Reclaiming Feminine Wisdom Through Human Design with Krystal Woods
Introductory Highlights
I was so isolated in my home life, in my real life, , I put so much pressure on my business, my self-worth needed to come from my business ’cause I didn’t have anywhere else that it was coming from.
And it was from a place of desperation. Like, “Please connect with me, validate me.” And now I have these incredible, rich friendships and a beautiful relationship and I feel like my light is so seen in my life my business, I love it and I’m acting from purpose and I feel inspiration and I’m like, “I’m gonna share this thing,” but it doesn’t need to fill anything for me.
What happens when we fully embrace this next phase? What happens when you just let go and you just fall into it and allow it to change you? How would that feel for your body if you did that instead of resisting?
It’s so divine that we cannot shed the crone’s blood. , What sort of stories are being told around us about the change, about menopause, about, just being in mid-life and aging. So much of it is about removing a woman’s sense of autonomy and removing a sense of her vigor and vitality is being, extracted from her at this time.
I think, for instance, attention deficit, you know, like, ADHD is really big.
I’m like, how many children just literally need to play outside for three hours? How many children just need a little bit more freedom to roam, right? So if they’re given the proper environment, how many of these symptoms will actually disappear? And I think that’s the same for anybody.
Understanding Your Human Design Type & Deconditioning
Why do so many people resist their human design at first?
Welcome to the Peri Moon Podcast, and today I am joined by one of my dearest mentors from way back, Krystal Woods. Krystal is an incredible human design teacher and just an incredible human in general. Um, I just feel like so much of what you share in your world is just… it just touches my heart so deeply, and I’m so grateful to have you.
You, you role model things in such a beautiful way, and I’m just… it’s such an honour to have you here with me today, Krystal. You always just say the most beautiful things. You’re, you, you write with your, like, y- you write poetry just by speaking. It’s like, you’re not just like, “Oh, it’s Krystal Woods, human design teacher.”
You’re just, the way that you articulate things is so beautiful, and I’m honoured to be here. Thank you for inviting me. It is so funny you say that because, what was it, like five years ago? I’m trying to work out how long ago it was. I remember joining and our c- your little, our group was on Voxer, which is a, a, a voice app.
And I was like, “Oh, I’m just gonna write things.” And you, and you told me all about my defined throat chakra, and you were like, “No, you’re meant to speak.” And I’m like, “Mm, I think my voice is in writing,” and I was really resistant. And then I started building up the muscle memory of actually using my voice, and now I just told you how much I love doing a podcast.
So I need to give you all credit for pushing me to use my voice more, ’cause I’m so grateful. I feel like in my element, so thank you. Oh my gosh, don’t give me all the credit. I’ll take a little. Thank you. Thank you. Take some. Yeah, absolutely. Um, now, yeah, I’ve been in your world for so many years, and last year I got to meet you when you were… let’s, let’s have a little brag here. You were a guest speaker in Brisbane, um, at the GOOP conference, which was just so amazing to see you there and to, to have validated that, like, you have been so profound in my life, and you’re so profound in the lives of so many people. Um, you just have such a magic.
Like, I, I love your magic. You are so authentically you, and you teach in a way that’s so, also so universal. Like, it’s just such a beautiful dance that you do between honouring yourself in the process and honour- honouring, like, the universal aspect of it all. Um, how much- Yeah … do you think is being, that just is your design versus you being aware of your design and you’re aware of how to work it?
Well, as far as speaking goes and feeling like I’m doing something with my words, like having an impact, which that’s the words that I have for it now, of course, um, I’ve been public speaking since I was in elementary school. You know, fourth, fifth grade, you know, nine or 10 years old. And it’s something that I always loved, and I always loved performing too.
Uh, I started dancing when I was five. And so I think as far as it’s always kind of been for me, but I think subconsciously I’ve always loved the whole having an impact part of it, if that makes sense. And yeah, I, I think when I learned about my design, a lot of it was really validating. But fun fact, I actually thought I was a projector when I first learned about human design.
I heard, um, which is not uncommon, especially in the field of work that y- you and I are in. But I thought that I was a projector because I really resonated with being able to see other people on a deep level. But when I really looked back and started seeing like, no, it’s actually the way that I use my voice and my body to No, I don’t wanna say perform.
Performance has been part of it, but just like, you know, express. That has been a constant for me. And so I think learning about my human design validated that, and it helped me understand it on a deeper level and understand my impact on a deeper level. But I’ve always loved doing those things. Mm. It’s so interesting you say that about thinking you’re a projector.
I still, I still have days where I’m like, “This is my projector channel speaking here.” Like, I can just feel the, the aspects of me that are the projector channels. But I’ve always told you that I feel like an undiagnosed manifesting generator or a projector. Like, I di- never felt like a generator, ever. And it’s only in the last month I’m like, oh, I am.
Like, I’m… I get it now. Like, I’m… Just the relationships that are coming to me, and the clients that are coming to me, and doing this podcast, I’m like, oh, I could go deep for da- Like, I have… My well is infinite as far as being able to go deep and have deep conversations and that curiosity. I do have endless energy there.
Um, but when you’re not in your design, it’s like, it’s so… You… Yeah, and I think part of it is the deconditioning process, but for so long I was like, “That’s not who I am and that’s not how I’m operating.” But I wasn’t operating from a great place anyway, so who was I to know? Well, I think sometimes we have the most resistance to the most truthful thing, the most honest thing, you know?
And so especially when maybe we’re not in a place to see the bl- the blaring truth in it, right? So that’s very common when people come across human design. We sometimes have a tendency to dig our heels in, like, “No, this is who I am,” you know? Because that’s how we’ve seen ourselves for so long. So like you said, that deconditioning process is so important, and just becoming aware of, yes, this is the way I’ve been for so long, but how is that working out for me, you know?
Mm. How is that working out for me? Does that feel resonant? Does that feel aligned? And I think I can see your… I can feel your generator aura 100%. I can feel that energy sort of spilling out, and also I can see that you’re really here for that mastery. A lot of people talk about generators, and they’re like, “Oh, they’re here to…
They’re here to do what follow, or follow what lights them up.” And that’s great. It’s not untrue, but that’s not the whole story. There’s so much to generators that I don’t hear talked about a whole lot, and one piece of it is mastery, and I can see you in your mastery. And the more you deepen into the work that feels so resonant for you, I can feel that coming through.
And you’re a four six, so it’s like you are… It’s double mastery. You’re really here for that. So yeah, I think deconditioning is definitely a process, and people a lot of times are resistant to their design or aspects of their design in the beginning. And the other thing, too, I think we really… It’s not wrong to resonate with someone else’s design.
It’s not wrong to resonate with the projector type because there might be aspects of you that absolutely see right through people, like a projector would. Or there might be aspects of you that is very passionate about a lot of different topics, like a manifesting generator would. We’re all multifaceted, but I think understanding your design and the actual wiring is really helpful to see what is authentic to you, where you’re being influenced maybe by others, and where you might have other sides to yourself.
The Power of Trial, Error & Life Lessons
Are mistakes actually part of your purpose?
You know, we’re not all one-dimensional. Hmm. I, I think it’s interesting with the four six thing as well. It feels like, um- For me, the, I think the six, I have like nine planets in six lines, and for me, I think it was like that was such a huge part of deconditioning is knowing I have to decondition to something that doesn’t even have a template.
Like, it’s not like, oh, I just switch from this way of being to that way of being. It’s like I’m deconditioning, getting rid of all of those faulty narratives, and now I have to learn what works for me because there’s no path. There’s nothing there. Um, which I love. I love that I can bring that to my work because there is so much trial and error, especially at midlife for women to be like, “What do I want now, and what works for me?”
And, you know, I … “Can I throw away this, this prescription that I’ve had for myself for the last 30 years of how I need to operate in life and just be able to open up to myself?” And I think that’s a huge part of what you’re here to embody. You’re, you know- It’s easy to look at our past and be like, “Mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake.”
But what’s great about a three line or a six line like yourself, and I’m a three line, is that there are no mistakes. All of these experiences are what brought us the wisdom that we now integrate into our lives, into our relationships, into our body of work, that we can connect with people much deeper.
And everybody can say that. Everyone has made mistakes, and everyone has learned lessons from those mistakes. But the threes and the sixes, we’re really here for that in a, in a bigger way. So, you know, it’s like even the parts of you that were kind of stuck in these narratives that were faulty, as you said, that was part of your path.
That’s so much of what you, I’m sure, help your women with now. So it’s, it’s a beautiful way to… It’s a beautiful thing to know that too, because a lot of people will look at those mistakes and feel shame. That will cripple them, that will paralyse them, and what they’re meant to do will eat them from the inside out because they’re too scared of taking the risk and making another mistake.
But when you can look at your human design and say, “No, no, no, I’m here for this. It’s okay that it’s been messy. It’s okay that I’m, like, learning through trial and error, because that’s part of my… how I was designed. It’s part of what I bring to the world. It’s a gift that I give to other people when I really integrate those lessons.”
So it’s kind of this permission slip, I think, um, especially when you have that three or that six. Mm. I love that you say trial and error. I’ve been working a lot with test and measure lately. I feel like that’s just such a healthy way to look at it, ’cause it’s like I just measure, “Okay, that wasn’t ideal. Let’s, let’s course-correct a little bit here.”
Healing Through Relationships & Becoming More Receptive
How do painful relationships become a catalyst for growth?
Um, but also I, I… And you’ve been through a, a relationship breakdown as well. I feel like for me, a big part of it- Stepping into a narrative of sovereignty after something that was so painful and, you know, it’s so easy to lean into victimhood, um, to be able to say, “You know what?
There were parts of me that really needed to learn these lessons,” and that was the best training ground for that. Like, it really honed my skill in being able to advocate for my… You know, whatever things it may be. Being able to look back at the things we may consider mistakes or wrong choices and be like, “No, that was the perfect choice for me to cultivate this part of myself that really is here to shine.”
I can’t agree more. I 100% believe that too. And while it can be really uncomfortable and painful in the process, in any three or six client, I’m, I’m validating that. I’m validating, like, it’s can suck. It can feel really uncomfortable, and you can h- have the tendency to feel some type of way about yourself and internalize these mistakes and feel, like I said, shame around that.
But at the end of the day, it… N- there are no mistakes. Everything is, in my opinion, divinely written, and I fully agree that these mistakes are the things that help us to embody what we were really here to embody all along, and maybe we couldn’t have without making that mistake, without making that choice.
So yeah, I’m with you on that 100%. And I can, I can definitely speak to that from experience too. Yeah. Yeah. I think it, it’s interesting coming from a, a relationship that was very rocky and learning everything about relationships within that and learning, you know, where… What am I doing wrong? What am I doing wrong?
What am I doing wrong? And then being like, “Oh, it’s not me. It’s just the relationship.” But all of that training I got along the way and now being able to open my heart, you know, to its fullest capacity and to be able to receive love without being like, “Am I worthy?” Or, “Oh, I need to push this away, it feels too much,” or things like that is like, oh gosh, this is such a gift.
It’s such a gift to be able to have been through that and now, you know, healed those parts of myself that have most likely been there from a very young age, um, and being able to step into, like, full receptivity now. It’s just beautiful, beautiful thing. Well, and I think some of these let- lessons are written too.
It’s like you say at a very young age, it might have been before you were even born. Mm. This was just, these are things that needed to be learned, needed to be mastered, and that’s how it played out for you. You know? I, with five lines, for instance, a lot of five line profiles, they’re here for usually some visibility and leadership, and those are usually the profiles who are the most scared of that, the most scared of the visibility, the most scared of the leadership.
And there are reasons for that. But- I truly look at these different events that will happen in their lives as initiations for them. For instance, a lot of them go through things with close family members where they don’t feel seen, they feel really misunderstood. A lot of them are even sort of like the black sheep of the family.
And I look at that and I say, “That is an initiation because you need to know who you are at your very core. You need to be so convicted in who you are so that when you do have that level of visibility and people project onto you who they think you are, you can reject that, and you can stand strong in who you actually are.”
And so regardless of what profile line or what aspect of your human design we’re talking about, I think we’re… These things are sort of written for us, and it’s these experiences that we have that really help us to step into what we’re actually here for and who we’re actually here to be, you know? Hmm.
Growth Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone
Why is nervous system regulation only half the story?
And I, I feel like we don’t know our edges until we’ve, we’ve had some of these experiences. Like, we don’t know w- w- what hurts, you know? And without knowing what hurts, we don’t know what feels good truly, you know? It’s like, okay, these are the… This is the perimeter of what feels good for me, what feels aligned, what feels, you know, in flow.
And if I move, if I deviate outside of that, that’s where things start to go wonky. Um, so having those experiences, having the, the harder things happen in life is what shows us the way forward and, you know, that’s what illuminates the path for us. Yeah, change really doesn’t happen if you’re staying in one spot, right?
Change happens through growth. Change happens through new experiences. Right. Or growth happens through change and through new experiences. And so if we’re just constantly trying to stay where we are and, you know, the, the buzz term regulate your nervous system, which obviously it’s important to feel safe when you go and make these changes, but I think we can almost have a tendency to regulate our nervous system so hard that we’re just staying in our comfort zone.
It’s like we regulate so that we can step outside of our comfort zone, survive, see that we could do it, and grow, and take those lessons and be able to share them through our work or through our relationships or, you know, whatever life is presenting to you right now. It’s like they’re… I always tell my students, “Your design is not for you.”
Right? My mistakes that I learn through trial and error, those lessons that I learn, they’re, yeah, they’re for me so that I can keep growing, but they’re for other people to witness, for other people to learn from, too. It’s like, yes, I’m a manifestor and I’m here to initiate, but I’m here to initiate other people.
I’m here to initiate things that are going to impact other people. Your design is not for you. So it’s like it’s not just for your own personal growth, but for the growth of your environment and the people in that environment. Mm. This resonates so deeply. There’s a few things. I have this concept, um, of dyadic consciousness, and that’s, you know, everything we do is as a dyad.
You know, we’re born from a couple. We, we gestate in a womb of a mother. You know, everything is so relationally focused in the world. Our growth, everything is so dependent on relationships. Um- That I don’t think we, you know, it, it’s, it’s interesting when you say the, the nervous system regulation. I think at some point people can kind of use that as a escapism in a way.
It’s like, “Oh, I need to be more calm. I need to be more settled. I need to be…” And it’s, it just becomes, you know, at some point you’re isolating yourself from the real experiences. A few years ago, I was just meditating, like, all the time. I was meditating so much, and I’m like, “What value is this to me if I can’t live in the real world?”
Like, at some point I have to put my, like step my foot into the water and experience the real world and be able to manage that as well. Um, yeah. I, I think that’s such a beautiful, beautiful point you make is like if we’re just squandering our own sense of self for ourselves, you know, what are we really experiencing in the world?
Well, and at one point or another, you take the meditation out into the world, right? Mm-hmm. It’s like train yourself to meditate while you’re sitting quietly or laying down or in isolation, and you take that mindfulness and that breath and that awareness and that presence, and you bring it out into the world.
So yes, we can regulate our nervous system and feel safe so that we can go out into the world and make change, you know, and grow, and help other people grow too. So yeah, I’m, I get you 100% on that too. I definitely went through a stage also where I was just like, “If I just regulate a little bit harder, everything will happen.”
And it’s like, no, I have to regulate so I feel safe while I take the action so that these things can happen. Yeah. You know? It’s that integration of masculine and feminine again, isn’t it? It’s like we have to be able to hold the duality and not just skew to one side or the other in excess. So I love that.
I, um, I got to catch up with Abby a few weeks ago on our first podcast episode. She’s just… Oh, love her so much. I love Abby. Me too. She is one of my best friends now, and I met her in- Oh … I think it was your first iteration of your school or maybe the second. Um, and that whole, that was just such a beautiful group of women in that cohort, and I imagine it’s like that for you all the time.
Intuition & Making Aligned Decisions
How do you reconnect with your intuition as a woman?
Um- I remember reaching out to you. I’d seen you through Gala Darling, and at that point I was like, “Human design, no, not for me. Generator, 70% of people, no way am I that.” Um, and I really had discarded human design. Um, but you were like… I was like, “Oh, this is somebody I wanna listen to.” Like, you were so magnetic, and there was, you know, maybe it’s the manifestor.
I just felt like, oh, there’s, there’s a growth edge here that I need to meet. And I reached out to you, and you were just… I love how you navigated this whole thing. You were like, “What is your body saying?” You know, if you wanna do it or not, if you wanna join the school, what is your body saying? And I’m just…
Like, I operate my business with s- a simul- similar ethos now, is just like, no, it needs to be up to you. I’m not gonna push your triggers or, like, try pain, you know, pain point marketing to you or anything. What do you want from this experience and how do you feel? And I’m wondering, like, how mu- like, just the women you draw in by having that ethos or that philosophy, how much of that did you, you know, consciously…
Was a, was it a conscious decision for you to, like, be like, “I, I really want women to be in touch with their intuition”? ‘Cause that’s one thing I think is missing from all of my clients when they first come, is like, “I’ve lost my intuition.” So when I first found human design, at the time I was doing a lot of fitness coaching.
And so when I discovered human design, it really helped make so many things clear. And authority, which is your inner GPS, your decision-making mechanism that’s built in, we all have an authority. When I learned about that, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is such a relief to understand that different people have different GPS systems that operate differently, that different people need to be allowed to make decisions differently.
And maybe if I can help people to connect with that, then they can make the right decisions for them, and they can actually sustain those decisions.” Because what I found a lot was that I was getting women who would make these decisions or commitments and then have a really, really hard time following through.
And I’m like, “What is it that is the challenge here, right?” So that really helped me understand that. So moving forward, I just knew I don’t, I don’t like feeling pressured. I don’t like feeling, um… I don’t like feeling like I am just a number, you know? I wanna feel seen. I wanna feel like I’m a human. I wanna feel like I’m being listened to.
And I want to… When I started, like, doing calls for, I hate to say sales calls, because they don’t feel like sales calls at all. They feel like a deep connection that I’m having with another person and describing what the experience is inside of whatever I’m offering. And then when I started doing that, I knew that I wanted to…
I wanted them to get something out of just the call itself, right? Mm-hmm. And so if I could help them to connect with their authority, even if they d- even if it’s a no, I know they got something out of that. Mm-hmm. You know? Because like you said, so many women are disconnected from that authority from their body, from those authentic yeses and nos.
And so it wasn’t like, “Oh, this is my sales process.” Mm-hmm. It was me just genuinely connecting with people. And when I noticed that they were having trouble making the decision, knowing their authority, I just helped guide them to that. So it wasn’t really this conscious decision in the, in the sense that I was writing out a framework for my sales process.
It was more like, let me just do what feels intuitively correct right now. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. I hope that answers you. Yeah. I feel like that’s- And it’s, it was, it’s so unique to me. I’ve done so many c- I used to be, like, really obsessed with courses, and I’ve done so many. And, um, it was just such a unique experience to me, and I feel like you really gifted me something in that.
It’s like, what you feel is important, and stop, you know, usurping the, the, the brain as the key decision-maker and get back into your body. And, and I think that’s probably the biggest thing that human design has given me is, like, I’m a sacral generator, a pure generator. So for me, how I feel in my body, in my sacral, is my decision-making process.
Um, if I’m disconnecting from that, it, that’s when… It’s not a, it’s not just when I get confused. It’s when I’m like, I regret things a lot more. Whereas when, you know, I make those wrong choices or those wrong decisions, if I’ve used my sacral in that, it’s like, “Oh, no, part of the journey, part of the learning.”
And I feel like I can integrate it a lot more, and it’s, it just feels so much more holistic to me. And I’m, yeah, I’m so grateful for that process. Are there… Do, do, would you like to describe what the authorities are and how they can be expressed? Sure. Yeah. I was just thinking, you know, for me, it’s emotional authority.
That’s mine. And so I don’t necessarily have this very reliable full body yes or full body no in the moment like a sacral authority would. So for me- I’m always somewhere on an emotional wave. I feel a lot of feelings, and everyone does. But my unique GPS needs to feel clear. So I really… It’s not best practice for me to make a decision when I’m in an emotional state, whether that’s positive or negative, which there isn’t really positive or negative.
It’s all information. But if I’m really, really excited about something and I’m like, “Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,” it’s not good to make a decision from that space either. So, and it’s so funny because my fiancé he’s also emotional authority, but he’s a manifesting generator. So he does have the full body yes and no as well, but it drives him bananas how slowly I will make decisions sometimes.
I just recently bought a course. I hadn’t, I hadn’t invested in a course in a very long time, and I really just had to ride my wave about it because I knew if I’m gonna commit to this right now and I’m feeling really, really excited about it, even if I don’t regret the decision, I’m always going to second-guess the decision.
Mm-hmm. So with emotional authority, if you are not making your decision from a clear state, not emotional, then you are most likely going to doubt or not necessarily regret but second-guess it. You’re not going to f- ever feel fully clear about that decision. So like you said, even if it’s a decision that I don’t really want to make…
And I think for sacral authority, a lot of times it’s two parts. The first part is connecting with your body so that you can h- hear, I guess, or feel the sacral response. The second part of that is actually trusting it because what happens when your sacral or your emotional clarity gives you an answer that you don’t want?
You have to be able to trust yourself, like you said, trusting that even if this doesn’t turn out the way that you thought it would, which when does it ever, you at least have this knowing that it was the correct decision in the moment. And so, you know, if that ends up being uncomfortable or painful in some way, you know what?
I’m gonna learn an important lesson that is meant for me on this path, right? And it’s the same with all authorities. Being able to not just connect with it, but trust it is the process.
The 7 Human Design Authorities Explained
What are the different human design authorities and how do they work?
So there’s sacral and emotional. That’s, those are the two main authorities. Most people are one of those. But there’s also splenic authority, which comes from the spleen, which is your sense of survival and safety and danger and vitality.
So this is your instincts, your survival instinct, your fear instinct. So for s- uh, splenic authority- I always give this example of maybe you and your friends have had plans to go to a new restaurant for, like, a month, and everyone’s been really excited about it, but when you walk in the restaurant, you just get this feeling.
And you can’t really describe it other than to say, “I don’t think we should eat here.” And your friends are like, “You are crazy. We’ve had reservations here for a month. We’re eating here.” And you’re like, “I can’t eat here.” And you can’t articulate why, but you just have this feeling. That’s your splenic authority.
It’s very quiet. It’s very in the body. You might get, like, a chill down your spine or different… People feel this differently. But it’s just this ambiguous, or not ambiguous, but this hard-to-articulate feeling that you get. And that one is very hard to trust too because it’s so quiet and only comes once.
Imagine you’re with a whole group of friends. Everybody’s been waiting to have dinner here for a month, and you’re like, “No, I can’t.” Mm-hmm. Trusting that and walking out the restaurant, you know, I mean, who knows? Maybe you would’ve gotten food poisoning. Maybe there would’ve been a fire. Maybe… There’s no way to know why.
Um, so it can be difficult to trust. And then there is ego authority. So only projectors or manifestors can have ego authority. Ego authority is very connected to- A lot of people say, “Oh, this is selfish. It’s selfish authority.” Not really. When you have ego authority, you are sort of the will of the group.
You have a very strong willpower, and when you decide something, when you decide, “Yes, I’m going to do that,” there is a lot of power behind that decision. You can work very hard toward a goal or toward an outcome. You can put all of your energy behind that decision. But for you, it’s very important that you balance that because you don’t have a lot of physical energy.
So you have a lot of willpower, but not necessarily a, a lot of physical energy. So with people, for people with ego authority, it is very much like, “I’m going to do this,” or, “I wanna do this.” But what people don’t understand is that whatever they are deciding to do likely has benefits for the people around them as well.
They’re, they’re the, they’re the will of the group. So their authority is very much tuning into, do you have the energy for this? Can you put all of your energy behind this decision? And then there is self-projected authority. So only projectors can have self-projected authority. They’re called self-projected projectors.
And for them, there’s like this… Imagine one side of a magnet in the very middle of their body, and the other side of the magnet is whatever they are meant to experience in this life. And so for them, there is a pull in their body. A lot of people say, oh, they have to talk things out. My mentor, Kip Winsett, who is a self-projected projector, 4/6, uh, and he’s 85 and has been a human design analyst since, like, the beginning, and he says, “I don’t have to talk anything out.
I just go where my body goes.” So for him, it’s just sort of like this pull that he feels. But because a lot of s- a lot of self-projected projectors, the way that they process is through talking things out, it is a good practice for them to have some sort of, um, what’s the word, sounding board, someone who they can trust not to influence their decision, but they can talk things out to.
Because when they hear their answer, they will be like, “Oh, there it is. That’s, that’s the answer right there.” Um, they’re really great at giving advice, so it’s almost like they’re giving themselves advice. And very similar is outer authority. So mental projectors will have outer authority or no authority.
And for them, they’re very influenced by their environment. So I always say, if you have outer authority, it’s really important for you to go to a space where you are not being influenced by other people. It’s gonna be really, really easy for you to be influenced by other people’s emotions or their beliefs or what they think you should do.
So you need to separate yourself and really pay attention. Like, writing things out or speaking things out loud for them is a really good practice too. And then lastly, reflectors, which are only 1% of the population. They’re very rare. They are unicorns. They process things in lunar cycles. So for them, they’re very fluid in their energy and very fluid even in their identity and who they are.
And so every decision, especially big decisions, they almost have to feel out as every version of themselves. And they’re deeply connected to the lunar cycle. And of course, we all are, but reflectors are very connected. So for them, they will feel almost like a different person at different cycles of the, um, or different parts of the lunar cycle.
So they need to be able to feel out their decisions throughout every part of that cycle. And eventually they’ll be like, “Oh, okay, I can do this,” or, “Oh, okay, I’m not gonna do this.” And of course, with all of these, not every decision needs to be run through your authority, right? Like, is it… I always give the example of, like, shopping.
Do I really need to ride my wave over choosing a pair of shoes? Probably not. Like, maybe, you know, but probably not. Maybe if it’s a $500 pair of shoes. But otherwise, probably I don’t. You know, do you really need to talk every decision out as a self-projected projector? Probably not. But these are, like, guidelines that you can go by when you’re like, “I really don’t know what to do.”
It’s like, connect with your authority and learn how to trust it. Learn how to trust your authority. And I think that is a process that takes some time for a lot of people, especially women, honestly. Yeah. I absolutely agree with that. Like, I’ve been… I think I first discovered human design in 2018, and I’ve, uh, you know, even though it wasn’t really a practice, it was part of my awareness then that, you know, I needed to get back in touch with my body, but I didn’t really know what that meant or how to do that.
Living Beyond Society’s Expectations
What happens when you trust yourself instead of social conditioning?
But I think a big part of it as a woman is, um- A- and probably just as a human in general. It’s, it’s being able to hold space for things not going the way society tells us they should go. It’s like, okay, well, if I trust my body, then I’ll have the successful marriage and the beautiful house, and then I’ll just have all these things. And it’s like, but that’s not really life, is it?
It’s like, no, if I trust my body, I’ll have the experiences that lead me to this great fulfillment and this beautiful experience of life versus just collecting stuff, you know? Exactly. I’m so glad you said that. And I always say, again, to my students, sometimes there are radical consequences to being yourself.
Mm-hmm. Sometimes there’s a lot of grief because things might not go the way that you thought that they were gonna go. You might genuinely need to make decisions that you never thought that you were going to make. People might not understand you, and that might wreck some of your relationships. You might lose communities.
You might leave jobs that you thought for two decades was the job of your dreams, just like you said. So yeah, really committing to following your authority, I think… I mean, for me as a manifestor brings me peace, and for you as a generator will bring you satisfaction, and for projectors will bring them success, and for reflectors will bring them surprise, like, and delight.
And it’s very deep, but it does not always bring you what you thought that… Or it hardly ever brings you what you think it’s gonna bring you. You know, I certainly could never, ever have predicted how my life was gonna turn out, even though, you know, we all have those visions of like, “It’s… Oh, I’m gonna do A, B, and C.
I’m gonna check this box and that box and that box.” But it’s way more fun this way anyway. You know? It’s so… Yeah, absolutely. And I’m, I’ve started to say my life is better than I could have never imagined. Like, the fact that I- Yeah … I would never have thought this up, and wow, like, this is so much more like I’m, I’m a participant in it rather than just being the author of it entirely, you know?
And, and there is a- an element of authorship. You know, I get to sit and… You know, it brings up free will. Is… Am I really making these… I think there’s layers to free will. Am I really making these decisions based on my choice? Or is, m- you know, there a, a guiding light that’s, you know, beaming down the choices for me that are most aligned?
But I can, I can say wholeheartedly that it’s way better than making decisions based on what society tells me I should be deciding. Yes. And I think that’s one of the common denominators of- Pretty much everyone who comes into my world, all of my clients and all of my students, it’s the same. It’s knowing that it’s not surface-level life that you wanna be living.
You know? You wanna dive all the way down to the bottom- Mm … and see it all and swim it all and feel it all and experience it all. And knowing that your mind does not have all the answers, and your family does not have all the answers. And society and conditioning and all of that, like, does not have all the answers.
Um, and neither do you, but you’re gonna experience what you’re here to experience and feel this deep sense of peace and satisfaction in the process. And yeah, it is… I almost, like, forget, you know, what human design has done for me until I have a conversation like this, you know, and think back to what I…
You know, who I was and what I experienced before I found human design. Um, and just all the people that I’ve worked with too who have had that experience of this validation and this permission to go off that path, go off the path that you always thought maybe you would follow or what other people want you to follow, and have the courage to do the thing that you feel in your body is correct for you.
Feminine Leadership & Building a Soul-Led Business
How do you build a business from inspiration instead of desperation?
You know? Mm. Mm, and I- and it’s so richly feminine. Like, it’s, it’s just such a feminine way to orient your life, is through these beautiful expressions of your body, and through sitting and being more… You know, being able to receive the data that we’re getting from the world, and being able to sit with that and integrate it, and then, and then making decisions from that place that feel aligned.
It feels so richly feminine to me. And I know, um, you’re in a similar place, and probably you feel it more so than I do. Like, I… The last, like, five years particularly in online business has been very much like, “If you’re not making seven figures” or if you’re not having a six-figure launch, then, you know, you’ve got money blocks, or this is going wro- you know, it’s like you’re not in the right place.
And for so long, I was orienting towards that. And this last year, I’ve just, like, peeled it all back and I’m like, I’m just pottering. And I love it, and it feels so good. Like, I’m in the, the self-theme of satisfaction. Absolutely for a generator, that is where we love to live, is in satisfaction. And I feel so satisfied.
And it’s like, well, no, I don’t think it was ever about numbers or the externals. It was about how I experience things, and it’s so unique to everyone. I was reflecting on this, and I actually wrote a little bit about it. I haven’t published it yet, but I used to… I didn’t realise this until recently, but looking back, I think I did.
There was still an element of everything that I did that was filling a hole. So my business was a lot more than just commerce, right? More than enterprise. It was connection for me. I was not getting the depth of connection from my most intimate relationships that my soul was craving, and so my business became that.
I mean, look at this connection we’ve had- Mm … for so many years where we can meet each other on the complete other side of the world for the first time in person and feel like we have known each other forever, you know? And a lot of my connections in my business have been that, and it’s been beautiful.
And my business was just, it was doing a lot for me that I, my life was not giving me. So my business was giving me a lot that I wanted my life to give me, you know? The validation, the accolades, the… A lot of things. And now I have this very full life, and I have relationships and a way of being in my life where I don’t feel like I have to fill any holes.
So now, and I, I took a… I did not take a break from my business. I’ve been working, but I’ve scaled back a whole lot, and I have not been public-facing for at least a year now. And now I’m starting to come back, but the way that I’m coming back is very different, where I am not coming back and posting something because I’m trying to fill something within myself.
I’m coming back because there is a whisper deep inside me that will not shut up. And it’s saying, you know, “You have something to give. You have something to share.” And I’m giving and sharing from a place of fulfilment rather than trying to fill. So I feel like that’s probably similar to where you’re at as well, where this is now, am I still building a body of work like I, like I always have?
Yes. Have I always wanted to give generously? Yes. But was there an energy to what I was giving before that was still wanting validation, wanting to be seen because I didn’t feel that way entirely in my life? Yes. So I’m wondering if maybe that’s where you’re at, too. And now we’re, we’re… It’s, you know, kind of like serving from this cup that’s overflowing.
It’s like, here. It’s overflowing. Here, just swim in it, you know? I don’t need to, I don’t need to spray it at you. I don’t need to, like, force anything onto anyone or any space. I get to just go where- Go where feels correct and share what feels correct because I want to. Does that make sense? Mm. Oh, so much.
And, and we’ve had these discussions before, I think, where I’m like, “I give so mu-…” You know, I’m like, “W- why is my art not being received?” And, you know, there was, for me, I draw the distinction and it was, like, an act of desperation versus inspiration. Like, I was so isolated in my, in my home life, in my real life, um, that yeah, my, I put so much pressure on my business to be the source of my w- you know, my self-worth needed to come from my business ’cause I didn’t have anywhere else that it was coming from.
And it, yeah, it was from a place of desperation. Like, “Please connect with me, validate me.” And now I have these incredible, rich friendships and a beautiful relationship and just I feel like my light is so seen in my life that, you know, my business, I love it and I’m acting from purpose and I feel inspiration and I’m like, “I’m gonna share this thing,” but it doesn’t need to fill anything for me.
Like, if it, if nobody reads my email, um, I enjoy writ- like I’ve loved writing it, you know? Like, it, it, there’s, there’s such an element of I’m just doing this ’cause it feels good now versus I need it to fill me up. Yeah, I so resonate. Absolutely. Yeah, and it’s such an act of, it’s an act of service without it, without you needing to feel like it’s an act of service, which is, I don’t, I don’t know that I would’ve understood this, you know, a few years ago.
But now it’s just I’m just being me. I’m just doing what genuinely feels right for me to do, and it just happens to serve someone. Mm. You know? It’s not like I’m sitting here like, “How do I serve? How do I serve? How do I serve? How do I help? What can I do to solve someone’s problem?” No. You know? It’s like no one needs me to save them.
I’m just here doing my thing, and whoever that serves, great. And yeah, it just feels- It feels, it feels more fun, and also it does feel … I have felt, like, this edge to it as well, where I’m like, “Ooh, who am I when I’m not looking for certain metrics?” Yeah. Right? Who am I when, you know, what am I writing? It took me a minute to really kind of orient to that, and I didn’t even realise that I was doing it before.
Reinvention, Identity & Letting Old Versions Die
How do you reinvent yourself without losing your identity?
Um, so yeah. But it’s a beautiful thing to be able to be in that space. So I celebrate both of us. Yeah. Absolutely. I, I … And I, I’m finding more and more women are really making the shift. And, you know, I, a lot of my women work in corporate, and they’re making that, that move out of corporate. And I feel like this is probably the space that they fear the most, is, like, corporate takes such a big part of your life.
You know, we’ve probably had it a little bit easier making that shift, is because so much has been around self-development anyway. You know, we’ve always excavated the crevices and been like, “Oh, where can I grow here? Where can I grow?” But some of my women in corporate have been told how to show up every day, and, you know, “This is the thing you need to hit.”
And we’ve had an element of being able to be self-directed, whereas I feel like for my women in corporate, it’s like, oof, such a big, big life and identity shift to go from having all these external metrics, you know, displayed, and this is, this is how you be the good girl, and it’s like, I, I don’t know. I just feel- Yeah, I f- I feel it, it’s… We get to do the good work. Like, what we- our job is easy compared to some of my clients being able to shift back into that. Even, and I d- I don’t have a lot of clients that are in corporate anymore. Most of my clients are entrepreneurs.
But even entrepreneurs, you know, that have been working for themselves, now they’ve built an entire business as a version of themselves that doesn’t resonate anymore. Mm. So I think there’s some level of this probably in every sector, and I hear what you’re saying with corporate. It’s, it’s definitely fit this mold or get out, whereas with entrepreneurship, you kind of make the mold for yourself, and that’s what you follow.
And now you have this big team that’s relying on you, and you have these big numbers that you have to hit in order to get everybody paid, but you hate what you’ve built. And I’ve definitely worked with clients that have done that too. So I think there’s some element of that, and I think some of it, yes, is the conditioning and realising, wow, I’ve been conditioned to be this way when really I’m not.
And some of it is just life. Mm. Some of it I’m, I’m realising is just life, and we go through these different stages of life, and we grow, and we learn. And even if we haven’t been stuck in this suffocating conditioning, we still are going to change. We’re going to evolve, and things that got us here are not gonna get us there.
And so really learning how to go through your own unique process of reinvention, and identity shifting, and letting go, and working through whatever grief needs to be worked through, and looking ahead, and picking up the pieces, and following the breadcrumbs. Like, this process is something that everyone- Mm needs to learn if you are going to truly be who you are here to be. You know? Whether you were in corporate, or you’ve been an entrepreneur your whole life, or you’ve been a seashell farmer, I don’t know. It’s like everyone is going to have to evolve and grow at one point or another, and it is, to me, it’s a skill.
Mm. It’s a skill. I look at all of the things that it takes, all of the skills that it takes to be able to let a version of yourself go, and feel the feelings around that, and grieve around that, and integrate the lessons learned from that. And, like, these are things that you can do very intentionally, and I look at them as, like, life skills now.
You know? Mm. And not everyone has them. Yeah, no, I, I absolutely agree. I’m a Scorpio, so that’s kind of my playground is reinvention. But, but I, yeah, it is… There’s, um- You know, and, and I say, oh, you know, like I, for me often I’m like, “Oh, this is exciting.” I get, you know, change is afoot. But also there’s been times where I’ve been really heavily embedded in a way of being that is so painful to let go of.
Um, yeah, and the, and the grief is real, and it, it’s not linear. It shows up, you know, even through the healing. It’s like this is so amazing, and I’m still, you know, see that other part of me that was, you know, needs, still needs to be loved even though that was 18 years ago or whatever it might be. Um, the thing that like astrologically, so Uranus is probably one of the big ones that marks a, um, like midlife transition, so the Uranus opposition, which is kind of like tower in the tarot and it’s, it really signals like change, like drastic change.
Perimenopause, Environment & Women’s Vitality
How can women navigate perimenopause through environment instead of resistance?
And how women navigate that is, you know, I’m, I’m noticing a lot of that’s being put onto the medical world. Like, I’m going through this change, so help to medicate me or help to pathologise this. But from like more of an archetypal and, and in human design, like what, what tools or what experiences can you recommend or relate to Well, with anything that we’re going to pathologise, I’m always looking at the environment.
Is this person in the correct environment in order to thrive in whatever space they’re in right now? Because that is… And I don’t just mean where you live, I mean where do you spend all day? Who is around you? Uh, how do you use your body? And I think, you know, for instance, attention deficit, you know, like, ADHD is really big, and I even think about this in the context of children.
I’m like, how many children just literally need to play outside for three hours? How many children just need a little bit more freedom to roam, right? So if they’re given the proper environment, how many of these symptoms will actually disappear? And I think that’s the same for anybody. So when we’re looking at someone who…
I know you- Peri Moon, you’re working with a lot of women who are perimenopausal. It’s like, and I don’t, I don’t know as much as I should as I’m coming up on that age. But what in your environment needs to change? How, what in your body, maybe how are you using your body, and does that need to change? And again, connecting with your body and connecting with your authority and paying attention.
Are there any breadcrumbs anywhere where it’s, you know, you’re being asked to go through some sort of reinvention or let go of something that you’ve been carrying for a really long time? You know, is that part of why your energy is completely depleted? I don’t, I don’t know. I think it’s, I’m sure it’s different for different people.
But I’m always looking at the environment, and is your environment serving you right now? And what changes can you make in your environment to serve you better? Mm. And I think that, like, even extending that out culturally, like, I think- A lot of, you know, like we look at some of the indigenous cultures and they really celebrate women going through the change and really celebrate the wisdom that that gives, and they’ve got, you know, narratives around, you know, the y- the, the, the crone’s blood is so precious it cannot be shed.
Like, it is just such… It’s so divine that we cannot shed the crone’s blood. Um, and I, and I think that that’s a lot of, you know, ex- you know, part of the environment is that what, what sort of stories are being told around us about the change, about menopause, about, um, just being in mid-life and, and aging, and things like that is like so much of it is about removing a woman’s sense of autonomy and removing a sense of y- her, her vigor and vitality is being, like, extracted from her at this time.
Um, yeah, so I, I really agree with that environment piece, not just what our physical environment looks like, but the people and stories and, and the culture around us and what that looks like as well. Right. How is she feeling about these changes? How is she… You know, is she completely trying to r- grip very tightly to where she was yesterday and resist what’s coming today and tomorrow?
Because that will, that does a lot in your body in and of itself, right? What happens when we fully embrace this next phase? What happens when you just let go and you just fall into it and allow it to change you? What… How, how would that feel for your body if you did that instead of resisting? And I think bringing it back to human design, the resistance that we feel is an indicator that we’re not following our authority.
So, you know, what are you avoiding right now with this resistance, and what would happen if you stopped avoiding it and you allowed yourself to fully feel it and fully be in it? So yeah, those are the, those are the questions that I’m always asking, whether it’s, you know, perimenopause or it’s something else.
Um, whenever, whenever there’s a l- a depletion of energy and a loss of vitality, I’m thinking like, “What are we resisting?” Or, “What are, what is in the environment that’s depleting us?” You know? Mm. Yeah, absolutely. And I… It, it’s, yeah, in narrative therapy I, I call it embracing the monster. It’s like this monster that you feel, what would it look like if we just gave it a little love?
Like, you know, just love that little purple fur on its forehead, or love the, the iridescent scales on its back. What would that look like if we could just give this a little love? Like, and I think sometimes it’s like this monster, I wanna push it away so much, but, you know, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.
It’s like it’s gonna push back. As, as much as you’re pushing it away, it’s gonna push back. So what would it look like if we just give it a little love, embrace it? Amen to that. Mm-hmm.
Where to Find Krystal Woods
Where can you connect with Krystal Woods and Peri Moon?
Krystal, this has been so beautiful, and I just, I’m so grateful to be able to sit with you. Your, your depth of knowledge around human design, but also psychology and, and h- the human experience is, is so beautiful to witness, and it’s always so great to be part of conversations with you.
Um, thank you so much for joining us, and I’m wondering, you know, where can our beautiful listeners find you in the world, and what are you up to? What are you, what are you, what is that beautiful gift that you’re sharing at the moment? There are some things that I’m working on right now that have not, I have not released yet.
But you can always catch me on Instagram. I’m sure you’ll put the link in the show notes. Mm-hmm. Krystal E. Woods, and also my website, Krystalewoods.com. Those are the best places to just keep up with what I have going on, and yeah, engage with my work a little bit more. Thank you for having me. Oh. I’ve really loved…
I always love talking to you. It’s, yeah, we go deep, and I love that. Yeah. I feel the same. It’s always… From the first moment, I t- I’m like, “Yep, she is one of my people, for sure.” The depth is so beautiful. And thank you- I feel the same way about you. Oh. So thank you. Bless you. Thank you so much, and thank you for giving me, helping me restore my voice and bringing this out into the world.
I’m, yeah, eternally grateful. Bless you, Krystal.
Thank you for sitting with us today. It has been an absolute joy. If you’d like to work with me or connect with any one of our beautiful guests, you can find everything at perimoon.com.au. And until next time, may you find yourself all the way alive.
