{"id":5496,"date":"2017-04-27T10:44:35","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T14:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonapollovoss.local\/?p=5496"},"modified":"2018-09-21T02:03:26","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T06:03:26","slug":"meditation-tips-for-investment-professionals-focused-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/2017\/04\/27\/meditation-tips-for-investment-professionals-focused-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation Tips for Investment Professionals: Focused Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meditation\u00a0provides investors with many benefits. Below are meditation tips from the newly released\u00a0<\/em>Meditation Guide for Investment Professionals<\/a>, the full version of which<\/em> is<\/em>\u00a0available online for CFA Institute members.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In focused attention meditation<\/strong>, also known as Zen, practitioners concentrate on one object. The object can be the breath, a candle flame, a white wall, the repetition of a word, a series of words \u2014 or mantra \u2014 etc. When awareness inevitably strays, meditators return their focus to that object.<\/span><\/p>\n

In previous articles in this series, I shared general meditation tips<\/a> and described the\u00a0open-monitoring<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0form of meditation, which hones our natural state of consciousness known as metacognition<\/a>, or the awareness of awareness itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Focused attention has much in common with open-monitoring, so some confusion is understandable. But these two forms of meditation are really two sides of the same coin. Open-monitoring practitioners notice the thoughts that come into awareness. They do not scrutinize them but let them pass out of awareness. They then return to being open, aware, and non-attached.<\/span><\/p>\n

Focused attention meditators have a singular point of attention. They ignore distractions when they arise and refocus back on the object at the center of the meditation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Focused Attention Meditation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What It Is:<\/strong> Focused attention meditation trains a natural capability of mental functioning: top-down control<\/a>. What is top-down control? It’s our capacity to choose what to think and when to think it. For many of us, top-down control is far removed from our normal, waking state of consciousness wherein random thoughts enter and exit our minds. Some of these thoughts come fully formed, but most are bits and pieces of other thoughts. Focused-awareness seeks to eradicate this noise. In a world that demands intense mental concentration and clarity from investment professionals, focused attention is critical.<\/span><\/p>\n

Science has identified four or five major forms of meditation. The fifth form is known as “automatic self-transcending” among its adherents and some researchers. Transcendental meditation is one variety of this form. Like focused attention, automatic self-transcending requires practitioners to focus on a single thing, in this instance, a word or series of words \u2014 a mantra.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some emerging neuroscientific research demonstrates that automatic self-transcending has distinct effects on practitioners. Specifically, it engages the parts of the brain associated with verbal and motor skills. For our purposes, however, in keeping with other researchers\u2019 work, we classify automatic self-transcending as a sub-form of focused attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benefits<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Focused attention meditation relieves stress and improves thinking. Experienced focused attention meditators have better control over their attention: Their minds wander less, and they can choose when and how to think.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steps<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Focused attention requires the most mental discipline of all the meditation styles. Its practitioners emphasize how critical technique is to achieving the intended goal of disciplined focus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are steps for a generalized focused attention meditation using breath as the singular object. For convenience, read the steps into your smartphone\u2019s Voice Notes function so you can control the pacing and duration of your meditation.<\/span><\/p>\n