lower blood pressure, ...breathe and sound vibrations have positive healing properties.