Emotions are not to be suppressed; they should be brought into awareness. As noted by trading psychologist Dr. Brett Steenbarger, “The important ingredient in success is not emotional dampening per se, but the enhancement of concentration and focus. ” Sensory withdrawal, including withdrawal from out thoughts and emotions, is not to be intended as a mind-numbing tool, incapacitating the practitioner from any meaningful interaction with their environment. When external awareness is intended, Yoga’s concentration, focus, and meditation practices should heighten the perception and discernment of  sensory experiences, enabling us to consciously act with attention and focus.

Detachment from attaining our goals

Pay your attention to the journey and the destination will come.

~Dr. Deepak Chopra

Well known wellness guru Dr. Deepak Chopra speaks of the sixth law of Yoga: Detachment. Detachment, known in Sanskrit as “vairagya,” encourages us to be “process oriented, not outcome oriented.” If we focus our attention on our intended outcome, we will be unable to attend to the details needed in order to attain our goal. Detachment is required in order to enable us to direct our focus to wherever it is needed in life, in addition to securing our position in the markets.

If the goal is to make money, then the process of how to obtain this goal needs to be considered. Whatever methods we may take to direct us towards wealth must be in agreement with our learned and inherent potential, and/or, most importantly, we must enjoy the process we’ve chosen. If we choose–or perhaps we may feel we have been chosen by–trading, then these elements of success must be fulfilled. If we choose trading because we are attached to the sense of ego fulfillment from saying, “I am a trader; ” if we think trading may be an easy road to success; if pleasure is not derived from the analyzing charts and market data; or if we may have any other superficial assumptions about this path to prosperity, then we are focusing on the end goal, not the process, and we will have very little chance of realizing our success.

Avoidance vs Detachment

Avoidance of any stressful or painful situation is not to be interpreted as detachment. While we may endeavor to improve our circumstances, pain is seen as an inevitable part of our maturity.  However, we should always observe the first of the yamas, ahimsa (non-violence), and the commitment needed to eradicate the unnecessary suffering of ourselves or others.

Day trader at a Hong Kong brokerage on the 12th of June, 2008. Source: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Image

Ishvara Pranidhana–the last of the five niyamas pertaining to “surrendering to divine will,” or detachment from the outcome–reminds us that while we may aspire towards a profitable trade, we must let go of the expectation of success.  Basing our contentment on results that we believe will serve us best may close our minds off to alternative possibilities, which may prove to be even more beneficial. Although our fate is not solely our discretion, we must trust that the odds will be in our favour with proper preparation, discipline, and determination. The trade may not be profitable, but we made the right decision based on the available information at that time. If you feel that you are limiting your profitability because of an ineptness of trader skill set, you should follow the svadyaya’s suggestion to study both the self/Self and the markets.

Cultivating sportsmanship

Trading requires the acceptance that a trade may not be as profitable as we intended. If we accept a loss, rather than frustrating ourselves with what could have been, we may suffer from unprofitable trades in a dignified manner. Screaming and shouting may be automatic responses and we may not want to deny or suppress such powerful emotions. How we choose to channel that aggression will facilitate a more inclusive perspective of how a trading loss will affect our overall well-being.

Even without the advanced meditative mindset, this idea that our stature would be diminished with the deterioration of capital does not have to translate into a belief. That said, if we don’t have any vested interest in a particular outcome, we may not have the ambition to carry on speculating in the markets. If the intention of success is not present, or if there is doubt that we will achieve our goals, the end result will most likely reflect these thoughts and actions.

A trader may end up from her entry price one day, add on, and then see the market tumble the next, only to remember that she hasn’t put her stop in: this lack of focus may have been avoided by adhering to the first four limbs: yamas, niyamas, asana, and pranayama. Without this foundation, the sensory detachment of pratyahara will not be possible, leaving one susceptible to inward and outward influences. Furthermore, the process of concentration, dharana, on the markets will be difficult if not impossible.

Yoga provides us with a framework in which to achieve our goals, as well as the management of our thoughts and emotions when we don’t.  A myriad of outcomes to every intention serves to demonstrate the need for a non-dualistic belief system that honours both the positive and negative aspects of life. By assessing each trade from a yogic perspective, we will remain content regardless of what happens in the end.

Written approximately 2000 years ago, this wandering-physician cleared a path for an enlightened state of being and forthcoming, ever-lasting truth, harmony and bliss (sat-chit-anananda). We begin in our quest for knowledge of our True Self in waking life by adhering to the principles in the yamas and niyamas, moral guidelines for inner and outer conduct.

Dispelling with survival qualities will free us to co-create love, health, wealth and happiness. Struggling through the burdens of cynicism, laziness or fear to get at the heart of a physical or mental impediment will take on various and individualistic degrees of turmoil. The health of our sense organs and discriminating mind should be maintained if we are to uncover the capacity we have as human beings to become fully cognizant of our habitual tendencies and the damaging elements these samskaras, sense impressions, are creating. How we choose to end or promote our suffering will depend entirely upon us. If we relinquish our attachment to the emotive recoils that present themselves during moments of our semi-conscious existence, we may discover a more radical approach of being by adhering to our yogic path, both in theory and practice.

Choosing to address these deeply rooted samskaras—past lives, thoughts, events, or other past, present, or unavoidable future formative cognitive experiences—will free us from the ignorance that cultivates this disconnectedness. Acknowledging that we are not bound by our  thoughts, emotions, occupation or marital status releases us from the fear that occurs from sustaining this image. Without embracing the pain, we cut off a part of ourselves, our spirit and, ultimately, our connection to other sentient beings and the markets. Connecting to the root of our processes in order to understand how we work, why we chose to do so and what we can do to change the elements that do not serve us well will bring us closer to our true nature, devoid of the suffering that accompanies a mind rooted in physical identity.

Sri Yantra by Manytchkine. Source: Wikiimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0

The observances and ethics of the yamas and niyamas call for a well-guided and conditioned approach to the world without and within us. If our reality is but a mirror of our consciousness, then the markets will reflect nothing other than our physical and mental condition, our temperament and belief systems. Projecting our anger, frustration and, yet, stubborn determination to make our fortune may not end in a profitable outcome–if we allow these emotions to hinder the implementation of our goals. The yamas and niyamas do not aim to suppress our emotions: unnecessary and harmful reactions are naturally detracted with a yogic shift in perspective.

We may consider the markets to be an active, living and dynamic force capable of receiving and giving information in a rapidly changing environment. Although the markets act as conduits for the semblance and transference of mass psychology, they do not interpret information. The markets have no governing or judging faculties whereby some market participants will be rewarded and others punished on account of how much we give to charity, how much time we spend acquiring market knowledge, or the amount of luck we feel is at our disposal. Rather, it is our discriminating awareness that will allow us the satisfaction of being on the gaining side of a trade, without the projection of our preferences on an unimpressionable market.

Once we observe the markets for what they are—without labeling, distorting, or categorizing them—we may also apply this practice to our day-to-day lives, and disallow new experiences from forming  preconditioned responses. The duality in our thoughts, emotions, voluntary and involuntary actions can be observed and changed with yoga to lessen the severity of outside influences on our equilibrium. The potential to choose the factors that we believe will determine our contentment is an empowering prospect. Yoga may enlighten us to endless possibilities as we discover the latent talents that nourish and enrich ourselves, our trading and our environment.