It’s Not Magic

The point I’ve been starting to drive at here is straightforward: being capable of performing in the world is not magic. Its a function of understanding who we are as evolved animals and acting in an intentional way that accounts for our Physiological and psychological evolution. I’m ready to take the project to the next […]

Physiological Needs – Sleep

Sleep is a critical physiological need that is completely undervalued in modern society. Genetically modern humans have existed for at least 200,000 years and more recent finds suggest our ancestors may date to 300,000 years ago or more. This is significant because it means that the physiological structures of our body (our endocrine system and […]

Physiological Needs – Water

Access to potable water is a physiological need that is nearly worth ranking as an Acute need. In the semi-arbitrary distinctions I’m making here consider it a Persistent Need rather than an Acute Need because we do have some time to find, collect, purify, and consume water before things become life threatening. However we still have […]

Physiological Needs – Breathing

Being able to breathe is a critical task for living. Below are some thoughts on breathing techniques and some safety thoughts. Basic Breathing Exercise Growing Fresh Air Wim Hof Wim Hof is a self-experimenter who is pushing the boundaries of human performance through breath control, meditation, and hormetic stress inoculation. This video is just the […]

Non Sequitur: Training Wheels

The term “non sequitur” comes from Latin and means that something does not follow from a previous premise. In formal logic the non sequitur is a type of fallacy in which a conclusion cannot be said to follow from the state premises. I use the phrase regularly as a way to account for my brain […]

Physiological Needs

The four pillars of our Persistent Needs – Physiological, Safety, Community, and Esteem Needs – rise and fall. The degree to which our needs are secure or insecure – or our perception of their security or insecurity – establishes how “solid” we feel about these needs being met. For the moment think about each pillar […]

The Persistent Needs

The Acute Needs in the Humanistic Needs Approach are survival needs which, if they are insecure, can lead to death in minutes. As such there is little to no individual variability present.* These are universal needs. The HNA model represents universality with the color red. Above our Acute Needs we find four of the basic […]

Acute Needs – Self Defense

Violence is a part of the world. It isn’t going to magically go away. Violence is hard coded into our DNA and is a response to perceived threats in our environment. As such we need to know how to avoid, deescalate, and defend in violent encounters. I only offer Coach Tony Blauer’s information here for […]

Acute Needs – Swimming

The earth is 71% water. Knowing how to swim is a critical survival skill. Below are some resources for parents and mentors looking to foster swimming abilities. Infant Swimming Resource ISR’s Roll-Back-to-Float Sequence from Infant Swimming Resource on Vimeo. How-To Float How-To Tread Water How-To Tread Water/Fear of Water

Acute Needs – First Aid Resources

There are many sources and resources for acquiring the abilities we need to assure our Acute Needs. I offer some here for all mentors following along. Our First-Aid topics are geared around “hurry cases” – Stopped Breathing, Severe Bleeding, Heart Attack, Stroke, Ingested Poison, and Shock. The hurry cases selected are those that pose immediate […]