'I think this is a really good way to put it.  After a few years of both self exploration and therapeutic work with others, I realize how valuable deeper observation of other types is.  Personal...|||Initially I don't think any resonated with me.  I found the descriptions vague and they sounded like pseudo-psych and I didn't like the spiritual talk that often came with them.  Over the years...|||I should have clarified my re-statements.  I sometimes find your posts difficult to follow so it's helpful for me to re-word things so I can make sure I haven't misunderstood your post - I don't...|||I agree that counter-phobic 6's can approach the  world in a similar way to 8's, seeing the world as unjust and hard.  The  difference being the 8 sees it from the fixation of Lust, in the tone of ...|||This is essentially what you described:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmG3UFZGNU  Mindfulness meditation focusing on the body.  You might enjoy trying to do the same kind of thing with sound -...|||I've been practicing mindfulness meditation fairly regularly for just over 3 years.  It's made a huge difference in my stress levels and anxiety.  And in just enjoying my life more.  I was introduced...|||You probably want to check out the Enneagram Typing sub-forum:What's my Enneagram type?|||No, not sx first.  I'm 5w4 sx/sp.  Don't know my JCF.   Mom: 9w1 sp/sx (fairly certain) Dad: 6w5 sp/sx (fairly certain)  My relationship with both parents is healthy.  I get along with both...|||None.  There are things in my life that have been hard and experiences that I wouldn't necessarily want to relive, but they've all brought me to who and where I am today, so I can't really say I...|||I try to cultivate a quiet mind but my default setting is usually to be lost in thought.  I don't usually feel as though my thoughts are running away with me, but rather that I'm always very...|||Put in your Enneatype   5w4 sx/sp     Put in your MBTI   INFP|||To be fair, he didn't study this - all he did was determine that when asked the question, When do you expect to die/How long do you think you'll live, that type 4's were likely to have a very short...|||Yes and no.  While the Enneagram did illuminate a number of blind spots, I was already aware of many of my issues and was trying to find ways to manage them when I found out about it.  I wanted to...|||My  interpretation of the writing in Enneagram texts is a little different  than yours.  I don't see it so much as a journey of reunification with  the world, but rather a recognition that you are...|||I think #1, which sounds like self awareness to me, would depend more on a type's health levels than type itself.  I used to think it would be more type related, but I feel like I've seen such a wide...|||How do you react to being abandoned?   I haven't ever really had the experience of being truly abandoned.  I remember feeling left out sometimes when I was a teenager, but I've never really had to...|||I also had no difficulties accepting it, and I was glad to find another avenue to address my neuroses.  Avarice shows up everywhere for me and its hard not to see it.  I've always been fairly aware...|||I more or less automatically type most people I meet now.  I tend to automatically type characters on TV too.  Some are extremely obvious, and some it takes a few weeks or months.  I've always...|||I agree with what a lot of folks have said - you get out of it, what you put into it and the way you use it doesn't have to be spiritual.  I originally started using it for personal growth, as my...|||Personal criticism can be a bit hurtful, but I always try to listen to the other person and adjust myself if I feel it's necessary.  I can be a bit defensive, but I usually catch myself internally...|||It's called My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientists Personal Journey.  On the morning of December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a  thirty-seven-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist,...|||I think it's important to find a way to use the Enneagram that makes sense to you.  It's changed drastically for me from when I first started using it and learning about it and I've definitely taken...|||I think the easiest way to understand this perspective would probably be to read The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues or The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram.  It ties in a number of child...|||My perspective is that everyone deals with the fixations of all the ennea-types but in varying intensities - our type is the fixation that's most prominent in us.  In many ways, I think we do all...|||From what I understand, Type 2's have a particular image in their mind  of what they aspire to be like - and they can end up putting people they  know personally or images of people they admire on a...|||I think you're likely referring to the section that states Type 5's have a High Super-Ego but I don't think he meant that 5's are a super-ego type.  In that section he states that Type 1's identify...|||I always noticed it growing up, but I didn't really become aware of it until my early 20's when I realized not everyone just naturally does it.  I think how 5's take themselves out of the present...|||The narration for me is literally like a voice reading a story - it's me telling myself what I'm doing and what I'm seeing.  It's like an echo of reality without entirely participating in reality. ...|||The funny thing is that the narration/monologue is always focused on observing whats happening outside of my head, so I see details and connections that others miss, but I also think I'm...|||Haha, I think that was me who said that.  I have an inner narrator that describes what I'm watching/what I'm doing while I'm doing it.  When I am actually present and not detached I'm not constantly...|||Unfortunately that doesn't make it any clearer for me.  My own interpretation of separate monologues doesn't look like yours.  I'm really curious if this is what Figure meant.|||I've never really thought about this.  I have no idea if there's anything to it, but I know for myself I've always been sort of aware of my super-ego, but I don't take it very seriously.  I don't...|||Can you explain what you mean by this?|||sx/sp  1) How do you typically interact in a group? A little awkward, off to the side.  If I have close friends with me, I can be a little more outgoing, but if I don't know anyone I'll hang back...|||5w4.  The longest amount of time - around 9-12 months in my early twenties.  I experienced a trauma when I was 18 but I didn't start to process it until I was 20-21 and started experiencing...|||Truly pathological?  No, I don't think I've ever felt that way about myself.    My type traits do create issues in my life (issues I was aware of before I discovered the Enneagram), but I think...|||I think that holds true for any type - to be true to who you are at the core seems to me that it would logically lead to being happier with yourself.  Thinking on it now, I do feel like a large part...|||I don't think there's ever been a time when I didn't like who I am.  I might have some regrets over actions or reactions I've had in the past, but those things have shaped me as well, so even those...|||I had to do a training at work and started collecting books after that.  I initially was pretty suspect about any kind of personality typing system, but finding my type answered a lot of questions I...|||I think it can be problematic, in that in a way it can leave you blind to other issues that aren't necessarily associated with your core type.  I think Maitri in particular does a fairly good job...|||Another user shared an article with me and I think it's something everyone who's heavily into Enneagram theory should read:  http://www.thechangeworks.com/dynennbook/dyenn2browse2.html  I think...|||This is true in so much as I hold my anxious tension in my gut, however, I also hold a lot of tension in my shoulder blades, shoulders, neck, and jaw.  My shoulders are often held up much higher than...|||a) 5w4  b) What kind of person is this?  Are they self reflective, self aware?  Are they seeing me or are they seeing what they imagine me to be?  If I feel like they're not seeing me, I may...|||The 6 description of paying attention in this book really helped me have a better understanding of how my partner tends to pay attention (6w7).  When I first asked him to read it he disagreed with...|||I agree with this.  I try not to let ego be attached to my type, but I know it is sometimes.  I think it's very easy to over-identify with your type, especially when finding it gives you some answers...|||Friendly, compassionate, wallflower, homebody, silly and love to laugh, ambitious, lover of nature and the outdoors, cat-lover, impatient, self conscious/anxious, inquisitive, and intuitive.|||For the first time I actually sat down and listened to some of these.  I liked having a different perspective on some of the 5 instincts.  I've never felt like I had the greatest grasp on Social 5's...|||Lying in bed the past few nights I've had this thread in my mind.  I meditate in bed before going to sleep and this thread has been helpful for making me a bit more aware of where my thoughts wander...|||This is a pretty perfect description of my thought processes, right down to backtracking in the sequence.|||Honestly, I think that's what a lot of 6's say.  I think it can be hard to see some of those aspects in ourselves, and I think sometimes we expect them to be more obvious.  My partner isn't as...'