Ms. Lazar is a neuroscientist. It is reasonable that she casts doubt about meditation and its benefits. Here is her take on meditation.
Several readers asked about the specifics of mediation that I practice. I am not a trainer of any kind of meditation techniques thus my experience may not be the best guide you get on the subject. My take is that the practice has to be compatible with you.
It can be traditional Buddhist meditation, Christian meditation, transcendental meditation and various classic martial art meditations. As long as it can get you to the meditative state and that you can stick to it routinely, it is probably the one you can get the most benefit from.
I started practicing a form of meditation before 10 years old. Since then my meditation practice grew through quite a number of stages before it settled. It is a part of me that is both helpful and, well, troublesome at times in some social situations.
Here is an example of what I meant by troublesome social mess. In several occasions where I have to make life and death decisions at emergency rooms in the hospitals, I was making the correct decisions quickly in a very calm manner while the nurses and the attending doctors could not figure out the best course of actions. I’ve learned that quite a number of them think that I do not care about the person being treated or I am someone who is some kind of cold-blooded psycho.
It is something difficult to explain if the person you are talking to do not have experience in meditation and its effects. i.e. You cannot explain color to a blind person.
Does meditation help my trading? Yes, I have no doubt about it.
