Empath :: the Open Solar Plexus & Human Design

They say in Human Design about 50% of the population has a defined solar plexus centre. Meanwhile, for me, it’s more like 90% of those around me. Based on the Human Design bodygraphs of people I spend time with, albeit a biased sample since I don’t have everyone’s birth details. This, however, does tie into my experience and from rectifying some charts without known birth times.

I myself have an undefined solar plexus centre. Now with an expanding understanding through the Human Design lens, I am discovering and experiencing more of what this means and the dynamics of being in relationship. Having so many in my “world” with a defined solar plexus centre is a valuable avenue for my personal growth.

Quick Intro to Centres

According to Human Design, we are 9-centre beings, with the solar plexus being one. These centres or energy circuitry hubs can be defined, undefined or open, which you can see in your bodygraph. It depends on what energy gates are activated on the design (body) and personality (mind) levels. Quick tip – coloured centres in your bodygraph mean they are defined.

How we connect determines the quality and feel of our relationships. This is essential knowledge. To understand the connections is to find yourself in the union.

Ra Uru Hu, The Human Design System

People can rely on the energy of their defined centres; they have consistent access. How they experience this energy depends on the gates and channels they have. These are the pathways that shape their experiences.

When the centres are open (no gates) or undefined (with gates), people experience that energy through the environment – other people and planetary transits. This way, they are open to the entire spectrum of influences and data.

When in aura, the energy of defined centres flows through open centres and becomes amplified. Without awareness that this is merely mechanics, the open centred person can feel “bullied” into action and be conditioned. They can feel the pressure to act. For those with an open solar plexus centre, these emotional waves can be overwhelming, energy that is always moving through a person with a defined solar plexus. Energy you can feel from being in their aura. However, it’s mechanics, rather than personal. Understanding this sheds light on our experiences while clarifying and deepening how we relate to other people.

What’s important to remember – no design is superior. Having defined energy centres is not “better” than having undefined/open centres and vice versa. We can all grow and deepen our wisdom, no matter the template. The key with Human Design is that this is one lens, one platform, and one framework focused on helping us express our truth and life force. What counts is our empirical experience and how our life unfolds with greater awareness. With our unique designs, we are all valuable and our contributions are part of the evolution of consciousness, in “developing totality” as Ra Uru Ra wrote.

The Power of Solar Plexus Centre

The role of the solar plexus centre is sensing, a new and still-developing trait. This is the future of arriving at clarity and of living in the coming new paradigm. The energy of this centre comes in waves and is emotional in nature. These waves can endure for minutes, days, weeks, and even years and their entirety is to be experienced for a person to get clear.

According to The Human Design System by Ra Uru Hu, the keywords of the solar plexus centre are “aspiration, sensitivity and emotion operating through the Kidneys and Pancreas.”

Unlike those with splenic or sacral authority, people with emotional authority (defined solar plexus) need time to understand and respond. The lesson and the key about making decisions is to first observe and feel through the high and low amplitudes of a wave. The whole truth and so clarity emerges with the experience of the entire wave.

Emotional energy is so powerful that we can feel its lightness or heaviness when we enter into a room and most definitely, when we step into someone’s aura. It is easy for an open solar plexus person to feel the pressure to level out this intensity and to dissipate any tension they perceive. Because in their own aura, they are usually emotionally even-keeled. (This does not mean they are unfeeling!) So without understanding these mechanics, they may feel it’s personal, that they are the cause of what may feel like an emotional reaction. This can fuel underlying insecurity.

The gift of the open centres is partly to reflect back to the defined centres. Oftentimes, the person with the open or undefined solar plexus centre can feel the wave beginning first as it is amplified within them. In this way, they are empaths.

photo by Ale Romo Photography

Relationships with Defined and Undefined Solar Plexus Centres through the Human Design Lens

So what happens when one person in a relationship has a defined solar plexus centre and the other has an undefined centre?

I have an undefined solar plexus centre and what I have learned is that these emotional waves which arise are not about me. Trust me when I say I do trigger them with my questions for example, especially as my partner is a hermit. He explains it as his emotional bucket filling up. As with any relationship, it’s about navigating the dynamics as we open to the energies of each other’s design. Relationships is how we learn!

If you are in a similar situation, perhaps what I’m discovering will be helpful. What I’m sharing are not official Human Design teachings; just my own exploration and our conversations. It helps that my partner is a Human Design Guide. He now informs me when a question is emotional for him and I let go of receiving an answer in the moment. Having different authorities can lead to misunderstanding or deeper connection.

What I’ve Learned About Defined-Undefined Solar Plexus Dynamics

1 There is divine timing for everything.

I am learning to more deeply trust that when the time is correct for us to communicate about what’s going on, it will happen. Organically. And when we both have energy for it. I understand now that there is no point instigating a conversation when he has no clarity. Just so I can feel better, and know what’s going on. What’s going on is unclear and these premature talks more likely set off additional emotional waves…which means the wait time is compounded. Thinking that talking about it can relieve the pressures of my own open centre is mind stuff, and a missed opportunity for self understanding.

2 Most (all?) of it is mind stuff. So much of it.

The Mind is not the leader of us. Yet most people are constantly trying to “mind-it out”, trying to figure life out, questioning, seeking, and likely pushing. Doing. Rather than being, and waiting for the right time, the right thing to respond to, the right invitation…

Like many people, I have an open Head centre. This means all kinds of questions pop into my head. In my own deconditioning process, I’m learning not to blurt out any and all the questions that arise. It’s quite a journey, especially because of the Investigator profile I have.

Questions and thoughts will continue to pass through and it’s quite liberating and even humourous to be able to just sit back and watch them. Like clouds drifting in the sky. Clouds that make all kinds of shapes.

The energy from my channel of the now also places undue pressure on others to immediately provide me with an answer. It’s unnecessary especially for those unimportant and non-urgent questions. What I’m becoming more aware of is how impactful my channels. I’m learning to be more intentional with which questions and how I ask. Because when I bombard him with questions (especially those that turn out to be emotional for him), his bucket gets full and his energy is depleted. This means less energy for me, for us. Plus changing his direction can eliminate or postpone golden opportunities for his natural expressions and sharing.

Experience has shown me that the important questions will come up again. Also when I release them to the Universe, the answers will show up in the most mystical and serendipitous ways.

3 It’s up to Me to be present to my own feelings

Now, knowing that my undefined centre amplifies his emotional waves, I understand that I may feel them before my partner does. If it gets too intense or uncomfortable, one thing I can do is to move out of his aura. Because of our interconnectedness, often I have to go further than simply out of this 9-foot energy field. In my own space, I can then reflect on the source of the discomfort. What is really going on? Are old patterns being triggered? Is what’s arising ready to be released within myself? Or am I getting an intuitive hit? As a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, I also hold my fingers to balance my own energy. This simple practice harmonizes all the pathways and is easy-to-do and super potent.


Human Design is an intriguing system that refutes the conditioning and the homogenization that we’ve undergone. The information is meant to help us better understand our design so to honour our uniqueness. There is no one size fits all and it is what makes us special and different that threads into our evolution.

The thing is, as soon as it becomes fodder for the mind, it too becomes a burden, a barrier to our natural expression of self. We don’t have to understand Human Design to be living who we are. The key is to listen to our truth, surrender to divine timing, be present, and honour others in the same way.