The 9 Human Design Centers: An Ultimate Guide (2024)

• September 15, 2021
• byClarice Leong

Instead of giving you a boring textbook introduction to the 9 Human Design Centers, I’m going to explain the centers in a way that is easy to understand.

Imagine this:

Your entire Human Design chart is a village, and in this village exists 9 different huts (i.e. the 9 different shapes/centers).

Each hut has a different role to play in keeping the peace and cohesion of your village, and each of them generatesa unique flavor of energy.

This is similar to how each hut in a village has a different responsibility. One hut is in charge of the food, and another hut is in charge of the clothing.

When the huts cooperate, your village moves efficiently towards a certain purpose in a way that is thriving, successful and fulfilling for you.

Now, some of the huts may be occupied, and some unoccupied.

An occupied hut is referred to as a defined center, which is colored in. When a hut is occupied, it has the ability to CONSISTENTLY generate its own flavor of energy.

On the other hand, an unoccupied hut is what we call an undefined or open center. This means the center is white.

A white center has an INCONSISTENT ability to generate its own flavor of energy.

Now, you may ask…

“Okay… if each hut has a function to play in my life… Why aren’t all my huts occupied?”

Simple.

Because, believe it or not, you do NOT need to be consistent at generating that particular energy to fulfil what you’re called to do. (I go deeper into this in myNiching by Design masterclass.)

I know… I fully acknowledge that it may feel like a sting to discover this, especially if you’re new to the world of Human Design, and especially if you have been showing up to life like a square peg in a round hole.

Or not!

You may feel a sense of relief knowing that there is nothing inherently wrong with you, and it gives you an extra dose of confirmation that you’re designed uniquely. For that, I celebrate you!

Either way, your feelings are totally valid.

But I’m not gonna lie…

When I first dove into the world of Human Design, I had what I now call “center envy.”

And this is why I took it upon myself to truly experience the power of my centers, and integrate the lessons I’ve acquired.

That journey brought me here today, and I am truly lit up about teaching you about the beauty of each of our centers, defined or white.

Are you ready to embrace what makes you unique?

Let’s dive in!

The crown or head center is where we receive or generate inspiration and ideas. It’s also a source for innovation and creativity.

It is a pressure center because you feel the pressure to seek answers to the questions that you generate (if your head center is defined) or receive by being around others (if your head center is white).

If your head center is defined, your ajna center is also defined and, in the Human Design world, we often bring up the head center in relation to the ajna center.

What thismeans is you’re someone with consistent access to inspiration and a plethora of ideas. And you have the consistent strength to create a path of clarity to get those questions answered, in a way that makes the world a better place.

But be aware that the defined head can get way too fixated on a single way of thinking or opinion, to the point that this blocks them from accessing other possibilities and options.

I have a defined head center and a defined root center (which we will get to in this guide). Both of these centers are “pressure centers.” And, from my experience, I don’t dwell in a myriad of thoughts if I consider them ineffective solving in the problem that’s the most pertinent to me.

So, even if you have a defined head center but a white root center, you might feel even more pressure and urgency to seek answers to questions that your defined head center generates.

If this has been your experience, the question you get to ask is… “is what I am thinking now helping me make forward progress by solving the problem that’s directly in front of me?”

If not, how can you let it go and simply surrender to not knowing? Trust that when it’s time for you to know, or if it’s relevant for you to know, the answer will eventually arrive.

If your head center is white (open or undefined), then you are not here to put pressure on yourself to have everything figured out. You are open to ideas and inspiration all around you, and there is nothing you need to do to make sense of all that comes into your awareness.

When you put pressure on yourself to seek meaning in everything that comes into your field of awareness, there’s a tendency for you to end up creating ‘stories’ or ‘scenarios,’ interpretations and self-perceptions that end up limiting your potential. This is what we refer to as the Overthinking Mind.

And the overthinking mind leads us to anxiety, overwhelm and paralysis (that feeling of being ‘stuck’ from indecision).

You are here to recognize that there is always beauty and wonder in the unknowable.

You have the potential to fluidly navigate ideas, pathways, options and possibilities and then cultivating the wisdom through what’s worth exploring or bringing into fruition, based on your Strategy & Authority.

Seeing and navigating the world through the eyes of a child is the gift of the open/undefined head center.

The ajna center (also known as the ‘third eye’ or the mind center) is what we associate clarity and thought processes with.

When we talk about systems, processes, methodologies, actionable steps and formulas, the ajna center is where we look to.

Your gift to the world is being able to offer clarity and the steps to success or fulfilment!

This is because you have consistent access to the energy of certainty – and this is pretty evident in the way you speak and dish out advice. You see through things and you know what, exactly, is the antidote to a situation.

If you have this center defined but do not resonate with the feeling of certainty, I invite you to check if your splenic center and/or head center are white.

Our centers echo one another, and this is why no 2 persons with the same definition are identical. How we relate to ourselves and the world around us are shaped by our experiences, which we feel more intensely through our open/undefined centers.

I notice that those with a defined ajna are ‘sharp.’ They tend to tell it like it is and what they offer as the path of clarity has the potential to be very precise and efficient.

However, this does not mean we go around inserting our opinions and perspectives in every corner and space we deem fit.

Especially, as a Projector, I don’t always realize how ‘cutting’ my words land although I have zero intentions to hurt, but only to help another view a situation through a more expansive lens. (When a Projector offers their insights uninvited, it feels like an attack.)

The key is to your Strategy & Authority to know when you’re invited to share this gift!

Your gift to the world comes from your ownership of your ability to acknowledge different perspectives, without feeling pressured to arrive at certainty.

While the defined ajna can get caught up with taking sides in a world focused on right or wrong, this or that, your wisdom is developed through the understanding that there is validity in both sides of the story.

You have the potential to ask amazing questions that invite others to consider other options or possibilities, without being swept away by arguments and needing to prove what is certainly right or wrong. (I know… people with the defined ajna center in its low expression can sometimes be argumentative and a ‘tough nut to crack’ when they’re unyielding and rigid.)

Like the open/undefined head center, you thrive best when you allow yourself to view the world with a sense of wonder!

The throat center is the bridge that connects both the inner and outer worlds. You speak something into existence through vibration.

Although the throat center isn’t classified as a pressure center in Human Design, all your energy in your bodygraph travel to your throat for manifestation and communication, in the same way that potential energy converts into kinetic energy.

All Manifestors and Manifesting Generators have a defined throat center.

You have consistent way of expressing your energy and communicating with others.

For instance, if your ajna center is connected to your throat center through a channel, you are designed to express your thoughts and unique way of seeing the world, in a consistent way.

If your identity center is connected to your throat center through a channel, then you are designed to express your authentic self and your direction/vision in life, in a consistent way.

These 2 are just a few examples of what the defined throat gets to express.

Like I mentioned in The Defined Ajna Center section of this guide, just because you are designed to put out a particular flavor of energy into the world in a consistent way, it does not mean you’ll thrive when you insert your energy in just about any corner or space.

Always follow your Strategy & Authority. When you do so, you will notice that the gift you have to offer will be received with way more impact, appreciation and effectiveness.

The gift of the open/undefined throat center is its potential to articulate what others struggle to express or voice out. For example, you may become a wonderful fiction writer given your potential for embodying the voices of different characters.

Your wisdom is also cultivated through the deep understanding that words are more powerful when they’re intentional. In essence, the less you say, the more weight your words carry.

Just because you don’t have a consistent way of expressing your own energy through communication, it does not mean that you cannot be a powerful communicator and speaker.

You certainly can, when you follow your Strategy & Authority, when you have the self-awareness to recognize the moments you’re interjecting or speaking from a place of needing to receive attention, and when you allow yourself the space to recollect yourself before communicating with intention.

When you are invited to speak, and you respond or accept the invitation by following your Strategy & Authority, the wisdom and insights you share will be seen as profound!

Someone with a defined identity center has a consistent way of navigating thorough the world.

And what I mean by that is you do know who you are, you have consistent access to the tank of love for yourself, and you are typically aware of where you are in your journey, in the grand scheme of life.

And, maybe, just maybe, you might ask…

“I have a defined identity center, but I don’t always know how to honor my boundaries! If I love myself, why do I often struggle with having people overstep my boundaries?”

Now, this is very likely due to feelings of insecurity that do not come so much from not having a strong sense of self, but from the lack of self-assurance that others accept and love you for who you authentically are.

(Other centers to check: solar plexus / emotional center & will /ego /heart center)

With this insecurity, you may abandon your boundaries just to do anything to experience the feeling of being ‘liked,’ ‘understood’ or ‘definable’ by others.

When you are in alignment and devoted to authenticity, you are clear about your purpose and direction in life (due to having consistent access to your higher/future self), and you effortlessly magentize right people, situations and places to you!

If you have an open or undefined G-Center, you may question your purpose and direction.

You may feel like you don’t have a rooted sense of self because you adapt to your environment and relationships like a chameleon!

It’s not that you don’t have a ‘purpose’… it’s just that, with your white center, you may find that you tend to seek love & direction outside of you, to fulfil the sense of longing.

And, in trying to fulfil those needs (by taking action that’s driven by the need to feel seen, loved and accepted), the intentions of your actions are of a lower vibrational energy that disrupts your connection with your magnetic monopole.

If you’re so busy filling up your life with stuff to fulfil those unmet needs, how would you free up the space for the Universe to bring the right people and opportunities to you?

I have people with an open or undefined identity center confiding in me that they don’t know their vision for their life, they don’t know if they’re truly loved, they feel like they’re just trodding life on the surface, and there seems to be an unquenchable sense of longing within them.

The way I see it, from my defined identity center, is that we really don’t have to be so fixated with always being crystal clear about our human-construct purpose (i.e. job title) in life.

And, yet, I totally get it. Because there have been moments in life where I felt ‘lost’ and living day-by-day felt like a drag.

However, I want you to know that your purpose, truly, isn’t found in a societal concept of success or fulfilment.

Depending on your Strategy & Authority, when you desire or want something, allow yourself to feel the energy of having received it in your body, and then invite the Universe to show you the path of expansion and overflow.

And let go of needing to control your way ‘there.’

Your environment is key in keeping your energetic frequency high, in order to attract the most aligned people and opportunities to you. If you cannot physically travel, the best thing you can do is to create an environment that feels really good to you, at home!

(I can imagine those the white G-Center making wonderful interior designers with versatility!)

Those with open identity center also have the potential to succeed as incredible actors.

Aligning with your purpose comes from living and honing your unique superpowers, which I reveal for each energy type – Projectors, Reflectors, Manifestors, Manifesting Generators, and Generators – in this Human Design free report.

The splenic center governs immune system, intuition, instinct (I call this the ‘spidey sense’), safety, and primal fears.

This is like the caveman who moves through life based on what is healthy and essential for survival.

Unlike the ajna center, the splenic center has no ‘language.’ It cannot explain itself. And, hence, it isn’t logical or strategic.

With the defined splenic center, you have consistent access to your intuition. For example, you have a ‘feeling’ or ‘knowing’ when something is amiss, in ways you cannot clearly articulate.

You just ‘know’ when something is a threat to your wellbeing, and it’s important to honor that and, when you do, you have a relatively strong immune system.

Likewise, your splenic center also ‘knows’ when something is good for you. And, if you have Splenic Authority (which is only available to Projectors and Manifestors), it means you are designed to follow those ‘intuitive hits,’ which are leading you to the path of least resistance for success, peace and fulfilment.

However, the ‘trip up’ here is that because spleen isn’t always loud and noticeable, we can miss those intuitive hits.

This is the cycle that typically happens:

I have an intuitive hit.

Ajna cannot make logical sense of it.

Ajna’s (mis)interpretation of the situation triggers an emotional reaction in the Solar Plexus.

Both Ajna and Solar Plexus ping pong each other, and this feedback loop amplifies the frightful stories and emotions we identify with.

Spleen sounds the alarm that this is something to be feared!

Now, because the splenic center is all about ‘survival’ and ‘safety,’ it will gravitate towards what it perceives as safer or familiar.

Overtime, that cycle is encoded by our spleen in our nervous system as a survival pattern, which often traps us in ‘self-sabotage.’

Can you see how our centers echo one another?

This is why I’m all for recoding the themes and patterns that our centers hold, in order for true success and fulfillment to be experienced!

The undefined/open spleen does not have consistent access to their intuition.

I have noticed that those with this center white struggle with separation anxiety, especially as a child. If they grew up in an environment in which they did not feel cared and nurtured for, they may find themselves ‘stuck’ in old patterns and habits, for familiarity’s sake, even if these things don’t feel good.

This tendency is especially apparent in those with both the splenic and identity centers white – not only are they attached to their old patterns, they also struggle to let go of relationships and environments that do not serve them.

When those with the undefined/open spleen are living in alignment, they are in tune with their bodies & health, and they choose to surround themselves with people who are safe to be around.

This means you’ll feel good when you are with someone who makes healthy choices, is resilient and is adaptable to changes in the environment.

You have the potential to be really wise about the collective fears, health and wellbeing, which means that you have the potential to have great healing abilities.

Word of caution: I am careful not to suggest that Projectors, Manifestors, Manifesting Generators, and Generators start making a career / create marketing offers through their open/undefined centers because we unconsciously hold fear-based conditioning in those areas, which have contributed to years of living in an out-of-alignment way. Doing so is likely to lead us to great dis-stress, as it has been my experience.

If you’re a Reflector, who has zero defined centers, look to specific placements in your Human Design circuitry for your marketing & branding. I cover this in greater depth in myNiching by Design masterclass.

Again, follow your Strategy & Authority to know what is best for you!

The root center is about our sense of time (aka urgency), adrenaline and the pressure to get things done.

This the center that says, “Go! Go! Go!”

When it comes to the way we deal with stress, I often look at both the spleen and root.

If you have the root center defined, you have an internal sense of pressure to get things done.

When you are determined and driven (and you are following your Strategy & Authority, of course), you don’t always require an external source of accountability to make sure that you get things done within the delegated timeframe.

You just get it done! The adrenaline is on. Let’s go!

You thrive in this energy when you are also given the space to adequately recover.

Also, depending on what centers you have defined and how safe you feel in your environment, you have a consistently healthy relationship with stress, and you know how to use stress to fuel your life in the direction of success and fulfilment.

Unlike the defined root center, the white root center is experiencing everyone else’s sense of time & urgency.

Notice yourself saying “I still have so much to learn and improve on.”

Or, “I need to respond to all my emails and text messages immediately.”

You may leave things to be completed to the very last minute just tor e-experience the adrenaline rush.

Or you may end up doing everything just to quickly free yourself from the pressure you feel from others.

If you have an undefined or open emotional center, you may also derive a sense of thrill from the rollercoaster emotions that come with the adrenaline rush.

In its unhealthy expression, the white root center feels pressured to rush through life, with FOMO tendencies, and can be quite obsessed with adhering to societal timelines.

Questions to reflect upon:

• Do you often plan ahead without honoring your body and Self in the present moment?
• Do you find yourself worrying that you’re falling behind in some aspects of your life, compared to your peers or what social media shows you?

This is pretty noticeable in your pace of speaking and the energy of your voice. If you tend to speak really quickly, and with a frantic tone, I invite you to slow down and pay attention to how safe you feel in your body, in stillness.

In its high expression, the white root center is wise about time and space, recognizing that time is simply a man-made construct and truly understanding that slowing down to create space leads to more intentional action & potent results.

If your solar plexus is defined, then you have Emotional Authority.

You are here to develop the emotional intelligence by knowing that you are not to make decisions based on an emotional high or low (no one is).

Note: it’s not that those with an open/undefined solar plexus don’t have emotions. We do experience emotions, and we feel them even more when we are with others. The experience for us is different from those with Emotional Authority.

When you develop emotional intelligence, deeper & stronger emotional capacity and the awareness to identify where you are on the emotional wave / spectrum (without giving your emotions unnecessary meaning), you have the potential to show us all how to regulate our nervous system and process our emotions in a healthy way.

PSA for the Emotional Authority: there’s no need to analyze your emotions.

Those with an undefined or open solar plexus do not have consistent strength in their capacity for regulating their nervous systems.

Trying to get the white solar plexus to engage emotionally for long periods of time and too frequently can conversely result in a ‘freeze’ or ‘flight’ response in their nervous systems.

Those with Emotional Authority have more ‘resilience’ when it comes to navigating emotions, and this is also why the defined emotional center tends to have more ‘courage’ in having uncomfortable conversations and adapting to life’s changes, especially if they also have a defined spleen.

Again, like I mentioned in the earlier section, it’s not that you are emotion-less, if your solar plexus is white.

Quite the contrary.

You feel very deeply – you’re an emotional empath. But you have the capacity to feel intensely in short bursts, and then allowing yourself the space to be in your own energy, returning to your ‘homeostasis’ of cool, calm and collected, before reconnecting with others.

This center is also where we hold water weight or ’emotional weight,’ which happens when we are carrying more emotions & energies (from others) than our nervous systems can process.

I have this center almost completely open (only gate 55 is active).

From personal experience, I have grown very much in this area by developing emotional intelligence, by first taking responsibility for my emotional experiences. I believe that this, along with learning how to hold boundaries, is the wisdom of the open/undefined solar plexus.

If this center is white, it is important to learn the importance of taking responsibility for your experiences, even when you’re emotionally triggered – because the fastest way we outsource our power is by blaming others for being ‘negative’… not realizing that our perception of our external circ*mstances is always a reflection of our inner worlds.

The defined heart has consistent access to their own willpower and is usually unwavering when it comes to OWNING their worth and power.

When they are committed to achieving a goal, they believe in themselves enough – and they trust that they’re competent and resourceful enough – to make the right investments to yield them a healthy ROI. This means they know what is truly worth investing time, money and energy in. And this comes from owning and doubling down on their strengths and advantages.

An empowered and activated defined heart sets high standards for themselves, and is a beautiful example to those around them.

(I have an open heart center and, as I’m writing this, I’m feeling very empowered just by recalling the emotional experience of being in the energy of empowered defined hearts!)

Those with this center white do not have consistent access to their own willpower, and may question their capabilities.

You may internalize others’ projections of you, and you may take comments about your performance and their perception of your competency personally. Because of this, you’ll attempt to prove your worth and value by making decisions that aren’t healthy for you.

For example, in order to feel significant (because you feel otherwise), you’ll end up lowering your standards just to avoid rejection and feeling unworthy. Or, you’ll find ways to justify your over-giving pattern, so that you can prove that you are competent enough to ‘save’ others.

If you also have an open/undefined solar plexus, you may realize that you carry the emotional load in your relationships. Get curious if you have symptoms of the Savior Complex – are you inclined to ‘mother’ people in your relationships?

What kinds of praises or rewards are you chasing?

The unconscious motivation for over-giving and lowering your standards can feel really subtle, because the justifying mind is loud and we live in a world full of marketers & advertisers that, more than often not, sell a ‘false’ vision of success and fulfilment.

You’re not any less powerful and worthy than anyone else. If what’s written here resonating with you, I invite you to recognize that you’ve just been conditioned to view yourself through a distorted lens.

I invite you to start accepting that you’re not designed to have willpower to “crush your goals” all the time.

And that’s the beauty of it!

Not being “on” gives you the opportunity and space to reassess your goals and make adjustments (which requires nervous system flexibility and adaptability), so that when the willpower energy is turned on again, you’ll be able launch yourself forward in the right direction that is a more fruitful use of your energy.

You also have the potential to cultivate wisdom through recognizing if one’s motivation is fuelled by the energy of love or scarcity. This makes you highly sensitive to the integrity of others.

The sacral center is about life-force energy! This is the ‘work-force’ energy. It is also the center of sexuality and desires. Basically, everything tangible that we get to enjoy today – the roof over our heads, the food on our tables, the technology we rely on – is a result of this generative energy.

Only Generators and Manifesting Generators have a defined sacral center.

If you have your sacral center defined and your emotional center is white, you have Sacral Authority.

With your defined sacral, you’re like an energizer bunny. You have consistent energy to work, when you choose work that lights you up. Since this center governs fertility and desires, you also have a pretty consistent sexual appetite (assuming that you are in relatively good health and are feeling fulfilled)!

Speaking of health, it is important for you exhaust your energy at the end of the day. When I say this, I don’t mean busying yourself in mindless things that you low-key hate doing. It means engaging yourself in activities that feel fulfilling and satisfying to you!

When you do this, you’ll sleep better at night, feel replenished the next morning and you’re excited to start a new day.

Non-sacral beings (Projectors, Manifestors and Reflectors) are sensitive to your energetic frequency in this area. We sense when you are truly lit up by what you do, and it gives us that extra spark of energy in our lives, too! But when you are sluggish, we absolutely pick up on that as well.

The best gift that Generators and Manifesting Generators can offer the world is by loving what they do (and loving life). That overflowing energy circulates and fills our cups!

Only Projectors, Manifestors and Reflectors have an undefined or open sacral center.

This means that, if you’re one of those 3 energy types, the way you work and how you receive an invitation into a transactional (work) relationship is going to be experienced differently.

Because your sacral center is white, you are designed to be more efficient with your work. If possible, delegate important tasks that fall outside your zone of genius.

You are invited to redefine what works means to you and how the context of your work fits into the vision you have for your life.

Now, I want to debunk the dogma that non-sacral beings are not here to “work” – there is no shame in work, for anyone, especially if you love working as a non-sacral being (I love doing work I love!). I still firmly believe in work ethic – and, when you choose work that aligns with your design and your vision for your life, your work will ultimately give you a sense of aliveness and vitality.

Instead of thinking of work in terms of the number of hours and effort you put in, you get to be wise about work by first being intentional about cultivating your craft which brings you joy (trusting that your direction in life is guided) and then having clarity & confidence around how you’re designed to enter work relationships that value your gifts.

Be extra intentional about getting adequate and deep rest; when you take care of your body (your vehicle), your energetic frequency is elevated, and the impact of your work is potent and powerful.

As always, follow your Strategy & Authority to enter the right work situations and relationships, where your energy output and gifts are truly valued!

How am I going to implement the information that I now know about my Human Design centers?

I’d like to say this…

Based on personal experience, you reeaallyy do not have to figure out life alone through your white centers.

For instance, I have a completely wide open heart center. And, as a solo-preneur, the best and fastest way for me to tap into the frequency of success, as a Human Design Projector, is to allow myself to receive support/guidance in the areas of offer creation & sales (the gifts associated with the defined heart/ego center)… while I show up fully in my zone of genius, which happens to be content & curriculum creation, writing, branding, teaching, and helping my clients turn their their abstract ideas into tangible concepts they’d be known for – leveraging the consistent energy that my defined head, ajna, throat and identity centers provide me with.

However, it’s also important to acknowledge and invite in the opportunities for growth in those white centers. For sure, a large part of my lessons, wisdom and transformation comes from the ‘trial-and-error life’ of my open/undefined centers, where ‘limiting beliefs’ and ‘inner child wounds’ get stored, if left unaddressed.

And, without these lessons and experiences, I would not have the resilience and fortitude that led me here today, in which I had found the courage to pivot, start this Human Design business and live in my zone of genius. (The process included tedious ‘negotiation’ with my magnetic monopole and intuition before I felt safe and READY to surrender to the ‘pull’ within me.)

At the end of the day, Human Design is a map, a language, a blueprint of your potential that is designed to spell out your unique path of empowerment, expansion and freedom, if you trust yourself enough to make the decisions that align with the frequency of overflow.

This is done by first accepting wherever you’re at in your journey and SEEING your unique potential, in ways you might not have before – remembering that how you ultimately choose to experience and express your potential is a function of choice and consciousness. You are the co-creator of your life.

I believe you and Human Design found one another for a divine reason.

You know that you’re capable of sooo much more and, because you’re here by no accident, I invite you to click the button below for your human design free report(created by yours truly) that reveals your #1 magnetic marketing superpower, and how you can use it to supercharge your content, copy, and brand!