What to do when Human Design says "Do what lights you up"

But Motherhood doesn't always feel that way

You may have looked up your own Human Design Bodygraph and uncovered that you are a Generator or Manifesting Generator. The words spilling across the screen saying 'Follow what lights you up!'

But what happens when you're a mum and so much of your day is filled with things that don't? Like packing school lunches. Cleaning up spills for the 100th time. Managing emotional meltdowns. Holding the mental load that no one else sees.

You can't just walk away from it all. You can't outsource every moment.

This is a question I have sat with since first discovering I was a Manifesting Generator:

How do I stay true to my Human Design when motherhood asks me to show up for the things that don't light me up, day after day?

In my experience what my Human Design Bodygraph has given me is a feeling of being Anchored in the Storm.

Anchored in the Mess

Some days it feels like I’m living in a pressure cooker. The steam builds, my chest tightens, and I’m just managing to release little bursts before it all threatens to boil over. Motherhood, partnership, work, life… it’s full, it's relentless and sometimes I catch myself wondering if there is ever going to be enough space to simply breathe.

And yet, beneath the overwhelm, I feel anchored.

I didn’t expect that!

I thought feeling anchored would mean having everything under control, or finally finding that elusive 'balance'. But what I’ve discovered is that feeling anchored doesn't mean I am always in control and calm. Instead it is knowing myself well enough to feel the signals my body gives me in the moment.

✨ When I feel frustration bubbling, I know it’s my signal.

✨ When I sense my energy draining, I know it’s my signal.

✨ When I feel my shoulders are hunching over and my body is drawing away, I know it's my signal.

✨ Even when I'm doing the things that don't light me up, I can remind myself this isn't permanent and instead part of this season.

The truth is, as a mother and partner, I will always need to do things that don’t light me up. This stage of life is both breathtakingly beautiful and brutally hard. It holds both joy and monotony, both deep love and deep exhaustion. And the gift is learning to hold that duality without making myself wrong for it.

Having this awareness and felt sense of how my body communicates with me is a practice that has been cultivated over the years, using my Human Design as my own unique map. So in these times where I am feeling these signals, aI can remind myself this isn’t permanent. I can remind myself that it is simply part of this season. I can find my way back more quickly and I know that frustration doesn’t mean I’m failing at life. It is just my compass showing me where I'm off track and how to get back to my my centre.

Why Anchoring Matters

Without an anchor, life can feel like being tossed around by every wave. One moment you’re up, the next you’re spiralling down, and you don’t know how to steady yourself.

But when you’re anchored, something shifts:

✨ You have a reference point. You can feel the chaos and still know where you stand.

✨ You reclaim choice. Instead of reacting automatically, you pause and choose how to respond.

✨ You can hold the duality. The drudgery and the beauty can coexist without you losing yourself in either one.

Anchoring doesn’t make life easy. It doesn’t erase the pressure cooker moments. But it gives you a way back to yourself—again and again. And that changes everything.

Coming back to presence

What anchors me is presence. I can be in the mess and know I’m okay. I can feel the overwhelm and trust that it will pass. I can see myself in the middle of it and whisper: this too belongs.

If you’re in a similar season, I want you to know this:

Being anchored doesn’t mean life suddenly feels easy. It means you have a way of returning to yourself, no matter what’s swirling around you.

Invitation

Take a quiet moment to pause and notice: what are the signals in your body that tell you when the pressure is building?

Your Human Design can give you a map back to yourself. It can help to understand how your energy is designed to move, how your inner compass speaks, and then what steadiness can feel like for you.

I invite you to come back to your own design and ask:

✨ What anchors me right now?

✨ What signal is my body giving me?

✨ Where is my map guiding me back to myself?

Your anchor may not look like mine and it isn't meant to. It's uniquely yours! It's shaped by your energy, your season, your life experience. Your Human Design is an awareness tool to recognise your anchor in your body, so that when the storms roll in you can find that steadiness within.

Your next step: The Glow Map

If you’re curious about your own chart but don’t want to get lost in the complexity, The Glow Map was made for you. It’s a sacred, customised guide created just for you, based on your chart, but written in everyday language that speaks to your real life.

🔗 Explore your Glow Map →