What Are the Centers in Human Design?

Your Human Design chart, the bodygraph, is a map of your energy. Its most striking elements are the nine centers: the triangles, squares and the diamond spread across the body. They are reminiscent of the seven chakras, but Human Design arranges them differently and counts nine. Each center stands for a theme in life, such as thinking, expression, emotion or drive.

The centers are joined by channels. When a channel is activated at both ends, the two centers it connects are defined. That creates the pattern of colored and white centers that makes every bodygraph unique.

Defined or Open: The Difference

Defined centers are colored in the bodygraph. According to the teaching, this is where you have a consistent way of functioning: the energy is always available and you radiate it outward. Someone with a defined Sacral center, for example, has reliable energy for work and life.

Open centers are white. Here you take in other people's energy and amplify it. That makes you adaptable and receptive in this area, but also prone to conditioning: to patterns you adopt in order to fit in. Many people first experience their open centers as weak spots because they are inconsistent there. The teaching sees it the other way round: this is exactly where you can develop great wisdom over time, because you get to know the whole spectrum of a theme. More in the article on open centers and conditioning.

Each open center comes with a guiding question that helps you notice when conditioning is steering you. You will find it below with each center.

The Nine Centers at a Glance

Head Center: Inspiration and Questions

The Head center at the top is a pressure center. It creates mental pressure: questions, doubts, inspiration, the urge to understand. When it is defined, your thoughts keep circling your own questions. When it is open, you take in other people's questions and can get lost in topics that aren't yours. Guiding question: am I thinking about things that don't really matter to me?

Ajna: Thinking and Opinion

The Ajna center processes what comes from the head: it sorts, compares and forms concepts and opinions. It is one of the three awareness centers. Defined means a fixed way of thinking; open means a flexible mind that can hold many viewpoints. Guiding question: am I trying to seem certain when I'm not?

Throat Center: Expression and Action

In the Throat center, energy becomes speech and action. All the other centers move toward the Throat. When it is defined, you have a reliable way of expressing yourself; when it is open, your voice varies with your surroundings, and pressure to be heard builds easily. Guiding question: am I trying to attract attention?

G Center: Identity, Love and Direction

The G center in the middle of the bodygraph stands for identity, love and direction in life. When it is defined, you have a consistent sense of who you are and where you are going. When it is open, your identity is more fluid and depends strongly on your surroundings; the right places and people then matter a great deal. Guiding question: am I still looking for love and direction?

Heart or Ego Center: Will and Worth

The Heart center, also called the Ego center, is a motor. It stands for willpower, self-worth, promises and the material world. When it is defined, you can count on your will when you commit to something. When it is open, you tend to want to prove yourself. Guiding question: do I have to prove my worth?

Solar Plexus: Emotions in Waves

The Solar Plexus is both a motor and an awareness center: the center of emotions, which run in waves. About half of all people have it defined and with it emotional authority, the most common authority in Human Design: good decisions take time here. When it is open, you feel other people's emotions and amplify them, which often leads to avoiding conflict. Guiding question: am I avoiding confrontation and truth?

Sacral Center: Life Force

The Sacral center is the strongest motor: life force, energy for work, fertility and sexuality. About 70% of people have it defined; they are the Generators and Manifesting Generators. They respond with an inner yes or no; more in the article on the defined Sacral center. When it is open, you take in other people's energy and often don't notice when enough is enough, see the open Sacral center. Guiding question: do I know when enough is enough?

Spleen Center: Instinct and Body Awareness

The Spleen center is the oldest of the three awareness centers: instinct, intuition and a sense of what is good for you in the moment. Its voice is quiet and speaks only once. When defined, it can carry splenic authority. When it is open, you tend to hold on to people, places or habits that are no longer good for you. Guiding question: am I holding on to something that isn't good for me?

Root Center: Drive and Pressure

The Root center at the bottom is both a pressure center and a motor. It provides the drive to get things going and creates pace and stress. When it is defined, you handle pressure in a consistent way; when it is open, you amplify the pressure around you and want to get rid of it quickly. Guiding question: am I rushing to be free of the pressure?

Motors, Pressure and Awareness Centers

The centers can be grouped by their function:

Motors (4): Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart and Root provide energy.
Pressure centers (2): Head and Root create pressure, mental from above, physical from below.
Awareness centers (3): Ajna, Spleen and Solar Plexus perceive: in thinking, in instinct and in feeling.
Throat and G: the Throat turns energy into expression and action; the G center gives identity and direction.

How the Centers Determine Your Type

Which centers are defined and how they are connected decides your type. If the Sacral center is defined, you are a Generator; if a motor also leads directly to the Throat, a Manifesting Generator. If the Sacral center is open but a motor is connected to the Throat, you are a Manifestor. Without a defined Sacral and without a motor-to-Throat connection, but with at least one defined center, you are a Projector. If all nine centers are open, you are a Reflector. Your inner authority also follows from the defined centers, above all the Solar Plexus, Sacral and Spleen.

Centers in UmbraLux

UmbraLux calculates from your birth data which of your centers are defined and derives your type, authority and definition from them, which you see in your profile; the app doesn't show the centers themselves. The library explains all nine centers in detail. Ask Verus, your AI companion, which of your centers are defined and which are open: he knows them and talks with you about what they mean for your everyday life, together with your type and authority.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Centers

How many centers are there in Human Design?

Nine: Head, Ajna, Throat, G, Heart (Ego), Solar Plexus, Sacral, Spleen and Root.

What does an open center mean?

In an open center you have no consistent energy of your own; instead you take in other people's energy and amplify it. That isn't a weakness: open centers make you receptive and can become a source of wisdom over time once you recognize the conditioning.

Is it better to have many defined centers?

No. Many defined centers mean more consistency, few mean more openness and adaptability. Both have their strengths; what matters is living by your own strategy and authority.

How are the centers related to the chakras?

The nine centers are reminiscent of the seven chakras, but they aren't the same. Human Design arranges the themes differently and, for example, distinguishes the Spleen, Solar Plexus and Sacral where the chakra teaching draws other lines. You will find the seven chakras in the library under chakras.

The 9 Centers in Human Design: Meaning, Defined and Open