This Spring, as the snow began to melt (far too early this year!) and skiing became impossible, I did what I have done for at least the last decade of my life: Transitioned from skiing season to running season.

This transition has looked a whole lot different these last few years than in my days of competing in both of these sports. Intense training and racing has been swapped for much more modest paces and recreational adventures.

Skiing up and down mountains… replaced with meandering through the Gatineau hills.

Running 70+km per week and training intensely for long distance races… replaced with 2-3 easy runs of 5-10km each per week.

As I’ve spoken about before, these changes have been very challenging to make and, simultaneously, very positive and health-promoting for me personally. This is because I am a Projector in Human Design and therefore I have an undefined Sacral centre, which is the home of life force energy.

*The Canadian Mountain Running Championships in 2017, in the heart of my days of intense training and racing in both skiing and running*

The Sacral centre is a focal point in the Human Design Chart. It’s a major factor in delineating the various Energy Types. Manifesting Generators and Generators have a defined Sacral centre, and therefore consistent access to its themes, whereas Projectors, Manifestors, and Reflectors have an undefined Sacral centre, and inconsistent access to its themes. The themes of the Sacral centre are: Life force energy (i.e. the generative force that allows one to keep going), creative energy, and sexual energy.

Because we have inconsistent access to this life force energy, we Projectors (and Manifestors and Reflectors) need to be very selective and intentional with the overall quantity of energy we are using each day (I wrote about this more extensively here). Manifesting Generators and Generators also need to be selective with where they apply their energy through following Strategy and Inner Authority, however as long as they are doing things that are a “hell yes” to their gut response, they will have a lot more energy to work with than us undefined Sacral types.

Even 5+ years into my Human Design experiment, I am still discovering new ways to conceptualize and play with my limited energy stores. It has been fascinating to observe which activities burn through a lot of life force. In my new Made to Move Guidebook, I speak about how those of us with an undefined Sacral centre need to choose movement practices that do not deplete us and drain our life force energy to the point where we don’t have anything left to dedicate to the rest of our lives. While I didn’t realize it at the time, in my endurance athlete days I was doing the opposite: Continuously reaching into and depleting my energy stores during my movement practice, leaving very little (if any) life force juice left for creative pursuits, meaningful work, or living my purpose.

*Winter 2024, ski touring through the woods*

Which brings me back to running. This Spring when the snow melted, I thought I would do what I’ve done for the last five years of experimenting with my Human Design Chart: Replace my moderate skiing regime with a modest running program. However, I was somewhat surprised to find that I felt “energetically expelled” from getting back into running as I normally do! These “energetic expulsions” are events I experience when I’m off-track and in need of an adjustment. They are usually random, ‘coincidental’ accidents that are much too bizarre to ignore (although I’m sure I ignored them all the time in my less aware days!). This time, the energetic expulsion came from spraining my ankle not once, but twice, while literally standing (first time) and then lying down (second time) in my own home! I couldn’t believe it but the message was very clear to me: No running right now.

What popped into my head when these events occurred was: “You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”

It was time for me to switch things up in my movement practice - to do things differently than I have been for the last little while. To literally walk instead of run (walking was completely fine for my ankle throughout the recovery process), an activity that uses considerably less of my valuable, limited, life force energy.

*A good chunk of my movement practice in this season of life consists of walking this boy. No complaints from either of us!*

I believe that this simple shift is a big part of what gave me the energy and creative fire to write, design, and put together the Made to Move Guidebook within the space of two months this spring. This guidebook is the largest writing project I’ve created to date, with the master copy clocking in at nearly 25k words. Researching, writing, editing, designing, figuring out the tech, redesigning my website…. All of that took a lot of life force energy! I felt on a deep level that I needed to get my own movement practice to a point where it supported - rather than depleted - my creative and business endeavours before I could write something like the Made to Move Guidebook. Not just because I believe in embodying wisdom before teaching it, but also because I needed all of the life force energy possible in order to see this project through to completion.

In my previous life phase as a competitive athlete, I always knew I wanted to be writing and creating more than I was. I consciously knew that when I did less in my movement practice (such as when I had a “down” week in my training plan), I was more creative and I wrote more. However, because so much of my self-worth, identity, and relationships were tied up in the sporting world, I felt that doing less wasn’t an option for me. And at the time, that was ok! I truly believe what I experienced in those years was exactly what I was meant to experience. And I mostly had a lot of fun doing it! However, I’m now in a very different phase of my life, where I am living more than ever before as my true self. I am very interested in my creative, business, and life purpose/mission pursuits. Much of my life force is being poured into that right now, and my movement practice supports these endeavours. It’s a major shift and one that my mind doesn’t always like, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Everyone’s medicine they need from their movement practice is different, and it will vary for each person depending on a myriad of factors. Something that is medicinal in one season of life could be poisonous in the next. Honouring ourselves, our designs, and our unique life circumstances is paramount. One thing I believe this example I’ve shared today shows is that our movement practices tremendously impact the rest of our lives. Your practice doesn’t end when you step off the “mat” (trail, gym, ice, field, etc.). It profoundly influences how you move about your day and your life. How you carry yourself. Your confidence. How much energy you have. Perhaps your medicine in this moment is similar to mine: Doing less demanding activities to free up more life force energy for other pursuits. Perhaps your medicine is the exact opposite: Doing more in your movement practice to enliven the body, clear stagnant energy, or generate more life force.

While never, ever claiming to have all of the answers, I truly believe that our Human Design Charts can provide us with so much valuable wisdom for creating a movement practice that supports us through our days and our lives. To me, Human Design is an incredible tool I use on a daily basis to understand myself on a deeper level, to cut through the noise, and to avoid comparing myself to others. This is the heart of why I created the Made to Move Guidebook: So that each person who reads their personalized guidebook can gain a clear understanding of the unique energy they are working with when it comes to movement. The guidebook is specific to moving your body, AND many of the concepts can be extrapolated and applied to how you move through life in general.

Learn more about the Made to Move Guidebook

May we each have the courage to move through life feeling supported, empowered, and aligned with our true nature.

With love and respect for your journey,