Cultivating Ground in a Time of Disorientation

adam(ah), watercolor and ink on Arches coldpress

Cultivating inner freedom is an important aim of transformational work. In 1941, social psychologist and humanistic philosopher Erich Fromm wrote about the choice that humans can make to “unite…with the world in the spontaneity of love and productive work or else to seek a kind of security by such ties with the world as destroy…freedom and the integrity of…individual self.” Difficult times create the conditions where we can consciously work to make such choices, and also have the potential to overwhelm us.

May each and all of us keep our connection to joy, freedom, … READ MORE

Balancing Your Practice For Strength, Resilience, Creativity, and Freedom

A fundamental skill for being present is increasing your capacity to be with the sensations of your body. One of the gifts of studying the Enneagram is the recognition that although everyone needs to develop presence, each of us is starting from a different place depending on our type, instinctual stack, and life experiences.

So what’s the best way to go about practicing to be more present? It depends.

When you know the Enneagram, you know that:

Some Enneagram types more easily gravitate toward structure and discipline while other types more easily gravitate toward movement … READ MORE

Enneagram Jazz: The 1-7 Axis

The inner lines of the Enneagram, sometimes called the Axes, connect each Enneagram type to two others. One use of these lines is to understand the movement and wholeness of your dominant type, including:

How you show up when you feel comfortable or stressedWhat qualities you possess that are positive or negative shadowsHow you integrate all of who you are

Another approach to the Axes is to see each line is as a tension of opposites that opens particular capacities when you are fully grounded in either end. Since we each have a relationship with the … READ MORE

Mindfulness? Actually, It’s Bodyfulness.

Here are two things you could do that would make a huge difference in your life:

Learn to be present to the sensations of your body.
Practice connecting with those sensations on a regular basis.

The road to mindfulness begins with physical sensation.

Why? Because the mind can be anywhere – past, future, fantasy — but the body is always here now. Tuning into your body begins a pathway to an incredible stream of intelligence that allows you to be mindful (and heartful) in a real and grounded way.

There is a lot of confusion about the concept of mindfulness. … READ MORE

Transforming Your Relationships: Part III

Okay, you’ve done your best to be proactive with yourself and your clients, and even so, sometimes conflicts do arise. Conflicts are not necessarily a problem; they can actually be a way that we take our relationships to another level.

In Part II of this series, we learned some ways to unlock your own point of view, but what about if your client seems entrenched?

An incredibly useful teaching of the Enneagram gives us some perspective on how people can get stuck when trying to resolve conflict. The Enneagram tells us that people generally … READ MORE