In the Human Design bodygraph, there are two pressure centers – the head and the root – and when those centers aren’t well-regulated, it can create a lot of stress, anxiety, and depression.
As a collective, we are inundated with these “negative” emotions because we don’t know how to use pressure in the correct way.
Since our emotions are the fuel for our actions, “negative” emotions will always create “negative” results.
Any quick glance at the state of the world will tell us how that is going. 🤣
Before moving on, I do want to point out that I put the word “negative” in quotes because the point isn’t to bypass these uncomfortable emotions or to create a vendetta against them.
All of our emotions have incredible wisdom to offer about the frequency of our consciousness and serve our highest good.
Just like pressure, the energy in our chart, money, food, sex, etc., how we USE emotions is what really matters.
So, that said, let’s talk about exactly that…
In the simplest terms, the head creates the pressure to think about things, analyze, and solve problems. The root creates the pressure to grow, evolve, and move forward in life.
And despite common rhetoric, that pressure isn’t a “bad” thing.
Pressure creates diamonds, after all.
We want to think, analyze, solve problems, grow, evolve, and move forward in life. These are part of what it means to be a HUMAN incarnate on EARTH. We are here to play in the land of pressure.
But the magic is in the dose.
If the pressure isn’t well-regulated, and there is either too much or too little pressure, that is where we start to have problems.
When the pressure of the head center builds too much, it can lead to anxiety, overwhelm, and mental stress. If there isn’t enough head pressure, it can lead to apathy, lack of interest, and depression.
When the pressure of the root center builds too much, it can lead to rushing, burnout, and physical stress. When there isn’t enough, it can lead to laziness, lethargy, and inertia.
So, again, the key is in the way we are using pressure.
When our head, root, or both are defined, we tend more naturally to regulate these pressures but the definition in the chart doesn’t create hard and fast rules. No one is immune from having problems on either side of the spectrum.
And there are absolutely things that you can do to help regulate the pressure.
When you want to regulate “too much” head pressure, get really curious about the quality and quantity of questions you are asking yourself and others.
Questions CREATE the pressure in the head center.
If you are exposing yourself to lots and lots of questions OR asking the “wrong” questions, that will just build more and more pressure.
And, to be clear, the questions aren’t always literal or conscious. The head center is a center of inspiration which means that if we are exposing ourselves to “too much” inspiration, the same thing is happening.
For example, if you are scrolling IG all day and keep seeing someone you admire doing things you admire, your head center may unconsciously be asking, what is wrong with me? Why can’t I be like them? How can I do what they are doing?
Those questions SUCK and will create so much anxiety!
The key is seeing what direction your thoughts and emotions are going and letting that be your guide.
When you want to regulate “not enough” head pressure, expose yourself to high-quality questions. You’ll know the quality of the question by the direction it sends your thoughts and emotions.
If the question sends you down a rabbit hole of shame, despair, anxiety, worry, etc. that isn’t a high-quality question. If it creates inspiration, healing awareness, and deep insight, that is a high-quality question.
And be willing to LINGER with questions and accept that some questions really are unanswerable. Otherwise, you’ll end up on the “too much” pressure side of things.
If you don’t know HOW to create high-quality questions, this is where coaching, especially from Projectors, can come in. I ask lots of high-quality questions both here, on my blog, and in the Human Design Map.
But there are lots of coaches/projectors out there who are asking AMAZING questions.
When you want to regulate “too much” root pressure, the absolute best thing you can do is move your body. Go for a walk, clean something in your house, or do any kind of physical exercise that you enjoy.
The movement gets the pressure moving and burns it off in a healthy way.
The other thing to do is to be really curious about your relationship to deadlines, to-do lists, outer expectations, and misaligned goals.
If there is any hint of “doing this makes me lovable or worthy,” you can be assured that you are ADDING unnecessary pressure and no amount of physical movement will solve that.
You solve that by remembering that there is nothing that can prove lovability or worthiness.
When you want to regulate “not enough” root pressure, the first place to look is how often you aren’t regulating “too much” root pressure. It is easy to mistake burnout for “not enough pressure” inertia.
If you are burnt out from not correctly dealing with too much pressure, the absolute best thing you can do is rest and nourish your adrenals. Look at the energy (thoughts and emotions) under everything you are doing and work on that.
But, if you are in fact dealing with “not enough” pressure, you can use deadlines, intentions, and goals to get things moving. Be sure to set them based on what is correct for you energetically, take aligned actions, and trust in the right timing.
With all of these ideas, the proof is in the RESULTS.
Do you perpetuate stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and depression? Or is it relieving it?
Does it lead to more satisfaction, success, peace, and surprise/delight? Or does it lead to more frustration, anger, bitterness, and disappointment?
At the end of the day, that is what matters.
Either way, you’ve got this.