Enneagram Bascis: A Path to Stress Management

Today’s podcast episode is a re-release about how the Enneagram can help us see how we respond to and manage stress. Noticing is the first step to aligning our energy.

Here are 3 key takeaways from the podcast:

1. Stress Shows Up Differently for Each Enneagram Type: Whether you react by getting busier, withdrawing, or putting everyone else first, recognizing your unique stress signals and habits are very helpful.
2. Check in with Your Thoughts, Feelings, and Body: Each center (mind, heart, body) processes stress distinctively. Pay attention to  all three-don’t believe every thought that pops into your head, let feelings stay locked away, or ignore what your body’s telling you.
3. Returning to and Maintaining Health Is a Journey: Small practices, like checking in with how you want to feel or making time for activities that pour back into you, will help you return to your healthiest self.

Let's connect.

I am cheering for you!

Transcript

0:09

Welcome to the Live A Vibrant Life podcast. I'm life coach Kelly Tibbitts and each week I'll be here to encourage and equip you with the tools you need to grow in self-awareness and invest your best energy in your dreams and your purpose. I believe self-awareness changes everything. Let's get started. When we are in stress we might be around people who we love very much, but we think, feel, and do life differently. we end up adding to our lives And we don't always take away other things when we add, so we might go past our limits mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. If you have a clue of when you're going down the path to unhealth, you can create tools and small steps that will bring you back to health. Today I am gonna go through the nine different ways of thinking, feeling, and doing life. If you're not sure of what your Enneagram number is- as I'm describing these, see if you can notice anything about those days, whether you're at work, or you're with certain family members and you start to feel stressed, maybe this will help you understand yourself. When you are an Enneagram one, you are processing life's information through your body. And you might not even notice when you're feeling angry and resentful, but once you do become aware of it. It might be something that you notice when you become very, very stressed. What you might notice when you're on the path to health is you might notice more of a playful side. One of the things I've noticed in people who are Enneagram ones, when they get a little bit stressed, they might start to think of something really fun to do, but almost in a way of like leaving the current life behind. The interesting thing about Enneagram ones going over to that Enneagram seven energy, moving away from doing things the right way for the right reason, over to that Enneagram seven energy of forget it all, I'm just gonna go out and have fun. You can do that from a place of health and it's so good for you, but you can also do it from a place of unhealth where it's kind of abandoning what you really want out of your life, in order to not feel so overwhelmed, resentful, and frustrated. The Enneagram twos, that's what I am. We're in the heart center, and what you might notice is when you're in a healthy place, you might notice the access point to your feelings. Enneagram twos we're so good at noticing everyone else's feelings, but we don't always notice our own. When we can get to the place where we can authentically say how we feel, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Could you help me? I'm feeling very frustrated. I'm going to go take a break and do what I need to feel healthy again. That is the path for an Enneagram two back to health. What you might notice though when you're not self-aware, is you might become kind of moody because you've gone past your limits, very frustrated, very angry, or you might treat yourself to goodies. This is something I didn't know about myself. I loved getting like some kind of sugary dessert when I've had a hard day, and I didn't realize that was just me past my limits, right? There's nothing wrong with a delicious dessert or going out for a fun drink. Just notice your why. Is it a treat or is it something that you're doing on purpose? It's just interesting to notice as you begin to understand your own why, why you think, feel, and do life the way you do. Why are you saying the yeses and nos? You're saying, are they what you want to be saying yes and no to? Because it's producing the results you want in your life. I loved that piece of information for myself. Am I speaking clearly, respectfully, directly, or am I choosing to suppress my own feelings and then sort of eating them later? That's just how I did it. Everyone is different. Enneagram three. You are in the Feeling Center, in general, you take your feelings and you put them in a little box so you can be more productive. If you are constantly overworking, overdoing, you might find yourself getting a little more anxious, a little more frustrated, and even though you can appear positive to some people, the ones that you're closest with, that might be where the feelings kind of come out sideways. Enneagram four, you're also in the feeling center and when you are in a healthy place. You are such a gift to the world. You show up with beauty and with depth, and you are a safe place to process any feeling. But when you start getting past your limits, you're gonna go to sort of that unhealthy Enneagram one energy and people around you might notice you becoming very impatient, very demanding, very critical. So if you notice, that that's your signal that maybe it's time to pour back into you. That you need to have some more self-compassion and some more self-care. I don't think any of us can take too much time to take care of ourselves. Enneagram fives. You are in the Thinking Center. You like to have access to information, but when you get past your limits, not only do you become forceful, people might say you're a argumentative, a little feisty, aggressive and vengeful. So just notice that about yourself. If you don't take good care of yourself, how does that show up in your life? Enneagram sixes. Also in the Thinking Center, you don't always trust your own thoughts. You're looking outside yourself for other people, and so you move to that unhealthy side of nine where you are not making peace. You're allowing yourself to become smaller so that you don't have to stand up for yourself. It feels a little safer. Some people might describe it as when you're feeling very stressed, you start to shut down. And I think with the access to our phones, this has become much too easy for us to just separate out, not connect with people, take the phone out. And so just notice that where are you on the scale of a healthy, abundant, vibrant life? To stressed, overwhelmed, confused. One way for you to notice it is you might be checking out. You might just not want to be bothered by other people. And if that's happening, how can you pour back into yourself so that your energy can be renewed? Enneagram sevens, you are also in the Thinking Center, and you just have this gift to, in general, think about the most positive outcome. What's the best that could happen? But when you get past your limits, the positive becomes exhausting and you're gonna just withdraw. And you don't want to spend your energy anymore. You're trying to conserve it. And just notice that now it's so good for all of us to spend time in silence, stillness, solitude. But notice your why. Is it just getting too hard to be positive? Does it almost feel like an overwhelming burden for you to be the joy? Maybe you've gotten past your limits. What do you need? Do you need some time alone? Do you need some time with the kind of friend that can pour into you? Just really good information for us to have. The Enneagram eight, like the nine and the one- you're in that body center. You're processing life somatically, and when you go past your limits, see if you notice yourself going over to the Enneagram two energy of instead of taking care of yourself. You start looking for places where you can insert yourself into other people's needs. You don't want to be vulnerable anymore. You are just showing up and doing things for people. And as you do them, see if you notice some resentment and some frustration. And so it's just really good for you to notice. I. Are you maybe putting too many things into your week? You don't have enough downtime. And instead of saying, I'm gonna stay home and take care of myself, now you're in a pattern of the more exhausted you get, the more yeses you get. You find yourself giving out, right? And you're just going out and saving the world at the expense of your own soul. I. Do you need some solitude? Do you need some stillness? Do you need some scripture or some singing? Find what you need and make the time for that. And then finally, the Enneagram nine. As you become stressed, you go over to the unhealthy side of three. You're trying to prove your value. You're doing that busy work that makes you feel productive, even if it's not creating the results you want. The beauty of an Enneagram nine is your ability to look out and understand different people's thoughts and feelings. If you keep yourself too distracted and too busy, you kind of lose that access to your gut. What do you want? The work of the Enneagram, the work of self-awareness is to understand why we think, feel, and do life the way we do. We want to notice how we're doing with our energy. Are we feeling depleted or overwhelmed, or are we feeling enthusiastic, excited, vibrant. I think that's the kind of life we're meant to live, and we need to accept the things that we cannot change. We cannot change other people's thoughts, other people's feelings, other people's actions, the circumstances of life, what the weather is. Twos, threes, and fours it's so important for us to notice our feelings and to process them all the way through. Eights, nines, and ones- notice what's going on in your body. And five, six, and sevens- notice what you're thinking Now, as healthy humans, we should be noticing all three of those things because we are thinking, feeling, and somatically processing human beings. We are in charge of three things. What do I want to think? What do I want to feel and what do I want to do and not do? If you can take some quiet time when you have good mental energy and say, how would I like to feel What do I want to think? And then use this toolkit to help you notice, am I moving in the direction of health, or am I starting to see those things that helped me understand as sort of unhealthy, emotionally draining? Do I want to do more draining things or do I need some time to pour back into myself? If you would like a community to cheer you on while you're doing this to support you, I would love to invite you to join my coaching circle. It's a time and a space for you to remember what's important to you, and then create those small practices that move you forward in it. I think for most of us, something important is nobody wants to move into the next year and be so overwhelmed and grumpy and exhausted that you just feel like you can't even get up in the morning. I know that by making small changes now we can say the yeses and nos that we need to say so that we can move into a healthier version of ourselves. I Thank you for joining the Live A Vibrant Life podcast. I hope our time together encourage you and will equip you with the tools you need to move into the vibrant life you desire. I'm here to help you live a brave, creative, purpose-filled life. And if you'd like to learn more. You can follow me on Instagram or Facebook, Kelly tibbits life coach, or visit my website kelly tibbits.com. I look forward to connecting again soon.