In 1915 in Moscow, flyers were posted about a new school of human development taught by George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Central to Gurdjieff’s work was the enneagram, a nine pointed diagram that had roots in the religious traditions and was used to organize information about many things including the aspects of Divine Presence. Gurdjieff did not teach about nine personality types, that came 60 years later from other teachers and psychologists. However, he did speak about three important things that are part of our enneagram work today: human beings have both a core essence and a personality; we tend to fall asleep about our true priorities in life; and people have “three brains” meaning three centers of intelligence – body, heart and mind. In his view, personal and spiritual development means working with all three centers. 

I was fortunate to be living in Berkeley, California in 1978 when the first public enneagram classes were launched by Kathleen R Speeth PhD and Helen Palmer. As a young holistic counselor and bodyworker I was excited about the enneagram as a “holistic” system. Since that time the enneagram of personality types has spread around the world. It provides a wonderful map of human beings and empowers almost any method of personal growth. It also integrates psychology and spirituality. In the late 70’s and early 80’s it certainly combined well with the approaches to Holistic Health, Holistic and Humanistic psychology, and Transpersonal Psychology that were happening in northern California at the time.

Since those early days the enneagram has been applied and developed by many teachers and practitioners. In my own personal life and professional practice I have been able to combine the enneagram with body-based therapy and somatic psychology (as have others). I have learned that our psychological type is based in all three centers; that the body and heart centers are formed early in life, long before the head center; and that each enneagram type has distinct neurobiological patterns.

On April 25, please join me for a day of learning and practice with all three centers of intelligence and how they fit together in a holistic system for each of us.

Topics Include:

• How archetype, personality type, and instinctual subtype combine to shape our lives
• Nine character structures – based in three centers: head, heart, body
• Habits of mind – how they serve us, and how we get stuck
• A new language for the heart center: “emotional habits” to replace passions (sins)
• Neurobiology and somatic patterns for each type
• Love and relationship expressed through each of the centers (it’s different in each center!)
• The defense systems – harnessing the strengths of our type and lead center
• Inner work and practices for each of the three centers

Format: Presentations and Powerpoint, discussion and personal sharing, guided inner practices.