As a health coach, your client’s wellbeing is your top priority. But how does Human Design tie into this?
In a nutshell: Human Design provides shortcuts that help you figure out the most aligned health routines, programs, and actions for your clients.
Because you’ve probably noticed that there’s a LOT of variety around what actually works for each of your clients, right? Some clients do better with a structured routine while others need lots of flexibility. Some thrive with a specific style of eating, while others have completely different nutrition needs.
And yes, these things can be figured out through trial and error. Or you can use Human Design to speed up the process. Here’s how 👇
5 Human Design Tools for Health Coaches
Here are five areas of Human Design that are super helpful to understand as a health or wellness coach. These are powerful tools that will elevate your coaching skills and make your sessions more personalized, impactful, and effective.
#1. Your Client’s Type
There are 5 different Types in Human Design: Manifestor, Generator, Manifesting Generator, Projector, and Reflector. You can find out your client’s Type by getting their chart here.
Each Type has a different aura and a specific way of interacting with the world. Each Type also experiences different levels of physical energy, and in different patterns.
For example, Generators wake up each day with a set amount of energy that they’re meant to use up that day. They can also “share” their energy with other people around them.
Projectors, on the other hand, have less consistent and reliable energy. They need more rest than Generators, and they especially need to rest proactively before they get tired.
Speaking of rest, some Types need more rest than others, and each Type needs rest for different reasons. Generators and Mani-Gens need to rest at the end of a long day to recharge their batteries, while Manifestors need to rest in between their (often unpredictable) bursts of creative energy. Projectors and Reflectors need proactive rest built into their days.
Each Type also has ‘signposts’ that let you know when they’re doing something in alignment or out of alignment with their design. These signposts are specific emotions that can signal to you and your client whenever a particular nutrition regimen, type of exercise, schedule, etc. is aligned or not aligned for them.
Signposts of Alignment
- Manifestors: Peace
- Generators and MGs: Satisfaction
- Projectors: Success
- Reflectors: Surprise
Signposts of Misalignment
- Manifestors: Anger
- Generators and MGs: Frustration
- Projectors: Bitterness
- Reflectors: Disappointment
#2. The Heart Center
The Heart Center is one of nine Energy Centers in the Bodygraph chart. Each Energy Center is a hub of energy within the body, similar to a Chakra. Each of the Centers govern specific kinds of energy.
The Heart Center relates to your sense of willfulness and your ability to commit yourself to something and follow through on it.
If you have a defined Heart Center, the triangle circled on the BodyGraph chart below will be colored red (as in the image on the left). If your client has a defined Heart Center, he or she might have an easier time sticking to a consistent exercise or nutrition plan.
People with a defined Heart Center are also often competitive by nature. They might love types of exercise where they get to “compete” against other people — e.g., running a race, doing a spin class with a leaderboard, etc.
Image Source: mybodygraph.com
An undefined Heart Center will be white on the Bodygraph chart. A client with an undefined Heart won’t always be able to rely on their sense of willpower to stick to nutrition or fitness regimens, so consistency or “following through on their promises” shouldn’t be the main focus.
The key for someone with an undefined Heart is to not overcommit themselves or make promises they aren’t sure they can keep, either to themselves or to others.
#3. The Determination Variable
The Variables in Human Design are the four arrows near the top of the BodyGraph chart, two on the left and two on the right. Each of these arrows can point either to the left or to the right. The top left arrow is the one we’ll talk about today: the Determination Variable.
Image Source: mybodygraph.com
Here’s what the Determination Variable can tell you about your clients:
If this arrow points to the left, your client thrives on structured, consistent nutrition and nourishment. These are people who might do well eating at specific times each day, or having a set amount of time between each meal.
If this arrow points to the right, your client will likely do better with a more relaxed, go-with-the-flow approach to nutrition. They don’t necessarily need to fuel their bodies in such a structured, consistent way. These clients might thrive with the principles of intuitive eating where they let their body guide them.
#4. Environment
In Human Design, your client’s Environment represents the type of physical space where they thrive, specifically from the age of 30 onwards. There are six different Environments:
- Markets
- Kitchens
- Valleys
- Shores
- Mountains
- Caves
Rather than taking these names literally, think of them as metaphors representing certain qualities of a space. For example, a client with Caves Environment might love being underground like in a basement, or in any space that’s cozy, calm, and comfortable. They may prefer dim or mood lighting over bright fluorescents.
On the other hand, a client with Mountains Environment will probably love being higher up, anywhere they have a grander perspective or view (e.g., the 10th floor of a high-rise building). They also do well in low-oxygen environments and thrive on aerobic exercise.
Learning about your client’s Environment can help you find the best place for that client to exercise, to nourish themselves, and to live—as well as the best environment for promoting their overall health, relaxation, and wellbeing.
To find out your client’s Environment, you can use the chart generating tool on my website here. I also love the practical tips about Environment on Vaness Henry’s blog.
#5. Digestion Styles
Human Design Digestion also comes from the Determination Variable, but is calculated at a deeper level than what we looked at above. You can use the chart generating tool here to find out your client’s Digestion.
As it sounds, Digestion relates to the way your client best digests food (and other things). Knowing your client’s Digestion style gives you insights into the type of food, eating habits, or eating environments that are most aligned for them and ensure optimal digestion of food.
There are 12 different Digestions you can have in Human Design.
We won’t go into all 12 here, but I have a full breakdown on the blog that you can check out if you like.
As a quick example, here are the Digestion style that my daughter and I have and what it means for us:
Alternating Digestion: This involves a whole foods, paleo-style diet, where your client takes one bite of one food, followed by a second bite of a different food on their plate, and then rotates their way around each of the foods. For example, one bite of an apple, one bite of a strawberry, followed by one bite of chicken, and then back to the apple again, and so on.
Consecutive Digestion: This also involves a whole foods, paleo-style diet, but instead of alternating bites between different foods, you should start and finish one entire food on your plate until it’s gone, then move onto the next food and finish it completely, and so on until you’ve finished everything on your plate.
As you see, these two Digestion styles relate to a specific type of food as well as a pattern of eating.
Going beyond the basics
These five pieces of Human Design are the perfect practical starting point for bringing HD into your work as a health and wellness coach. But if you’re ready to go deeper, I invite you to check out my free on-demand masterclass and my Human Design for Coaches program.
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