In an interview with ETMarkets, Damania, a chartered accountant with over 30 years of experience tracking Indian and global stock markets said: “Investors and traders, in particular, suffer from severe psychological stress during market movements. That is why they should practice yoga and meditation.” Edited excerpts:
Thanks for being a part of the show Sunil. You’ve mastered the art when it comes to investing and stock picking, but what about mental fitness. How do you manage that in your hectic daily routine?
Physical fitness provides a harmonious balance to one’s life when physical and mental fitness are combined. With regard to mental health, one’s mind should be in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment.
Synchronizing your mind with the surrounding environment ensures a stress-free atmosphere. So, how do you ensure that you are in harmony with your surroundings?
One of the best ways to do this is to not think too much about the past or worry about the future.
Living in the present means being aware of your surroundings. Try to absorb what is available around you to reduce stress and keep you mentally fit.
In my career, I have witnessed many people go through stress in the work environment. One of the reasons is that some of these individuals have not been able to handle their job profiles.
In some other cases, many experienced severe frictions between what they want to do and what they do. All of these factors lead to stress.
Stress occurs when there is a lack of harmony between what you are supposed to do and what you are doing.
Hence, it is critical that you love what you do to help cope with stress. I practice this daily – I guarantee I love what I do to stay at the peak of my mental capacity.
Is there any specific form of yoga you’ve been practicing?
I practice
Vrajasana, Pranayama, Anoluma, Veluma, Kapalpati etc every day. I also ensure that I incorporate daily stretching and meditation exercises.
All of these activities ensure that my mind and body work together in perfect harmony.
We battle the mind and the environment constantly during the better part of the day.
Hence, I consciously spend time focusing on pranayam, meditation, and yoga to introspect and understand what I’m doing and whether I’m doing the right thing.
Which is why I make sure to spend at least one hour in the morning meditating on the moment with my mind and body aware of my surroundings.
What about meditation? Is there a particular method that you follow when it comes to meditation?
I practice a basic form of meditation. Being alert when you inhale and exhale. This action helps you focus on a specific activity.
Over the years, I’ve seen this as one of the reasons most people get stressed because they multitask beyond their abilities.
Multitasking does not allow you to pay the necessary attention to a particular action. This creates some friction between what you are supposed to do and what you are not supposed to do.
Focusing and focusing on doing only one thing at a time will enable you to finish this work in the shortest period of time. Also, the output will be much higher in quality.
For example, when you inhale, you should focus only on inhaling. So don’t worry about exhaling. Likewise, when exhaling, do not worry about inhaling.
Being in the moment helps you improve focus and gives you peace of mind because there is only one thing you focus on at a given time. This is the basic form of meditation that I follow.
Health is wealth! One hour of yoga and meditation can help you navigate the vagaries of the market: Sunil Damania
“Incorporating some good practices into our lives, such as yoga and meditation, can help solve 90% of our daily problems,” says Sunil Damania, Chief Investment Officer, MarketsMojo.
How have meditation and yoga helped you at work or in your personal life? Would you recommend this to every investor/trader?
I firmly believe that meditation and yoga help a lot to focus, introspect, and spend quality with oneself without being distracted by digital tools or other people’s conversations.
I recommend every Indian to do yoga and meditation rather than just traders or investors. Something special comes to mind that reinforces my belief in the power of meditation and yoga.
In 2018, 12 Thai boys were trapped in a cave for two weeks. They survived the ordeal of the cave by keeping their calm through meditation.
No one cried, and all twelve remained calm. It was amazing. This convinces me that although there were no resources at their disposal or no one to help them, meditation was the only critical factor that helped the group’s survival.
I ask everyone to practice meditation and yoga to harmonize their mind, body and surroundings. Once this peace settles, it becomes a self-healing property.
Investors and traders, in particular, experience severe psychological stress during market movements. That is why they should practice yoga and meditation.
This is because the market is out of anyone’s control. It can fluctuate against your expectations, and when something goes against expectations, it creates physical and mental stress. Yoga or meditation is key to relieving and releasing physical tension.
Profit and loss are part of life, and we know that every stock, may not become a multiple trading instrument. What do you do on a bad day at work?
Good and bad days are an inseparable part of our lives. The key to getting around them is not to get too excited on the good days or get too frustrated with the bad ones.
Your mood or emotions should not revolve around your day, but how you deal with a bad day defines you as a person and character.
The moment you accept that good and evil are an integral part of life, without a negative reaction, you will be able to breathe life.
I don’t think you need to do anything special when the day is bad. Because when you set up your frame of mind, despite the good or bad results, you know it’s a temporary stage that you can deal with.
When investing in the stock market, we must be mentally prepared for not all stocks to perform as expected.
The moment you accept this realization, you are mentally strengthening yourself and preparing for any negative outcome with calm and equanimity.
The problem is not a bad day. The problem is how you react to a bad day determines whether it turns into more problems or limits the cascade effect.
Tell us how you were inspired to reach mental fitness?
I realized the power of physical and mental fitness early in my life. I have also imbibed many important values from my family. We have always been very conscious of our physical and mental health.
From yoga to eating Sattvic foods, we have practiced these as an integral part of our family’s culture.
Even in school, our teachers made a good emphasis on mental and physical fitness. Therefore, I personally think that fitness is critical. But unfortunately, in India, many of us focus more on fitness, not mental health.
Incorporating some good practices into our lives, such as yoga and meditation, can help solve 90% of our daily problems.
Another aspect that determines an individual’s mental fitness is the people we surround ourselves with. Toxic mindsets and conversations can also affect an individual’s mental fitness.
Hence, as an individual, it is crucial to make an informed decision about who you spend quality time with.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions provided by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the economist)
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