Chart Analysis through an Expat Lens

Part 3. In Part 1 and Part 2, we looked at what Human Design is and why it’s a powerful tool—not just for self-understanding, but specifically for making better, more aligned decisions as an expat.

Now let’s use this tool. We’re going to look at my Human Design chart and I’ll break down various elements and demonstrate how this system can help you as an expat.

Take a look at my chart:

If you’re new to Human Design, the chart looks overwhelming. That’s normal because this system gives you so much information. I’ll walk you through just a few specific pieces of my own chart. You don’t need to understand the whole system right now—just stay with me. Over time, it’ll start to click.

So my goal is to show you here is how to pull useful, actionable insights from your chart—especially if you’re navigating expat life.

And if you keep exploring your chart and still feel lost, that’s fine too. There are experienced readers and coaches who can help you interpret what you see.

Let’s start with something foundational: My Profile

My profile is a 5/1.

You’ll find this in two places on your chart—on the right and left sides, right after the decimal point in the top numbers. That 5 and 1 are called Lines.

Line 5 is all about practical solutions—but in a projection field. That means people project expectations onto you, usually positive ones at first. You’re seen as someone who can fix things.
Line 1 is is deeply curious and needs a solid foundation of knowledge before moving forward.

Combined, 5/1 is a profile that says: I offer practical solutions because I’ve done my homework.

As an expat, this is golden.

Line 5 thrives in new environments. You make a strong first impression. People don’t need to know your full backstory to see your potential. This is especially helpful when:

You’re apartment hunting.
Making new friends.
Looking for work.
Navigating administrative bureaucracy (hello, préfecture).

But the projection field is a double-edged sword. If people project something onto you that isn’t true—and you don’t live up to it—they may turn on you. That’s the “burned at the stake” energy Line 5s are known for. And this is why 5s are called Heretics. So the key is to remain practical and not over-promise on your ability.

Line 5 and Moving Abroad

In my case, back when I decided that I wanted to move to France from the U.S., I leveraged this Line 5 energy. I compiled a list of universities throughout France and sent out my CV through mass emails. I didn’t have connections or networks yet—but I did know how to present a clear, useful offer that highlights my skills. I landed a job and a work visa through pure cold outreach.

That’s classic 5/1.

Next: My Cognition & Environment

Now let’s look at something subtler—Cognition and Environment. This shows up in your chart in the top and bottom left arrows. In my case, the number 6 is written in each arrow in a small triangle shape—that tells me my Cognition and Environment is Touch.

(The triangles are called tones. Tone is one aspect of how the neutrino filters through your design. More on the neutrino here.)

Cognition is how your body takes in information and makes decisions at a deeper, often unconscious level. It’s part of your Design—what you’re here to receive and respond to, not control.

Environment refers to the external setting where your body feels most at ease, alert, and aligned. It’s part of your Design side (the red numbers on the left) and becomes especially relevant after your Saturn Return (around age 28–30).

Your correct environment isn’t about where you think you should be—it’s about where your body naturally relaxes and perceives clearly. Being in the right environment helps your cognition (your genius) function properly and is vital to correct decision-making.

As someone with Touch cognition and Touch environment, I’m designed to feel the world in a tactile, sensory way. This shows up in:

My space (I’m more clear-headed in environments I can physically connect with).
My decision-making (I need to literally touch things with my skin and hands).
My ability to know if something is right for me (it needs to resonate physically and through how it makes me feel, not just mentally).
Situations & experiences that are “touching” or I’m “touched” by them.

If you’re an expat with Touch cognition or environment, this can guide everything from which apartments to rent, to which cafés to work from, to which city makes you feel grounded. You’ll know something is right because you’ll sense it in your body, not in your mind.

How Touch Cognition & Environment affect my choice of work in Paris?

I’m an auto-entrepreneure in Paris (a small business owner) and I teach in university as well as with private clients. I also guide other Projectors and Generators in Human Design.

I’ve learned something important: online sessions create a barrier.

Because of my Touch cognition and environment, I enjoy physicality when connecting. That’s why I now build my private offers around hybrid formats—a mix of face-to-face and online lessons. It’s what feels best for me, and it also helps narrow my target market to Paris and the surrounding region. That clarity saves me so much energy and second-guessing! This is HUGE when you are your only employee.

And when I do work with a client fully online, I’ve come to expect that the first few sessions might feel a bit “off” for me. It just takes me longer to get a feel. I need time to sense their emotional tone, rhythm, and personality—to deeply sense the dynamic and get grounding. It’s also given me the confidence to propose premium offers that create space for deeper, long-term collaboration with my clients.

Knowing my “Touch” upfront helps me manage my expectations and show up to be the best teacher and coach for my client from Day 1.

Human Design can’t tell you your perfect job

It won’t hand you an ideal profession or a checklist. But it gives you a strategy for filtering opportunities and navigating the unknown—especially when living abroad.

So if you’re looking for more stability, clarity, or self-trust in your expat journey, look at your chart through this lens:

What’s your Profile?
What’s your Cognition? Your Environment?
Where do your gifts naturally show up?
What’s your distraction?
What kind of decisions feel correct in your body?
(And there’s so much more in your chart 🤓)

Now let’s look at My Perspective & Distraction

Human Design shows us that we each have a Perspective—a natural way of seeing the world—and a Distraction, which pulls us off course when we’re not aligned.

(You find you Perspective in the hexagram shape in the bottom right black arrow. This hexagram is called Color in Human Design. It’s another layer of how the neutrino is filtered, creating our unique-to-us experience.)

Mine is Personal Perspective, with Power as the Distraction.

Here’s what that means in my real life:

My view is personal. I’m designed to look at how things affect me, not how they work for the collective. When I stay in my lane, I can clearly sense what’s correct for me—and filter out what isn’t.

But when I get pulled into the wrong energy—especially when I feel pressure to succeed or “prove myself”—my attention shifts toward Power. I start thinking in terms of influence, control, or status. This is me not keeping to my own stuff, this is me looking outward, measuring, seeing “winners” & “losers” and the impact the power game has on society.

Power View (and Distraction) in Paris

This is especially relevant living in Paris, a city that runs on hierarchy and prestige—titles matter, institutions matter, appearances matter. And if I’m not careful, I can get caught chasing the “right” job, the “right” clothing label, the “right” lifestyle.

Not only does Power view drain me, that’s when I lose clarity. And can I sense the hell out of this now. When I slip into my Power distraction I immediately feel my vibration lower, there’s a dullness and I actually feel less intelligent! (This is why I do not watch reality TV or follow celebrity news. It throws me off my frequency. It’s not judgement, it’s my personal hygiene.) I am here to only be concerned about my own potential, not the path of others.

This doesn’t make me indifferent to others. Actually, the more I honor my Personal view, the more connected and empathetic I feel. When I tell a story through my lens, it lands. And when someone else shares their experience, I don’t analyze it—I feel it. It’s like I can walk right into their shoes without needing to fix anything. That’s the gift of this perspective: deep personal resonance that creates genuine understanding.

But I’ve learned to pause and ask myself:

“Is this actually right for me?”
Not: “Does this sound impressive?”

If you have Power as your perspective (not your distraction), it’s a gift as well. People with Power view are designed to see how systems function, who holds influence, and how leadership dynamics work. They can read the room and navigate structures in ways others can’t.

How does knowing that my Perspective is Personal help me? In the dating game in Paris!

I used to feel guilty about being “selfish”—like I was supposed to compromise more, accommodate more, or consider the bigger picture. But the truth is, I’m designed to check in with how it feels for me, not whether it makes sense for the other person or looks balanced on paper.

Understanding that gave me permission to trust my inner signal without explaining anything. If something didn’t feel right—even if everything looked great on the surface—I could walk away without doubting myself. I stopped pushing through discomfort “for the sake of being fair.”

Now I know: my clarity doesn’t come from negotiation. And in the Paris dating scene, where charm and appearances can be misleading, that self-knowledge is everything.

Finally, why is all of this important?

Other than this information being both fun and empowering, it comes down to your frequency.

When you make decisions that aren’t aligned with your natural frequency, these decisions don’t work out. And your mind exhausts you in overanalyzing why it didn’t work out and promising that the next decision will. This is a waste of your time, energy, and focus. And as expats, we’re already managing a lot—so knowing how to stay in alignment is so healthy for us!

In future posts, I’ll walk through more chart elements, one at a time—with real-life expat examples.

Feel free to reach out to us at Human Design Paris and we’ll help you read your chart.