#66 Samantha Mackay on living paradoxes and breaking free from trap cycles
“Life is filled with paradoxes, and I think one of the challenges is really starting to see when we’re stuck in a paradox and being able to work with it. I think that happens the most when we are frustrated about how that situation never changes, and yet we’re not changing. So when we can see the set of beliefs we’re stuck in, we can start to open up or expand our awareness for what’s happening in this situation.”
In what ways can the Enneagram reveal the inherent paradoxes and contradictions within each personality type? How can this open up pathways to exit trap cycles and opportunities for our deepest developments as individuals and as part of the wider community, whilst also challenging tendencies to oversimplify paradox work?
We welcome back the lovely Samantha Mackay to the podcast to build on the previous episode on the Enneagram and personality mapping, focusing on a very complex but integral part of the tool - paradoxes. In this deeply inspiring and wonderfully detailed episode, Samantha guides us through the process of identifying and breaking down contradictions for each of the nine Enneagram types by giving practical examples of trap cycles for each and some of ways we can begin to transform our internalised patterns by allowing ourselves permission to change.
Samantha is a personal development coach at Individuo, incorporating the Enneagram into her integrative approach to inner work. She came to this work through a journey of recovering from chronic pain, illness and anxiety and discovering that in order to shift her pain she needed to master a range of skills that strengthened her inner resilience. On her multi-year journey of recovery, Samantha has learnt that some treatments act like a short term bandaids and others provided more permanent healing. She incorporates the Enneagram into her work for this very reason; it helps us invest our time, energy and resources into inner work that provides true relief.
For a more comprehensive insight into the Enneagram, listen to the previous episode before tuning into this one.
What will be covered in the episode:
Brief recap of the Enneagram
Defining a paradox with the Ennegram and giving language and labels to the ‘intangible’ trap cycles
Defensive systems of ego and capacity building to sit with the ‘uncomfortable’
Detailed guidance for paradox mapping for each type and some ways to overcome trap cycles for each
Noticing and transforming the ways we work towards something to achieve desired outcomes
The importance of vulnerability in relationship work
Expanding awareness of behaviour patterns and working in relationships to transform these
Coming to terms with reality and the imagined
