Hi, I just subscribed to this forum, so my post comes a little bit late... I learned self hypnosis from a psychiatrist. He told me: "Self hypnosis has nothing to do with religion. You don't have to believe anything. You just expierience the weight and warmth of your body, your breath etc." (I'm an atheist and I think he is one, too) And it works: It calmes the vegetative nerval system (correct expression?), the concentration on the body clears the mind from all the thoughts that are rushing in and afterwards I'm calm with a clear mind in some kind of trance (at least I call it like that). I haven't meditated yet but is it really that different? Can you tell where you see the difference?
LOL, amg. i have expanded my base from the nasdaq to the djia. the YM is an excellent vehicle. i have not yet attempted to delve into the SP. why ?? when ??--- i am not 100% sure. have a great week ! surfer
Hi there-- This question is perhaps worthy of more depth, but a simple (short) reply would be that hypnosis is a shunt-- it bridges over what ever beneath what the hypnosis is intended to fix. Meditation based on the buddhist tradition practices awareness of the Observation-Perception-Sensation-Reaction chain. What *that* means is a bit more difficult for me to explain, but simply put, it "trains" one to see that the present moment is the only real moment and thus other behaviors are exposed as being reactions to past or future ideas/events. Through awareness, "bad" habits are exposed as not having any relevance to the present and will fall away, quickly or slowly depending on the meditator. Hynosis doesn't use that awareness. It instead shunts the reaction itself, never really dealing with the chain that it is a part of. Sort of like chewing gum instead of smoking. Gum is certainly less harmful, but the need to occupy space/time with "useless" activity isn't at all addressed. I'm no doctor or wordsmith in this arena, but that's the best I can do right now. best, Ana Maria PS-- meditaiton isn't religious either
Thanks, Ana Maria, I think I get the picture: In self hypnosis one represses all other thoughts (thoughts in the most common sense: feelings, ideas...) by concentrating on the body. This helps getting out of brooding, fear or excitement but doesn't deal with needs that are repressed. Those which use to show up during trading and ruin the discipline. Sounds like meditation is the solution, but... ... that's what I'm afraid of. I know there is a lot of muck.
It is important to trade in a relaxed state. I always take some time to calm down each morning before I start. We took a month's vacation to relax and get our focus back. No computers, no time table and no CNBC. All refreshed and ready again.
Altough meditation is better than no meditation at all, for most people its just another form of escapism such as: binge drinking, drug addiction, watching TV for hours, ect. Real meditation requires not effort but effortless grace. So that everything becomes a meditation: a conversation, a drive, a meal, trading, ect. Its not something you can plan or force, it emerges when your ready.