Meditation makes me a better trader

Brett Traynor (right), 33, runs Saxon Financials, a company that provides support and training to traders. Having worked as a trader on the SGX floor, he has had his share of intensely stressful days.

'I remember getting off the SGX floor one day, sitting in a chair, shaking and feeling my heart racing. I remember thinking, 'What's wrong with me, am I having a heart attack?' And then I thought, 'Maybe its the four coffees I've drunk today.'

'I discovered the Clairvision School of Meditation 41/2years ago. I started with five minutes of meditation a day and now I meditate for an hour every morning before I go to work.

'It's hard at first, but rewarding in the long run. When you talk of meditation, you hear the word 'relaxation' being bandied about. But it's made me more focused, more driven and, as a trader, it has taught me not to get sucked into things even in the middle of a chaotic day.

'Meditation gives me a clear sense of space, peace and stillness. I find that I am a lot more centred and a lot less reactive. This means more productivity and less conflict. It also gives me clarity in a situation.'

'It's a myth that if you meditate, you won't get angry. The stillness just enables you to have a delay before that whooshing angry feeling takes over. There's a sense of 'me' separate from the things that are happening. You learn to feel and hold emotions better and that improves your willpower.

'I think it really is about quieting the mind, building vision and seeing the things that hold you back, the structures that prevent you from improving and doing better.'

Natural remedies for kids

Natural Remedies. -Natural remedies for kids

Some parents like Ms Jessamine Teo, mother of three girls aged 16 months, six and seven years, have switched to herbal or natural cough and cold remedies.

Ms Teo, 35, uses a herbal cough and cold syrup made by Gaia Herbs, which she stumbled on last year. 'I used the tonic prescribed by my doctor and it made them very drowsy, so I decided to try a more natural one,' Ms Teo said.

She believes that the tonic has helped shorten the duration and frequency of the colds her girls get.

'My children have sensitive noses, especially the middle one who gets a cold very fast with the mildest change in weather,' she said.

This is why she prefers to use natural preparations instead of over-the-counter drugs, Ms Teo said.

Mr James P.T. Ong, who owns Vitakids, a local store distributing natural remedies, said the shop sells preparations for coughs made from wild cherry, elderberry and cinnamon bark which supposedly soothe inflamed throats and strengthen the immune system.

'The products have been formulated by a naturopath doctor and a herbalist,' Mr Ong said.