I would like to talk to you today about the health patterns of the Ennea Type 3, the “Achiever”.
This is a very, very driven kind of person. In Chinese Medicine we would say that they are the “yang” type. When you see that ying-yang symbol, that’s the symbol of balance that’s showing us that ying energy and yang energy need to be equal and in balance.
Yang energy is our get up and go, it’s our drive and up and at’em. Type 3 is all about that. The ying energy is our “rest and digest” energy and the Type 3 has none of that in their life.
Type 3s do not like to relax, they do not know how to take it easy. They kind of don’t know how to turn off, and so this can lead to health imbalances for sure.
Primarily, first and foremost, I would point you to heart health.
Because the heart really needs a chance to rest and recover. That happens during sleep. Do Type 3s get much sleep? No, they do not. I have asked many 3s, when they get their work at in because truly 3s are beautiful people. They look better than the rest of us.
I asked them, “When are you working out? You are so busy, what are you doing in?”… “Four in the morning”. All of them told me: “4 in the morning”… They’re getting up and working out.
Oh, that’s why you look like you and I look like me because I’m still sleeping then. Well, the trade-off is health. Right, because the heart needs to recover.
So, when we look at the principles of ying and yang. We want 12 hours on and 12 hours off. So, the 3s are all about their 12 hours on… but they turn that more into 16, 17, 18 hours on.
So my advice for you Type 3s is to really keep an eye on your sleep schedule and when you are scheduling yourself, to treat your “rest and digest’ as gold. You need 8 hours of sleep just like everyone else; you need time to sit down and eat a complete meal, while not doing other things; and you need time to connect with yourself and with your beloveds. You need to take downtime for intimacy.
So these are all the areas that we are asking the Types 3s to take a look at in order to protect their heart health. We don’t want to see heart attacks and strokes happening in the second half of life for the Type 3s pushing themselves much too hard for much too long.
Acupuncture is such a great match for the 3s in this aspect because many 3s tell me they don’t really know how to turn off. They don’t really feel capable of turning their brain off and when you are receiving acupuncture, you have no choice: you can hardly hold a thought in your head because you are feeling so relaxed, your brain is receiving many signals about how to heal itself in that time… and you simply drift off.
I have had a number of very driven Type 3 executives tell me that they love acupuncture because it’s the only time that they can feel themselves completely at rest.
If you are interested in coming in for acupuncture and giving it a try to help you manage your stress and your heart health, please give me a call.
Candice Thomas, Licensed Acupuncturist, Enneagram Teacher
Owner of LightWorks Acupuncture, a Holistic Medical Center
For appointments, please call: (520) 318-5560
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