What I learnt from doing Human Design sessions (so far)

What is a third line, but sharing the practical mistakes they made which might help somebody else going forward wanting to do the same thing? I know deep down that nothing is ever truly a “mistake” — I need to go through certain experiences in order to learn for myself. This isn’t true for everyone; some people are born naturals (I’m looking at you second lines).

Writing about this topic helps me integrate and reflect on what worked and didn’t work for me. What I have discovered may not apply to everyone. I tend to universalise based on my personal experience but that does not mean it will be your experience. I also must iterate — these learnings are from a very small sample size. I am not someone who has done hundreds of readings. You could deduce, therefore, that none of what I share must be that accurate. I would argue that even in a short amount of time with a small pool of experiential data, what I learnt is still valuable (or at least interesting) for those who are starting out or are thinking about doing sessions.

There are many types of sessions that people offer in the human design world. No way is right or wrong. With an abundance of so many readers, it can be almost disorientating for newcomers who simply want to learn about their design. If you are someone looking for a reading, my advice is this: go with someone you resonate with. Even if they don’t have credentials or official stamps of approval. What you need is someone you can actually hear and who can explain human design in a way that makes sense to you.

If that is more of a spiritual approach rather than the crunchiness of some traditional analysts, great. The point is to actually understand what this means, in whatever capacity you can at the time. Ideally, they empower you to enter into your own experiment. If all you leave with is a grounded understanding of your strategy and authority, they did a good job, even if they didn’t cover every centre or channel or gate in the body graph. On a grander “no choice” level, if you’re going to get it, you will get it, regardless of who you get a reading from or not. So do not stress.

Some of what I will share applies to doing the sessions themselves. Most, however, is to do with the background issues which may arise. Take what you will from it. Perhaps you also need to find things out for yourself in a third line way — in which case, throw this all out the window and experiment and see what happens. There is nothing that compares to first-hand experience.

With all that being said, let’s get into it.

1. Don’t quit your day job.

It’s very easy with so much enthusiasm in the beginning of “doing sessions” to envision becoming busy straight away. Even if you have modest expectations, you may still assume to get at least one session a week, or perhaps two a month. The reality is sometimes I would go multiple months without anyone booking a session.

I am lucky I had the resources to wait and get by during this time. But in no way would I recommend banking on doing sessions or readings as your full-time income immediately. You may have watched others become very successful in a short amount of time giving readings. This is the minority. For many people who do human design readings, they are making very little money at all. You don’t do this to get rich; you do it because you really freaking love it, so much so you would do it for free if it wasn’t your main source of income.

So don’t quit your day job just yet. It is practical (and well-known) advice for anyone wanting to have a side hustle or monetise a hobby to not put all your eggs in one basket. It will take the pressure off making this “work” because it may actually not work. Potentially, if this path is meant for you, it could take years before you to start earning enough to make a living wage. There is no rush. Come back to strategy and authority when you are unsure whether taking the leap is correct for you or not.

2. You don’t need to have a website.

Before publicly launching sessions, I thought I had to be super professional by having a website and “official” booking system. I spent nearly a thousand dollars with SquareSpace and all the add-ons you have to pay for to get it up and going. You don’t need to do this. You could just allow people to DM you from your Instagram page.

Granted, I do not regret making a website — but only because I have always loved messing around making websites or blogs. I enjoy the creative process. Other people may not.

You could easily get away with no website at all. Or, you could make a free website which doesn’t have a custom domain name in order to save money (such as Wordpress).

If you do want to sign up for SquareSpace, subscribe to the monthly plans where possible. I was raised with the mindset that paying for things in full, when you can afford it, is the best financial option. However, I would have been much better off paying for Acuity monthly rather than yearly, as it would go unused for months at a time. Calendly, by the way, is the cheaper option for a booking system and just as functional if you are looking to save money.

(My friend just informed me of a booking software called Cal which has a completely free option and way to integrate with Stripe!)

I also signed up for Google Workspace as it’s free for the first year when you pay for a SquareSpace plan. However, it will charge you after the year is up. I would recommend creating a free Gmail account first, as you can always upgrade it later to a professional/work account if it becomes necessary.

In sum — be wary of committing to annual plans and spending frivolously on software you don’t actually need.

3. Charging too much or too little.

I am going to write from my own experience of charging too much, something which may largely apply to defined egos who overestimate their value. The opposite, of course, could be said of charging too little and giving too much, which is not great either.

It can be easy to be influenced and look around at everybody else giving sessions, thinking you have to charge the “industry standard” because that’s just what you “should” do.

But setting your prices is a very personal process, which comes down to your own inner authority, what you feel comfortable and confident with receiving. Setting a higher price may put extra pressure on yourself to deliver an “outstanding” session, which is unfair to expect when you are still new to this industry.

There is a lot of advice given against doing free or cheap readings. And I agree, expending energy without compensation can be exploitative. But on the contrary, overcharging can do just as much damage personally on a psychological level, as well as for the client who paid for the reading, who may feel disappointed when expectations don’t match what they invested.

So take caution when setting your prices. Come back to what feels good to you and your authority, but also be open to talking it out with someone you trust who can give objective feedback and help you navigate it realistically.

4. Dismantle your “human design ego complex”.

This does not refer to whether somebody has a defined ego or not in their design. What I am talking about are the subtle ways somebody can assume a morally superior position to somebody else because they think they know more than them. The “human design ego” develops when one thinks knowledge translates into power. This is no different to any other spiritual discipline or religion where someone thinks they’re above somebody else because they hold “secret” or “privileged” information.

People are just people, and you are just a human, whether you know human design or not. Without deconstructing and dismantling your “human design ego” first before doing sessions, you run the risk of doing real harm by asserting your moral trip onto somebody else — a bad reading can leave a sour taste in someone’s mouth for years.

Doing readings or sessions is not just about knowing the information; it is also about knowing how to work one-on-one with people, and that requires an entirely different skillset. What I didn’t realise before offering these services was that you are essentially a life coach or therapist. People will come to you in a vulnerable position, as people generally do when they turn to any sort of “reading”, and they will look to you as an authority.

You do not know what’s best for the client — only they can know that for themselves.

Your ego can get in the way of seeing what’s in front of you, of listening to the client with open hears, and acknowledging their experience. Without facing this shadow within yourself first, it will impact your ability to give sessions with integrity and clarity.

Not everyone develops an ego complex. I am only sharing because this is what happened to me. If it is triggering for you, perhaps it is something you need to address as well.

5. Reading charts is an art form.

It is not easy for everybody to synthesise a chart holistically. Again, this might not be the case for you — some people are naturally good at this right away.

Whilst you want to have a solid foundation on the basics of the body graph, particularly if the client is going to ask questions about the details, sometimes, knowing too much can become an obstacle in giving practical readings. This was my experience: studying too hard and being so deep in the information actually made it difficult to come back up to the surface and explain human design to someone new to the system.

I was talking about this with someone recently — in some respects, it was easier to explain human design when I was still very new in my experiment! Then at some point, you go through the phase of feeling like you don’t know enough and feeling inadequate. This can also hinder your ability to feel confident in sessions or readings. But you probably know a lot more than you think you do.

What makes a good reading or session is hard to describe — there is a certain magic of everything coming together. Cadence and timing is important, being able to pace the reading in a way that the client can easily digest. You don’t want to overwhelm them with everything you possibly know, also because it’s simply impossible to fit everything into an hour or hour and a half. Accept you can’t cover all of it.  

This can take practice. Yet, this is about finding your art form and the way it works for you. Often the most intuitive way is probably your way and the best approach to communicating with clients. Let go of all the mental conditioning in how you *think* you are supposed to do sessions or readings. Let go of trying to appear as the expert (hello fellow undefined ajnas) or prove your value (hi undefined egos) as a “good” reader. You are here to show up as yourself, both in real life and in sessions.

The depth of your sessions comes both from having the solid foundation in the intellectual side of the system, but also from the depth of your own experiment and experience of following strategy and authority. Do you feel this on a body-integrated level? This is the most valuable thing you could give to a client, a transmission that occurs through frequency and not words.

Deconditioning and your own process of awareness always comes first. Instead of immediately jumping to “how can I make money off this interest”, sink into your own experiment beforehand and get to know how it feels intimately, for yourself. 

6. Each client is unique.

It goes without saying that each person you work with is unique. Therefore, you must learn how to adapt to each individual session based upon their needs and what they can actually take in.

The traditional keynotes are not always the best way to describe certain aspects of the chart. I have had clients look at me in puzzlement as I rattle off the exact keynotes of their channel only for them to be confused. It is not enough to memorise keynotes and lectures and regurgitate information — you have to be able to explain the body graph, and ultimately human design, in your own terms.

Integration is not marked by knowing human design lingo word-for-word; it is marked by your ability to teach and explain and talk about it in a way that uses none of the traditional language.

This is not to say that keynoting is not important — having a repertoire of ways to describe aspects of the chart in your back pocket is very useful and still a necessary tool. But that is only the beginning of your understanding, not the end point.

People skills, as mentioned earlier, is important for being able to adapt to each client. Being able to read the energy of the session, as well as the client’s current knowledge base of the system, informs you of what to focus on in the reading, how much information to give, and what language might best serve the individual.

Talking about substructure in someone’s first interaction with human design can be overwhelming. The magic is always on the surface because we all live on the surface. The basics of type, strategy and authority, the centres, and profile is enough to talk about for hours and is the most practical information to give someone. You won’t even have enough time to cover all of these topics in depth in a single session. It’s okay to leave some of it out if it doesn’t come up (or is relevant) to the session and client.

It may be useful to have an intake form to fill out prior before somebody books with you, so you are able to gage beforehand what they may need and where they are at in their own process.

Be flexible, be adaptable, and most important of all, don’t go into any session with expectations, both of yourself, and of the client. Because no two people are the same, no two readings can ever be the same. Treat each with openness and curiosity. And be gentle with yourself when it’s finished.

It’s normal to doubt yourself when it’s over — there is always going to be more you could have mentioned or forgot to say. But trust that you gave them exactly what they needed, even if it was different to what your mind expected.

In conclusion…

I put a million disclaimers throughout this article because this does not apply to everyone and none of these are hard and fast rules. If you go to anyone who does any form of session in a 1:1 capacity, they will probably give you different advice. Advice, at the end of the day, is purely outer authority. It is not a reliable place to make your decisions from.

It was a profound — and long-drawn out — revelation for me to realise I do not have to offer sessions. I felt empowered to move forward in a way that truly reflects who I am, rather following what everybody else was doing in this industry — study, get certified (officially or unofficially), then become an analyst or reader.

You are allowed to do human design in your own way, which may or may not include giving sessions. It is always up to you.

All of the above points are what I wish I knew before I embarked on this endeavour. It would have saved me a lot of money, time, and energy had I known prior. In saying that, I have no regrets and I would not have discovered any of these things had I not jumped in and tried for myself.

This post is not meant to be me fear-mongering or telling people they shouldn’t do sessions. You are your own authority after-all! Rather, the intention is to be informative and give practical tips for those who are curious about entering into this space.

It can feel disorientating and confusing in the beginning when beginning something new, as you try to establish the way that works for you, outside of all the “should’s” and conditioning you may unconsciously take on. Trust that everything will unfold exactly as it should; all the lessons and weird bumps along the way will inform wherever you end up. Relevant to human design, or not.