Dr. Lynne Parsons will give a free introductory talk on the Enneagram Personality System on May 17 at 7 p.m. at ICC Polk campus.

This will be followed the next day by an all day workshop May 18 on the Enneagram at Morning Glory Farm in Mill Spring sponsored by ICC.

The Enneagram, meaning nine-pointed graph in Greek is an ancient personality system that is designed to help us recognize ourselves through our habits of attention. Or, where our mind goes automatically when we aren’t focusing it deliberately.  It is a system that has been used in spiritual programs.

The first book written about the Enneagram in the U.S.A. was written by a Catholic priest.  However the system has very ancient roots dating back to obscure monasteries.

It is a system designed for people to use self-observation of their habits of mind to gain greater self-compassion and also leads to deeper understanding of others, especially loved ones.

Dr. Parsons was certified to teach the Enneagram by Helen Palmer and David Daniels a decade ago and has since taught it in many states as well as locally.

Her teaching uses what is known as the Oral Tradition, or interviewing people about their habits of attention as a way of illustrating the nine positions. It will be a workshop where everyone is involved.  That might sound scary but in fact, it happens in a way that people go away grateful for the sense of how we are all in the same boat, we all have strengths and what we generally regard as weaknesses.

Since the Enneagram is a map, it helps us navigate this territory of personality gently and with humor.

– article submitted
by Dr. Lynne Parsons