Self Care & The Enneagram

Is self-care always the last thing on your “to-do” list? Maybe you recognize the need but are not exactly sure how to get there or even define self-care.

Self-care is listening to your physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional needs and doing what is necessary for your well-being or sense of wholeness. Without it, we find ourselves open and more vulnerable to illnesses, stress, anxiety, and depression – we find ourselves not whole.

Working towards a more enriching and whole self can seem daunting because most find it difficult to pinpoint exactly where to start. So let’s explore a few areas of self-care and how they relate to different enneatypes.

Mental Self-Care:

Cultivating a healthy mindset through curiosity, mindfulness, clarity, reason, logic, and openness is where enneatypes 5, 6, & 7 thrive. For these types, working through what resides in their mind will be key. 

Ex. Journaling, Brain Dump, Meditating, Yoga

Emotional Self Care:

Taking care of the heart will be most important for enneatypes 2, 3 & 4. At the heart of emotional self-care is identifying feelings and then creating space to honor them. Not ignoring or suppressing, but allowing ourselves to feel. It is the work through of memories, dreams, lived experiences – good or bad that help these types grow towards a more whole self.

Ex. Daily Affirmations, Boundary Setting, Doing what makes you feel good.

Environmental & Social Self Care:

Doing what is necessary instinctively is what comes most naturally to 8, 9, & 1. At the core is their intuition, and these natural-born leaders rely on their gut to guide them and navigate life. Direct engagement with people or experiences creates space for these types to use their gut.

Ex. Direct engagement with people. Exchanging lived experiences and stories.

While each self-care area is equally critical to a person’s whole self, breaking it down and working on where you’re centered by type is a great starting point.