At Bullionite we approach trading in a completely different way from other companies in that we consider trading as part of a lifestyle, a lifestyle that creates wealth. In this lifestyle all parts of our life are important and need care and attention. Not only are we concerned that you have great trading and earning potential but we want to make sure that this wealth doesn't come at a sacrifice of your health and wellness. We take a holistic approach to trading which is why we spend so much time focusing on not just trading advice, but health of your mind and body. Today we are in for a special treat as Mukarram Mawjood, Head Trader and Owner of Bullionite, shares his personal journey with meditation and how it changed his life.
Mukarram had always heard about meditation but he had never really understood what the big deal was. “I've always been a fan of meditation, even going back to high school and college... but I never understood it, I never got it.” But then one day in 2015 he was starting to get really overwhelmed with life and he stumbled upon something called Mindfulness meditation. What he found so appealing about it is that there is zero pretension around mindfulness meditation; you just need to be mindful in the moment and breathe.
“And it doesn't have to be a half an hour Zen session, it could be five minutes. It doesn't have to be in a meditation room or anything like that, you can be in a car or you can be sitting in an office, you can be anywhere. And all you have to do is focus on the breath.”
He was shocked that after all these years of life, he didn't really know how to breathe but now after years of practicing mindfulness, he is now able to breathe for mental focus or clarity, anything he wants to bring into his life he can through his breath.
To add to the importance of mindfulness in his life, Mukarram experienced a sudden tragedy. While he was on his mindfulness journey, an older associate with whom he had been working with for some time suddenly fell ill. He wasn't so old or out of shape so it didn't seem to be that big of a deal but within a few days he was dead. This surprising and horrific event was not only troubling, but also unleashed a well of emotion Mukarram had no idea how to process. All of the emotions that come out from death hit him: grief, remorse, anger, bargaining, all of it, and he had never experienced this type of pain before. “It was the first death I had experienced of someone close to me.” Unsure how to navigate these emotions, he started using mindfulness to control his pain. By using mindfulness and focusing on the moment and where in his body emotions were embedding themselves, he was able to handle his grief in a healthy way.
So what is mindfulness meditation? The process of mindfulness we have already touched on briefly here but to review, the process is about bringing you into the current moment. A great example is to just simply stare at a beautiful sky or sunset and truly appreciate everything you see. You don't spend your time thinking, “Oh the sunset in Zadar was more beautiful,” or “This sunset would be perfect if there was more pink in that corner.” The purpose isn't to correct or perfect anything, but, simply to be and experience the world as is. As you experience the moment you let the emotions you have for it come up, but instead of ignoring the emotions, you take a moment to see how these emotions are affecting your body. Maybe your fear lodges in your throat or anxiety in your stomach. Acknowledge these feelings that have pent up throughout the day and release them.
It sounds simple, but how often are we simply allowing the world around us to exist without criticism or efforts to shift it? And how often do we take time to acknowledge and realize our emotions and what they do to our bodies? In the modern world when we do have that moment for mindfulness we often end up reaching for our smart device and going for a game or social media to distract us from the quiet of our mind. The reason why we seek to distract ourselves from the quiet of our mind is of course that the mind is rarely quiet. With some silence and reflection, the emotions we hid away during the day come bubbling up to the surface and fill us with all the emotional response we repressed throughout the day.
Mindfulness counteracts this because in a mindfulness meditation we allow ourselves to feel the emotions as they come up and where they reside in our bodies. With continued practice in daily mindfulness meditations we are able to maintain that mindfulness throughout our active lives! This means that when those emotions happen, in a moment we will be less likely to hide them away and be more able to identify the emotion, the reason behind it and an appropriate response so later in our mindfulness meditation we are not working our way through repressed emotions from the day. Becoming more mindful is indeed a very powerful tool, and one every trader can benefit from. Mindfulness allows us to feel our emotions but not let them control us so we can still make appropriate decisions.
Have you ever tried meditation? What was the watershed moment in your life that made you realize you need to change your ways? We would love to hear your questions and comments at info@bullionite.com