
Dear Integral Meditators,
Last week I was interviewed by Simon Ree from the Tao Of Trading to give a talk to his community on ‘Mindfulness for Traders: Flow State, Emotional Control & Life Mastery.’
It was a pleasure to be on the show, I’ve done a lot of coaching with traders over the years, & this video captures some major aspects of the sort of mindful processes I go through with them in the sessions.
Watch Mindfulness for Traders: Flow State, Emotional Control & Life Mastery

Even if you are not particularly interested in trading, there are a lot of mindful life-themes that you might enjoy. The section beneath the video gives you the option to just click on the segments you are interested in!
Here is a summary of the key subjects of the talk, with added links to related articles of mine.
Key principles covered include:
The McLaren Problem: why reaching your financial goals doesn’t automatically mean peace of mind, and the psychological work most successful traders never anticipated.
Related article: Wanting what you like, or liking what happens?
The 4 Trees Exercise: a 3-minute practice to anchor yourself in the present moment before you trade. The simplest pre-trade ritual I’ve seen.
Related article: Sitting between the four trees – your basic mandala of presence
The Repression Fallacy: why willpower alone cannot eliminate fear and greed. Suppressed emotions don’t disappear. They re-emerge during your worst trades. His words, not mine.
Related article: Mindfulness, emotions & your MRVA’s (Mass rapid value assessments)
Wu Wei (Non-Doing): when you’re in a hole, stop digging. When you stop forcing, you start noticing what actually opens up.
Related article: Effortless effort – Making everything workable
Optimistic Stoicism: face the worst-case scenario. Inhabit it. Discover you can endure it. Then open the door to genuine optimism.
Related article: Optimistic stoicism
“Could be good, could be bad”: the equanimity of the Chinese horse farmer. Probabilities, not certainties. Managing risk without catastrophising about outcomes.
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