Dismissing out of hand is also a belief. Too few true disbelievers in this world. Almost no true sceptics. Maybe better if people investigated for themselves, rather than just repeating what their parents told them. Meditation is not an end in itself though, and many hype it up unnecessarily as a fix-all. However combined with the right perspective on humanity and life, it can be good tools for life. If we could quantify everything about it, it wouldn't be immeasurable.
That's the problem. First of all what is "everything"? It is impossible to define that word other than saying it includes everything possible, not possible, know, unknown... even things that only exist in ones imagination can have an influence. And second problem is how to measure? Everything that happens in your life can or will have an impact on what will happen in your futur life. It can even influence you without you knowing it. Like with everything in life statistically: x% of the population will have a positive influence y% will have a negative influence z% will have no influence at all Only thing that matters is: will it help you? The answer is like Top Gear always says: let's find out. Or better: you should find out. For me nothing of all this worked out. Went to psychiatrist, did NLP and other similar stuff. I finally had to heal myself. On my own without any help at all. It took me years. And I was lucky that I don't have a 50/50 or 60/40 winning ratio. It is much higher and that was necesarry to overcome my emotional and/or mental problems due to huge losses.
This is key I believe, that no matter what path, techniques, teachers or groups one hangs out with, it's all down to the individual to make use of whatever works. Avoid relying on hand-outs from others to gain "your peace of mind". Although, being with peaceful, happy and content people, may cultivate good qualities in yourself, "it" ultimately needs to come from oneself and not just from externals. As long as it's not extreme or prolonged for too long, everything's fine - even temporary loss of individuality. Nobody are able to judge such subtle processes from day 1, as the measurement itself may and will disturb the results. Too much measurements, thinking or old ideas, will prevent new experiences. Meditation = Go within People keep repeating "We are all individuals" in an absurd choir, no matter what side of the fence they're on. Keep switching advices like they do underwear. There's also more freedom in being open to the idea of moving on, and not get stuck.
Really? Meditation to become a successful trader? That's quite a long road you're taking, in my opinion
A few of the larger traders are known to meditate every day before trading - like trader 71 and than there that famous bond trader - forgot his name. These are the people moving huge size around like up to 20,000 contracts one a trade and they attribute their success to meditating. Just food for thought. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-05-28/to-make-killing-on-wall-street-start-meditating
Okay everyone. This topic is getting out of hand and no one is answering my OP. Workers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are folding into the lotus position in droves, says Elizabeth Sudler, an instructor the firm retains. Classes where students breathe and monitor their wandering minds have waiting lists several hundred long, Goldman spokesman David Wells says. One trader there gets a twinge in his gut when he senses a move in the markets, Sudler says. Meditating gives him an edge, he told her, by tuning into that sensation more reliably. Others report downshifting more easily after work and sleeping better at night. In the article it mentioned setting up classes to teach meditation. How do I go about doing that?
If you are great with people, you can build your own network and groups of students. If not, you need to join with an established organization that will provide the brand and tools to do it. The latter is better, not for you personally, but may provide guidance, stability, experience and quality, which will be hard to "invent" yourself. I've seen people struggle for years bringing alternative practices, also their own, out to people, businesses, government, etc. Honestly, most of them are crackpots and should really know better before trying to coach other people. Others are just not equipped to make it, lack of contacts, networking skills, cred, authority, etc. A few succeed in small ways but it all crumbles after a few years as it's all person-dependent. Almost nobody become those celebrities that everyone respects and listens to, and quite a few celebrities may blow up and are just too person-dependent too. So you need to be absolutely sure what you want, gain the vision and work towards those goals you set up. Nobody can really help you or tell you what to do - you need to figure it out, and perhaps what is really written in your stars.
Yeah. Definitely not good with people. I see going the establish route being a lot of trouble. What about writing a book? Something like this: http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/made-2000-self-publishing-ebook-amazon/
Without knowing the details, have you already done your research for existing sleep/meditation methods? I remember that Osho wrote about this decades ago. I am doing it on a regular basis.