August 21, 2011

No Updates

Ed,

It’s been a while since you updated your website.

I hope all is well and that you’re enjoying a summer holiday.

Take care.

August 21, 2011

Taking a Break

Hi Ed.

I am just checking in to see how you are doing. I hope everything is going well for you and you are enjoying you world trip.

The Houston tribe has taken a break for the summer and may resume when the weather cools off some. This part of the world including Austin has been extremely hot with very little rain.

I hope it is cooler where you are.

August 21, 2011

World Tour

Dear Ed,

Saw on your website on your world tour - notice Singapore on the agenda but still blank - any chance of Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur? No dates?

Regards,

August 22, 2011

TTP Without a Tribe

Hi Ed,

I hope this email finds you well.

I stay on the path.

I continue to find the hot seat sessions in the Trading Tribe to be productive.

Yesterday, I meet a friend at a café. She and her husband want to get some guidance on personal issues that they are facing. I listen to her for a while. Her emotions are strong and, while I receive her, I sense that she might benefit from TTP. I don't give her any introduction to TTP. I don't even introduce the term to her. I don't offer any explanation. I only ask if she would be willing to go through an experiment with me. I encourage her to feel her forms completely.

She does really well. I receive her at the outdoor café itself. I am a bit surprised at how "well" she does given the complete lack of prior introduction. I don't introduce the memory or the role play part. I only go as far as she wants to in terms of dissolving the forms.

I experience some of her forms as well. (Headache, swollen fingers, stiff neck and upper shoulders).

At the end of it, she looks a bit tired but much calmer. We both continue to experience a heaviness on the right side of our heads.

Today, I feel very tired. I experience this even after the hot seat sessions with the tribe. I feel exhausted the next day.

I invariably need more sleep the following day.

Could I be doing something amiss? Or is this just part of the process that continues?

Thanks for everything!

August 22, 2011

Resistance

Hi Ed,

At a recent tribe meeting, the sender on the hot seat recalls an incident that he thinks is too painful to re-enact through role play. He feels unwilling to feel the pain of reliving the incident. Given the nature of the incident, he also feels that role play is impractical.

We, as receivers confirm and then respect his wish and do not go through the re-enactment process that includes sharing of feelings. At the time, I "go with the flow" and don't even think of the prospect of exploring the feelings of being unwilling to go ahead with the role play.

Instead, we choose to facilitate the sender "break the agreement". We feel this is going with the flow of his process. The sender goes through with "breaking the agreement".

After the process we wonder whether we did what was "best" for the sender. I also feel concern that we open a can of worms and not close it.

Could we do something that would benefit the sender more? Could we do something that would leave him in a "better" place?

Thank you for your guidance.

August 23, 2011

Crying

Dear Ed,

I am a member of the [City] tribe. Please accept this e-mail as a pre-application for the probable workshop in Europe. My location preference is Berlin or Amsterdam.

By the way, I summarize our situation below:

We are 2 now. We meet regularly about once a month. We keep our own records.

In our meetings, we are experiencing our forms as much as we can. The forms mostly end up with a peak and we feel some form of relaxation. We force adding smiles to forms that do not peak. Almost all of the forms are mostly catharsis of physical tension.

We are weak in experiencing -namely- passive forms. For example I recently feel sadness and a need to cry. I am unable to cry and it seems that trying to develop crying forms is not enough for going further.

Experiencing the forms and release of tension supports clear thinking. Significant a-ha's also appear but rarely.

All in all, we are happy with and benefit from TTP although it seems that we can only release our physical tension till now. We are in progress though we are a little slow.

Incidentally, I feel we do not deserve a visit but if you feel different from me, we most sincerely welcome you in Istanbul.

Cordially,

August 23, 2011

Starting Out

Hi Mr. Seykota.

I recently learned about your story and the successes that went along with it through Michael W. Covel's Trend Trading book.

Your thought process and confidence is something I admire dearly. It inspired me to start up my own account for stock trading. I am only eighteen years old and am attending [Name] College for my first year in a little over a week where I will be majoring in Economics.

My goal is to create a trend system with my friend, who will be attending [State] University for his first year. During whatever free time we have throughout our year at school, we will be creating this system and then hopefully start trading in the summer.

I will use my money I have saved from various jobs and he will be supplied with a more than generous amount from his family/friends.

I am young, I am dumb. Why start now? Why not!? I am willing to learn from my mistakes in this economy and I am extremely eager to get out and trade.

If you could provide me with any advice/tips on markets, etc... I would absolutely appreciate it.

Thanks a lot and have a great day.

Keep in touch.

August 23, 2011

Re-Inventing a Tribe

Hi Ed –

Greetings from [Country].

I trust this finds you well.

I write to report on the progress of our Trading Tribe. It has been many months since I last communicate with you about our progress.

The 6 members of the our Tribe meet regularly (every other Wednesday) since January 2005. The meetings are held at my office.

Change of Venue:

In November 2010 I sell my office premises and move to a rented office at a Business Center. The rules at the Business Center render it impossible to have our Tribe meetings there.

For the next few months, we experiment with having our meetings at various alternate venues till we finally settle on a permanent meeting venue: We resume meeting regularly - at my residence - every other Wednesday.

I don’t want to be a disturbance to others at home, so I request the Tribe that we exclude Drumming from our agenda. We discuss alternatives to Drumming. [Name] suggests a combination of Chanting and Deep Breathing that he practices regularly as part of his Yoga routine. We accept his suggestion, and replace Drumming with Chanting and Deep Breathing. Over the next many meetings, we all agree that this does a good job of helping us get to the calm and peaceful state - a state of oneness with each other - that we want to be at, at the start of a Tribe Meeting. We do miss drumming, though!

Enthusiasm (to do the work) is Trending Downwards:

Over the last year - or thereabouts - I sense a significant reduction of energy and enthusiasm in the Tribe for the work. We enjoy being with each other and meeting regularly, but we make very little progress on the Hot Seat. More specifically, while members often report issues on which they are hot, willingness to be on the Hot Seat and to go through the TT Process is low.

We make a few attempts at using the Rocks Process, but meet with mixed results. Over many months – and many meetings - we experience only 2 instances of Hot Seat being “processed to completion” under the Rocks Process. Most other attempts at using the Rocks Process do not feel like they have yielded satisfactory results.

Regular attendance is also on the decline, as is punctuality.

We spend far too large a proportion of our meeting time on “TT University” – a lot of even that being market gossip, personal gossip, and other small talk that has little or no relevance to Tribe work.

As Tribe leader, I feel at a loss to infuse the energy and direction our Tribe seems to be lacking. As Tribe leader I feel responsible for that downward spiral in energy and direction. I wonder if I am the “cause” of it.

A Trend Reversal:

Then - about 2 months ago - [Name] calls to tell me that he has just met someone ... who has just attended an Ed Seykota Workshop in the U.S. He suggests I meet [Name 2] too.

We speak on the phone, and set up a meeting. He tells me
that after graduate school, he gets a job as a consultant with [Firm]. In the eyes of most of the world –his career is on a roll. To most observers, he is “on the path”. (He, however, says his life feels directionless and without meaning.) Two years later he leaves his job, and spends the next many months of his life searching for meaning. During that period he attends an Ed Seykota Workshop and an Ed Seykota Breathwork Weekend, spends many weeks at an “ashram” in South India meditating and doing Yoga. In the eyes of most of the world He has finally “lost it”. He is floundering and directionless. (His own take on his life: He has never felt more focused and “on the path”.)

He learns a lot about TTP and the Rocks Process from attending Ed’s Workshop in December 2010, and a Breathwork weekend in April 2011. His commitment to Ed’s work is very high, and he is eager to attend meetings at our Tribe as a guest. I invite him to attend our next meeting.

Over the next 2 months, he attends 4 meetings of our Tribe. He Process Manages 3 Hot Seats, each of which goes into the Rocks Process and is successfully processed. (I commit to report to FAQ on these Hot Seats and Rocks Processes over the next week.)

His enthusiasm and his being up-to-date on “TT technology” come as a breath of fresh air to our Tribe. His Process Management skills bring a new energy to our Tribe and lift us well above the low-level equilibrium I feel we slip into over the previous many months. We are now an energized group that is looking - once again - to make the most of Ed’s work and processes. We also discuss the punctuality issues the Tribe is experiencing. We commit to a higher level of punctuality at Tribe meetings.

Your World Tour:

We also feel very enthused by your planned World Tour. You respond to our invitation to visit us by including Mumbai on your itinerary. We all eagerly look forward to having you with us.

I now feel a lot better about the progress o four Tribe. I also appreciate the importance of someone in the Tribe being up-to-date with what’s happening at the Fountainhead of TT Technology. I decide to apply to Ed for membership of the Austin Tribe to attend a forthcoming series of Tribe meetings there. If I’m accepted, that will entail relocating to the U.S. for 5 months – something that will take a lot of effort and planning. I’m committed to do it, and decide to apply to Ed after I have the logistics worked out.

Ed - thanks once again for everything you give us. And for everything we get from you.

Warm regards.

August 24, 2011

Checking In

Ed,

I hope you are having a great summer. I am having the busiest and most successful summer. You have had a large part to do with the success and enjoyment I am having.

Are you planning to have any workshops this fall? I would definitely do my best to attend one. Breathwork is one I am looking forward to doing now. Though anything you decide to put on would be worth attending.

Hope the book is going well. I can't wait to read it.

Thanks,

August 24, 2011

Decision Fatigue

Hi Ed

I think you might find this article an interesting read - particularly given your goal at the Breathwork workshop.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

August 27, 2011

What to Say

Ed,

I have been coming to the Trading Tribe website for months since my last FAQ and I do not know what to say?

So I thought I would just say "Hello! How is everything?"

Enjoying FAQ.

August 30, 2011

Wants it Fast

Dear Ed Seykota, 

Sir, I sometimes trade in Indian Stock Markets (NSE/BSE). I have come to know about you through the internet.

I am very much interested in making money trading intraday and short term.  I am quite impressed to see that you converted $5K to $15 MM dollars in 12 years.

Actually I am writing this mail to you to know and learn to trade successfully in the Indian Stock Markets. Though I know links to download thousands of books on Trading but concluded reading more and more is a waste of time and more confusion in mind. I am even ready to start all over again but need to attain success.

Please suggest to me how I can learn to make money in the Indian Stock Markets successfully.  Please guide me where I should start, what I should learn and study.

Waiting for your precious advice.

With Regards,

August 30, 2011

Meditation

Ed,

I want to take up meditation, to calm and center my mind.

Do you have an opinion on transcendental meditation in particular?

Doing my research seems like your wisdom is very close to the Zen culture and values - are you studying any particular meditation approach?

rgds,

August 31, 2011

Picking Up Feelings

Ed,

When receiving, I often feel the same somatic feelings as the sender. I find, in my experience, that these feelings in me can sometimes last longer than in the sender. I experienced this most recently in the case of my friend at the café. Both she and I experienced a headache while she was sending. I had a headache the next day as well whereas she reported that she was fine.

Does one "share" the feeling with the sender?
or Does one experience a similar unexperienced feeling within oneself?

I realize that my questions make an assumption that there is indeed a "true" separation between the sender and the receiver.

August 31, 2011

Using a Trademark Without Permission

Hi Ed,

Great website, love the Tuits, brilliant... what a great Christmas present!

Not that I wish to be a tell tale; but www.trainingtraders.com/ uses your Logo (or vice versa).

I will contact [Name] in London. :) Thank you.

All the best,