Tips on presence?

I've started receiving daily Enneathoughts from the Enneagram Institute. Some of them are pretty cool! They give pointers to exploring that I habitually do to distract myself from being simply present in my life - and therefore a potential route out.

But, if you don't know what the Enneagram is, this isn't going to mean much.

Briefly, the Enneagram is an ancient symbol which describes, within the three shapes it is made up from, the notions of a) unity, b) what makes up life, and c) how life flows. In the last century it has been developed and applied to psychology by various teachers (notably Don Riso and Russ Hudson from the EI) to describe nine personality types.

The reason I like the Enneagram (and have mentioned it to several of my clients) is that it is taught not as a way of enabling me to say "Oh, do I'm a [particular type] ... that's why I do X and Y and Z, and that's the end of it; I'm stuck!" No, the Enneagram is taught based on the understanding that we are not our personality types. We are something more fundamental than that - Essence, Presence, Consciousness, our Essential or Authentic Self - call it what you will. Our Enneagram type masks our real self. Our type description shows us all the ways in which our ego routinely operates to take us away from presence - from reality. How we mis-interpret situations, how we over (or under) react, how we view the world, how we avoid intimacy and connection.

So ... if this appeals, I suggest you go explore the Enneagram Institute web site, read some of the type descriptions and/or do their on-line type-identification questionnaires.

Mindfulness

Here's an interesting article that I discovered while browsing on Facebook (of whcih I confess to being a bit of an addict:

How Mindfulness can Make for Better Doctors (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/health/15chen.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

The article focusses on a change of mental attitude - the intent to practise mindfulness - being fully present to and aware of (or even immersed in) what you are doing. In this state, things become almost effortless, helping to prevent burnout.

However, this end result can also be an outcome of regular bodwork - either hands on bodywork which brings you into your body (like my biodynamic massage therapy) or some form of exercise in which you are encouraged to really feel your body (like my Dragon and Tiger Chi Kung), whcih is not so much the case with many Western forms of exercise (running, football, tennis, cycling etc.). Achieving this kind of mindfulness is effortless - it just happens - life flows.

Anyone interested in a radical discussion of mindfulness might look at Zen Buddhist Brad Warner's musings on the topic. Be warned that he doesn't spare readers from strong language, however!

Changing the way you move

I just wanted to share this inspiring article about how bodywork and movement can dramatically change the way you experience your body. Wonderful stuff! Biodynamic massage and Chi Kung have changed the way I live in my own body in a similar but less dramatic way, and this is what underlies my motivation to do what I do.

Learning his body, learning to dance (New York Times)