The Enneagram Instincts: Self-Preservation
People who are dominant in the SELF PRESERVATION instinct are focused on our human need for comfort, material/financial security, health and wellness, hearth, home and family.
Enneagram Vices and Virtues
When I was in grad school, I did a lot of reading to look for Enneagram patterns in the wisdom traditions (I looked primarily at Christianity and Buddhism). Concurrently, I was doing my Enneagram training. In listening to panels, you can see people’s core “vice” as they share their stories.
Mindful Baby
For 15 minutes, my granddaughter Sophie filled and refilled her shoe and watched the sand spill out the sides. She barely looked up. Her focus was exquisite to witness. Then she got up and walked. She noticed how her foot made impressions in the sand. She pointed to...
Typing Without Permission
I used to have pat answers for people who say, "I don't want to be put in a box."After spending a week at the International Enneagram Association conference with the most diverse crowd I’ve ever seen, I experienced over 400 souls with lines, edges, shapes...
“I’m Bad at Meditating”
Saying “I can’t meditate” is a misunderstanding of meditation. We assume we have to feel some version of inner peace each time we meditate. In my experience, it’s often the opposite. It’s when I notice how fast and constant my mind moves.
Inside Out Enneagram: Look Alike Types 2 and 9, 1 and 6
Types 2 and 9 both tend to reference their attention to others and have a hard time knowing what they need or want. Both tend towards (conscious) suppression and (unconscious) repression of their anger. Both are "positive...
Inside Out Enneagram: Types 5 and 9 Are Look Alike Types
Having a hard time determining whether you are a 5 or a 9? This may help. You can look similar on the outside, but what is going on inside is very different.
Free Enneagram Weekend Event for Young Adults
Join me for a free event for young adults and college students in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio
This being human is a guest house
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
The Enneagram Isn’t the First Thing: It’s the Second Thing
I when I hear someone cramming every behavior into an Enneagram box. It feels dehumanizing at best and aggressive at worst. As a teacher, I feel protective of the Enneagram and this habit turns people off. The Enneagram isn’t the first thing.