When we access the low integration behaviours of that Ennea Type, it may strengthen our defence mechanisms and anxieties or lead to an unfulfilling response to the challenges we are facing. By вЂhigh sideвЂ™, we mean the integrated, healthy aspects and characteristics of that Ennea Type. Our focus should be on accessing the high side. When we access other Enneagram Types for personal change via our Lines of Stretch and Release, we need to be aware that there is both a вЂlow sideвЂ™ and a вЂhigh sideвЂ™ of behaviour attached to each Ennea Type. Sometimes these shifts can be unsettling and uncomfortable however, if we manage them properly, they can be very fruitful for our personal growth and development. 'We begin to notice small and sometimes large shifts, and often even the people around us notice it. Typically, when we do inhabit any of the other Enneagram Types, because we employ their lenses as overlays of our own core Ennea lens, we may present with a very different point of view and style of behaviour.

When we do intentional, directed work to inhabit the other Enneagram Types, we experience a significant shift in our experience of ourselves. So, whilst our basic Ennea Type is our вЂhome baseвЂ™, we can intentionally (and more often unintentionally) draw on other Enneagram Types. Given that the Enneagram is a dynamic system, we are not limited to just one Enneagram Type in the system in fact, we often access and scoop from the other Enneagram Types depending on our needs and circumstances. 'The Lines of Stretch and Release offer beautiful pathways to stretch into other powerful ways of being that bring fresh resources and balance a personвЂ™s natural style or comfort zone. So rather than referring to the Lines of Disintegration and Integration, we refer to the Lines of Stretch and Release. In our experience and research, we find it just as likely that people can move towards and integrate the higher or more positive influences of the so-called disintegration point, or take on less-useful qualities of the integration point. We will also look at the benefits of using embodiment exercises to more effectively access the high side of the two Ennea points which lie on our lines for powerful personal growth and development.ДЄt Integrative Enneagram Solutions, we prefer a more developmental approach to the Lines. In this article, we look at the Lines of Stretch and Release and the inherent polarity that the lines represent for each Ennea Type. An example of this for an Ennea 5 would be accessing and scooping from the gifts of Ennea 7 and Ennea 8, or for an Ennea 1, accessing the gifts of Ennea 4 and Ennea 7. One of these rests on our efforts to access the Ennea points that lie on our lines. However, there is certainly something to be said for alternative areas of development offered through the Enneagram lens. There is so much room for growth just in that itself.

There is, of course, a considerable amount of work that one can do just around deepening their understanding of his or her core Enneagram Type. It usually goes something along the lines of, вЂњOkay, now that I understand a little bit about my Enneagram Type and my core motivations and how these drive my behaviour, where exactly do I go from here?вЂќ Often, we hear people asking the same question after they have spent some time getting to grips with their Enneagram Type.

Enneagram 5 disintegration