Russ Hudson – The Enneagram for Awakening

If we want to experience the maximum potential of the Enneagram, we need to go beyond the basic understanding of type and temperament and explore its extraordinary dynamism. The Enneagram is not a description of our identity, but an innovative matrix for delving with compassion into our shadows and unconscious patterns.

Throughout the course you’ll gain more awareness of the depth orientation of the Enneagram and its power to guide profound inner work. In this first module, we will look at the 9 types and the arrangement of the three centers of head, body and heart.

You will discover:

• How the dynamic Enneagram guides inner work and cultivates presence
• Your type is an invitation to experience deeper dimensions of yourself, not a box or static description
• How the 9 types show up in everyone, and why this is good news for you and others
• How the Enneagram helps you and others address shadow issues without shame
• the Enneagram work with the Body, Heart and Mind Centers, that helps us cultivate three-centered presence
• specific imbalances of contact with a center and how it obstructs our growth

In this module, we explore the pioneering work of Don Richard Riso, and his development of 9 Levels of Development within each type.

The Levels show fluctuations of our awareness and stages of progress as we move from identification with egoic material to more liberated states of consciousness. The Levels cover the range in each type from deep pathology and neurosis through normal ego functioning to profound states of realization.

You will discover:

• The origins of the Levels of Development, which make the Enneagram more explicitly a tool for growth.
• How to recognize the full range of each type, from pathology to liberation.
• How to spot imbalances and prejudices in your view of the types (as we tend to recognize healthier traits in some types while seeing others as more troublesome.)
• Keys for recognizing when you’re getting stuck and overly identified with type-related issues.
• The healthier aspects of all 9 types.

In this module, you’ll start to recognize in yourself and others the three instinctual drives and how they manifest in beliefs and behaviors.

In a sense, almost all coaching is about balancing our instinctual drives more skillfully. The instincts are also more important than type in determining the success of failure of our personal relationships They help us zero in on the “non-negotiables” that we may not initially recognize as our deepest needs in relationships, including our biological needs.

You’ll discover:

• How each instinct is a beautiful expression of nature’s intelligence, as well as fuel for your spiritual development.
• The different aspects of the Belly Center, which are keys to living fully.
• How each instinct gives clues about our primary needs in relationships.
• The ways Enneagram type mixes with and sometimes distorts our instinctual drives.
• How each of us unconsciously prioritizes the instincts, creating imbalances in our lives.
• Practices for neglected instincts.
• How balancing the instincts “quickens” spiritual breakthroughs.
• The “zones” of each instinct and when there are 3 instincts operating in us.

In this module, we focus on the Self Preservation Instinct — an enormous driver in our day-to-day behaviors. You will discover different ways this instinct shows up in modern life, and develop tools to recognize the ways it manifests to your benefit or detriment in your work, habits, and relationships.

You’ll discover:

• That Self Preservation is the fundamental driver behind all of the instincts.
• How our sexual and social instincts are variations of the self-preservation instinct.
• How we successfully or unsuccessfully manage our personal energy and resources, and how this influences development.
• The crucial distinction between comfort and development and practices for enrolling the parts of ourselves that fear change.
• The Zone of Health and Wellbeing (authentic self care).
• The Zone of Practical Wisdom (finances, maintenance, etc).
• The Zone of Domesticity (cultivating a home).
• How to honor your Self Preservation instinct in your relationships.

In this module, we will learn about the Sexual Instinct or Attraction Instinct. You’ll start to recognize your capacities and challenges around following your passions and creative impulses.

You’ll distinguish this vital energy from heart-based qualities such as intimacy and affection and begin to note the different ways this instinct shows up in your work, habits, and relationships — where this instinct is working well for you and where it’s subject to distortions.

You’ll discover:

• How this energy is found in many human activities and goes far beyond just the sexual act — How it is part of the energy that gets us out of our ruts and routines.
• How it is distinct from intimacy or love, but relevant is highly relevant in intimate relationships.
• How it is truly a vital and necessary instinct and not a heart matter.
• How it is central to excitement and creative impulses, how it brings passion and energy to our activities.
• Why it is such an important topic due to its “shadowy” status in many societies. How do we talk about it honestly?
• The Zone of Arousal, being energized, “turned on”, passion.
• The Zone of Attracting and being attracted, Charisma and magnetism.
• The Zone of Fusion and merging/ focusing energy and attention.
• How the Sexual instinct plays out in our relationships.
• What happens when we neglect this instinct?

In this module, we will learn about the Social Instinct — the basis for human relationship and connection. We will learn the different ways this instinct shows up in modern life, as our capacity for connection, communication, and cooperation, and develop tools for seeing the particular ways it manifests in our own work, habits, and relationships. We will come to recognize where this instinct is working well for us, and where it is subject to distortions. You will learn tools and practices for cultivating your Social Intelligence.

You’ll discover:

• How the Social Instinct is not “socializing” but the basis of all human society.
• How this instinct evolved originally as a need to protect others, and particularly in parenting.
• How this instinct is fundamentally about our awareness of the other. Your survival is my survival.
• How this instinct is the basis of altruism but can also be the basis of exclusion and hostility to other groups.
• The Zone of reading others and interpreting feelings and body language.
• The Zone of building and maintaining our connections. The Zone of participation and contribution; and how a life wither when we do not feel our contributions matter.
• How the Social instinct plays out in our relationships and why we must honor it.

The inner lines are a powerful beautiful reminder of the dynamism of the Enneagram and the ever-changing patterns of the human psyche. They help us stay away from more fixed and limited views of the types and provide some key pathways for our growth. You’ll learn the lines are auxiliary survival strategies for the types, and hold shadow material crucial for balanced development. You’ll also start to apply the Levels of Development in more stable and sustainable ways.

In this final module, you’ll discover:

• How to recognize your use of these secondary strategies to adapt to and handle challenging situations.
• How we can adopt one of these secondary strategies as our main coping mechanism and stay that way for months or even years.
• How the directions and Levels of Development work togetherin very particular ways and circumstances.
• How to use the inner lines to help us recognize core types.
• How the shadow material in the types connected through the arrows can be transmuted into the qualities of being or essence needed for our ultimate balancing.
• Practices for working with the higher side of these directions as “The Integration Point” and “The Missing Piece,” the very qualities that lead to sustainable liberation from our core ego wounds and difficulties.