The other afternoon, I met with a group of like-minded women. We meet because we are interested in personal learning and growth, using the Enneagram as our common base. Each time, a topic is offered for discussion by one of the group. On this day, the topic was self-inquiry and the role of the Enneagram. As our group is made up of both enthusiastic students and accredited teachers, you might think that the conclusion would be both obvious and simple. After all, the Enneagram is a master tool for understanding one’s self, offering a powerful and well researched map of 9 personality types that can accommodate the uniqueness of the individual and the impact of a particular situation. [Note: for those who are unfamiliar with this valuable tool and would like to know more, go to Enneagram World Wide.]

Despite this, what unfolded was a much broader discussion, looking at the nature of self-inquiry and touching on its value. For me, these are important issues for anyone wanting to grow beyond the misunderstandings we experience in our relationships, the discomfort and unhappiness that can get triggered in our day-to-day life, the stress that can accumulate or the limitations of and doubts about our capacities and value.

I thought I’d share with you a brief overview of our discussion and expand on some aspects a little further.

What is meant by self-inquiry? This is not a New Age concept. The idea has been understood and practised in both the Western and Eastern traditions for centuries. The quote “Know thy self” is from Socrates and it has been a practice of the Vedantic tradition (originating in India) for even longer. For our discussion, we were talking about the willingness to go inside to examine our inner experiences so as to better understand and know ourselves. This is not always easy. It takes courage to be willing to look at ourselves, as we truly are, warts and all as they say. It is a process of reflection, bringing the quality of curiosity, suspending judgement and simply accepting what you see. After all, we are all in the same boat – for each of us; our life has brought us to this point, to where we are and how we are.

What is the purpose of self-inquiry? There was recognition among the group that the reason for self-inquiry was to enable personal growth but I think there is something more that comes first. Self-inquiry allows us to see things more clearly, to see not only how we are creating our lives but also much more than that. It allows us to Wake Up.

What is the nature of self-inquiry? Put simply, there are different levels or layers of self-inquiry and there are some very good tools and practices to support the process. What I am talking about is not limiting yourself to investigating your thinking and emotions, which is where most tend to focus. Rather, see yourself as a whole, inquiring at a physical, thinking, emotional, life purpose (why am I here) and, ultimately, spiritual (who am I truly) level.

Let me briefly explain what I mean. Inquiring at a physical level (from our bodies) helps us to understand ourselves better and provides information we can use to guide us. It is the conduit for all self-inquiry. It could simply be, checking in how does the body feel right now? What does it need? Oh, I am feeling tired and I need to make sure I stop and rest so that I can sustain what I have to do. Or going deeper, there may be a recognition that this tiredness is a way of distracting myself, and so on….. but, as they say on TV, there is more, there is much more that is available from our bodies and from working with our bodies. Two particular areas need mention here – emotions and inquiring into the deepest level of the heart.

The body is tightly connected to our thinking and our emotions, to the extent that they actually operate as one entity. Emotions are presented physically and everyone experiences the full range of emotions in different parts of their body and in their own way. When you understand your presentation of particular emotional reactions, you have some very valuable information to work with. As a simple example, someone may experience anger as a tight clenching in the gut and it can become an early warning system. Ok, I can feel anger coming up and I don’t want to loose it right now. Take a deep breath and wait a second.

Inquiring into our thinking and emotional patterns, and the tendencies and habits that result, is fundamental to freeing ourselves from limiting behaviour. It also offers us the possibility of observing these patterns and tendencies, which releases us from being caught up in them and being defined by them. They are not who we truly are. This is a key teaching of Helen Palmer. Both Shadow Work and the Enneagram are powerful tools for inquiring into emotional and thinking patterns, which is why I include them in my workshops.

Inquiring into the fundamental questions of our existence, who am I and why am I here, helps us to unfold our full potential and purpose and, most significantly, to know our true self. There are processes and long established practices that support inquiry at this level and these are also taught in my workshops.

Someone in our group raised the question “Can there be too much self-inquiry, too much growth?” For me, the answer is both yes and no. No, because both self-inquiry and growth are not destinations, rather they create a journey in which there is always more; more of you, in you and for you than you could ever imagine. However, yes is also true, because there are physiological, neurological and psychological reasons for us to have periods of consolidation, of just living and being. As you go along, if you are listening to yourself, the whole of yourself, you will sense, feel, recognise or know when those times have arrived.

I’ll finish with a quote from Lord Chesterfield, a wise father, in a letter to his son, June 6, 1751. “Study the heart and the mind of man, and begin with your own. Meditation and reflection must lay the foundation of that knowledge, but experience and practice must, and alone can, complete it.” (the bold is my own emphasis)