The Liberating Power of the Enneagram – Russ Hudson & Jessica Dibb

This module lays out the basic structure of the Enneagram system, and the orientation we will be working with in the subsequent nine modules. We will explore the real meaning of the three centers of Instinct, Feeling and Thinking, and ways they can be used to work with the type patterns — as well as how the cultivation of presence/mindfulness enables us to notice the deeper and more significant parts of our type structure in life. Repeatedly bringing presence and awareness to our usually unconscious egoic patterns is what transforms them into a full blossoming of our gifts and truest Self.

In this session, you’ll:

• Learn the meaning of key concepts in the Enneagram, such as the centers, arrows, wings, passions and virtues, subtypes or instincts, etc.
• Develop the ability to recognize and discern the inner sense of the three centers — Belly, Heart and Head
• Learn the basics of orientation that make Enneagram work effectively
• Discover how the Enneagram system uses the cultivation of presence — an inner observer — to notice the patterns of our ego activity in real time
• Learn the ways in which each type (or point) relates to everyone’s developmental journey, regardless of our dominant Enneagram type
• Understand the unique ways in which the Enneagram works with both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the psyche — to recognize distinctions and use them for your own transformation

This module will look at the basic question of what makes us strong and able to address the challenges of our lives without shutting down. In the process of learning to live with an open heart, we won’t get far without tapping into the inner power and confidence which supports our beautiful sensitivity and awareness. Without such inner strength, we tend to withdraw from the world or enter it with our hearts relatively closed. The core energy of type Eight addresses this. We’ll also look at the expression of this basic human need as the ego pattern of type Eight, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Discover ways to recognize and attune to the presence of your own authentic strength and power
• Develop practices for cultivating this inner strength
• Recognize historic patterns, fears and issues which come up around the possibility of being powerful in the world
• Discern between real strength and “toughening up,” and between being powerful and dominating
• Learn key “wake up calls” for type Eight
• Find tips for interacting more successfully with the type Eight individuals in your life

This module will help us to better recognize what it is like when we’re truly present and grounded in the moment. We will also explore the natural human tendency to slip back from that awakeness into various kinds of comfortable inner trances (including trances about spirituality — which dull the purity and power of being present fully). We’ll see how presence in the body is key to this, but that it requires an open heart and quiet mind. And we’ll also learn sustainable, centering practices and come to understand how the drive for groundedness and wellbeing is expressed as the ego pattern of type nine — along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.In this session, you’ll:

• Learn specific practices for cultivating grounded presence and inner strength
• Hone your ability to discriminate the full aliveness of presence from the various spiritual trances which tend to form as we develop
• Deepen your recognition of being, not just as a quality of yourself, but of everything — the “field” of presence
• Discern historic patterns/fears/issues and other forms of resistance which appear as you begin to relax your egoic patterns into the ground of your presence
• Recognize the difference between comfort and real relaxation
• Discover key “wake up calls” for type Nine
• Learn tips for interacting more successfully with the type Nine individuals in your life

This module focuses on how to recognize the part of our awareness that knows how to respond with integrity and intelligence to the needs of the moment. We’ll explore the difference between our “inner critic” — the part of our psyche which Freud called the “Superego” — and a deeper source of wisdom and integrity which exists in all human beings. We’ll look at the journey from our own patterns of self-criticism and judgment to the profound fountain of what the Buddhists call “Right Action,” and the challenges and joys we find on that journey. Additionally, we’ll see how the drive for goodness and integrity also gets expressed as the ego pattern of type One, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Learn to recognize the actions and activities of your inner critic as well as ways to liberate yourself from its control
• Recognize the ways in which deeper wisdom is experienced and expresses itself in your life
• Learn a kinder and more compassionate orientation towards yourself and your life journey
• Practice ways of discerning the ways in which inner critic patterns manifest in your physical body and in your breath
• Discern historic patterns/fears/issues and other forms of resistance which appear as you begin to relax your egoic patterns into the ground of your presence
• Discover key “wake up calls” for type One
• Learn tips for interacting more successfully with the type One individuals in your life

One of the greatest human challenges is to really show up as who we really are in the presence of other human beings. In this module, we’ll look at relationship as an area in which we either run our many unconscious patterns and issues most intensely, or we discover what being in real relationship really is. We’ll explore the dimensions of intimacy, heart-based connection, and responsiveness to the presence of others — as well as how these qualities can only manifest to the degree we are intimate, and in some connection, with ourselves. Additionally, we’ll see how the drive for heart connection, love and nurturing also gets expressed as the ego pattern of type Two, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.In this session, you’ll:

• Explore some of the key historic relational patterns we tend to get into and repeat in our adult relationships
• Learn to recognize and support the development of the responsive and compassionate part of your nature
• Come to a deeper understanding of what it means to love yourself
• Recognize more profoundly the difference between attachment and desire, and loving someone
• Learn how to work with the issues that arise as you are more directly aware of the presence of genuine love
• Discover key “wake up calls” for type Two
• Learn tips for interacting more successfully with the type Two individuals in your life

In this module, we’ll explore what it means to be a truly authentic human being, as well as what makes us feel valuable in life. What does it mean to show up as who we really are in our life, our work and our relationships? What really brings the sense of personal value and fulfilment? Here, we will also examine the relationship between being and doing and see how genuine being/presence makes our work more effortless and enjoyable — and connects it with the real wishes of our hearts. Whereas, when we are not present with our heart — no matter what we may have achieved in our lives — the sense of our own real worth will elude us. Additionally, we’ll see how the drive for finding the real value and sense of the meaning of our lives is expressed as the ego pattern of type Three, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Explore the connection between presence and doing
• Learn to recognize the natural sense of value and appreciation that arises when you are present with your heart
• Come to deeper understanding of what authenticity means in the specifics of your own life
• Recognize when you get “out of sync” with your own heart and learn ways to get back into sync
• Find key “wake up calls” for type Three
• Discover tips for interacting more successfully with the type three individuals in your life

In this module, we’ll explore one of the most ancient and important spiritual/philosophical questions: “Who am I really?” We’ll dive into this mystery and investigate some of the windows into this deepest part of our psyche. And we’ll look at how the experience of our true identity can be experienced in normal, albeit powerful, human experiences — such as beauty, intimacy and depth. This portal into the depth of our being is always available, but we’ll see that the ego tends to look for it in the wrong places. Additionally, we’ll examine how the drive for finding and expressing our true identity — and its beautiful qualities — can manifest as the ego pattern of type Four, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Explore ways that you can experience a deeper sense of who and what you are in your daily life
• Learn to recognize the depth of your presence and notice when it drops out of your experience
• Discover key psychodynamic processes from childhood which attempt to “hold the place” for the more direct experience of true identity
• Gain experience in how the depth of your own identity is the gateway to real intimacy with others and vice versa
• Learn key “wake up calls” for type Four
• Find tips for interacting more successfully with the type Four individuals in your life

How do we actually KNOW things? What is the difference between memorizing a fact and really knowing something? Between data and wisdom? In this module, we will explore the nature of direct knowing — what the Greeks called “gnosis” — and how this amazing phenomenon of consciousness appears in our lives far more often than we might suspect. We’ll look at the natural curiosity in all of us, and how with presence it guides us into deeper understanding of reality and of our place within it. Additionally, we’ll see how this quality is not only the basis of discovery and innovation, but is also necessary for any authentic awakening process. And we’ll look at the difference between Mind in its deeper sense, and the restless inner talking that can often dominate our experience. Finally, we’ll explore how the drive for finding the real value and sense of the meaning of our lives gets expressed as the ego pattern of type Five, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Explore the distinctions between “chattering mind” and the quieter part of your mind responsible for big discoveries — both personal and professional
• Learn to recognize the operation of this illuminating quality of mind in your daily life
• Discover some of the psychodynamic issues that cause your direct knowing to shut down
• Gain experience in the connection between embodied presence and direct knowing
• Learn key “wake up calls” for type Five
• Find tips for interacting more successfully with the type Five individuals in your life

In the previous module, we looked at direct knowing as a way to see into reality. In this one, we look at how this knowing also shows us how to choose and what to do — how best to respond to the situations we find ourselves in. We’ll see how being more present makes us more awake — more aware of everything within us and around us — and the ways that this amazing human capacity gives us the courage to live fully and find the best way to contribute our energies to constructive and evolutionary processes. We’ll find out how body, heart and mind can align with deeper knowing, and cooperate with others toward goals which can transcend our immediate personal interests. We will see, too, how the absence of this inner knowing of what to do can cause us to react to the world in anxiety and stress. And finally, we’ll explore how the drive to find out what we need to do and how to orient to reality gets expressed as the ego pattern of type Six, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Learn to recognize and access deeper sources of inner guidance
• Discern the difference between the clear movement of inner guidance from impulsiveness and reactivity
• Discover some of the psychodynamic issues that tend to create the most stress and anxiety and how to work with them
• Recognize the power and consistency of the inner guidance in your life
• Learn key “wake up calls” for type Six
• Find tips for interacting more successfully with the type Six individuals in your life

In this module, we’ll investigate freedom as an inner phenomenon — a quality of our consciousness. This freedom is not just a state, but actually a form of intelligence — simultaneously, sweeping and creative. We will look at how the place of inner freedom is also the place of abundance, delight and gratitude. When we seek happiness or freedom without presence, we end up inevitably avoiding something in ourselves — which makes it harder to have real freedom or sustainable joy. Rather than embrace our difficult feelings from a place of lightness and expansiveness, we tend to suppress them, and they come out in even more difficult ways later on. We will also see how genuine freedom and joy are qualities of Mind that have an immediate effect on the heart and the body and are the reliable signs of real awakening. And finally, we’ll explore how the drive to find freedom, fulfilment and happiness gets expressed as the ego pattern of type Seven, along with the gifts and pitfalls of this orientation.

In this session, you’ll:

• Learn to recognize the presence of freedom and lightness which are always here in the background of your psyche
• Discover more fully the intelligence of joy and gratitude — real engines of liberation
• Learn some of the psychodynamic issues that tend to dull our sense of joy and to send us off in ultimately frustrating pursuits
• Recognize the secret doorway of abiding — patiently being with what is here now and letting the deeper treasures of reality reveal themselves
• Learn key “wake up calls” for type Seven
• Find tips for interacting more successfully with the type Seven individuals in your life

The impact of studying the Enneagram, and doing inner work which arises out of the nine pathways, can be very profound. In this final module, we’ll explore what integration is and what methodologies are useful to this process — which is very important for stabilizing transformation. We’ll look at some of the key aspects of integration, including learning to live out the implications of our new awarenesses and make changes in our way of being and our life choices. Another is inviting all nine orientations and energies to blossom and work together inside ourselves. And finally, we’ll come to understand what we can do to create more coherence of body, heart and head as we develop.

In this session, you’ll:

• Discover teachings and tips which will support you with long-term integration and sustainable transformation
• Explore how your body, heart and head can be invited more fully into your growth processes
• Gain deep wisdom for bringing awareness of all nine pathways into yourself
• Receive answers to any outstanding questions you may have about applying the Enneagram to your life going forward
• Find powerful practices and recommended resources for deepening your self-inquiry