Market & Meditation: Strong mental health helps one achieve financial goals, says Arun Thukral

Arun Thukral

Yoga has helped me to a great extent at various junctures in my personal as well as professional life. To recollect the market journey over the years and even my personal investing journey, I clearly remember the tech/new economy stocks crash in early 2000 as well as during the 2008 sub-prime crisis.

There was a huge fall during those times, and on both these occasions, the market bounced back strongly. However, overall the bear market period back then for months was quite painful and most of the retail investors who could not handle the stress booked losses and decided not to come back for many years.

Those who could actually come out and thrived were investors who could handle these stressful occasions. Keeping their head intact and acting rationally helped them maintain their balance. At the end of the day, “handling stress” became the differentiator.

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Strong mental health helped one to achieve financial goals. Needless to add that yoga and meditation techniques surely helped.

To talk about techniques, I normally practice “reflection” a form of mediation every morning and recollect previous day's events in chronological order without judging them. Over a period of time, one starts to get the benefits of this and it helps to be more aware or mindful about oneself.

At the subconscious level, one starts taking the right decisions as clarity emerges while practicing any kind of meditation technique.

I have been through this investing journey for over 30 years and witnessed severe market falls and then recoveries. There is no point in becoming extra anxious or extremely bullish or excited, and this realisation has come through yoga/meditation.

I have also come to realise that yoga is a way of life and one has to look at Ashtang Yoga (eight limbs) and not just physical aasanas. Most of the time when you talk about yoga, people relate this only with physical aasanas.

These eight limbs are Yama, Niyama, Aaasan, Pranayam, Pratyahara, Dharna, Dhyan and Samadhi and not just aasanas which is only one part out of eight.

To be successful in your journey, you need to be in the right state of mind or 'Chitta' are it is called in yoga.

Investing is not different and one has to reach that level of Chitta to be successful. Ekagra Chitta which is the focused mind is a desirable state whereas Nirudh Chitta is the highest point.

Happy Investing!

The author is market expert and author of Yogi on Dalal Street

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