About two years ago I became aware of something called Human Design. Of the things that I’m into, it’s probably at the ‘woo’*er end of the category. For those who are hearing of it the first time – I usually summarise it as ‘kind of like a cross between astrology and enneagram’. Like astrology, it’s based on the time and place of your birth – there are fancy calculators online you can access for free to get your Human Design Chart. This chart doesn’t make much sense on its own, so it’s helpful to have some support in unpacking it.

During these two years - I’ve slowly warmed up to Human Design as a tool that is useful to me.

I feel like I had a fair amount of resistance to it – not least because I didn’t understand how it works, and because of its origin story being channeled by some guy in the 80s. Introductory descriptions with the five different HD ‘types’ can seem odd and simplistic. For quite a while – I decided it was one of those esoteric things I wasn’t going to get into.

But I kept hearing different people talking about it. They were interpreting how their HD charts could help them understand themselves better. They were discovering what are conducive ways for them to navigate their energy, decision-making and so on. This idea of Human Design as a sort of personal blueprint was appealing to me. What if there was something useful there for me to discover about myself?

Like with all things – I take Human Design with a pinch of salt.

It’s not something that should ever overrule your own intuition or what you feel is right for you. Like with astrology, enneagram, personality tests, tarot readings, intelligence tests… These are tools that should be used when helpful, entertaining, supportive. They should not be used for any form of self-abuse, or in dogmatic or disempowering ways.

So – with that disclaimer said – I wanted to share what I have gotten out of understanding my Human Design.

I’ll try to do this without actually sharing the details of my Design – because I want the focus to be on what I am getting from it, rather than different interpretations.

The main things Human Design has given me:

1.     A big sense of relief that ‘We are not all the same’ – and we don’t need to try to be! We all have different strengths, different ways of navigating the world and our personal energies – I can lean into my strengths and what comes to me ‘naturally’ – rather than try to be like everyone else.

2.     Not everyone else is like me! I’m sort of saying the above in a different way, but what was also very helpful for me to realise is that not everyone wants the same things as me. For example – my chart points towards having natural leadership qualities. For so long – I always thought that everyone else must want to lead as much as I do – I need to make space for everyone to be able to lead as much as me to be fair. This meant that I was always holding back myself from taking space as a leader and facilitator.

3.     I understood better where my energy flows naturally – and where I need support from others. For example, according to my HD – I am good at initiating things, and benefit support from others in order to grow, develop and complete projects.

4.     The understanding that not everybody will like me – and that’s perfect. I’m still learning to lean towards this more: the less I try to please everybody or be liked by everybody… The more I am able to attract and inspire the people who are aligned to work together, to create community and so on.

5.     Why I am sensitive to other peoples’ emotions and energy - that I can ‘take these on’ and amplify them back to them (whether I’m aware of this or not).

6.     The licensing to honour my Hermit-side as well, and understanding how important it is in supporting me doing My Work in the world.

7.     Permission to take time in making important decisions and understanding that I might feel a whole rollercoaster of emotions before clarity comes.

If you would like to find out more about Human Design – here is a Goop article that goes into more detail about it: https://goop.com/wellness/mindfulness/human-design-were-we-coded-at-birth/

 Go here to get your own Human Design Chart: https://www.jovianarchive.com/Get_Your_Chart

 My first workshop around Human Design was a group session led by Jas the Moon Mother: https://www.jasmoon.space/

I also recently had a 1-to-1 session with Hayley who has recently trained as a Human Design Reader. If you are feeling called to explore in a one-to-one session, I would highly recommend Hayley as a super fun, down-to-earth Human Design Reader. She explains everything using clear, relatable examples and tailors the reading to your previous understanding of your chart (which could be zero).

 At the start of her journey, Hayley is now offering Human Design readings by donation (suggested donation 50 USD) – if you are reading this later in time, check in with her about the current offering. Connect with Hayley on IG @groundedinwaves

If this sparks your interest in discovering your Human Design, I would love to hear how you get on.