ENNEAGRAM-INFORMED LIFE COACHING
Enneagram-informed life coaching to move you through the inner resistance standing between you and the change you’re trying to make.
HI, I’M SAMANTHA MACKAY, ENNEAGRAM-INFORMED LIFE COACH
For a long time, I thought my life would be perfect when I got the right job.
But after living with chronic pain, illness, and burnout for over a decade, I started to realise my job wasn’t the problem.
The problem was inner resistance.
Deep down, I wanted a more creative life, but I kept limiting what that could look like.
I knew what I wanted. But I was afraid of what might happen if I let myself have it.
Fascinated by why I was blocking myself, I got curious about inner resistance: what it is, how it works, and how we move through it.
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01
RECOGNISE IT
Here are the sneaky ways it shows up, even when you have the best intentions and have done the work in therapy.
02
WHERE IT COMES FROM
01
Living in a culture that trained you (especially those of us raised as girls) to seek permission or approval from others, and taught you that expressing yourself fully leads to rejection.
02
Not getting emotional support from someone willing to listen to you without judgement or criticism, especially at an early age. Or, worse, having someone react badly when you shared your feelings, or having someone rush to fix your feelings so they wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable.
Either way, you got the message that your feelings were an inconvenience, and to feel safe and loved, you buried your needs deep.
03
Developing protective personality patterns that helped you feel safe, accepted or in control as a child, but can become rigid and self-limiting as an adult.
The Enneagram helps reveal these unconscious defences, so you can see why certain patterns keep taking over even when they no longer serve you.
This combination makes it very hard to live in a way that’s true to yourself now!
03
HOW IT WORKS
You can’t force your way out of the loop, you have to feel safe enough to shift.
This is where I’ve found combining the Enneagram with somatic support to be incredibly effective.
Everything you want is on the other side of resistance.
But to get to there, you have to feel safe enough to make the move.
04
HOW I WORK WITH IT
The Enneagram helps us connect the dots between what you want and how you’re resisting it. It describes nine core patterns that show up in your thoughts, feelings, and body.
Understanding the pattern is only part of the work. Resistance is also held in the body as tension. I work with you to listen to your body, honour what it’s telling you, and support yourself to move through it.
1
Notice the pattern
See what you want and where resistance keeps getting in the way.
2
Understand what it protects
Get curious about the fear or discomfort underneath the pattern.
3
Listen to what’s there
Notice the feelings, tension and signals your body is carrying.
4
Make space for something new
As resistance softens, a different response becomes possible.
05
WHERE TO START
01: DISCOVER
Explore what still feels unclear about your type, subtype, typing report or Enneagram pattern, so you know what you’re actually working with.
02. ORIENT
Explore a stuck situation, decision or recurring pattern through the lens of your type, and identify the developmental work that matters most right now.
03. SHIFT
Work with the resistance that shows up when you try to respond differently, so you can practise new ways of handling the situations that keep pulling you back into old patterns.
If you’ve finally made the big leap in your life but you’re still playing out old patterns—let’s talk.
06
WHAT THIS CAN LOOK LIKE
