Know Who You Are...How You React…What Drives You

by Jaye Andress

May 17, 2011

Know Who You Are...How You React…What Drives You
The Underlying Neurobiology of the Enneagram’s 3 Centers of Intelligence
Presented by David Daniels, M.D. and Jack Killen, M.D.

By Jaye Andres

The AEA was honored to host a ground-breaking workshop the first weekend in April, 2011. It was the first time David and Jack presented this material in a full weekend workshop and it led to a new depth and breadth of sharing, compassion and insight among participants.

The Enneagram, taken beyond an interesting typology of personality, allows for deep work. It’s about becoming aware of habitual patterns of thought and behavior and then creating some space inside ourselves from which to make a conscious choice on how to respond to life instead of being run by unconscious reactivity.

How deeply ingrained these habitual patterns are became very clear as Jack and David proceeded to explain how they are tied to the limbic system – the  emotional center – of our brains. We share with all mammals the primal emotional systems designed to deal with issues of protection/satisfaction, connection/care and certainty/security. When we experience blocks or threats in these areas our brains – like those of any mammal - are hard-wired to respond to protect us.

Protection/Satisfaction
When we experience blocks to getting what we want or need, or if we feel we are not being treated as worthy, we experience anger, perhaps even rage (also, in milder form, irritation, resentment and tension). This relates to the body or gut center of intelligence of the Enneagram – Types 8, 9 and 1. The body-centered types filter the world through a kinesthetic intelligence – physical sensations, gut instinct, a sense of movement and position in the world. The key concerns of this center are worth, congruence, protection comfort, satiation, harmony and belonging.

Connection/Care
The Enneagram’s heart center of intelligence – Types 2, 3 and 4 – filter experience through the lens of interpersonal relationship and are particularly sensitive to the loss or absence of vital connection with others. The key concerns of this center are love, connection, affection, bonding, image, approval and care. Threats to these concerns result in the primal emotional responses of distress or panic (or their derivatives – sadness, longing and shame).

Security/Certainty
The primal emotional responses of fear or terror (or their derivatives of anxiety, wariness and apprehension) are felt when we experience threat or danger, insecurity or uncertainty. It is the mental center of the Enneagram – Types 5, 6 and 7- who are most involved in figuring out (the forte’ of the mind) what makes life certain and secure. The key concerns of this center are predictability, thinking, imagination, assurance, safety and security.

All Enneagram types experience the emotions of all 3 centers but each relies more heavily on one of them. And usually one center is the least developed. In the workshop this was brought home through closed-eye exercises, group interaction and panel questions in which participants were taken back to early childhood experiences that triggered reaction in each of the 3 centers. It became clear how deeply impactful these early experiences were as participants shared openly about the effect such experiences had – and still have - on their lives.

But, as we know, the Enneagram work is not about staying stuck where we are. The goal of deeper work is to integrate the 3 centers, bringing them into balance for a more fulfilling life and more authentic relationships.

What makes this work challenging at times is that the brain is a pattern-seeking machine. Because of neural networks formed and reinforced over time we tend to see what we expect to see in the world. This is exactly what the Enneagram means when it talks about habitual patterns. We are primed by our genetic predisposition and early childhood environment to see the world a certain way (our type’s focus of attention) and in turn respond a certain way which in turn reinforces neural pathways and increases the probability that we will respond the same way the next time.

But take heart in this word – neuroplasticity. It means that the brain can change. It takes practice, though, as we have to form new neural pathways and that takes conscious awareness of what our habitual patterns are, followed by conscious action (instead of unconscious reaction). It also takes self-acceptance and appreciation of who we are. Self-criticism and resistance only reinforce the existing pattern. Through what David calls the Universal Growth Process – the 5As of Awareness, Acceptance, Action, Appreciation and Adherence – the Enneagram offers us a path to a richer, fuller, freer life.

Comments On Richard Rohr Workshop- Feb 2011

by Caislin Weathers, Ph.D.

April 27, 2011

It was very rich to spend a day and a half with Richard February 11-12, just listening in a relaxed and beautiful setting at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church.   Richard just was, and he exuded the Enneagram.    The gathering was not too large—100 or so.   A special opportunity was given to the Professional Members to have the afternoon before the conference in a small informal session.  There Richard talked about the history of the Enneagram and about his own history with it, beginning in the early 1970’s.   His Jesuit spiritual director taught him this tool “for the sake of the reading of souls” before anything was available in written form.  Although his was one of the early books published (from a recording of a talk he gave!) he stressed the value of the oral tradition which had held for the centuries until then. “Outside a transformative space, people take the words and mistake them for the experience, they freeze-frame and reduce it.  We must move beyond the traits, to the energy of each type.”

In the full gathering the next day he talked in terms of non-dual thinking and paradox, how our “strength” turns out to be our weakness, our “weakness” our strength, that the heroic self-image of our own PR is actually our false self.  How we move upward by falling.  He used his own Type One-ness to illustrate that all his work to be a “very good boy” took him away from his true self.  “Success can’t be invited on the spiritual journey.” 

Richard brought his deep spiritual perspective and fresh observations, including a comment or two about Arizona—“the last bastion of patriarchal power and little enlightenment”.   He noted that this was the context where Jesus started!

The afternoon panels expanded and vividly demonstrated all that had been said before about the types.  Richard concluded by underscoring that the Enneagram is not a personality profile, but a tool to change our processing, our hardwiring, our motherboard, to subvert the False Self and discover our True identity.

You can read more of Richard’s teaching on the Enneagram in his books with Andreas Ebert, Discovering the Enneagram, Experiencing the Enneagram, and The Enneagram:  A Christian Perspective.

Caislin Weathers, Ph.D.

Flagstaff, AZ

Comment:  160 people attended the conference, "The Enneagram as a Tool for Personal Transformation" presented by Richard Rohr, February 11-12, 2011 at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church. 

How would knowing the Enneagram Benefit Me?

by Rev. Andrea Andress

April 10, 2011

How would knowing the Enneagram Benefit Me?

(This article was previously published in Talk – Jan 2011.  It was written as an introduction to Christians in a local church who had questions about how the Enneagram could benefit them and be relevant to their lives as Christians.)

When introducing the Enneagram to members of my church, I considered the history and vocabulary of the Enneagram and my spiritual community.  Members want to be sure the Enneagram is not anti-religious and so the historical connections with the Early Desert Fathers (Evagrius) and with the seven deadly sins were important in helping them connect.  All groups have their own vocabulary and it is important to translate terms that one group uses with ease, but the other is unsure of or uses with different effect.  

“Love the Lord with all your heart, body and mind and love your neighbor as yourself,” is a key tenant of the Christian faith.  Christians want to know what gets in the way between God and their ability to love and be faithful disciples.  In terms of the three centers, the Enneagram provides generous knowledge in helping people live out their faith in love, by helping define how love can directly be applied in their own lives through the nine types. 

The Enneagram provides a recognizable structure that can guide a person on their spiritual path.  One basic step is to teach the person to observe themselves and to bring them to awareness.  Another key step lies in the Christian tradition of Centering prayer which calls you to surrender yourself to “being”.  The combination of cognitive awareness in observing who you are and what you are doing with the sublime inner intention of Centering Prayer proves a powerful tool in personal transformation.  The contemplative tradition offers a way to release the contraction of the grip personality has on us.  Christians experience the Enneagram not only as a tool that can help draw them closer to God but also gives them a more secure sense of who they are.  The following was a one page article I wrote to help members know how studying the Enneagram would benefit their spiritual walk. 

How would knowing the Enneagram benefit me?        

“I don’t like being put in a box!” is the complaint of many when looking at a personality system.  But each of us is already in a box of our own making.  The accumulations of years of habits of how you think, feel and behave have created your personality.  With the Enneagram, by careful non-judgmental observation of the structure of your habits (not so much the content), it can allow you to identify the box you are already in.  With that knowledge you can begin to develop new choices and habits that allow you to go beyond the limits of your box. 

The Enneagram System

The Enneagram comes to us from an ancient spiritual path of observing and understanding our own nature, a system that has experienced a renewal in our age of psychological awareness.  It is a way to understand the patterns and habits of emotions, thoughts and actions we create in our lives.  By observing our patterns we discover ways to get out of them.  People are creatures of habit and we love repetition; it’s how we learn and grow.  But too much of a good thing creates its own downside.  We become so attuned to our habits that we don’t realize we are doing them.  Detrimental habits can trap us in unhealthy lifestyles.  Just try to change eating, sleeping or exercise habits!  How much harder it is to change who we believe ourselves to be.  Consider your habits as patterns you have created that once served a good purpose.  But as you grew, ingrained habits became rigid and couldn’t adapt to meet the person you were becoming.  So within you is a tension, a war against who you think you are versus who you can become. 

As a Christian, I take the premise we are created in God’s Image.  In the center of our being, the essence of who we are lies buried.  Spiritual disciplines don’t create our being; they allow us to discover the essential being that is already there.  We have covered it up by thought upon thought, habit upon habit, emotion and action upon one another.

The Enneagram is a valuable tool uncovering patterns inherent in our personality.  Remember the story of the blind men looking at the elephant and how they couldn’t “see” the “whole”, but only the part they touched.  So we don’t see the essence of God in us, the mystery of faith, the hope of glory. God has given us what we need to live and that includes a personality. We are not trying to wipe away our personality, but to see how we can live to our fullest potential.  We come together in community to create a whole, not just for our self, but for all of us together.  As we see the internal difficulties that we and others struggle with, we become more understanding of the pain and grief we bear and become tolerant of others as we begin to work together.

The Enneagram details nine basic types/patterns people develop, but within that are subtypes, how we react to times of stress and security, and dynamic avenues that lend toward creativity and uniqueness within the system.  People resist being forced into a box.  But habits create types and structures that can be observed.  As we notice the patterns, the Enneagram helps individuals discover the box you are in and ways to break out of it. 

Rev. Andrea Andress,

Andrea serves as associate pastor at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, Paradise Valley, Arizona where she directs Transformational Living and Children’s Ministries.  A spiritual director with training from Shalem Institute, she certified EPTP in May 2004.  The church now serves as the home to the Arizona Enneagram Association for classes and workshops. 

Vital Relationships – Why the David Daniels workshop can help you and your relationships

by Francesca Lyons

March 1, 2010

Relationship (ri la shen ship), n.  1. a connection, association, or involvement.

Relationship is a fundamental and dynamic aspect of life that animates our very being.

Vital relationships, indeed, are the foundation upon which we thrive or wither.

Partnership demonstrates the differences between you and another. Each of us can be telling the truth, yet each can have a different story to tell.You may look at your relationship or job from radically different angles, often without seeing a systemic bias.

Each of us is unique. None of us acts out the same range of concerns characterized by our type in exactly the same way, nor are we always fixated in a limited view of reality. When pressure builds, however, our type bias comes into play and tends to dominate our perceptions.

Extraordinarily precise, the Enneagram allows you to look deeply within your own character and to clarify relationships with your partner, family members, friends, clients and co-workers. This insight quickly turns to compassion when you can become receptive, see through the eyes of another, and feel the pressure of his or her emotional life and view of the world.

The AEA welcomes David Daniels, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and a leading pioneer, developer and Teacher of the Enneagram System for 20 years, and invites you to attend his leading-edge workshop The Enneagram's Gift to Vital Relationships: Resolving Barriers and Creating Fulfillment. The workshop will be presented on March 20^th and 21^st, 2010 at Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, AZ. The Enneagram in an Evening A Brief Overview will precede the workshop on March 19^th, 2010.

Please join us in what promises to be an extraordinary experience as we explore the ways the Enneagram System's meaning of type can be powerfully applied to heal, develop and strengthen our vital relationships, to deal with conflict collaboratively and constructively.

The Path of a Type Three

by Gerry Fathauer

January 1, 2010

I first heard of the Enneagram from a Type Seven co-worker in January 1994. She was particularly well-read and made her way into many experiences I was simply too busy to consider. But when she told me about a psychological tool that could also have spiritual aspects to it, I had to know more! As luck would have it, an introductory class was starting later that month at the Franciscan Renewal Center, so another friend and I decided to check it out.

What I heard in that introductory Enneagram class changed my life forever. I became hooked by the videotape of a Type Three. It was as if I were listening to and watching myself, as even her body language was similar to mine. I left that first evening knowing beyond a doubt that I was a Type Three and that qualities that drove me were not unique to me: A revelation as much as it was a bit unnerving. I also learned a great deal in a short time about my life-long tendency to over-achieve, to try too hard as an early boss said of me, to expend considerable energy on getting things done, whether in the work place, or at home and in relationships. It took awhile longer to understand the image preoccupation and shape-shifting habits of the Three. Perhaps most difficult to grasp and to mediate was/is self-deceit. Almost by definition it is slippery and almost impossible to detect and drop.

My Type Seven colleague was an invaluable aid in helping me to know when I was deceiving myself, for example, in what was my responsibility at work, or not. She soon enrolled in the Enneagram Professional Training Program (EPTP), and I continued my local study with a Heart Center class, so our ongoing study contributed to opportunities for observation and sharing with one another about our respective Type tendencies. I eventually decided to attend the EPTP myself, despite (what I perceived to be) an intense work schedule. I certified as an Enneagram teacher in August 1999.

I dont believe a day has gone by since learning the Enneagram that I havent applied my understanding of the Enneagram in some meaningful way. I met my second husband just as I was taking the first Introductory class, so he, too, got to learn the Enneagram. It helped us to deepen our understanding of one another, and we married later that year. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the Enneagram wasnt sufficient to keep us together, and the marriage ended after seven years. However, it did so with a richer appreciation of the challenging personality dynamics between us; and an honoring of our decision to part, though a difficult one.

True to form for a Type Three, I did focus intently on my work until 2007 when I retired (more about that later). My knowledge of the Enneagram served me well as director of a major performing and visual arts center. The City of Mesa undertook design and construction of a $96M center in early 2000. As the centers director, I had responsibility for two citizen boards/committees and City liaison responsibilities for two 501(c)(3) support boards, all of which had a role in getting the arts center built. My understanding of the nine Types and their non-conscious core motivations gave me the insights and ability to work more effectively (a good Three word!) with these key individuals, anticipating hidden agendas and interpersonal dynamics that might have derailed the project. Similarly, my knowledge of the Enneagram benefitted me as a manager in creating effective teams while doubling staff size to run the new Center.

Although the Mesa Arts Center work was my life, I chose to retire in the spring of 2007, in part because I felt I had done all that I could in Mesa, but also because, despite my knowledge of the Enneagram and myself, the work hours and intensity were detrimental to my well-being. And, I was eager to take the Enneagram into other business settings. I was, however, uncomfortable being labeled a retiree, and I still get prickly today at the suggestion that I must be having fun with all my spare time. Play and fun are not familiar qualities of life for a Threeto the extent that my hairdresser of two decades takes great delight in asking me each month, So, what have you done for fun lately? He takes perverse pleasure in the blank expression that comes over my face, at which point he enjoys a good laugh at my expense.

But Im better prepared these days with examples of something fun I did recently or that Im planning to do. I more frequently engage my observer to help me make time for relaxation or things I simply enjoy. I still wince at my image-consciousness, but I am also strengthening my ability not to care how others perceive me. I used to be more organized by what I thought others expected of me. Now I realize there is no way I can unequivocally know what one is expecting (unless that person is a work supervisor who has created specific goals). It is all just my story. I read recently, What someone else thinks about me is none of my business. That was extremely freeing for me! An entirely foreign concept, yet one that helps get me out of my stories.

As a Three I automatically fill my days with things I think need to be done. No sooner is a set of tasks completed, than another set appears on my right shoulder almost like a puppy-dog panting happily, Oh, boy, now you can get me done, too! Wont that feel good!! While I continue to battle this urge toward busy-ness, I have also learned to enjoy feeling my energy field expand when I relax, center and ground myself and simply revel in the present moment.

I committed to several boards and committees upon retiring, and I am slowly resigning from those commitments; though the difficulty of doing so cannot be overstated. These are my contacts, my professional and social outlets, after all, and I see myself, though its no doubt self-deceit, as being seen as important to their respective causes. And, practically-speaking, its not easy to burn bridges that might one day serve me and others in some type of work--or play. I also struggle with deceit around whether or not its important for me to attend x activity, of which there are plenty. Though, my practice of not caring what others expect or think is helping me to soften this, too.

I do still have to ask myself, What do I really want right now? I practice acting on this to create more of what I wantnot what I think someone else wants me to do. One healthy, relaxing practice I easily enjoy is an occasional nap. And Im finally, after many years, beginning to watch movies, previously seen as too big a time-commitment, thinking alternately of all I could accomplish in those two to three hours. I can even smile at myself as I re-frame the movie time commitment by analyzing its core archetypal theme so I can apply what I learned to my consulting work! But Ill take it. At least Im relaxing a bit while I learn, and doing something I can enjoy with a friend.

The Enneagram has given me all this and more, and for that Im not only grateful, I want the whole world to know about the Enneagram: Thus, my work on the Arizona Enneagram Association and Association of Enneagram Teachers in the Narrative Tradition Boards. We have our work cut out for us!

2009 International Enneagram Association (IEA) Conference – Las Vegas

by Jaye Andres

September 10, 2009

Wow, look at the options! Knowledge, knowledge everywhere. How to choose? Augh, I want to go to three workshops that are all held at the same time! I remind myself that the sessions are recorded I can buy the CDs relax, already.

With two and a half days of workshops divided into four sessions per day there is no shortage of topics represented; from traditional teachings to cutting edge creativity. Whatever your interest body work, business applications, psychology, spirituality you will find it here.

The keynote speaker, author Robert Holden, kicks off the conference with a delightful, humorous and inspiring talk on the power of happiness. It feels very good to laugh with this group of like-minded friends from around the world.

Nowdo I want to crack the Enneagram code or discover my Tritype or learn more about the brain, behavior and consciousness? Or how about moving from greed to essential generosity that sounds very topical. Oh, and Ive wanted to add some bodywork to my practice what about the Somatic Enneagram?

And what favorite teachers do I want to hear? Our narrative tradition is well represented by David Daniels, Helen Palmer, Terry Saracino and Peter OHanrahan. And look.therere authors Russ Hudson, Michael Goldberg, Tom Condon and the ever-delightful, Jerry Wagner. I really do want to hear all of them.and more!

Alas, I must decide and I do and I am happy with my choices. I am happiest with The Happy Enneagram presented by Marika Borg of Finland. A simple, yet profound concept what if we introduced the Enneagram from a more positive perspective, that of the Types strength? She finds this lowers resistance to the system when introducing it to businesses. That resonates deeply with me, since I also take this work into the business arena, and her logic makes good sense to me. I decide to shift my future presentations to accommodate this new perspective.

And so, filled up, I come to the end of the conference, stimulated by new ideas, inspired by the beauty and power of the Enneagram and delighted by the connection with fellow students and teachers. And pleased to know that I will be faced with all of these wonderful choices again next year!

The Enneagram Goes to Court

by Jaye Andres

September 9, 2009

Sometimes, as Enneagram teachers, we unwittingly rule out potential business clients as unlikely candidates for our services. But AEA board members, Linda Frazee and Jaye Andres, have successfully brought the wisdom of the Enneagram into important areas of the Maricopa County Superior Court system (Phoenix, AZ) - the fifth largest in the country.

Initially hired as part of a Judicial Formation Program, our goal was to provide training to the judges that would increase their self-knowledge and improve their ability to establish rapport and listen more effectively to those who appear before them. Since personalities often get in the way of achieving such objectives, the Enneagram was offered as an effective tool to more objectively view and understand ones behavior and ultimately improve what are called Judicial Performance Reviews.

In Maricopa County, all participants in court cases complete what is called an exit survey in which they rank their experience according to whether they felt that the judge listened to them, was courteous, respectful and fair; if they were treated equally to others and if they understood what happened in court. Judicial Performance Reviews are based on the feedback from those exit interviews.

Studies have shown that the litigants overall satisfaction of their court experience is higher, regardless of whether or not they win their case, if these criteria are met. And a litigant is more likely to follow the mandates of the court if his or her court experience is satisfactory as defined above. Therefore, the judges have an incentive to improve their interactions with the lawyers and litigants who appear before them.

In addition to conducting Introductory Enneagram workshops, typing interviews and coaching sessions, we were asked to design an Observation Program. This was to satisfy the requests of many Judges who wished to be observed while on the bench and to receive feedback regarding their performance, not in terms of their legal skills, but in terms of their people skills.

This has been a highly successful program. Most judges in the Observation Program have been open to learning their Enneagram Type. This has aided us in pointing out the triggered behavior of Type that unconsciously shows up in stressful situations. For example, a Type One was taken totally by surprise when he heard the irritation and sharpness in his voice in a case that he viewed as relatively uneventful. A Type Six was struck by the incongruity of her facial expression and the message she was conveying verbally.

In a number of cases, the judges saw themselves doing an excellent job on the bench and coming across as stronger or more caring and more balanced than they had thought; a significant confidence builder. This was particularly true for the Type Nines.

Also well received is the Executive Coaching program in which judges learn to identify their own blind spots and triggers and how to manage them effectively in emotionally charged situations. As a result they work better with their staff, litigants and lawyers.

To date, 60% of the judicial officers have attended one or more sessions, (a session being defined as a workshop, coaching, observation or typing session). In reporting to us the benefits of their sessions, participants have noted an improved understanding of personalities and the dynamics of interactions, increased effectiveness as leaders, enhanced ability to see their own strengths and weaknesses, heightened awareness of non-verbal communication, increased ability to manage personal reactivity on the bench, and a greater understanding of the feelings that lead to such reactivity.

We have also had the opportunity to coach top administrative staff and to work with their teams, providing introductory workshops as well as ones on building stronger teams, more effective communication and managing change. Many significant improvements have come as a result.

It is only fair to note that we have adjusted the traditional language of the Enneagram to be more business friendly for our work in the court system and other business environments. Also, at the outset of our contract, we had an Enneagram advocate who got us in the door and set the stage for this program to grow some legs!

So even though the court system may seem an unlikely place for it, the Enneagram has been an ideal system to allow compassion to flourish in a place where it is greatly needed. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind as to the applications of this powerful system of knowledge.

Ginger Lapid-Bogda’s “Train-the-Trainer” Enneagram in Business

by Gerry Fathauer

August 21, 2009

I just returned from Ginger Lapid-Bogdas Train-the Trainer program based on her book, Bringing out the Best in Yourself at Work. The intense six-day course was the most beneficial, most enjoyable Enneagram in business seminar Ive ever taken! Perhaps it is because Ginger and I share a Center of Intelligence, the heart center, that her teaching style meshed so well with how I like to learn. That plus the outstanding training activities provided us, described and organized with slides and worksheets, inspired me to renew my commitment to take the Enneagram into the workplace.

The Las Vegas training was held in the beautiful JW Marriott resort away from the lights and bustle of the city. Our classroom balcony afforded us a breathtaking view of mountains and desert, new construction and vast vistas of outlying Las Vegas. The six-day course involved creating a team project as a way of applying what the course teaches about forming a team and working in a team environment. My classmates represented seven countries outside the US: Chile, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, France and India. It was thrilling to work with these outstanding individuals, and I was amazed at their ability to digest the course material in a second or third language — especially in a program in which word choice was often key in understanding the nuance of type in a given business application.

While I appreciated and enjoyed the high content and instruction values consistent throughout the training, Im also grateful for the opportunity to develop new friends and colleagues. The Enneagram classroom, when taught by knowledgeable and responsible individuals, invites trust and openness that facilitate individual growth and learning on a level Ive not experienced in most communities unfamiliar with the Enneagram and engenders relationships that might otherwise take weeks or months to develop.

Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Ph. D. is, according to her book jacket, a senior organization development consultant with over 30 years of consulting experience. Gingers Train-the-Trainer course teaches people already familiar with the Enneagram how to apply it in key areas of business, including communication, feedback, teams, leadership, conflict, and transformation.

Ginger also offers a program on leadership based on her book, What Type of Leader Are You? She has a new book due for release in November on coaching, Bringing out the Best in Everyone You Coach and a new program, Coaching with the Enneagram, to be offered in Santa Fe, NM in April 2010.

Revolving Around the Types

by Francesca Lyons

August 9, 2009

Let us begin with an overview of the Enneagram types by recognizing that the Enneagram System acknowledges Three Centers of Intelligence The Heart, Head and the Body.

The Heart Center, or Emotional Center, includes types 2, 3 and 4 and attends to issues focused on affection, esteem and relationships. Its intrinsic concern revolves around image and desire  in life. The core heart type is 3, the Performer/Achiever. Type 2 is the Caregiver/Helper and type 4 is the Romantic/Artiste.

The Head Center, or Mental Center, has its strength in insight and analysis and includes types 5, 6 and 7. Its intrinsic concern is fear. The core type is 6, the Loyalist/Skeptic. Type 5 is the Observer/Knowledge Seeker and 7 is the Epicure/Optimist.

The Body Center, or Instinctual Center, includes types 8, 9 and 1. Attention goes to movement and action. Its intrinsic concern is anger and control. The core type is 9, the Mediator/Peacemaker. Type 8 is the Leader/Protector and type 1 is the Perfectionist/Critic.

The Enneagram and Spiritual Practice

by Robin Cameron

July 25, 2009

In almost any description of the Enneagram you will find the phrase, The Enneagram is a powerful tool for transformation. And so it is! That is, if it is used. I remember a word to the wise from Carole Whittaker in an Introduction to the Enneagram I first took with her. I had read books and listened to tapes for years. I knew my type. I was conversant with Enneagram language. And I knew the work ahead of me. But it was Caroles insight that caught my attention and set me on course for the transformation I have experienced in the nine years since. What Carole said was, This information (on the Enneagram) is all very interesting. You can know your type, and you can see into the type behavior of others. It can have some practical application. But without a spiritual practice, in the end it will only be interesting, a topic for conversation. It will not change your life. It is wisdom I have repeated ever since.

So why is having a spiritual practice so necessary? Ask any concert pianist, or gifted athlete, or someone who has mastered the art and skill of anything. On one hand, it is as simple as the difference between having the experience of a thing rather than just the thought of it. It becomes actualized in the body, in the brain and in the cells. It is not just a concept.

But there is more. In 12–Step Spirituality, there is a line, A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man. Most of us do not have to go to that extreme to understand the point. We all have times when we can feel something a passion or a mental fixation take hold of us. We are beside our self. It is not long before in our reactivity we begin a downward spiral. Something has pushed our button. We say or do something we regret, and what we might have dealt with internally through spiritual practice is now up and out, and takes on a life of its own. There has been no neutralizing or healing in and down in our internal space.

A principle of all spiritual practice, and certainly in the Enneagram, is the development of the Inner Observer. If reactivity is the product of our habitual, automatic ways of seeing, acting and being, it is our Inner Observer that connects us to our core. We cannot see ourselves as others see us until we have developed the compassion and non-attachment of the Inner Observer. This does not happen automatically. It is an outcome of spiritual practice. We see beyond our defensiveness. Our agenda and narrow view become part of the whole.

Noticing our reactivity without judgment is the first step of the Inner Observer. Then, over time our capacity builds, enabling us to live within the paradox of our lives, of all life. Whatever the hold on us, it begins to loosen. Space is created. The way of grace opens up. Transformation begins. Passion and mental fixation become fodder for change. The thoughts and feelings that box us in become the raw energy for a new way of being, seeing, and acting. A shift takes place.

There are many ways to develop the Inner Observer. Some kind of attention practice is essential to help quiet the mind and develop the ability to discriminate between objects of our attention. Engaging the body and breath work help us get out of the head and ground us in the present moment. The Welcoming Prayer Practice opens the instinctual energy centers as we let go of our desire for affection and esteem, power and control, and safety and security. The basic strategies of the centers of intelligence heart, body, and head are thus revealed. Inquiry work helps us dig down deep to expose our unconscious judgments and beliefs. Mindfulness raises our consciousness and helps us move from a thought-based reality to one based in awareness. Where there is childhood wounding, the impact on relationships loses its power. Centering Prayer relaxes the basic defenses and structure of type and leads to purity of heart. The 12 Steps remind us that all work involves a process, that step-by-step we gain our freedom.

To have a spiritual practice is vital if we are to ground our Enneagram experience, going beyond its informative value and enabling it to be the powerful tool for transformation that it is. Practice does make perfect, and re-connects us to life lived from our core.

The Enneagram

by

July 21, 2009

The Enneagram is a centuries old psychological system with deep and abiding roots in sacred tradition. The word Enneagram itself comes from the Greek and refers to a circular figure with nine points on its circumference. The history of the Enneagram has been addressed, in detail, by many authors from antiquity to contemporary time. It is now, however, of increasing interest to focus on the Enneagram of the human being, referring to and recognizing the fullness of human creation. What is evolving is a dynamic tool and map that integrates the psychological and spiritual dimensions of ones experience. The Enneagram enables the student to see their radical or core humanity and the sacredness held within.

The Enneagram describes nine distinct and fundamentally different patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. It informs us about the basic coping strategies we employ to survive and meet our needs, what motivates our actions and behavior, and what determines how we establish relationships and interact within them. It is valuable to recognize that each of the nine personality types has a particular and unique path, or high road, that when followed leads to personal and spiritual development through the discovery of ones own potential and qualities of being. Thus, rather than be obstructed and limited by self-serving or destructive patterns, we are enabled to fulfill this potential. Awareness and knowledge is expanded when we are able to see the various ways that people view life. Recognizing and acknowledging other points of view and the differing ways individuals perceive, process, and respond to their environment increases our capacity for self-observation and knowledge of ourselves in the context of human relationship. It is in studying the Enneagram that we can observe the reality of what it describes and thus, become an aware and conscious conduit through which life can flow. Study of the Enneagram also provides us with a key that enables us to unlock the perceptual filters that distort our awareness and block our energy. This allows for new choices around our normal reactivity and automatic behavior. We come to know and understand the recurring patterns and life themes that seem to weave through our lives. Ultimately this knowledge becomes the wisdom that guides and reconciles us with the ever-evolving being-ness and life energy that we truly are.

The Arizona Enneagram Association and its co-sponsoring partners offer a full curriculum of Enneagram programs that includes introductory classes, special workshops with renowned international teachers, and on-going work in small groups. All classes use the narrative inquiry method and a variety of exercises and practices designed to help participants develop their capacity for self-observation. This approach to discovering and exploring type reveals a personal path of liberation, integration and freedom.

The Journey of a Type 9

by Judy Shoob

July 21, 2009

I was first introduced to the Enneagram during an executive retreat. I was told by the industrial psychologist that my test showed I was a type 9 and he proceeded to give me the basic information about my type. I was impressed with the depth of information the Enneagram provided and how accurate it was. In fact, when the word sloth was presented to me as my passion I had an immediate reaction, in my gut. This was my deepest held secret. I worked very hard, for many hours a day (and nights), with tenacity and enthusiasm. This work ethic had propelled me into many promotions and positions of responsibility. The thought that others might find out that what I really wanted was to do nothing to just be was very frightening. I feared this might cause the owner of my company to lose faith in me and stifle my continued progress.

The Enneagram tweaked my interest because of the quality and depth of information it provided, although I felt I had a good self-awareness and understanding of others as I had studied Myers Briggs and other behavioral instruments for many years. I did, however, pick up a few books on the Enneagram and over the next few months read them mostly about my personal type 9 rather than all the types. The more I read about my type I realized it wasnt what I had hoped to hear. There were numerous qualities that made me very uncomfortable even ashamed. Could these things really be true about me? Because of my type I wasnt ready to deal it was easier to forget myself than deal with my own inner conflict.

I wasnt moved to do any more with the Enneagram until several years later when my emotional stresses led me to a decision to end my marriage of 24 years. That decision came as a result of spending some quiet time alone and listing all the things I was dissatisfied with in my marriage. That same night I was skimming through an old journal and found I had made the very same list five years earlier. Nothing had changed. I was angry and hurt. Nothing had changed because of my unwillingness to confront my issues with my husband. I had wasted so many years just keeping the peace to no avail—to my own demise. My husband had only a vague awareness of my unhappiness because I rarely spoke of it with him. I just went along to get along. My announcement caught him by surprise he had no realization I was at that point. That fact alone made me finally admit to myself, that I was not being honest with him or myself. I was the person responsible for my happiness not him. That realization caused me to pursue a more in-depth understanding of the Enneagram and what it was really saying about me. I needed to find out how I contributed to my own unhappiness.

I went online and Googled Enneagram Phoenix, AZ which led me to Barbara and Kent Rossman, and they referred me to Gloria Cuevas-Barnett. Along with classes and exercises, Gloria has since coached me in applying the Enneagram to gain a better self-understanding.

As I learned more about my type, I realized my propensity to avoid conflict, at any cost. Sometimes it felt like conflict could be a life or death decision. Conflict was frightening; it could wake up my anger and anger felt like an out of control behavior whether expressed by me or someone else. Anger was a feeling I rarely admitted I felt and never dealt with when I was in a state of anger. I waited until I was out of my emotion and in a logical place and then could calmly and respectfully discuss the issue that had so upset me. It took a lot of convincing to get me to realize that it is a good thing to express anger when it occurs versus burying the feeling – the emotion of anger – as I had all of my life. I eventually realized I was really avoiding dealing with the conflict within myself the anger at myself.

I had lost track of what I felt and what I wanted. I had become deadened to my own reality until I could bury it no longer. I realized I had a responsibility to myself if I wanted to feel again - and to the relationship if I wanted to make it work.

After several years of coaching and inner work I can now confront conflict and even get angry—often times, in the moment, when it occurs, instead of waiting until I have my emotions in check. If is far from automatic but I am more aware of what is happening, how I am feeling and what my autopilot wants me to do. Instead I am more conscious more awake and therefore can make choices better choices.