THE SEXUAL INSTINCT
A Summer Semester Class at The Enneagram School
with John Luckovich & Alexandra Arroyo-Acevedo
7/30, 8/6, 8/20, 8/27 @ 6:30pm ET on Zoom
Activate Your Sexual Instinct
Join John Luckovich and Alexandra Arroyo-Acevedo in a course to deepen your relationship with your sexual instinct.
Course Overview
- Understand the Sexual Instinct: Learn what the sexual instinct is, how it functions in the personality, and why it's not just the "one-to-one" instinct
- Express your Sexual Instinct Authentically: Distinguish between your "image" of the sexual instinct and your felt sense experience of it
- Discover Your Sexual Flavor: Explore images and energies of sexual expression that resonate with you
- Practice: Engage in breathwork and other exercises to tap into your sexual energy and creativity.
This Course Will Help You To...
- Know What Turns You On and Off: Explore your "icks" and what you're actually attracted to (especially in yourself!) distinct from cultural biases and social conditioning
- Honor Your Sexual Instinct: Experience the joy, sacredness, and life-force in your authentic sexuality
- Play with Polarity and Tension: Understand what polarity and tension are, and discover how they can be fun (!) and non-threatening
- HAVE FUN with yourself: Explore your sense of humor as a sexual flourish and "feel yourself"
- Renew Interest In Yourself: See how the sexual instinct can help you feel energized by yourself, create psychological renewal, and unleash fresh energy for self-reinvention
Rigorous Content
A spiritual inner work class grounded in biology and evolutionary psychology.
Expert Guidance
John's book The Instinctual Drives & the Enneagram is the seminal work on the topic.
Learn in Community
Option to connect with other classmates in self-managed learning partnerships.
Meet Your Teachers
In WILTBY #35 John & Alexandra talk with Josh about what they cover in this course.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:18 What are the instincts & instinctual stacking?
3:06 What the course is about
4:55 Interview Start — Inspiration for offering this class
7:33 Why develop your sexual instinct?
12:15 Sexual value vs social and self-pres value
14:10 Sexual energy is being your own fun
19:39 Sexual instinct is play; societal shame for frivolous pleasure
21:20 What’s scary about the sexual instinct
26:43 Polarities — you have to be "in yourself" to occupy a pole
31:46 How different stackings approach sex
37:31 Heart & the instincts; being yourself and losing yourself
40:42 Purpose & sacredness in pleasure, surrendering to enjoyment
45:07 One way doors, loss of self and transformation
46:17 Masculine & feminine polarity
55:14 Polarity is exciting, creates tension
58:59 Balancing the sexual instinct as SX blind vs SX dominant
1:08:31 Practices in the course; differentiating instincts via sensation; reinforcing sexual instinct through personal aesthetic and display
1:15:49 Importance of this topic for society
1:18:20 Class Info
Teachers
John Luckovich [SX/SP 4w5] is Co-Founder of The Enneagram School, author of The Instinctual Drives and the Enneagram, and co-host on the Big Hormone Enneagram podcast. He also coaches privately, facilitates breathwork, and guides pilgrimages to Egypt exploring the roots of inner work.
Alexandra Arroyo-Acevedo [SO/SP 9w1] is a co-host on the Big Hormone Enneagram Podcast. She also does personal Astrology readings and Enneagram-based commentary on reality TV shows like the Bachelorette.
Praise for John
Stephanie Foster
John Luckovich understands the breadth of the Enneagram and is one of the most knowledgeable and eloquent teachers I have had. He is versed both in the practicalities and the mysteries and knows how to bridge them for lasting shifts. It’s a journey well worth taking, and a teacher well worth following.
Sarah Gettys
In the past few years, I have taken several enneagram classes with John (live and pre-recorded), and received one-on-one enneagram coaching. He is incredibly knowledgeable and is effective at communicating the basic concepts of the enneagram with accuracy and subtlety. His coaching is direct and compassionate, and he creates space for an embodied, experiential understanding of the enneagram.
More specifically, I choose to study with John because he has a very down-to-earth approach that centers integrating the enneagram into daily life. He teaches about acceptance of the personality in a way that allows me to connect with my spirituality and my humanity. I also appreciate what he has done to challenge stereotypes regarding gender and sexuality that have showed up in enneagram work, and I think that his perspectives are more accurate and create more possibility for self-awareness and freedom for women and queer folks.
Thomas G
Through regular Enneagram sessions, John has helped me to see the thought and behavior patterns that have been operating for decades, and start to discover what's underneath them. As a Nine, accepting that I have needs and desires (let alone expressing them!!) is a daily struggle, and the reflections from John, along with meditation showed me how my Superego was/is hijacking my attention for much of the day, and has given me concrete tools to gently find my way back to what's actually happening around me.
As a type nine who spends much of time in mental loops, he's helping me to get back in touch with my Heart and my Gut, and to include my experience in the present moment.
Even over video calls, he's attention to my energy is impeccable. As a withdrawn type I can go FAAAAAR AWAY if I want; John patiently but directly invites me back. (no sugary BS, to which I have a strong aversion - a gut reaction!) He sees me when I don't feel worthy of being seen.
I don't know how else to say it, but John helped to find, in my own meandering way and words, a place in myself where I know, simply, that my existence matters.
Karyn Prybock
My sessions with John, which included enneagram coaching and breathwork, were filled with insight, compassion, and a rare presence that made true contact, even via Zoom. Not only did I learn a lot about myself through his knowledge of the enneagram, but I also learned ways to stand up against a part of myself that was keeping me from thriving. John's deep understanding of the human condition and his passion for sharing that truth has helped me discover myself in ways I didn't even know were possible.
Praise for Alexandra
Kristen Oberly
Alexandra is able to pull together the most incredible insights of psychology, intuition, and self-development. Her enthusiasm for wisdom and growth is infectious, and I’m always discovering new things about myself and the world with her. I feel like Alexandra is incredibly attentive to my process and gently pointing towards my blind spots, which always feels relieving to become aware of when working with her.
Kalla Mort
Alexandra has such an impactful presence as a leader and facilitator. During my time in the attachment support group I appreciated the way that her presence invited vulnerability into the space, even over zoom! She’s incredibly knowledgeable and I felt at ease as she led us through the subject matter in a skilled and grounded way.
Josh Lavine
Alexandra is one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. She is driven by real curiosity and inspiration, and her insights come from thorough excavation of her own psyche. Do not be fooled by her sweet 9 exterior -- her eye for the inner world is incisive, penetrating, and hard hitting. She is both intuitive and rigorous, and her teaching style is imagistic and metaphorical, yet always grounded in precise distinctions relevant to you. She has blown me away often with her insights. I consider myself lucky to learn from her.
Alice Nuccio
Alexandra is an eternally kind and insightful woman who pays deep attention to those she leads in learning or just anyone around her. She offers her insights thoughtfully and with a great deal of intelligence, and always treats others as a co-learner, even as a teacher. Her style of relating and facilitating is always very comfortable and equal, and she is always interested in growing her own understanding as she helps others grow theirs.
Course Structure
Sessions
This program has 4 live 2-hour sessions including lecture, breakout rooms, creative practice, and Q&A.
Session 1: Overview of the Sexual Instinct
- Introduce the sexual instinct and clarify our terms.
- Compare the sexual instinct with social and self-preservation instincts.
- Introduce the needs & approaches of each instinct
Session 2: Polarity, Tension, Chemistry
- What is "Chemistry"?
- Understand the roles of polarity and tension in sexual chemistry -- and how they can be fun (!) and non-threatening
- Explore what "poles" you occupy, who and what you have polarity with
Session 3: Relating to Your Own Sexual Energy
- How do you know what your sexual flavor is?
- Explore what turns you off and on
- Design creative practices to tap into your sexual energy
Session 4: Open-Ended
- Q&A with the teachers
- Self-reflections & breakout rooms
- Integration exercises
Practice
You will be invited to take on practices between sessions, and even to design your own. Practices will focus on deepening your relationship to your own sexual energy -- i.e. what turns you on about yourself -- and help you explore your creativity, sense of humor, aesthetic, and relationship to archetypes of masculinity and femininity.
Optional Learning Partnership
These are self-managed partnerships with another classmate. Given the sensitive nature of our topic, we understand that being paired with a stranger may be vulnerable, which is why this is optional. We will provide guidelines for how learning partners should be structured, and how to be psychologically safe for each other. If you opt in, we will manually pair you with another participant.
Schedule
Fee
We are offering this program ion a sliding scale from $250-350. Payment plans are available at checkout (choose the Klarna option).
Recording
This class will be recorded. However, we understand the sensitive nature of this material. You will have the right to request that your name and face not appear on the recording. If you ask a question or participate in discussion, you will also have the right to request that your speaking parts be cut or anonymized. Psychological safety is a priority for us. We will not publish anything that you are not comfortable with.
Important Note on Trauma
We acknowledge the sensitive nature of sexuality and the unfortunate prevalence of sexual trauma in our society, and we strive to create a compassionate and respectful learning environment. However, please note that this course is not a substitute for therapy or professional relationship advice. We are not responsible for any decisions you make as a result of this class. This class will also not be conducted in a format that allows prolonged individual attention to participants. If something difficult arises for you, we will ask that you self-regulate during sessions. If you have a history of sexual trauma, please consider whether this course might bring up difficult memories or challenging feelings that will be too overwhelming. For those who need additional support, John Luckovich will be available for 1:1 sessions.
