Human Design Pressures of the Root Center Gates

I recently shared how the pressure from your Head Center can interfere with your ability to honor your Strategy and Authority. Remember, your Head Center is where you take in inspiration and is a playground for making sense of the past, exploring the unknown, and projecting predictions of the future. Now we are going to explore your Root Center, where we experience ambition, stress, and adrenaline.

Pull up your Human Design Chart and look at your Root Center (the square at the bottom of your chart).

If your Root Center is defined (colored in), you have a tolerance for pressure and stress, consistent access to your drive and the ability to focus your drive. You are grounded in this energy and the timing of how quickly you are moving. It is important to follow your Strategy so that you aren’t trying to force this energy to relieve the pressure instead of in a way that is correct for you.

If it is undefined (white), you feel unending pressure to get a to do list done and may feel ungrounded. You take in stress from the environment and are vulnerable to burn out. You have a natural attunement to time, and can become wise about freedom can look like, stress management, and the ability to pursue ambition, while also recognizing the importance of rest.

Notice if any of your Gates are activated. There will be a red line (unconscious) a black line (conscious) or a combination of both a red and black line. If you experience the pressures of one of the Human Design Root Center Gates below regularly, but DON'T have that Gate active in your Design, you may find it helpful to look up your parents', spouse's, or close friend's Designs. It is very possible that you are taking on this conditioning from someone else in one of your undefined Gates.

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Gate 53: Beginnings | Pressure to Start New Things

You experience pressure to start something new and have the energy to do so. You may find you are regularly starting things that you are not able to bring to completion because you are not designed to finish everything you begin, especially if you don't have Gate 42 active in your Sacral Center.

Gate 60: Acceptance | Pressure to Transcend Limitations & Mutate

You experience pressure to take pure energy and mutate it into form to create a transformation. When you cannot affect change around you, trust that a transformation is occurring within you. The pressure can build and result in melancholy or even depression, especially if you don't have Gate 3 active in your Sacral Center to help you move forward by bringing order to the chaos of the mutation process.

Gate 52: Stillness | Pressure to Concentrate & Focus Your Energy

You experience the pressure to concentrate deeply. You can become restless or even depressed as you seek to relieve this tension by finding what activity or details are meaningful and worthwhile to focus your energy on, especially if you don't have Gate 9 active in your Sacral Center.

Gate 19: Wanting | Pressure to Be Sensitive to Basic Needs

You experience the pressure to fulfill basic human needs of food, shelter, and spirit for your tribe. You may find you know what is needed, but seem unable to fulfill the needs of your community to survive and reach their potential. Sometimes this pressure can result in turning the energy inward and an oversensitivity about whether or not you are cared for or if your needs will be met, especially if you don't have Gate 49 active in your Solar Plexus Center.

Gate 39: Provocation | Pressure to Emote & Find the Passions in Life

You experience the pressure to provoke an emotional response and awareness of spirit while seeking passion in this life. This provoking reveals whose spirit is correct for you and this pressure to provoke the release of emotions may result in overeating, substance abuse, overspending or other excess when turned inward, especially without Gate 55 active in your Solar Plexus Center.

Gate 41: Contraction | Pressure to Have New Experiences & Feel

You feel the pressure to experience emotion and fantasize about experiencing something new with someone. You can become restless about chasing and fulfilling these desires and can struggle with the sensation of wanting something new, but not knowing what it is you want, especially without Gate 30 active in your Solar Plexus Center.

Gate 58: Vitality | Pressure to Correct & Perfect to Make Things Better

You have a zest for life and sense when something is weak or unhealthy, resulting in a pressure to contribute to making things better using your joy and vitality to correct what is holding society back from ultimate well-being. You can find yourself pushing hard to figure out how to relieve this pressure by being in service in some way, especially with Gate 18 active in your Spleen Center.

Gate 38: The Fighter | Pressure to Find or Struggle for Purpose in Life

You experience pressure for yourself and those around you to find the reason for existence that makes the struggle of survival worth it. You may find yourself wasting energy by engaging in struggles and battles that are not aligned for you as you seek to relieve the pressure without awareness of what is worth your effort, especially without Gate 28 active in your Spleen Center.

Gate 54: Drive | Pressure to Achieve & Transform

You fee the pressure to fulfill your personal potential, and have an inner drive and fuel to succeed and transform yourself and those around you. The challenge is to point your ambitions towards something that can be formed or transformed for lasting value and you seek direction for this powerful drive, especially without Gate 32 active in your Spleen Center. ​

Recognize this Not-Self talk if you have an Undefined or Open Root:

I can relax once I get this done.

I have to hurry up and get this done.

I must get this done first.

I need to start something new right now.

I need to initiate a new experience right now.

I have to make sure I am doing something to make my life better.

Mantras for an Undefined or Open Root:

I am calm and allow this pressure to pass. It is not mine.

I work in my own timing and don't take on stress that is not my own.

I don't let anyone push me to go faster.

I manage my time well and don't need to keep up with other's timing..

I set my own limits and honor that I have inconsistent energy to start things.

I don't rush or hurry to please anyone else.

I am free from the pressure imposed by others.

I know when to stop and relax.

I am allowed to do something playful and fun, even if I still have tasks to complete.

I am allowed to go into nature and get grounded, even if my to do list is not done.

Jen Allen | Human Design Consultant

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