Ever feel like you’re stuck on a hamster wheel, rushing rushing rushing to get things done… but when you do, there’s no real sense of relief because you still have a million things left on your to-do list? 😅

In Human Design, this feeling of pressure and urgency comes from the Root Center. This is often one of the biggest areas to decondition when you start experimenting with your design.

In this post we’re exploring all things Root Center, including the energy it governs, the difference between a defined and undefined Root, and how to coach your clients more effectively based on their Root Center.

What are the Energy Centers in Human Design?

In the Human Design chart, there are nine Energy Centers. These are the larger shapes in the chart: the squares, triangles, and diamonds. If you’re familiar with the chakra system, Energy Centers function similarly to the chakras.

Energy enters or exits each Center through its Gates (which are the numbers along the inside edges of each Center). These Gates add unique characteristics to the energy flowing through them.

Each Energy Center also governs specific body parts and biological systems. The Root Center, the square at the bottom of the chart, is connected to our adrenal glands and it regulates the energy of drive, stress, and momentum.

The Root Center’s Energy and Functions

The Root is a dual-purpose Center. It’s both:

• A Pressure Center, creating physical pressure to take action and overcome challenges
• A Motor Center, providing the energetic fuel needed to create and maintain momentum in life

Each of the nine Gates within the Root Center fuels a specific life process, and creates the pressure to begin and complete that process. 

For example, Gate 53 (the Gate of Beginnings) generates the pressure and energy required to start something new—whether that’s a project, relationship, hobby, or even career.

Personalized Coaching with the Root Center

Each of your clients will have either a defined Root Center (colored brown on their chart) or an undefined Root Center (white).

In a moment, we’ll look at the defined Root vs. the undefined Root, and how you can coach your clients in a more personalized and effective way based on this information. 

But first, there are some key themes that relate to the Root Center:

1. Stress: How does your client naturally handle life’s stresses? Do they cope in a healthy way, or do they struggle in certain areas?
2. Urgency: Ever feel like you can’t sit still or rest until you’ve crossed off everything off on your to-do list? That pressure comes from the Root.
3. Procrastination: How does your client approach tasks and projects? Do they procrastinate or are they driven to act right away?
4. Motivation and Drive: What fuels or pressures your client to take action? What drives them to initiate, create momentum, or bring their ideas to life?

Next, let’s look at how a defined Root Center might show up for your clients, and how you can tailor your coaching to best support these clients.

How to Coach a Client with a Defined Root Center

If the Root Center is coloured brown in your client’s chart, that means their Root Center is defined. About 60% of the population has a defined Root Center.

These clients have consistent, reliable access to the energy of the Root Center. In other words, to drive, stress coping mechanisms, and momentum. Any activated Gates and Channels in the Root Center are stable sources of energy that these clients can consistently rely on.

Defined Root Center Channels

In order to have a defined Root Center, your client must have one or more defined Channels coming off the Root Center. To identify a defined Channel, look for the ones that are fully coloured in all the way across (either in black, red, or red and black).

Clients with a defined Root Center:

• Automatically project their own stress and pressure onto other people, energetically. This happens when they are near someone who has an undefined Root Center.

• May expect other people in their life to be able to handle stress and pressure the way that they do, which isn’t always a reasonable expectation.

• Might allow the pressure they feel from the Root Center to drive them to initiate in ways that are not aligned (in other words, going against their own Human Design Strategy and Authority).

• Often develop a tolerance or comfort with that constant feeling of pressure coming from their Root. Ironically, these clients can become quite the procrastinators, leaving things until the last minute simply because they’ve grown accustomed to that ever-present feeling of pressure.

Coaching Tips for Defined Root Center Clients

Here are a few ways to coach these clients in a more effective and impactful way:

1. Stress Management: Help your client recognize how they cope with stress, and determine whether these are healthy coping mechanisms or not. Share ideas and tools to help them navigate stressful situations in a productive and healthy way.

2. Taking Action: Remind your client to not let the Root Center’s pressure drive them to take actions or make decisions that aren’t actually aligned for them. Remember that only Manifestors are designed to initiate when it comes to the areas of career and relationships, while others need to wait for external cues like invitations (Projectors) or something to respond to (Generators and Mani-Gens).

3. Procrastination: Defined Root clients may procrastinate because they’re so accustomed to the feeling of pressure, so they wait until the last moment to act. If this has become problematic in your client’s life, help them find tools and set up systems to avoid procrastination.

How to Coach a Client with an Undefined Root Center

If the Root Center is coloured white in your client’s chart, their Root is undefined. About 40% of the population has an undefined Root Center. 

When a Center is undefined, it means your client has inconsistent, unreliable, or unpredictable access to the energies governed by that Center. It also means your client will absorb and amplify Root energy from people around them who have a defined Root Center, taking on the pressure, stress, and drive of those people and experiencing them in a magnified way.

Clients with an undefined Root Center:

• Feel an uncomfortable, overwhelming sense of pressure in social settings, coming from people around them. This might compel them to take action in an attempt to quickly relieve that feeling of pressure, but the action might not be aligned for them and their design.

• Tend to dislike stress, pressure, and deadlines. For example, I have an undefined Root and the mere thought of something needing to be done on a specific date or by a certain deadline feels very overwhelming to me.

Coaching Tips for Undefined Root Center Clients:

Recognize the Pressure: Help your clients become aware of when they’re absorbing Root energy from others, and teach them strategies to release those not-self energies. As simple as it sounds, this can make a huge difference for these clients.

Knowing When to Act: Let your client’s Strategy and Authority inform them of the right time to act and the right actions to take.

Release the Urgency: Encourage your client to pause before acting, and determine whether the pressure they feel is their own or someone else’s they’ve absorbed.

Set Boundaries: Following on from that, if someone in your client’s immediate physical environment has a defined Root (e.g., their partner, co-worker they share an office with), teach them how to energetically and physically manage the amplified pressure they feel around those people.

Deepen Your Coaching with Human Design

If you found this breakdown of the Root Center helpful, we dive even deeper into the Root along with the other eight Energy Centers inside the Human Design for Coaches program. Head here to join the program and start your journey to becoming a Human Design-informed coach.

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