Meet Nan Henson: Southern Charm with a Twist of Enneagram Wisdom

For the inaugural season of Southern Character, James sits down with someone who knows him better than most: his mother-in-law, Georgia Peach and longtime Enneagram teacher Nan Henson. Known affectionately as Enneagram Nan, she has spent more than twenty years researching, coaching, and teaching the Enneagram through the Enneagram Institute. She is also a daughter, wife, mother of three, and a woman with a surprising college past that included tambourines, Athens bar stages, and a band called the Fox Trots.

Before diving into types and centers, James and Nan start with what they share. Both married Type Sixes. Both have deep appreciation for the way the Enneagram reveals not just who we are but how we show up for the people we love. 

The Enneagram’s Ancient Roots and Modern Teachers

Nan explains that the Enneagram is far older than most people realize. The symbol traces back more than two thousand years to ancient Greek thought, the Desert Fathers, and Sufi traditions. The word itself is Greek, combining “ennea,” meaning nine, and “gram,” meaning diagram or model.

The modern Enneagram took shape in the twentieth century through teachers like George Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, and later Claudio Naranjo. Their work, combined with the scholarship of Don Riso and Russ Hudson, brought the system into contemporary psychology and spiritual growth. Riso and Hudson, founders of the Enneagram Institute, developed the levels of development and the widely used RHETI assessment that Nan uses in her coaching.

What emerges is a synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern understanding. A tool that has resurfaced in moments when people most need a way to understand themselves and each other.

The Nine Types and How They Function

Nan walks through the nine types with clarity and humor, offering examples that bring each one to life. Eights carry intensity and leadership. Nines offer steadiness and harmony. Ones aim for goodness and improvement. Twos bring unconditional love and generosity. Threes know how to adapt and shine. Fours feel deeply and see beauty everywhere. Fives illuminate ideas and conserve their energy. Sixes prepare for every possibility and lead with loyalty. Sevens seek joy, variety, and possibility.

Each type has a dominant passion that drives behavior under stress. Each type also carries essential qualities that show up when we are healthy and present. Most importantly, every person has access to all nine qualities, even though one is home base.

Wings, Stress Paths, and Centers of Intelligence

Beyond knowing our type, Nan emphasizes the importance of wings, growth paths, and centers. Wings offer color and nuance, shaping how each type expresses itself. Stress and growth arrows show the direction we move when life tightens or opens.

But the most transformative insight comes from the three centers of intelligence. Eights, Nines, and Ones are body centered and seek autonomy and respect. Twos, Threes, and Fours are heart centered and crave attention and validation. Fives, Sixes, and Sevens are head centered and want safety, security, and guidance.

Levels of Development and the Work of Presence

Nan explains that each type contains nine levels of development. Most of us live in the middle range, shifting up and down depending on stress, awareness, and the habits that have shaped us over a lifetime. Growth does not mean perfecting our type. It means becoming more present, more aware, and more capable of choosing our response rather than reacting on autopilot.

Presence is the heart of Enneagram work. Nan shares practices that help cultivate it, including walking the labyrinth in her backyard and engaging the body through simple, grounding activities. James shares how breathwork and physical movement help him slow down enough to notice what is rising in him before it takes over.

Awareness alone does not solve everything, but it creates the space where change becomes possible.

Where to Begin and How to Keep Going

For anyone new to the Enneagram, Nan recommends two starting points. First, the RHETI test through the Enneagram Institute for a grounded and reliable assessment. Second, trusted books such as The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Riso and Russ Hudson or the more accessible The Enneagram Made Easy by Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele.

She continues to offer coaching through enneagramatlanta.com, where students can explore their type more deeply.

Nan and James close the conversation with gratitude for what the Enneagram has added to their family. A shared language. A deeper compassion for each other. And a recognition that everyone is doing the best they can with the awareness they have.