Human Design, Stress, and Brain-Dumping
When people first learn their Human Design, they experience a flood of emotions. Relief, validation, anger, and anxiety are high on the list. When they measure their life against their Human Design type and strategy they see alignment, or not.
If there is deep unhappiness or pain in important areas of your life, a sense of urgency might set in. Right away, you need to know everything about your Human Design bodygraph so you can feel less pain in your relationships, career, business, and job. It may feel like you’ve been thrown a lifeline.
You don’t have time to waste and you strongly believe your Human Design will be the silver bullet you’ve been looking for.
If this is you, how do you control the whirlwind of thoughts, emotions, and things you think you need to know and do?
Journaling & Brain Dumping
Journaling and brain-dumping are tried and true ways to quiet an overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious mind. – They help to focus the mind when our mantras, affirmations, meditations, and other coping skills aren’t cutting it.
What does the word journaling bring up for you? — Dear Abby? Dear diary? Rom-Com movies? Beautifully laid-out notebooks with daily prompts?
When I think about journaling, I remember my awesome experience with the Morning Pages from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Cameron contends that the morning pages can obliterate mental blocks if we show up each morning and write our thoughts in long-hand. - – I call these times my brain-dumping sessions. Over the years, they have been both a game-changer and life-saver for me.
The benefits of brain-dumping
Brain-dumping clears mental clutter, focuses the mind, helps us plan, and relieves tension.
When you are spinning around in your head, you are wasting time and accomplishing very little. It can cause you to get stuck, do nothing, and feel like a failure. Unchecked, it can lead to general states of frustration, anger, anxiety, or depression.
Brain-dumping sessions open the pressured faucet that is your brain.
They uncoil jumbled thought, release pent-up emotions and physical tension.
They give them a place to live other than in your head.
They get to the important stuff and helps you plan your next step.
✓ It’s affordable
Brain-dumping is a cheap and accessible way to relieve stress and anxiety.
✓ It clarifies your goals and next steps
If you are like me, your brain-dumping pages will turn into:
Scripts for conversations you want to have,
Blogs you want to write,
Social media posts you want to create,
To-do lists, and
“Ah-ha” moments.
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Getting started
The point of showing up to the page to write is to soothe yourself. It’s a form of meditation. It’s a time to have a visit with yourself. It’s your time to relax, breathe, and shake yourself out.
I highly recommend giving thought to the following before you sit down to write:
Where should I write?
Ideally, a good place to journal your thoughts should be quiet, free of interruptions from your phone notifications, children, or pets. Where is that place for you? Get it ready with what you need to be comfortable (throw blanket, cushions, good lighting, etc.).
Do you commute by bus, train, or plane? Do you use a laundromat? – Waiting around for long periods of time are great opportunities to write.
When should I write?
Having tried writing at different times a day, I recommend writing in the morning if possible. Your mind is rested and has not yet been influenced by activities of the day such as emails, social media, conversations, etc.
How long should I write?
Write for as long as you can tolerate. — Start slow and ramp-up. For beginners, consider 5 - 15-minutes. Set a timer if this helps you. If you experience a lot of unproductive mind-wandering, you might set up a meditation timer that chimes every few minutes to remind you to return to the page. After a while, you will find that time is unimportant and you will write until you feel satisfied. Yeah, that’s a thing.
Many frustrated artists have become unstuck, clear, and focused by committing to a daily 5 – 30 minute session of writing. – Over the years, brain dumping has been a life-saver in times of great stress.
What supplies do I need?
Gather your favorite pens and paper. Have more than one of each within reach. When you’re in your writing zone, you don't want to run out of either.
Some people feel more comfortable writing on a laptop or desktop. Do what is easiest for you. Remove all obstacles to showing up to the page.
A glass of water or another favorite beverage. Get it sorted and ready.
➡Do not self-Sabotage before you Begin⬅
Believe it or not, it’s possible to get in your own way. You become an obstacle to the clarity and calm you crave. -- This happens for many reasons and is worth exploring during one of your brain-dumping sessions.
Sabotaging behaviors
Creating works of art
I’ve seen journals that are works of art. Each page is ablaze with colorful markers, Post-its, and stickers. If creating art on the page calms and clarifies your mind, go for it. You might look into painting, drawing, or sculpting as your form of showing up to the page.
On the other hand, getting too fancy on the page can distract you from the mission. It also prolongs the time you sit in confusion, anxiety, and stuckness. – If this is you, be honest with yourself and write about the reasons you are getting in the way of doing something good for yourself.
Sometimes my pages look like someone turned over a desk. They are messy. The handwriting looks wind-swept and the margins are filled with to-do lists, a-ha moments, emoji’s, etc. They aren’t gorgeous pages of ‘journaling,’ they are a visual of a brain that is sorting itself out. When I’m done writing, I feel unburdened and lighter.
2. Needing everything to be Perfect
Are you the type of person that says, ‘If I can’t do it right, I’m not doing it at all.” – To this I say, please have a seat and write it out. Let’s see what the page has to tell you. I’ll start you off:
“So I didn’t show up to write I had everything perfect. The right pens, the right coffee mug, the right coffee, the right notebook, and the right level of sunshine streaming through the window. I even researched how to do this and I think I’m ready. Okay. Here I go….I’m going in…”
3. Brain Freeze
Are you overwhelmed to the point where you ‘can’t think’ or your mind feels blank? Don’t let that stop you from writing. -- You can find journal prompts on social media sites, or you can do a Google search. Currently, Instagram and Pinterest are good sources. You can even use published workbook-style journals as a guide.
4. Negative Self-talk
As you write, your brain will still want to wander away. This is normal. Your mind is not used to what you are asking it to do. Regularity and commitment will help your mind get used to brain-dumping. It takes time. – Be mindful of your self-talk when you catch yourself being distracted. Write what you are noticed, felt, and said to yourself when it happened.
For example, you might write,
“OMG. This is exhausting and such a waste of time. I can’t focus. What is wrong with me? I just planned dinner in my head for 5 minutes. Whatever. Let’s begin again, shall we? …”
See where simply acknowledgment of your thoughts takes you.
Also, the next time you daydream about your dinner menu, write it on the page. This is true brain-dumping.
5. Fear
Are you afraid of what you will show up on the page? Afraid of what you will write? – This sounds unimaginable, but it is a thing I’ve witnessed many times. – If this is your first thought when you think of showing up to the page, your mind is already telling you that something important needs attention. -- If fear is a stumbling block for you, I suggest writing about what you think will happen if something painful does show up on the page.
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Brain-Dumping PRO TIPS:
Don’t stop writing. Keep pen to paper and keep moving.
If your mind goes ‘blank’, do one of the following until your next thought appears:
• Start writing the words to a song or poem.
• Write out the alphabet.
• Count in Roman numerals and write them down.
✧ Sidebar:
Sometimes I write out the words of the 'Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer" song. Or “ABC. It’s easy as 1, 2, 3 Do, re, mi, …” Anything to keep my pen moving.
Write in silence. If you find it hard to sit in silence, get curious about why that is, and write about it. – If you absolutely need to have background noise, I recommend you play instrumental music, world music in languages you don’t understand, or ambient sounds. – Basically, don’t give your brain excuses to wander away.
My personal Brain-dumping Practice
The secret ingredient to my brain-dumping practice is simplicity.
Without much thought, I just grabbed a pen and a floppy, spiral notebook that I already had. – You’ve heard of drop and role in case of fire? Well, I drop and write. Nothing fancy. I just show up and write.
Brain-dumping is my version of a spiritual practice.
I love the way I feel when I am done for the day.
Not sweating the process of how I show up and not caring about the nonsensical, random things that appear on the first few pages is mental freedom. Knowing that the juicy important stuff usually shows up at the end of page 2 or 3 (depending on the size of your pages), I just let the process breathe.
If I feel like I don’t know where to start, I often begin this way:
“I haven’t nothing to say today. Not a single thing. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. My neck hurts. I need to go to a chiropractor. Ugh, I forgot I can’t deal with the cracking. Need to get a massage like yesterday….” -- Eventually, a thought that needs attention will show up. You just gotta let it breathe.
As I write this, I’ve was on a 10-day Brain-dumping streak. I’ve fallen off the wagon yesterday and this morning. – Instead of writing, I chose to sleep in, and today, I’m writing this blog instead of brain-dumping.
Am I judging myself? Hell, yeah. But I plan to begin again tomorrow. I don’t feel bad at all about sleeping in because I was delirious with fatigue, but blowing off the pages to write this blog feels like it may need a second glance, or not.
“As you grow into your Human Design, your brain-dumping notebook becomes a place to track how the “new you” is unfolding. You will be amazed at the organized action steps that will appear on your page. ”
Human Design and Brain-dumping
Learning your Human Design can feel overwhelming and pressured. Sometimes you learn your design in a vacuum and you don’t know where to turn to get answers and guidance. You need and wish for someone to talk to. In hindsight, I could have used a Human Design coach when I learned I was a Projector type. - If someone like that is not available to you, and you are feeling anxious to start using Human Design to live your best life, I recommend that you try brain-dumping as an option.
Write about the experience of learning your Design.
What have you noticed?
What changes have you made?
How are people reacting to the “new you?”
What are you excited about?
What big plans do you have now that you know your Human Design?
Where or with whom are you excited to use your Human Design?
What needs to be done now and what can wait?
How can I support you?
• Would you like help reading your Human Design chart?
• Would you like help using your Design at work or home?
• Would you like to have a deeper understanding of your relationship Design?
Tell me what you need when you Book a free 15-minute consultation
Brigitte Knight is a Human Design educator and mentor as well as a Human Design informed counselor. She loves teaching people to use their Designs to improve their relationships.
She helps former Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others manage religious trauma, anxiety, guilt, loneliness, and depression.
Her life’s experience as a Registered Nurse, therapist, ex-Jehovah’s Witness, and Human Design practitioner since 2006 can help you start living your best life.