What is Somatic Awareness?
Marion Gilbert’s Approach
to the Body and the Enneagram
The word "soma" comes from the Greek for "body," and it forms the foundation of somatic awareness—the practice of tuning into the body’s signals, sensations, and responses. In our everyday lives, many of our physical processes operate without notice. Even basic functions like breathing or muscle contraction happen unconsciously.
But to truly understand the body and its role in shaping our thoughts, emotions, and actions, developing a conscious awareness of these processes is essential. This is where Marion Gilbert’s Somatic Enneagram approach comes into play.
At the heart of Gilbert's work is the understanding that our earliest and ongoing experiences create neural pathways in the nervous system that store information in the brain. This complex communication network keeps us alive by allowing us to adapt and respond to our environment. The instinctual or "reptilian" brain plays a crucial role in ensuring our survival, acting beneath our conscious awareness to trigger automatic responses. This primal brain influences our more advanced human functions, shaping how we think, feel, and act.
Gilbert’s somatic approach teaches that by becoming aware of the body’s instinctual processes, we can access the subconscious and unconscious parts of ourselves. These hidden layers of functioning are often responsible for the automatic behaviors and reactions that define our personality. As we grow, we develop strategies to protect ourselves from harm, both physical and emotional. These adaptive strategies help us cope with overwhelming experiences, enabling us to contain the energy of stress or trauma and return to a sense of balance.
In the Enneagram system, this process is reflected in the nine personality types, each with its own patterns of behavior, emotional responses, and cognitive tendencies. Traditionally, these patterns have been viewed through a psychological lens, focusing on the cognitive and emotional aspects of each type. However, Gilbert’s somatic perspective takes this understanding deeper, to the physical roots of these patterns.
The somatic origins of Enneagram types are grounded in the body’s instinctual responses to life’s challenges. From birth, we develop conditioned behaviors based on what has worked for us in the past. Over time, these responses become automatic, shaping our personalities and influencing how we engage with the world. But by becoming aware of the body’s role in this process, we can access the deeper, somatic patterns that underlie our thoughts and emotions.
Through the development of "conscious awareness," we can begin to recognize these somatic patterns and understand their purpose. This awareness allows us to witness the body's automatic responses and the energy they contain. Rather than being controlled by these patterns, we can choose whether to follow them or not. When we learn to safely discharge the built-up energy stored in the body, we free up the life force within us, creating more space for spiritual growth and experience.
Gilbert's Somatic Enneagram approach offers a path to personal transformation by integrating the mind, heart, and body. It invites individuals to explore the physical dimension of their Enneagram type, gaining insight into how early experiences and adaptive strategies have shaped their personalities. By tapping into the body’s wisdom, individuals can access a deeper level of self-awareness, healing, and growth.
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