Enneagram Curious?

Six years ago, I was on the hunt for an Enneagram mentor, someone to shepherd me through the final steps of becoming certified to teach. I had narrowed my list down to three strong candidates, and I made my first call to Sandra Smith. Within five minutes, I felt pretty sure I wouldn’t need to make the other two calls.

I can name now that what I experienced was Sandra’s essence. It wasn’t her confident depth of knowledge, easy conversational style, or her generosity of spirit…though all those qualities mattered too. What I could immediately sense was that Sandra had “done her work.” Meaning that she had not just learned about the Enneagram, but had practiced allowing it transform her; because she understood her ego so well, she had more access to her essence.

This distinction is central in learning about the Enneagram, and these quotes, from Sandra’s forthcoming book, capture it well:

“Dualities are the domain of the ego. The more extreme the duality, the tighter the ego’s grip on us. The ego has a need for more, and our “striving for more” is a clue that we’ve lost ourselves to our automatic patterns.”

“In receptivity, our Essence arises and we...are fully rooted in the Ground of our Being. This Essential Self is who we really are. Our Enneagram type fades as our Essence emerges. The more frequently we stand in our Essence, the more we know the Ground of Being within. Freedom from our type's grip, or ego, carries us into the sacred pulse of life, allowing our life force to be in flow with what is.”

-Sandra Smith, from The Enneagram Map to Your Deeper Self

If you feel called to begin or deepen your own learning about the Enneagram…

Registration is OPEN!

Enneagram 102: The Four Resource Points - With Sandra Smith!
Monday, November 11, 9:30-3:30 (Veteran’s Day)
In-person event held in Loveland, Colorado
See details and register via Eventbrite

Bonus! Book Talk: The Enneagram Map to Your Deeper Self
Tuesday, November 12, 6:30 pm
In-person event at the Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado

Sandra Smith will be speaking about and reading from her forthcoming book: The Enneagram Map to Your Deeper Self. I am one of several “companion voices” featured in the book, sharing stories that bring alive our experiences related to type. I’ll be there to speak and support Sandra.