By Tommy Angelo
You're in traffic and you suffer. What happens in your mind is what we call suffering.
Instead of sending the file heat, you train not to be tilted to control your body through breathing. Breathing is the tool. You must be aware of your state of mind and need to use your logic. You must tell you that all you can do at this time will not make you go faster. This is the first step, but it is a big step. For that, you need to breathe. 1 large respiration, 1 large expiration. And you should motivate you to do more. You make 2 and then 5 and then 10. If you do not head it, do not do that then. 1 is better than 0. If you do one, I guarantee you that this will be a great benefit.
Now we'll go to the door B. Door B is the door that will make you happy, this is the door you walk if you are calm and when you breathe.
My goal is to increase my number of "mindfulness" breaths, the number of times I am aware of my breathing. The first thing that struck me when I first started taking deep breaths is that at that time I was 44 and it was the first time I took a deep breath. 44 years without one once took the time to breathe. What I wanted to do from this point is to increase the number of times I would take deep breaths. This is where meditation. The word meditation has had several meanings at different times. For cons, I never really knew what the word meant before putting it into practice.
Hear this; in English, the closest synonym of the word is the word meditation concentration. You can focus on anything. You can focus on your breathing, on your foot, etc.. Now, I wear the same attention to the sounds around me to be able subsequently to no longer pay attention to the sounds around me. This is called concentration. Concentration is the "focus" and it is a very important skill for a poker player.
We are always pushed to think in the past, bad beat, the con we met, the money we lost, etc.. Poker can be something very stressful and that is why it is a good opportunity to practice everything we talked about. You can practice it before playing poker or while you play poker. You can then incorporate these tips into your life everyday.
Even if I practice it for a long time, I have MANY way to go.
The four postures
I made aware of something. We are always doing things 4. Either walk or sitting, or standing, or lying down. I do not count the fact of running here, I do not know why, maybe because I never run. I'm not running that when a guy is chasing me with a good reason and it is very strong.
The thing to do here is to concentrate when you're sitting. Focus when you are standing. Focus when you are lying. Focus when you walk. And as a poker player, I spend all my time sitting.
First year. Lie down, even if it is not in your bed, it did not matter, and begin to breathe, concentrate on your breathing. There was strange with this posture is that even if you're not tired at all, you will still want to sleep. However, after doing this exercise, you'll feel revitalized. Is that a word? I think so.
In this way, you will be more "vibrant", you'll have more energy.
Another year. You can do it at home. You walk quietly and taking breaths during this time. Try taking one breath by 3 or 4 steps and focus on your breathing and your approach and try to do when your girlfriend will not be there to see you. Do not do it in public. Otherwise you'll look like a very strange guy. The aim is to succeed in this exercise until you do not worry about what others think of your work.
At first, in public, you can try to walk for example 5% slower than you normally would. It will be a good start. Nobody will notice. And it may save you from spilling your coffee on someone.
Another year; you stand and you focus on your breathing. You're standing, you do not move and you focus on your breathing.
Now, the most important of all by far the mindful sitting. And this for two reasons. One, because it is our posture when we play poker. And also because it is a meditation posture.
For those who would like to learn more about meditation, you can go to my web page and click on "Meditation 101" to www.tommyangelo.com I wrote down the names of several books and interesting articles to help you meditate. Books that helped me. Also if you look on my blog you will find articles on "mindfulness." I think it's good books for beginners. But even without the books, all poker players can practice these exercises and I think it will affect your earnings positively.
The fact to focus on being seated comprises 2 elements: your posture and breathing. Your posture and breathing. Posture is important. You must have his back against the chair back, shoulders straight and tall and straight. Your arms and legs are symmetrical. And you breathe. If you multitablez, it will be difficult to concentrate on your breathing. I know very well that you can not be aware of your breathing throughout a session, this is unrealistic, but try to increase the time spent to be aware of. Even if it is only a few minutes, it will be something.
What is the most natural one does when one comes to take a big bad beat, without even thinking about it?
Start the mouse out of the window?
No, we get a shot! Without even thinking.
No, we get a shot! Without even thinking.
What impact will these actions on me as a poker player? In general, it will have these consequences: you less tilter, you will suffer less and more often you play your A game.
Being focused on a poker table is something very important. It takes practice "mindfulness" poker. If for example you are on the flop with a marginal hand and your opponent, a very tight player, set the size of the pot, you can easily fold your hand. You watch and you get information. It's amazing how the act of observing will give you information. It amazes me every time.
Before playing each hand, I tell myself that I'll be careful around me. I pay attention to my breathing, the fact that I'm sitting, etc.. The aim is to remove from your mind the past and the future and think only of the present. If you think about the past and think about your bad beat, you're not focused on the present.
Another example is the anticipation. If you are check-raised and you do not know what to do is that you have not been aware of when you bet. When you bet, you have to tell yourself, "If I check-raised after my bet, what do I do? "
Some people are able to do 50 things at once. I, for my part, I do one thing at a time. It's not the easiest thing to do. Why am I thus?
Well, it's simple, because I do not wanna miss anything I do. Earlier, I ate with a friend and I made him turn off the music because I do not want to miss my food. With music, I would not have been sufficiently aware that I ate. I am listening to music, am I eat. It may seem strange, but this is how I act. I focus on every bite. And like that, I think I have more fun to eat. It's not that I can not do several things at the same time, it's just that I do not.
What we want in life is one, make money, be happy 2, 3, be with someone you love, 4, have good friends, and all that can not be simultaneously . If you are not aware of when your friends are with you and you do not give them the necessary attention, you neglect. You can do better conversation if you focus to the conversation. And people realize that you give them full attention and will thank you. If I'm with a friend, he knows I will not answer the phone. At least I've stopped doing what I was doing. When a friend called me and I am behind my computer, I change my room, I sit comfortably and I prepare to listen as best I can. So when you play poker:
"Play poker when you play poker"
That means, if you play poker, do not go to your email, do not surf the web, play poker. Do not mix the two. It may seem obvious, but it is not because it is obvious that we do.
Have you ever realized that when we listen to someone speak, we believe that we will say next? In this case, we do not focus on what the person says. When someone speaks to you, instead of telling you; "It is wrong, I have a friend like that too, I also experienced the same thing as him, etc." you should focus on your breathing and thus you will be more attentive to what he tells you.
For example, if your friend says, "Yesterday I went fishing and I caught a big fish," if you're not careful, you can answer him like, "Oh yeah, me too j ''d like to go fishing soon and catch a big fish. "By cons, if you are more attentive and interested, you can answer something; "Oh yes, and what type of fish it was? "
One way to focus on your breathing is to be aware of things around you. When you are restless, you say that this is a good time to practice this instead of thinking that you are agitated. Think of all the times you are agitated, for example, when you wait in line and tell you that it is good opportunity for you to practice concentration.
I try to do this exercise for example, when someone tells me a bad beat, because it does not interest me. I listen to real and concentrated manner, despite all because I myself have been doing it for five years. This is a good time for me to practice "mindfulness." When you tell me the bad beat, please, make your story interesting. Tell me something unusual. Even if your story is about a guy who hit one of his two outs, it is not interesting.
Being bored is another good example. Because if you are always aware of what is happening around you, you stop being bored. Your mind is occupied.
It's like watching a tree. You can not be excited about it just because you're aware that you look at a tree and you breathe, it takes work. But it's like losing weight. You work hard and when you get there, you will be proud of you.
The Standing calm
Let me tell you this story. I had dinner the other night with my girlfriend. I decided to make him an okra soup, and there is nothing that pushes you to be concentrated more than two big bowls of hot soup between your fingers. I did not want to overthrow and look like an idiot. My girlfriend started to talk to me and I lost my concentration. I was a little tilted and just when I had to put the bowls on the table, the soup is spilled. And instead of swearing or being humiliated or whatever, I just said, "Well."
In closing, here are some excerpts from the book Elements of Poker that I find interesting to conclude the matter.
"I sit and I realize my body and my mind. I am aware of my body and my mind. I am aware of my mind and my body. I am aware of it and at that time, I am less focused than I was before and this time I am aware of this information and for a few moments, I am disturbed physically and mentally, but because I sit and I take that I am less concentrated than the previous time, I return to my pre-concentration consciousness. And this is how it happens when I sit and I concentrated. "
"And how I manage to do that? By the simple way of breathing, following my breath. Why it would be more complicated than that? To find the answer to this question and all the others breathe. "
"All my good passes and poor passes all times all have one thing in common. They do not exist in your head. They exist only in my head and it's true for me and it is true for you. They are all a fabrication of the mind, like the past and the future. Everything has always happened is that always happened in the present. But how can you have a good or bad happening in the present? You can not. And if you're in the present, which at the moment is true, there will be no more "passes". Passes do not exist. The passes are a manufacture of your mind and when you stop to think about it, they go. They are born and die in your mind. And when your mind invents something, you believe because you believe what your mind tells you. But in truth, there is the hand you are playing. "
