Teaching Together with Russ Hudson | Phoenix, AZ | November 2013
The Arizona Enneagram Association (AEA), now part of The Narrative Enneagram, invited renowned Enneagram thought-leader Russ Hudson and me to teach a full weekend class in Phoenix, which we did on November 9-10. Their loving effort, support, and care made all this possible. Thanks so much to everyone involved.
Russ and I have taught together before, but not for an entire weekend. Our topic was “Love, Spirit, and Relationships.” We wanted to answer the question, “How can Enneagram understandings be the path to real love, to healthy relationships, and hence, to a fulfilling life?”
For each type we explored peak experiences, which are high points in life experience (Webster’s dictionary) characterized by full presence in the moment, an imprint in memory across all senses, a sense of profound wonder and awe, often a sense of the oneness of all, and an integration of our essential qualities.
We explored how these experiences could be woven into our relationships, particularly at times of upset and reactivity. These experiences are recorded in our soma, and we need to be able to return to them – and can! – as a resource for integrating personality and spirit into our lives and relationships.
For each of the nine types, we explored the type structure embedded in the Basic Propositions of each type, the essential qualities of the type, the experience of these qualities in peak experience, and how these experiences could be integrated into our lives.
We included some didactic, but mainly worked with the exemplars of the nine types on panels, drawn spontaneously from the 235 participants in the workshop. We also included reflection practices and breakout group exercises, some of which Russ created on the spot. Because we weren’t able to make the PowerPoint work, it necessitated our creating part of our teaching on the spot and off the cuff, which I believe went flawlessly.
I found great delight in working with Russ. We collaborated, interacted, alternated in leading and following, and provided lightheartedness. Russ manifested his great intellect and deep knowledge, which he expressed so well, and I brought my ability to deeply explore type and basic type structure. We both, I believe, manifested receptive and grounded presence throughout.
Together, we explored the path of fulfilling, integrated, and compassionate relationships. I believe we did our best to “walk the talk, not just talk the talk.” While we each come from different schools, the congruence and sharing were delightful. I look forward to more time and teaching together, as I know Russ does too.
QUESTIONS – I welcome your comments…
- So, what are your thoughts about our coming together from our two respective schools?
- If you were present, what did you experience?
- What do you think this might say about the future of the Enneagram work?
Personally, I very much look forward to the opportunity of our teaching together again. We are breaking new ground, and that’s what this work is all about.