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If you have been into trading (or any performance endeavor) for awhile, I'm sure that you have heard about how meditation helps elite performers<\/a> stay at the top of their game.<\/p>\n But you may be wondering: Does meditation really work and can you measure the effectiveness of a particular type of meditation practice or mindfulness aid (device, audio recording, smart drug, etc.)?<\/p>\n Actually, I have no doubt that it works. But I was was wondering if it could be easily measured and more importantly…optimized.<\/p>\n There are a lot of different meditation techniques out there, how do I know that works best for me?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the primary question that I wanted to answer.<\/em><\/p>\n I also had related questions like:<\/p>\n Yes, I acknowledge that it may not be possible to answer any of these\u00a0questions. But let's give it a shot anyway.<\/p>\n Here's how I'm going to attempt to do it…<\/p>\n In this post, I'll show you research that shows you that meditation does work. Then I'll get into the equipment that I'm currently using and how I'm going to quantitatively<\/em> show the effectiveness of different meditation practices, to find out what works best for me.<\/p>\n Finally, I'll\u00a0show you how I a took a baseline measurement and give you the data that I'm going to use to\u00a0measure effectiveness of different techniques.<\/p>\n First, let's address the elephant in the room. If you aren't sold on the benefits of meditation yet, then you aren't going to be willing to try it.<\/p>\n So let's take a look at a few\u00a0articles\u00a0that show how meditation can benefit you<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this interview<\/a>, a Harvard neuroscientist explains the results of two tests that were done to measure the effect of meditation on the brain.<\/p>\n The first study showed that life-long meditators had more gray matter in certain areas of the brain, compared to people who didn't meditate. These are the areas associated with decision making, memory and the senses.<\/p>\n Next, they wanted to find out how long it would take meditation to take effect. Their data showed increased brain volume in five different areas of the brain, areas related to concentration, memory, learning, stress and more.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> does a great job of explaining the benefits of mediation in plain English. For me, the most useful insight was that meditation can\u00a0help us reduce activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is associated with self-reference and\u00a0rumination.<\/p>\n The result of an overactive medial prefrontal cortex is the reason that we can get stuck in ruts. By calming this part of the brain down, we can move forward more easily.<\/p>\n Those were just a couple\u00a0of the best examples of studies that show that mediation works. If you would like to read other\u00a0studies, here are a few more\u00a0links.<\/p>\n In trading, you need to find a method that fits your personality, schedule and goals. I believe that almost everything in life is like that.<\/p>\n You need to find what works for you<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The career you choose will depend on your interests and abilities. Your partner needs to be a good fit for you. Hell, you are going to have a favorite flavor of ice cream, based on how your tastebuds are wired.<\/p>\n So why do we get stuck on\u00a0one type of meditation practice, even if it might not be working for us?<\/p>\n Well, there can be some perfectly understandable reasons\u00a0for that. Chalk it up to human nature.<\/p>\n Some of them\u00a0may include:<\/p>\n But I believe\u00a0that the biggest reason is…<\/p>\n An inability to objectively measure the effect of mediation on ourselves.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about for a minute.<\/em><\/p>\n When you fill\u00a0out your trading journal or check\u00a0your brokerage account statement, you can see that you made exactly $15,384.21 this month.<\/p>\n That's as objective as it gets.\u00a0Either you made money or you lost money and you know exactly how much.<\/p>\n But with meditation, there isn't really a way to measure\u00a0the results.<\/p>\n OK, I kind of feel better today…but was it because of my\u00a0meditation session or the\u00a0wine\u00a0I just had?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So the question still remains, can the effectiveness of meditation be measured by the average person, at home?<\/p>\n Let's find out…<\/p>\n Until fairly recently, it was almost impossible\u00a0to take any kind of meaningful measurements of your brainwaves at home. You could ghetto-rig something like this<\/a>, but the results would be a little suspect, and would depend heavily on how good your soldering skills are.<\/p>\n In order to get a legit reading, you had to go to a lab, usually at a university, and get your brainwaves measured there.<\/p>\n They would use a EEG<\/a> machine that costs thousands of dollars and you would have to put some weird gel on your head and attach a ton of sensors on your scalp.<\/p>\n …and maybe one on your ear.<\/p>\n The whole procedure would probably take about an hour.<\/p>\n I've done it before, for a marketing study. They showed us a bunch of videos and recorded our responses.<\/p>\n I didn't get to see the results, but it was interesting to see the process in action.<\/p>\n But new technology has made it possible to get started with brainwave measurement at home. \u00a0I was fascinated by the potential of this technology, so I decided to do some research on it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Here is what I found…<\/p>\n First, I needed to find a way to measure my brainwaves. There are a few devices\u00a0out there, but they are still pretty pricey, so I weighed my options carefully.<\/p>\n In these product reviews, I will mention raw EEG data was one of the primary reasons for considering a device or not.<\/p>\n Here's why…<\/p>\n We can measure the state of our brain by measuring the dominant frequency that it gives off. Ultimately, this is the important thing that I want to be able to measure.<\/p>\n These are the primary brainwave frequencies and their associated states:<\/p>\n So if I'm backtesting, I probably want to be in a Gamma state to promote learning. If I'm actually trading, I might want to be in a Theta state, to have easy access to my training.<\/p>\n When I'm not in the right state for the task at hand, I want to know that and be able to get myself into that state, for optimal performance.<\/p>\n But that is a more complex topic, to be tackled later. For now, I'm just going to measure relaxation level, as quantified by my measurement device.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Researching these devices took me a lot of time, so hopefully this summary helps you find the best solution for you, much faster.<\/p>\n I consider this the Cadillac of brainwave measurement devices. Money no object, this<\/a> is the first device\u00a0that I would buy.<\/p>\n Two reasons:<\/p>\n\n
Does Meditation Really Work?<\/h2>\n
Meditation Can Physically Change Your Brain in as Little as 8 Weeks<\/h3>\n
Meditation Reduces<\/h3>\n
List of Other Studies<\/h3>\n
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We do This in Trading, So Why Not in Meditation?<\/h2>\n
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How to Measure Your Brainwaves at Home<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nBrainwave Measurement Tools<\/h3>\n
Why EEG Data is Important<\/h4>\n
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Emotiv EPOC+<\/h4>\n
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