CREATING CHOICES ~ enneagram life coaching
Sue Brooks, M.A., Enneagram Life Coaching
I practice the Ancient Enneagram
in order to expand my understanding beyond the patterns of my egoic personality and to unravel the deeper layers of my existence.
~ Sue Brooks, Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology; certified with the Enneagram Spectrum Training program and certified with the Integral Relationship Professional & Group Facilitator Training program
Never do to others
what you don't want them to do to you.
~ Confucius 450 BCE, the very first version of the Golden Rule
There's a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.
~ Leonard Cohen
Knowledge is fostered by curiosity. Wisdom is fostered by awe.
~ Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel
We have endless options and choices for thoughts and behaviors, but we always seem to zero in on just a few.
~ John Vervaeke, PhD
trust
What if...
What if being present and receptive is, in reality, listening to and sensing our sense of beauty of our body, our feelings in our heart, and our values formed in our mind?
What if cycles of depression are actually normal and ok? Giving us the time we need to process and regroup?
What would our relationships feel like if our emotions were accepted, and even down right welcomed?
What if the goal isn’t to feel love,
but to feel?
To feel our sadness and loneliness.
Our anger, hate. Envy, jealousy. Guilt. Unworthiness.
Fear.
Shame.
What if we could allow ourselves and each other the time and space to feel and process our emotions that call to us to be felt, and surrendered?
To be able to trust. Each other. Ourselves.
To be able to dive deeper into our vulnerable spaces. With support. And tenderness.
With true intimacy.
And gratitude.
Trust
Trust the energy that courses through you.
Trust.
Then surrender even deeper.
Be the energy.
Trust.
And surrender.
Again.
Emotional Mastery
Learning to regulate our emotions means that, over time, we have learned and practiced several skills –
- We have the ability to allow our emotions to surface and to feel and experience them, instead of resisting them, going numb, or projecting them onto others. They may surface during a disturbing situation, or they may surface during our quiet time. Either way, we have the ability to be aware of them and stay present to them.
- We have the ability to identify by name each of the emotions that surface. Since more than one emotion often surfaces at the same time, journaling can be helpful.
- We have the ability to listen to and receive the message, if any, that each emotion wants to share with us. Journaling can be helpful in this step too. Sometimes the message may be an old story that doesn’t serve us any longer, and sometimes it may be an important insight. Sometimes though we may simply experience our emotions in silence and solitude.
- Lastly we have the ability to surrender and let go of the emotions. It doesn’t matter to who or to what we surrender – God or Spirit or Mother Earth. It only matters that we surrender.
- Repeat. Often. There is always more – always a deeper layer calling for our attention.
As a result of learning how to process our emotions through each step, we start to be able to make better choices going forward, instead of emotionally reacting and repeating old behaviors that lead to more pain and chaos.
(link to print below)