Resistance vs. Resonance: Understanding the Nervous System in Ecocentric Human Design

In this episode, I dive deep into the nervous system in Ecocentric Human Design and introduce the framework of resistance versus resonance—two fundamental states that shape our deconditioning journey.

Resistance is a state where opposition and withholding create turbulence. When we're in the not-self, resisting what we know we should do and searching for shortcuts, we only prolong our journey and create more suffering for ourselves. Resonance, conversely, is a high-vibrational state that lifts everything around us. When we're congruent and have done the gritty work to find the ecocentric self, we vibrate at this higher frequency.

Most people don't understand that you can't skip steps in the deconditioning process. We want shortcuts, but true transformation requires moving through the entire spiral. The challenge is that most of us are operating in a non-optimal state—we're not even at our baseline. We're constantly in fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or functional freeze, stuck in extremes of either hypo-activation or hyper-activation.

I teach Human Design on a spectrum rather than simple dichotomy. On one extreme, we have hypo-activated states: functional freeze, fawn responses, shoulds, waffling, going through the motions. On the other extreme: hyper-activated states like fight, flop, burning it all down, blaming others. In the middle lies the congruent, ecocentric self.

Here's what makes deconditioning so challenging: there are actually seven different presentations of the not-self that layer on each other—the Repressed, the Triggered, the Unempowered, the Victim Self, the Superiority Self, the "Save Yourself" Self, and the Societal Self. These stack depending on your unique design, creating a complex web that requires deep work to unravel.

The deconditioning process follows a four-phase spiral: Immersion and Integration (moving from knowing to feeling in the body), Cocooning (where real transformation happens as the old is shed but the new isn't fully formed), Metamorphosis (testing your new self in the real world), and Summoning Forth (establishing the ecocentric self). And you go through this spiral again and again with different aspects of your design.

I share my own journey—spending the first two years in detriment, then building new baselines through multiple cycles with my Projector self, emotional authority, defined heart, and 3/5 profile. Each time strengthens my ability to return to center when I get activated.

Most of us carry lowercase "t" trauma—cumulative conditioning from school systems, career expectations, and societal shoulds. Unlike uppercase "T" trauma with identifiable incidents, this layered conditioning requires deep nervous system work to process. It's why we end up in detriment, having given away pieces of ourselves along the way.

My core message: Give yourself grace. This work isn't quick or easy. It's nuanced, complex, and takes time. But you can get back to the ecocentric self. You can establish new baselines. You can learn to come back to center when activated. The work is worth it.

This is what makes Ecocentric Human Design different—we understand and honor the complexity rather than offering surface-level solutions or quick fixes.

If you would like to dive deeper:

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