In this episode, we dive into the intricacies of Human Design composite charts—what happens when two charts merge to form a unique relational dynamic.

What we explore:

• Composite “rhymes” like 9-0: Nowhere to Go and 8-1: Have Some Fun, and how different numbers of open centers shape relationship dynamics.

• The composite as a third entity—how new channels, authorities, and defined centers influence a partnership.

• The four types of channel connections (companionship, dominance, electromagnetics, and compromise) and how they create attraction, friction, or challenges.

• Navigating inner authority and communication in relationships, especially when partners process decisions and express themselves differently.
• Personal reflections and what we've learned from various relationships
• The future of relationships as society shifts from the Cross of Planning to the Cross of the Sleeping Phoenix—toward sovereignty, individuality, and spirit-lifting love

Interested in Analyst Training? The next cohort begins September 29, 2025. Apply here!

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The New School of Human Design on IG // ⁠⁠@newschoolofhumandesign⁠⁠

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Mercury retrograde may have thrown delays, mishaps, and communication snags, yet we're finally back with another episode!

In this episode, we continue our conversation from the previous episode to dive into our personal deconditioning stories. We explore the subtle yet powerful ways the mind pulls us off track—whether through distraction in view, transference in motivation, or the conditioned patterns stored in open centers.

Teresa shares how her Desire motivation and Personal view can focus her like a “heat-seeking missile” when aligned, but lead to apathy or political overdrive when in distraction. James unpacks how his Guilt motivation and Survival view serve him when correct, but can also keep him stuck in “shoulds,” overgiving, or false hope.

We also dig into the lived experience of our open centers—Teresa’s completely open Ego and Head, James’s undefined Spleen and Root—and how these areas have shaped self-worth, information processing, sense of safety, and relationship patterns. Our stories illuminate how deconditioning is not about erasing these patterns, but revisiting them with greater awareness each time they resurface.

The next cohort of Analyst Training begins September 29, 2025.

We will begin with Semester 1: Building the Story of the Conditioned Self, where students will learn how to excavate conditioning patterns with objectivity and compassion—preparing to spot them in themselves and others.

To check out the full syllabus, click here.

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The New School of Human Design on IG // ⁠⁠@newschoolofhumandesign⁠⁠

James Alexander on IG // ⁠⁠@james_alexander_coaching⁠⁠

Teresa Brenneman on IG // ⁠⁠@teresaabrenneman⁠⁠

In this episode of Nine Centered, Teresa and James explore the deeply personal terrain of deconditioning through the lens of Primary Health System (PHS), Cognition, and Embodiment in Human Design.

Drawing from their own lived experiences, they unpack how these elements have shaped their growth, health, and relationships, offering real-life examples and gentle guidance for those navigating their deconditioning process.

What We Cover:

PHS as a Portal to Somatic Healing

• Nervous Touch (Teresa): How her need for stimulation shows up in meals, relationships, and learning—and how background café sounds became a surprising support for digestion and well-being.

• Low Sound (James): His journey from misidentifying his determination to understanding the relief of quieter environments and warm, full-bodied sounds.

• PHS & Trauma: Why PHS work often brings up childhood conditioning and how to meet it with patience and compassion.

• Observing Children: James reflects on how children naturally honor their determination when allowed the space to do so.

Cognition as a Subtle Inner Guide

• Feeling Cognition (Teresa): Becoming more attuned to emotional undercurrents and how it supports intuitive perception.

• Touch Cognition (James): Exploring the layers of connection—from food to energetic boundaries—and the pain of disconnection.

• The Solar Plexus Connection: Both hosts tie their cognitions to the evolving role of the Solar Plexus in relationship, emotional awareness, and nervous system attunement.

Embodiment & the Feminine Principle in Deconditioning

• Why Embodiment Matters: Moving beyond mental understanding to felt experience: why deconditioning requires slowness, softness, and body awareness.

• Transference & Compassion: Naming the pull toward conditioned behaviors and how to discern between a mental loop and an embodied truth.

• The Feminine Lens: Surrender, flow, and receptivity as essential ingredients in this work, especially in a culture conditioned toward force and control.

This episode brings awareness to the questions...Are you listening to your body—or trying to control the process?
Can you trust your system to show you the way—without force?

Analyst Training begins August 2025! ⁠Click here⁠ to find out more information and access the course syllabus

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Follow us on Instagram:

The New School of Human Design on IG // ⁠⁠@newschoolofhumandesign⁠⁠

James Alexander on IG // ⁠⁠@james_alexander_coaching⁠⁠

Teresa Brenneman on IG // ⁠⁠@teresaabrenneman⁠⁠

In this episode, Teresa and James dive deep into the world of the 5th line. As a 5/1 with eight 5th line activations, James shares his personal experience of living in the projection field, while Teresa offers reflections from her perspective as someone close to that frequency.

Together, they unpack the psychology, challenges, and potential of this powerful and often misunderstood archetype.

What's discussed in this episode:

• The Nature of the Projection Field: 5th lines carry a natural aura of expectation. Teresa and James explore how this projection distorts identity, creates inner tension, and often leads to feelings of misunderstanding and loneliness.
• The Heretic and the Savior Complex: Why the 5th line is called “The Heretic,” and how projections can lead to disconnection, ego entanglement, and even public shaming when expectations aren’t met.
• 2nd Line vs. 5th Line Projections: Teresa compares her 2nd line experience to James’s 5th line reality, revealing how both lines face different kinds of interference — especially in childhood — and how it impacts their sense of self and purpose.
• Living with the 5th line: James shares how being perceived as someone who “has it all together” makes it hard to receive support. He opens up about over-communication, reputational pressure, and what it means to manage expectations with strategy and authority.
• Work, Dating, and Autonomy: Why 5th lines thrive in roles that offer space and sovereignty — and why contracting or consulting may be ideal. In relationships, James reflects on how slow, intentional connections help cut through the fog of projection.
• Finding the 5th Line Family: What it's like to find "5th line family" in people who you build trust with and get close to
  

Follow us on Instagram

The New School of Human Design // ⁠@newschoolofhumandesign⁠

James Alexander // ⁠@james_alexander_coaching⁠

Teresa Brenneman // ⁠@teresaabrenneman⁠

In this episode, Teresa and James explore the often misunderstood concept of the Not-Self in Human Design, reframing it as a necessary and valuable part of the deconditioning process.

Key Topics Covered:

This course blends Human Design and somatic work to support the deconditioning journey at a deeper, more embodied level. Check out the syllabus and get more information here

The New School of Human Design on IG // @newschoolofhumandesign

James Alexander on IG // @james_alexander_coaching

Teresa Brenneman on IG // @teresaabrenneman

In this episode, James and Teresa delve into common misunderstandings within the Human Design system. They emphasize a nuanced approach, moving beyond simplistic interpretations to offer a more practical and embodied understanding.

• Strategy & Authority: Ra Uru Hu emphasized strategy and authority, but it’s not the whole picture. The mind and nervous system also play vital roles in decision-making, especially for emotional, ego, and mental authorities.

• Misapplication of Strategy: Strategy guides major life decisions — not every little task. Projectors, for example, only need invitations in key areas like relationships and career.

• Mind’s Role in Authority: The mind can hijack the decision-making process, especially for process-based authorities. Awareness of motivations and mental narratives is crucial.

• Sacral Sounds & Responses: All types make sacral sounds, not just Generators. Emotional authority can sometimes override sacral responses, leading to silence instead of sounds.

• Nervous System Regulation: It's important to be able to have nervous system flexibility to access inner authority. A dysregulated nervous system can interfere with clarity and decision-making.

• Transference & Functional Freeze: The mind can create false narratives to avoid discomfort, leading to apathy and disengagement. Awareness helps to shift these patterns.

• Awareness as the Key: Recognizing bodily cues and sensations can deepen understanding beyond standard Human Design signposts.

  
  

  Want to go even deeper? Sign up for our upcoming course Embodying Your Design starting May 19, 2025

  
  

  Embodying Your Design is the advanced beginner’s course James and Teresa wish they had when they started. Whether you’re new to the experiment or years in, this course will reconnect you to the core mechanics of your design — not just intellectually, but somatically. You’ll learn to trust your internal GPS beyond Strategy and Authority with practical, body-based guidance that makes the keynotes come alive. Step into your design with clarity, confidence, and embodied alignment. Join us and discover how to truly live your Human Design.

  
  

  For the course syllabus and all the other details click here

  
  

  Follow NSHD on Instagram!

In this episode, Teresa and James dive into the world of psychic abilities—redefining them not as rare gifts, but as natural human capacities to tune into unseen frequencies and gather insight beyond logic. Through the lens of Human Design, they explore how our inner knowing speaks, and how we can learn to trust it.

• Rethinking the word "Psychic": Teresa and James unpack the stigma around psychic abilities, reframing them as intuitive tools accessible to everyone

• Human Design as a Map: How cognition and authority in Human Design can illuminate your unique intuitive style and help you trust those subtle hits

• The Mind vs. Inner Knowing: Teresa shares stories of splenic intuition and the mental resistance that often follows, especially for emotional authorities

• Mental Chatter as a Signal: James explains how tracking the mind’s activity reveals our emotional clarity—or lack thereof

• Intuitive Truth in a Noisy World: How discernment and inner authority can cut through misinformation and lead to deeply aligned decisions

• The Trap of Seven-Centeredness: How fear-based, strategic thinking still dominates many spiritual spaces—and how true surrender requires letting go of control

• The Evolution of Connection: With the mutation of the Solar Plexus, Teresa and James explore the shift from codependence to interdependence, and the new ways tribes form around resonance, not sameness

• Limitations as Creative Fuel: Why boundaries and challenges aren’t obstacles but portals to innovation, evolution, and personal freedom

  
  

  If you're just discovering the system or you're craving a grounded, embodied way to understand and experiment with your design, join our newest course: Embodying Your Design. This course is designed to help you move beyond the mental concepts and into real-life integration

  
  

  Click here for the details!

In this inaugural episode of the Nine Centered podcast, Teresa Brenneman and James Alexander delve into the core principles of nine-centered consciousness, emphasizing differentiation, surrender, and embodied awareness

• How James and Teresa became friends and eventually began a professional collaboration
• The creation of the New School of Human Design and their shared vision
• Exploring nine-centered consciousness
• The concept of limitations and challenging the new-age narrative of limitless potential 
•  The importance of recognizing trauma responses and differentiating them from inner authority
• Why somatic work is a crucial tool for integrating one's design and embodied awareness and surrender to the body's intelligence are key to navigating life's challenges
• Honesty, fulfillment, and the illusion of intention

The New School of Human Design

About James

About Teresa