Managing Stress In Difficult Times: Working with the Passions and Virtues

Managing Stress in Difficult Times:
Working with the Enneagram of Passions and Virtues

Sponsored by The Enneagram Center of Southern Oregon
(formerly The Enneagram Center of Santa Fe)

When: Saturday October 18th, from 10 - 4pm Pacific Time
Where: Meetup Group, Zoom
Co-host: Sara Clerk
Cost: Free, or better yet, Pay It Forward!

“Because the Enneagram wisdom is a way that is both phenomenological in approach and independent of the traditions of any particular religion, it carries an integrity [and universality] that makes it compatible with every known system of personal and spiritual understanding.”

--Hurley and Dobson, My Best Self: Using the Enneagram to Free the Soul

“The Enneagram is one of the few personality systems that anchors type in spiritual life. The system provides a link between personality types and Higher Consciousness.”

-- Helen Palmer, co-founder of The Narrative Enneagram

In this practical, insightful and hopefully encouraging Saturday workshop, we will continue to look at how each of the 9 Enneagram Types responds to the stresses and strains of daily life. We will look at the emotionally difficult social-political and environmental times we are all living through, as well as whatever personal problems people bring to the table.

First, we will review the differences between so-called bad stress and good stress (eustress), according to the pioneering work of Hans Selye and briefly revisit his theory about the General Adaption Syndrome. We will talk about the four primary stress response mechanisms that the human body activates when facing a perceived threat, including: "fight" (confronting the threat directly), "flight" (escaping from the threat), "freeze" (becoming immobile or paralyzed), and "fawn" (attempting to appease the threat by people-pleasing behaviors). Some now speak of a fifth, called "flop" (collapsing or fainting).

Basic Enneagram theory says that each Type has an associated Passion, Vice or Emotional Habit that gets quickly triggered under conditions of stress (Anger 1, Pride 2, Vanity 3, Envy 4, Avarice 5, Fear 6, Gluttony 7, Lust 8 and Sloth 9). When we are deep in personal reactivity and suffering our Passion we lose access to that State of the Higher Emotional Center known as the Virtue. This is not an emotion (energy in motion) as commonly understood, but rather a spiritual quality of the Heart. Most spiritual traditions talk about Virtues, but don't necessarily connect them to specific personality types.

To continue, each of the 9 Types also has a Basic Fear, Basic Desire and a Defense Mechanism built into its psychic structure. In addition, we all have Type-related Ego Ideals and Avoidances. Whew! In short, we get triggered into stress reactions in highly predictable and yet complicated ways. Sorting all of this out is one of the great gifts of the Enneagram...

The good news, however is that with targeted self-observation and increased self-awareness, intellectual and empathic understanding, and Enneagram-related studies and practices, these patterns can be examined and changed, with each Type learning to relax through his or her personal reactivity in order to gain access to Type-specific psychological capacities and spiritual gifts; These can become powerful coping strategies and methods of personal transformation. As an Enneagram author once quipped: "We can become our best selves in spite of ourselves!"

Importantly, we can also gain insights about, and develop compassionate understanding of, the strength and challenges of the other 8 Types. This helps build bridges of understanding between individuals and within communities, which in turn can prevent and/or reduce stress levels before they become unmanageable. We can do this because in true holographic form, we actually have all 9 Passions and Virtues alive in our own psyches--the part is in the whole, and the whole in the part. We are truly all interconnected...

This workshop includes: teaching pieces, meditations, breakout groups, screen shares, time for class discussion and questions & comments, and if there are willing participants, some panel work. No previous experience with the Enneagram is necessary for attendance, although already knowing your own Enneatype (including its corresponding Passion and Virtue) and doing some advance reading (see below) is strongly suggested to get the most out of the event.

Please note that this workshop is mostly on an intermediate level, and assumes that participants know, or believe they have discovered, their own Type. Carl will not have time to help individuals find and explore their own Type in a group setting. For that he offer in-person and Zoom Typing Interviews and Mentoring Sessions. Currently, the fee is $175.00 for a 90 min. session, with discounts for three or more booked in advance. For more info about these services, please email cmarsak@gmail.com, or call: (415) 297-3174.

Workshop Schedule:
10 - 11:30 Introductions, Meditation, Teachings
11:30 - 11:40 Morning Bio-break
11:40 - 1:00 Teachings, Q&C
1:00 - 1:45 Lunch
1:45 - 3:00 Meditation, Teachings, Breakout Groups
3:00 - 3:10 Bio-break
3:10 - 4:00 Videos, Q&C, Final Remarks

If you plan on attending, please try to be with us for the entire workshop. This is to help create a shared and safe space for mutual support and optimal group learning. If you RSVP early and then later decide you can't attend please try to let us know ahead of time so we can adjust attendance. If necessary, please familiarize yourself with the Meetup and Zoom platforms before the day of the event.

Please note: all participants will be asked to leave their video on at all times, except for short and necessary activities (i.e. to answer a phone or the door, go to the bathroom, etc.). This is to prevent what is known on Zoom as "lurking"--which is when others in the group are visible to you, and you are not to them. This requirement is especially important because it is a personal growth workshop. It also helps us prevent what is known as "Zoom Bombing, which is an "unwanted, disruptive intrusion into a video-conference call, often by Internet trolls."

Finally, it would improve the experience for everyone if you connected with us from a stable device, by which we mean a computer, laptop or tablet that is not in motion (driving in a car, walking outside, cooking, etc.). Thanx for understanding!

For more information about Carl visit him at: theenneagramcenter.org (currently under construction), or simply Google him. For more on the Enneagram see narrativeenneagram.org, and internationalenneagram.org. For more about this workshop, email Carl through Meetup or directly at: cmarsak@gmail.com.

Recommended readings:

1. The Essential Enneagram, by David Daniels, M.D. and Virginia Price.
2. The Wisdom of the Enneagram, by Don Riso and Russ Hudson.
3. The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues, by Sandra Maitri.
4. The Enneagram in Love and Work, by Helen Palmer.

Note: This workshop is not designed to be a substitute for psychotherapy, medical treatment, spiritual direction and/or social support. If you are feeling highly stressed and are suffering we encourage you to find and make use of appropriate resources outside the group.

“If we observe ourselves truthfully and non-judgmentally, seeing the mechanisms of our personality in action, we can wake up, and our lives can be a miraculous unfolding of beauty and joy.”

― Don Richard Riso, co-founder of The Enneagram Institute