Imagine a group who appear to be playing soccer but actually have no idea of how to play the game. The next day, they stand on the field again with no clue or even the slightest curiosity of how to play the game. Even more bizarre, this ritual of mindlessly moving the soccer ball is repeated each day. Of course, this scenario would be considered absurd by all but a similar scenario happens daily with mindless stretching and mindless exercise on the cardio machines. There is no mind and body connection whatsoever. In today’s society to do some activities mindlessly is “normal”. We are acculturated to behave with robotic responses. This is exemplified by the cashier echoing the impersonal farewell, “Have a nice day.”
In the yoga practice, stretching is never mindless for a yogi. Yoga means “uniting” in Sanskrit. Mind, body, and spirit are united through the breath and postures. Beyond this, yoga cultivates a sense of unity with the universe.
Fortunately, mindfulness need not be so philosophical or complex. To just visualize the movement of your bones in a stretch is an act of mindfulness.
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The natural course of mindless investing is losing. Mindless investors deserve to lose. This sounds callous until you consider that losing has a redeeming quality if you allow it awaken the mind to greater awareness. In all activities, engage mindfulness. To invest mindfully is to be in harmony with facts, reason and trends. Interestingly, you can be financially illiterate for Financial Statements and still engage in the mindful and yet simple long-term strategy of dollar-cost-averaging into the S&P 500. This strategy beats most funds which try to outperform the S&P 500. On the surface this strategy seems robotic, but I call it mindful because it takes discipline to execute.
Another mindful and simple strategy is to pay off the mortgage and live a debt free life. Although you may have become much wealthier if had leveraged debt with low interest into more lucrative investments, you achieved freedom from anxiety related to money.
