Hey everyone, after seeing these 2 threads from Mushmellow (http://www.runitonce.com/nlhe/the-downfalls-of-being-results-oriented/) and Eddie Spencer-Small (http://www.runitonce.com/nlhe/mentally-recovering-from-a-downswing/) and because mental is becoming a huge part of our edge on the field with the regs becoming better and the fishes becoming increasingly rare to find every day, I thought that I could share my small experience from meditation. 

So here I go. I’m not a good meditator. In fact I just started since the beginning of this month. I first eared about it one year ago (for poker use obviously) and I was really skeptical about it but with time and after seeing that more and more clever poker players gave it a try and said it was helping them and because I’m not a stubborn person I forget about my skepticism and I gave it a try myself. I have to say that the results since I started 18 days ago are good and interesting. I’m definitely going to continue.

 

So why meditation? 

It’s gonna change your brain! A study show that practicing mindfulness meditation increase the “grey-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory” and “decreased grey-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress” (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110121144007.htm). 

In fact nowadays people pass too much time “doing things”, “planning things” … what scientists call “doing mode” and not enough for “feeling the present moment” what is call “being mode”. 

The 2 are useful but meditation allow us to make an equilibrium enter these because the “doing mode” is a big source of stress, depression, anxiety … we are too much auto-piloting in our everyday life doing things and thinking about a lot of other things in the same time (from the past or for the future), we don’t really live in the present and we are too much connect to our though that are often negative and we end up too often fighting them. Meditation help to accept them and pass through them. 

I guess you can make the link with poker :) but I can explain it if you ask. I’m trying to don’t make my post too long. 

How it help me playing poker until now?   

- Help me to don’t give much credit to my bad though. Even if I was already greater than an average person for that, I’m not in the best period of my life (broke, rebuilding) and I feel that I’m starting to be even better than before for skipping my bad though and stay positive. That way I can start a new session in a good and positive mind for example. 

- Focus, it really help me to focus more playing poker. In meditation you learn to focus on only one main “object” (actually my breathing) and you learn to  get back to it every time your mind go somewhere else ( a secondary “object” that can be a though, a pain, a smell or anything that is not my main “object” to focus on) . It’s work the same when I play poker, taking good decisions and playing my A game become my main “object” to focus on. Obviously I’m just starting so I’m not a master but when I start thinking about something else (the last big pot I played, future, life …) or even doing something else without noticing it like singing (lol it’s happen sometime) I take a note of it and get back to my main focus more quick than before. Other cool fact, I didn't check my result when I play since almost a week. Before it was like every time, I opened PT4 clicked on refresh and checked my graph all the time and even didn't notice I was doing it (didn't live the present moment).

 

How to meditate? 

I never read any book about meditation but I read often that “Mindufulness in plain” by Ven. Henepola Gunarantana is a must read. But for myself and after reading a lot of website I found what I think is probably the most complete guide for beginner here: http://www.vipassanadhura.com/howto.htm

  

[Edit: I'm focusing doing the Exercise 1: Rising and Falling. I started to do it in the evening for few minutes and I'm now doing it before my morning session for enter 10-20 minutes and in the evening for 10-15 minutes (but not everyday).]

OK. I guess I finish. I may have  forgot things or not be 100% clear all the time but I can give more info (from my little knowledge about it) in comment, feel free to ask any question. And hope you enjoyed the reading and maybe some of you will give it a try.