Voice and Enneagram Type One
Voice & Enneagram
Our voice is far more than a communication tool. A breath of air flows into your body, taking on your unique thoughts, feelings and emotions, and when it re-emerges it's filled with your essence.
There's no better way to understand a person from the way he / she uses his / her voice:
· Does the voice flow freely or is it held back?
· Is the voice tense or relaxed?
· Is the voice solid and grounded or is it too light?
· Is the voice using the breath economically or stingily?
· Is the voice full of or lack of feelings and emotions?
The multitude shades of our voice reflect our physical, mental and emotional state, constantly sending out frequencies and vibrations signalling what and how we think and feel, beyond our words. It never lies no matter how hard we may try to hide our voice.
This unique ability of our voice resonates with the base of the Enneagram, the 9 spiritual passions that dominate our whole thoughts, feelings and emotions. Each type has its own voice pattern that reflect the strengths and struggles that particular type experiences. Listening to your voice helps you identify what you are going through, what is holding you back and what blind spots you have overlooked.
Voice is physical. It's originated from the vibration on your vocal cords, powered by your breath, amplified by the cavities in your body and understood by the use of articulators. A shift in your voice is often easier and faster than a shift in your mind.
A quick example. People have tried how many times telling themselves to stay calm in the situation of nervousness, stress and anger. Not much has worked until they start to take a proper breath and support their voice with the breath, their quivering voice starts to get under control.
Free your voice, you'll free your mind. Uncover the voice that rises from your core, you'll release the feelings and emotions that you've held back. Resonate your voice fully, you'll experience transformations in the way you express and speak up for yourself.
Enneagram Type One
Enneagram type One's spiritual passion is anger, which is a blind spot for Ones. They don't know they are more angry than others. One's basic focus is on error. They achieve perfection by eliminating errors. As the result of the anger and the tendency to correct errors, Ones often look stern and sound task-oriented. The common voice pattern you'll find in One is too much strength is consumed in the projection, regardless of the pitch or volume. For Ones who have not had any proper training in voice, their pitch is often higher than other types, resulted in a voice that sounds too harsh. Think about Hillary Clinton. Those who have had some training on either voice or breathing, their pitch can be lower, but you still hear the force, too strong in their voice that says by itself, "This should not be done in this way!"
The key observation for Ones is to hear the over-used strength in their voice and learn to use less strength. Using less strength teaches Ones to be able to let go, letting go of the "should, ought and must", letting go of their the-one-and-only "right" way, and eventually letting go of being too hard on themselves .