Learning and working with the Enneagram, as well as teaching and coaching others, has been invaluable to me personally. In my teens, understanding the Enneagram was an enormous help with relationships, making choices about my career path, and navigating anxiety and self-doubt. I have become more loving, understand people more, and am more compassionate with myself and others.  My life is richer because of it.  My coaching clients experience the same when they learn to use the Enneagram to move beyond personality into a more meaningful, authentic life.

But in all the Enneagram trainings I attended, something was missing: a connection with nature.  As an outdoor skills practitioner, I see how people change in nature; their personalities naturally take a step back to allow space for nature’s wisdom and healing power. They are able to go deeper with their own personal journeys and questions. They cultivate a greater awareness—with all of the senses, as these animal bodies evolved to do. This is true not only for practical purposes (such as how to build a fire in the rain) but also true for deep emotional challenges such as how to be Present to a loss or make a career change. Our souls and our Types and our gifts are all as much a part of nature as anything else.

In my approach, a connection with the earth is central to self-awareness and personal growth. While we do cover the fundamentals of Type (as explored in the teachings of Don Riso and Russ Hudson), “Wild Enneagram” work is more soul-based and explicitly nature-informed.