Lindsay L. O'Connor

The Enneagram is a helpful tool that can point to specific red and green flags for discernment. While there is endless diversity among people of the same Enneagram type, sometimes groupings around commonalities are helpful, especially regarding the three centers of intelligence: thinking (logic/objectivity), feeling (feelings and motives of self and others), and doing (purposeful, well-prioritized action). Each number tends to underutilize one of the three centers, which impedes our ability to discern clearly.

Enneagram 1, 2, & 6: Notice when you get caught in the cycle of feeling and doing or doing and feeling. What does your compulsion to respond feel like in your body? What would it be like to pause and allow logic and objectivity inform your feeling and doing?

Enneagram 3, 7, & 8: Notice when you are spinning in a cycle of thinking and doing or doing and thinking. What do you notice about the energy that moves you so quickly into action? What does it feel like in your body? What would it be like to pause and allow feelings—yours and others’—to inform your decisions and actions?

Enneagram 4, 5, & 9: Notice when you are caught in a cycle of feeling and thinking or thinking and feeling. What does it feel like in your body when you withdraw into yourself? What would it be like to move into focused, purposeful action out in the world that could enrich your experience of thinking and feeling?

When we notice ourselves caught in our habitual cycle of only using two centers of intelligence, this is a red flag time for making important decisions. Through spiritual practices, taking time and space to pause, and working with a therapist or spiritual director, we can work on tapping into the third center of intelligence that is missing in order to discern from a more balanced place.