The next time the stock market takes a sickening plunge, perhaps you should take time out to meditate.

The Mindful Investor co-author Maria Gonzalez on why multi-tasking doesn't work.

The Mindful Investor co-author Maria Gonzalez on equanimity and long-term financial planning.

With this year's RRSP season heralding more than the usual alarms and advice on financial planning, two Canadian authors offer a timely cry for clarity and clear thinking. In their book The Mindful Investor: How a Calm Mind Can Bring You Inner Peace and Financial Security, Maria Gonzalez and Graham Byron urge investors to take a deep breath and tune out the "noise of the world."

There's a growing field of research and literature called "behavioural finance" that looks at the emotional side of investing but until the publication of the book pictured below, I'd never come across one that looked at the spiritual side of investing. In light of the 2008 stock market crash and ongoing jitters about the financial crisis, The Mindful Investor is a timely little book.

"Why meditation has a place in business"

Economic turbulence in 2009 might have spelled trouble for corporations, investors and financial regulators, not to mention the newly inaugurated U.S. president. But it yielded more than one good read. According to business booksellers, books about the market meltdown — and the lessons learned from Wall Street's mistakes — have been a popular choice lately. So have books about surviving in the modern workplace, from showing leadership to how to negotiate just about anything.

Management grad Maria Gonzalez, BCom’81, MBA’85, recently co-authored a book called The Mindful Investor: How a Calm Mind Can Bring You Inner Peace and Financial Security, which has been a huge success. Written with Graham Byron, the work jumped to number 1 on the Globe and Mail’s list of bestselling business books and hit the top spot as well on Amazon.ca’s Hot New Releases list in the business and investing category.

Most of us feel some level of stress when we sit down to manage our personal finances. The Mindful Investor is a guide for bringing calm, clarity and focus to your relationship with money. You'll find this is an easy read that helps you discover what truly matters in your life, and develop a financial plan that will take you there!

Maria and Graham have given me the gift of a primer in mindfully dealing with money. In a world when investing seems like a ride on the craziest of rollercoasters, The Mindful Investor provides me with tools that help me to be clear, to gather my focus and to even relax when planning my financial life. Maria's mindfulness exercises can be applied to investing and to life's challenges in general. I find myself going back to the meditations over and over to find that healthy state of calm.

Before reading The Mindful Investor I felt embarrassed by my lack of financial knowledge and overwhelmed by articles and seminars. Now I have a better understanding and a clear and concise resource at hand. The book includes an exercise for decision making and a great chapter on portfolio construction. As an added bonus, the book delivers a wonderful guide for daily living.