Understanding Emotional Authority in Human Design

Before I get into the information about emotional authority in human design and finding emotional neutral I first want to say, there is a lot happening in our world. While I’m in zero position to comment in any sort of meaningful way. Here is what I will say – the world needs light. The world needs more people who understand the whole of who they are. The world needs more people who can hold space for others with a regulated nervous system.

So I am going to continue to show up, hold space, stand up for what I believe in and continue to make an impact in the world. Because the world needs more light. More people who don’t spend their adulthoods recovering from their childhoods. More compassion. More authenticity, more vulnerability. More individualitity.

We are living in unprecedented times and we need leaders. People who stand tall and disrupt the way it’s always been done. In every industry and in every facet of life. I am going to continue to lead. To continue to support you in building a life and biz around the whole of who you are. To continue to challenge the status quo. To continue to believe on the horizon there is hope. To support you in deconditioning from the weight the world has put on you. To hold space. Because we need more people who are the whole of who they are.

Now let’s dive into emotinoal authority in human design & emotional waves, wakes and sloppiness.

Let me provide some context as to why I’m writing this. I’ve had several people with emotional authority in human design ask me – is emotional neutral really a thing? For emotional beings, we are often “at the mercy” of our waves. We let them sweep us away without awareness that it is happening. They pull us up and down and under, leaving behind us an emotional wake. This emotional sloppiness often leaves residue on those around us, our undefined solar plexus counterparts, and impacts our relationship. I thought I would share a bit about finding, managing, and getting to emotional neutral.

Unsurprisingly, so much of our world runs on emotions: the highs, the lows, and the inbetween. More than 53% of the population has a defined solar plexus, which creates emotional authority in human design. With emotional authority, one rides their emotional wave and gets to emotional neutral. 80% certainty is a decision, as emotional authority never has 100% knowing.

Distilling the Emotional Waves with Emotional Authority in Human Design

Emotional authority comes in three distinct types of waves. The tribal/community wave (19,-49, 37-40) usually rachets up in three peaks before it explodes. The individual wave (39-55, 22-12) which has highs and lows and moodiness but operates relatively even keel, and the abstract wave (41-30, 36-35) with really high highs and really low lows – this is in my opinion, the most intense wave. Plus the source of all waves that can experience all three waves the 59-6.

Depending on your definition, you may have a combination of these waves if you have more than one gate or channel.

The Undefined Solar Plexus in Human Design

Before we get into details, let’s talk about the undefined solar plexus.

For those with an undefined or open solar plexus, it is essential to understand that those with this definition simply amplify the emotions around them. These are people who often appear to be “the most emotional person in the house” yet, they are merely amplifying, mirroring, and reflecting back the emotions of those that they are around. These are people whose emotions can swing from left to right wildly, which is the most often presentation of this undefined center. Or these people can appear to have no emotions whatsoever. The undefined solar plexus is here to allow emotions to flow through them without identifying with them. They are here to allow these emotions to pass through them without claiming them as their own.

It is important to remember that in an undefined or open solar plexus, this is like having a boat with only an anchor (the gate) in an undefined or a boat with no anchor and no steering wheel in the undefined. You are at the mercy of the boats around, leaving whatever wake they choose as they zoom by. This creates lots of chop that the undefined and open solar plexus folks must contend with.

In my house, three out of the four of us have emotional authority. Yet, I watch my oldest manifestor son, with splenic authority, emotions wildly swing from up and down and left and right. He is amplifying what is already present in the household. I remember my pre-human design days – I would wonder why this was happening, and now I know with great specificity why it does.

Supporting Yourself with Emotional Authority

So how do we defined folks with this to better support ourselves and those around us?

The answer is simple – emotional neutral and awareness.

When I share with those who have a defined solar plexus that neutral is possible, I am often met with resistance. One of the things I have been practicing over the last year is finding and becoming aware of my emotional neutral and where I am with my emotional wave.

I’ve been practicing this for several reasons:

1 – as an emotional authority I believe I have a responsibility to mind my emotional sloppiness and wake. I do not want to leave a wake of emotional destruction behind me because I had a bad day.

2 – Witnessing my wave and becoming aware of it has allowed me with more speed and mindfulness to get through it, make decisions faster, and understand the impact on others of my wave.

3 – As an emotional being, I owe it to the people around me, particularly my family, to tend to and reckon with my own emotional wave and not spread waves to others.

Now, I want to say that all of this is easier said than done. I am not perfect, and sometimes my emotions get the best of me. However, I want to share some of the things I have been doing to be more mindful of my emotional wave.

Naming my emotions. This has changed the game for me. This is also very beneficial for both defined and our undefined counterparts. The more emotions we can name, the less we will identify with that emotion. Because the reality is we are not our emotions regardless of the definition of our solar plexus. We aren’t sad or happy or bitter or angry. We are experiencing it. It is fleeting. It is going to come and go unless we attach to it. As humans where we get ourselves into trouble is when we identify with our emotions and they become part of it. This often traps the emotions in our bodies and, over time, causes issues.

When you are experiencing emotions, take a moment to breathe, get present, and name the emotion that you are experiencing. Give yourself permission to feel it. If you are an emotional being, can you slow down enough to recognize where you are on your emotional wave? Is the wave peaking? Is it descending? Is it at a low?

Create a practice to get emotions out. For me, this often comes in the form of putting on my singing playlist and belting it out. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I laugh, and sometimes I just sing. But whenever I start to feel my wave get at one of its extremes, I will often throw on a song and just get it out. For some, this may be journaling or a visualization process of getting the emotional residue off of us. For others, this may be getting out in nature. The solar plexus is both a motor and an awareness center, so remember this presents as nervousness in the now according to where it is on its wave.

 

Becoming aware you are on a wave. This has become easier and easier for me as I’ve deconditioned, although I will say, sometimes, my kids get the best of me with this. Recognizing that you are not in the mood, feeling triggered, or overwhelmed can massively change the game of your emotional wake. I know for me when I start to feel this coming on, I will often take a moment to collect myself. This often looks like leaving the room, taking a few deep breaths, and allowing myself to feel the feelings. This power of pause has dispelled many emotional wakes in my household.

 

Understanding what neutral feels like in your body. For many of us emotional beings, we are so used to being at the mercy of our waves: the ups and downs, the highs and lows. Many people even question if emotional neutrality is real. I promise you it is. The thing to remember here is if others are emotionally sloppy and leaving a lot of wakes and emotional chop in your world, you are being impacted by that wave. This makes it even harder to get to emotional neutral.

This is why all of us have to do our part to gain awareness of our emotional sloppiness. Also, keep in mind you can have a non-emotional, undefined solar plexus person but if they have a lot of individual circuitry – they operate on a wave as well.

Finding emotional neutral and what that feels like in your body is key. Once you have experienced it and you can feel it in every fiber of your being, you and your body will want to return to that state. None of us are here to be riding emotional waves 24/7 365. Understanding where we are in the wave and what neutral feels like in our bodies is key for all of us to live out congruence to our designs so that we aren’t inadvertently leaving an emotional wake behind us.

While this is a practice I know I will be working on for the entity of my life, every time I get swept away by emotions I learn something new about my wave. One of my favorite phrases, especially to my children, as of late, is, “Mom needs a minute, please.” This phrase has been a powerful one for me so that my wave doesn’t sweep me away.

I have also found that I am no longer fighting my wave. In the past, especially in my pre human design days, I would fight the emotions that I felt. I would stuff them down, shame or guilt myself for having them and not allow myself to fully experience them. These days, I find that when I embrace my wave and allow myself to ride it instead of resisting it, I move through it with more ease. I get better at surfing it so that I can find that tranquil neutral.

I hope you find this supportive – please feel free to share your takeaways.

If you want to dive deeper into authority check out the decision design workshop. 

With your design in mind,

Jamie