Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
If you have done a typing session with me, then you know at some point, I show a slide that says THE GOAL OF THE ENNEAGRAM, with a graphic of the Centers of Intelligence. I explain to the client that the goal of the Enneagram is to balance our Centers of Intelligence. But what the heck does that really mean?
In my 13 month class I’m taking, this week, I decided to ask a question. We have a two-hour Integration session where the teachers take questions and then they “coach” participants. I would prefer to just put my question in the chat to the moderator, but this time she encouraged me to ask the question. So with a shaky voice and a rapid heartbeat, I raised my hand in the Zoom call.
My question was about my inability to express anger or frustration. You see, I’m a Five and my dominant type comes from the Head Center. Couple that with my Arrows and it takes a little more for me to get in touch with my feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply in touch with my empathy, sadness, and compassion (ask anyone who really knows me and they will tell you I can go from happy to tears in an instant) but those “harder” emotions, anger and frustration, don’t come very naturally to me. I think it is a combination of my observant and reflective ways, my practice of trying not to take things personally, and, as a Five, needing to process these tougher feelings before I share them (which I usually don’t). So I asked the teacher “How can I feel these?”
“When you do feel these emotions, where do you feel them?”, she asked. I replied, “In between my belly and my heart” (a recent golf outing tested this!). As expected, she suggested I take a breath and get very present with the moment. I don’t need to express this feeling, but I do need to feel it. She told me when these unusual feelings (for me) come up, put one hand on my heart and one hand on my belly and just breathe into the feeling. Notice what is happening in my heart center and body center. Stay with whatever I am feeling.
This is what I mean by balancing our Centers of Intelligence. Whether you come from your head, heart or body initially, those other two Centers need attention. We need to get in touch with them because they are telling us something, that is why they are also Centers of Intelligence. I can’t go through life thinking my way through it. I need to feel what my heart is saying and get in tune with what my body is telling me. All three play a role in our presence and can be powerful guides for the moment we are in.
All day long these Centers are activated. We just need to get in touch with them and they will allow us to live from our True Self instead of our Ego or False Self. Daily, our lives teeter back and forth between these two Selves, True and False. It is up to us to deepen our awareness of our Centers of Intelligence so we can tap into the Infinite Knowledge that is available to us when we are present.
Remember I offer FREE Typing sessions - please share this with your friends and family. EVERYONE who has done them enjoys the process and learns quite a bit about themselves whether they continue coaching with me or not.
This week’s blog is about Basic Fears and Desires. These come from our Childhood Messages. The Enneagram is a beautiful blueprint to our True Self. Join me and read up on the Spiral of Discovery and uncover your own Enneagram blueprint.