Energy Centers in Human Design

  ( Chakra System )

Energy centers (chakras) are hubs in the body where the energy streams together, converges, centers and distributes. The centers are connected via different life forces (channels and gates).
Until 1781 humans were born with 7 centers, today we are born with 9 centers. We have evolved to a 9-centered being. Although the 7-centered chakra system is still used everywhere, it has been outdated for more than 200 years.

Defined Centers (colored in)

Defined centers indicate a defined life force that is fixed. They are like a TV channel that broadcasts whatever life force defines the center and they have that particular movie running and broadcasting all day. Never is there a power cut that makes the movie stop.

Defined centers often have a certain blindness to what else is out there because they live their definition that is always there consistently. Until one gains a better understanding, there is often the assumption that it works as reliably for everyone else as well.

Open Centers (white)

Open centers are the receiver. They are the receiver or TV where the movie, the life force of the defined center is being received and played. The way the movie plays back in the open center is never 100% the same, you always have some noise in there that emerges from the transmission from one to the other. Sometimes you have more, sometimes you have less noise and distortion. But to keep it general and universal, the movie that is being played in an open center is not the movie that you broadcast, it's the movie that you watch. It is not consistent, the movie can change.
The open center always amplifies what comes from the defined center. It can amplify it from 100% to 150% (a big screen TV), or it can amplify it from 100% to 500% (a cinema size movie that fills the whole wall and is very immersive). The level of amplification varies. But it is always amplified. Open centers are very sensitive to outside stimulation.
Your openness is where you go to school in life. Here you watch the movies of other people and become wise about them. We are not just talking about one fixed movie, but about many many different movies that you will encounter and experience in a lifetime. Everyone has their own movie where their chart is defined (colored in). Where your chart is open (white), you are open to perceive other people's movies and to learn about their variety. That variety is where the huge potential for wisdom in the open centers stems from.
You could also say that a defined center is more like watching a lengthy series with many seasons. An open center is more like going to a film festival and watching many different movies and sneak peeks.

Having many open centers can be very distorting if you identify with what you amplify and if you let it rule your life. But once you detach and just observe what is going on without letting it force you into action, it is an amazing thing because you get to see A LOT. Just don't let these things fool you into thinking they are yours. Don't let them fool you into making decisions that are not yours. Doing this gets you off track and out of sync with life. These shadow frequencies can be habits that you have lived out for so long that you don't even notice them anymore. It's like being on autopilot having the wrong navigation program running.
Open centers are under enormous pressure that builds up from contact with other people or planetary transits. It's tempting to act out that pressure, but since it is not you, blindly acting it out will most of the time not help you to get on the life path that is truly yours. It can be extremely beneficial for you to take some alone time at the end of the day in order to unload foreign energy. Also, it is extremely helpful to sleep in your own aura in order to avoid being impacted by other people's energies in the sleep state where you are the most vulnerable (and unconscious), and to start your day as yourself with as little energetic distortion as possible.

Takeaway

Sometimes, people think that having an open center means having an "empty" center where something is missing. This is not true. An open center is not broken and nothing needs to be fixed. Defined/open is just a duality like yin and yang or day and night. One is active and penetrating, the other is passive and receptive. The world needs both.

Both the defined and the open center have unhealthy and damaging aspects (shadows) as well as healthy and enriching aspects (potentials). Every center also has a biological correlation. The centers in your chart where you live out the shadow frequencies are usually the ones where you are the most susceptible to health problems.
The themes you have in life are determined by your chart. But how you live them out, with what level of awareness you encounter yourself and the world - that is up to you 🙂 We want to encourage you to look carefully at the shadow aspects, but at the same time to focus on the potentials. Do not get caught up in feeling bad or guilty if you happen to live out shadow aspects. We all have shadow aspects within us that sometimes get the best of us. You hold the potential for both: low frequency and high frequency. Deeply pondering the high frequency over and over again can slowly reprogram you towards it, bit by bit.

There is a reason for everyone in life to be the way they are - cause and effect, no blame, no shame. We all are doing the best we can. Everyone holds SO much beauty and potential to blossom in their design, and so do you! Knowledge combined with self-observation is the key to awareness. Just observe yourself and try not to judge. Maybe do not try to focus on everything at once, it might be overwhelming and discouraging and there can be the danger of getting stuck in an addictive and disempowering loop of desperately trying to be better, or skipping steps altogether. The most important thing is that you never let yourself be pressured and discouraged, but that you believe in yourself and keep going slowly but steadily. It is not an easy task, but no matter how slow it goes, it is the steadiness that carves a riverbed out of the stone so that the river can grow to its full flow and its full power. Have patience with yourself ♡

It will take time to overcome major shadows and to watch your whole frequency shift. But if you are willing to observe your process carefully, you will overcome many of the detrimental aspects and relieve them of their severity. Only through facing your shadows, you can transcend them. In this process, we encourage you to look at the positive aspects, again and again, focus on your potential and let it sink in. You can live the brightest aspects of your chart, they are deeply ingrained within you. When you feel trapped in a shadowy place where you do not want to be, it can help you to envision that you already live your potential and how it feels when you live your full potential - how beautiful that is and how beautiful you are! If you don't confuse imagination with present reality and use a dream to deny or cover up obvious mistakes, but if you try to use your imagination as a tool to reprogram yourself instead, it can motivate you and change you. Imagining and perceiving the reward (how good it feels to be well-aligned and living your potential) can give you the motivation to keep going and to unearth your best and highest potential.

When you continue to read the shadow description of your centers, please do not be ashamed if you find yourself in it. We all have our shadow aspects, it makes us human. We are caught in this life together in order to overcome them, to grow and to gain wisdom. We want to encourage you to look at the shadow descriptions lovingly, they are part of your own journey and they are part of the journey of many, many other people out there.