Mind effects body-true. More surprisingly, body effects mind. The quickest and most direct way to change your emotional state is to change your physiology. By physiology I mean posture, breathing, facial expression, and voice tone and tempo.
We all know that when we are happy, we smile. But how many people realize that when they smile, they become happy? Actors have experienced the amazing power of physiology. By pretending to sob, very soon they find they truly are feeling the emotions that go with sobbing.
Manic depressives have been given the prescription of smiling one half hour a day during their depressive stage. Some 80 muscles in the face move blood to the brain, and smiling increases this blood supply. Smiling also alters oxygen levels and the level of stimulation of the neural transmitters.
What is your physiology when you trade? Are you sitting on the edge of your chair? Are you squinting and clenching your jaw? Do you have a death grip on the mouse? Is your body tense? The resulting emotional state would be increased tension and nervousness. Or are your shoulders and rib cage slumped down, your breathing shallow, and your mouth slightly open and turned down? Such a physiology would encourage depression, discouragement, or despair.
If you find yourself in an unhelpful mental and emotional state while you are trading, stand up and change your physiology. Lift up your rib cage, put your shoulders back, breathe deeply, and talk to yourself in confident and calm tones.
Each of us has a physiology of excellence-a physiology that is associated with resourcefulness and flexibility. That physiology can change with contexts, and it also can be mapped across contexts.
Think of something you do easily and confidently. Imagine yourself in that situation. Get yourself into the physiology of that situation. Pay attention to your posture, expression, breathing, and your inner voice tone and tempo. Now imagine yourself trading and assume that same physiology.
In the thick of trading, you'll no doubt slide back into your old, sometimes unhelpful, physiology. As soon as you become aware of it, shift it to your physiology of excellence. The more you do this, the more of a habit it will become.
Simple physiological manipulation is an effective tool for controlling your inner state. As a trader your physiology definitely effects you. It's not just some extraneous expression, it's an important part of the cybernetic loop that effects how you think and feel and act. Use it for your own excellence as a trader.
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