The Self Preservation Instinct

The Self-Preservation instinct is the fundamental drive for physical survival, well-being, and aliveness, operating primarily across three practical zones: self-care, resource maintenance, and domesticity. Although naturally designed to help human beings thrive and evolve, this instinct frequently becomes distorted by early childhood trauma, emotional wounding, and unconscious autonomy conflicts, causing the ego to co-opt it through fear, scarcity, and rigid habits. Consequently, people often mistake mere familiarity and comfort for genuine well-being, leading to extreme behaviors that range from obsessive hoarding and health anxiety to the complete neglect of their physical needs. Ultimately, transforming this drive requires specific practices—such as deep bodily sensing and grounding—to liberate it from past conditioning, allowing our natural life force to harmonize with our spiritual development and support a truly balanced, awakened life.

Damian Russel, author of Enneagram Through the Ages, and Krista Hand join Dr. Kara Nance in a discussion abut the Enneagram's three instinctual drives—Self-Preservation, Sexual (or attraction), and Social—and their profound impact on our psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Rooted deeply in our neurobiology and evolutionary survival, these instincts dictate how we meet our basic human needs and react to the world around us. The discussion highlights that individuals prioritize these drives in a unique hierarchical "stack," consisting of a dominant instinct that acts as a core defense system, a supportive secondary instinct, and a neglected "blind spot". Furthermore, the episode examines how cultural conditioning, modern daily stress, and trauma can cause these primal drives to become imbalanced or lead to dysregulation and addictive behaviors. Ultimately, the conversation emphasizes that by engaging in somatic practices like mindful breathing and bodily awareness, we can regulate our nervous systems, balance our instinctual stack, and integrate our primal animal nature with our higher spiritual consciousness.

Marlene is back to hear the reflections that Denzel and I have about her typology session. Enneagram type and instinctual stack are clarified.

Denzel Mensah is back on the show with me for a series on how typology can be a powerful tool for finding your romantic relationship blindspots. Meet Marlene, an INFP on the journey towards finding her Enneagram type and instinctual stack. Marlene vulnerably shares her experience of infidelity and the unraveling of her long term relationship. Please visit my website at KaraNanceMD.com and contact me if you are interested in sharing your story and learning and growing with Denzel and I.

Meet Karl Hebenstreit, Author, International Speaker, Executive Coach, and Human Resources and Organization Development Leader with 25+ years of experience in the biotechnology, healthcare, telecommunications, high-tech, pharmaceutical, and real estate services industries. . Karl has just released the third edition of his book "The How and Why: Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram". Karl and I discuss some commen Enneagram patterns he sees in the corporate world and how he works with them. Karl is also the author of the children's book, "Nina and the Really, Really Tough Decision." Get Karl's book here https://www.amazon.com/How-Why-Taking-Business-Enneagram-ebook/dp/B0CJLQGS3K?ref_=ast_author_mpb

This episode we welcome long time teacher Tom Condon to share some of his favorite tips on working with your Enneastyle. Register for Tom's online conference with Russ Hudson this weekend to learn more. https://russhudson.com/event/what-we-have-learned-and-how-we-apply-it/#tribe-tickets__tickets-form  

I'm very excited to introduce you to my colleague Denzel Mensah https://denzelmensah.com/ that I met on my Meyers Briggs Typology training journey. Denzel also received his MBTI Training from Personality Hackers six years ago and has a well established typology and coaching practice. You can also check out Denzel's very fun and wise You Tube channel at https://denzelmensah.com/ Denzel and I are excited to start highlighting our typology and coaching skills on a new live platform, so we're looking for relationship pairs that are facing a challenge that we can help type and strategize with live. You may be anonymous and have audio only, or have your session recorded for others to view.  Please reach out to me at KaraNanceMD.com to schedule a free 30 min meet and greet to discuss your situation and set up the typing/coaching session with us.  In this episode Denzel and I discuss the pain of landing on your type. We also unpack the challenge that exists in point seven. We also discuss the concept of legacy and the experience of being attachment types. We also describe our experience of extraverted feeling. We also explain how we know that an Fe dominant Type 9 is not a 2. Holderness video link - "Me in my 20's vs. Me in my 40's" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pG0N4QnNBk Want to see into the inner world of an ENFJ??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe14FZiteq4 is really fun to watch. Denzel is SOOO creative!

I'm pleased to introduce my community to Simon Goland, founder of Simon Says Consulting, Inc. Simon has a new program launching in October called Awakened Living that you can register for here https://simongoland.com/application-tuition-details/ In this episode Simon and I explore what the divine masculine energy is, and what it is not. We also discuss the importance of shadow work, our own egoic triggers, and how we find our way back to presence. We also have some fun talking about how our dogs can be our teachers.  If you would like to sign up for any of my offerings please visit my website at KaraNanceMD.com

Catherine Bell from the Awakened Company is back to discuss her new offering with Dr. Debra Egerton, The Power of Relationships. In this episode Catherine and I discuss our relationship to fierce compassion, how the law of three presents in interpersonal relationships, and the importance of honoring each other's experiences because they all contain wisdom. Catherine and I also share our experiences of transmission, and how the Enneagram shows us how to better connect to source. We explore how the changing and unchanging nature of things is always present and end with a discussion of how play can be an antidote to pain. If you would like to try my classes on relationship building, please visit my website at KaraNanceMD.com to sign up for a free trial. If you would like to enroll in any of Catherine's upcoming offerings you can learn more and sign up at https://awakenedcompany.com/upcoming-events/

Stephanie Jaie is back for a final episode in our three part series on sexual empowerment. In this episode Kara and Stephanie discuss their experience of erotic energy and how it has supported their own emergence.  What is the role of pleasure and how do we connect with it? Why do people fear sexual instinctual energy? And for our typology friends, further exploration of Stephanie's Enneagram Type (is she a three or a seven???) and instinctual stack.  Kara enjoys coaching couples and individuals that are experiencing issues around the sexuality circuit. She uses typology, resonant healing, and nonviolent communication to support healing and connection. Schedule a free 30 minute meet and greet at KaraNanceMD.com if you'd like to explore working together. You can sign up for Stephanie's Sexual Empowerment Academy at https://stephaniejaie.teachable.com/p/sexual-empowerment-academy