PART 3: The 5-Step SE/Enneagram Essence Embodiment Model—A Practical Guide

Introduction

Welcome to the third and final post in this series on Embodying Essence. If you’ve followed along, you’ve already seen why somatic engagement is so crucial for deep transformation and taken a tour of the Nine Types’ “medicine.” Now, let’s put these ideas into practice with my 5-Step SE/Enneagram Essence Embodiment Model.

In this post, I’ll offer a general overview of these five steps and then illustrate how they might look for Type One, though the model can be adapted for any Enneagram type.

The 5-Step SE/Enneagram Essence Embodiment Model

1. Resourcing – Identify Resources for Feeling Essence

2. Felt Sense & Sensory Awareness – Explore the Essence

3. Anchoring & Grounding – Anchor These Sensations

4. Habituation – Develop a Practice

5. Pendulation – Move Between Fixation and Essence

A Brief Explanation of Each Step

• Resourcing:
  This first step involves calling to mind or imagining situations, images, or even music that evoke your type’s core essence quality. Think of it like gathering the raw materials you need to kickstart a tangible sense of well-being or “medicine” in the body.

• Felt Sense & Sensory Awareness:
  Once your resource is in focus, you shift your attention inward to notice how your body responds. Are your muscles relaxing? Your breath deepening? Your shoulders dropping? Identifying these physical cues helps you tune in to the actual felt experience of your type’s essence, rather than just thinking about it.

• Anchoring & Grounding:
  After you’ve located the felt sense of essence, the next step is to reinforce it. You might do this by silently naming the sensations (“warmth in my chest,” “tingling at my spine”) and breathing more deeply into them. By doing so, you help your body “memorize” the state, making it easier to return to later.

• Habituation:
  Real change doesn’t happen through a single epiphany—it comes from consistent practice. Setting alarms on your phone, taking micro-breaks, or using visual reminders can help you revisit your essence state multiple times a day. Over time, the nervous system becomes more comfortable, or “habituated,” to this grounded way of being.

• Pendulation:
  This final step asks you to gently shift between two poles: your fixation (the physical or emotional signals of reactivity) and your essence (the embodied sense of peace, love, security, etc.). By moving your awareness back and forth between these states, you teach your body that it has options, rather than staying stuck in one mode.

Prerequisite: Somatic Awareness

Before diving deeper, it helps to have some somatic awareness—the ability to feel and track sensations in your body. If you’re brand-new to this, start small: practice a body scan, focus on your breath for a few minutes, or do some gentle stretching while noticing each muscle group. These foundational skills will make the 5-Step Model more effective.

Applying the Model to Type One

Below is a sample walkthrough of how to apply each step specifically for Type One, whose essence we’ve described as Goodness, Purity, Integrity. Adapt the same process for your type by swapping in the relevant essence quality and fixation patterns.

Type One’s Essence: Goodness, Purity, Integrity

1. Resourcing – Identify Resources for Feeling This Essence

   • Recall a memory or imagine a scenario where you felt an undeniable sense of innate goodness—perhaps a small, selfless act you did purely out of kindness or a moment in nature with crystal-clear air.

   • Choose a simple resource (music, an image, or even a posture) that reliably evokes that sense of “inherent goodness” or “freshness,” like stepping onto new-fallen snow.

2. Felt Sense & Sensory Awareness – Explore the Essence

   • Turn your focus inward. Notice how your body responds: Do your shoulders drop? Does your spine feel comfortably upright? Maybe you sense a cool, refreshing breath entering your lungs.

   • Stay with these sensations. This gentle alignment or “fresh” feeling is your felt sense of goodness, purity, and integrity.

3. Anchoring & Grounding – Anchor These Sensations

   • Silently name what you’re feeling: “There’s a sense of lightness in my chest,” “My spine feels tall and aligned,” or “I feel a cool purity in my breath.”

   • Breathe into these areas, intentionally amplifying the feelings. By doing so, you help your nervous system memorize the embodied state of goodness.

4. Habituation – Develop a Practice

   • Incorporate brief micro-practices during your day—maybe an alarm that says “Check Essence.” When it goes off, take 30 seconds to recall that cool, pure breath or that feeling of stepping onto fresh snow.

   • Over time, this repeated reinforcement teaches your body to naturally return to this state, reducing the grip of perfectionism or self-criticism.

5. Pendulation – Move Between Fixation and Essence

   • Consciously shift your attention between your fixation (e.g., tension in the jaw, critical self-talk) and your essence (that embodied sense of inherent goodness).

   • Notice the contrast: how does your body feel in each state? By moving back and forth, you give your system a chance to choose the more grounded, healing option rather than staying stuck in reactivity.

Next Steps and Ongoing Support

• IEA Global Conference: I’ll be guiding participants through these steps for multiple types at the upcoming Enneagram Association Global Conference in Minneapolis this summer.

• Workshops & Book: Keep an eye on my website and social media for upcoming workshops—both online and in-person—and for details about my forthcoming book. It will include in-depth somatic exercises, real-life case studies, and further insights into applying this model to all Nine Types.

References and Further Reading

1. Gendlin, E. T. (1978). Focusing. New York: Bantam.

2. Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation. New York: W.W. Norton.

3. Levine, P. A. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

4. Riso, D. R., & Hudson, R. (1999). The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types. New York: Bantam.

5. Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York: Viking.