Human Development Technology (HDT) is the development and application of methods that increase individual human functionality.  There are some physiological characteristics which make up the core functional potential of the human being and HDT is designed to increase this through educational workshops and training exercises.  HDT increases individual human potential.

Human functionality is an area of knowledge that is little understood.  How is it that one person can be highly functional and capable of doing lots of things with apparently little effort while another person can be quite average and not outstanding in anything in particular?  Is it genetics, is it fate, or is it God's Will?  What is it?  You can believe in fate or God's will if you like, or you can believe that it is genetics but neither of those approaches allows for any notion that it is within your power to change your functional performance.  The bulk of the characteristics that we aspire to and enjoy as human beings are the result of our functional development, rather than genetics, fate or God.  This is the assumption upon which the science of Human Development Technology is based and the purpose of this technology is to enable individuals to aspire to higher levels of functional development and then help them to achieve them.

Functional Development consists of all the abilities that we as individuals acquire during our upbringing.  This happens from the moment of conception, including the 9 months spent in the womb.  Functional development is affected by an infinite variety of factors.  In the womb this might consists of our mother's diet and any diseases or events that affect her.  After birth, the influences increase dramatically, including everything from disease, injury, family dynamics, interpersonal events, earthquakes and cyclones, social environment, schooling, socio-economic factors, parenting characteristics, and everything that occurs in our lives as we progress through the developmental years. 

Essentially development never stops, but we do reach a point once adulthood is reached at which developmental abilities become relatively stable.  That might be the point where we consider that we "know who we are" because we know what we can do and what we can't do.  We have reached our limits.

The same environment will not necessarily produce the same developmental results in two different individuals.  We all respond differently and there are always so many events in the environment that we are responding to so so it is impossible to identify specific relationships of cause and effect.  However some researchers have identified cycles of behaviour that get entrenched in families and passed down from generation to generation.  Similarly, you could say that culture is a form of functional development that works like this, being passed down from generation to generation by a group of people who belong to the same society.  Functional development is a mix of characteristics that individuals share with others and which they don't share.  Some individuals are lucky to develop abilities which are outstandingly good, while others which are exceptionally poor, but most people's abilities can be described as average.

HDT is a completely new knowledge system and belongs to the larger field of psychology.  The EmotFit programme developed by Passing Phase purports to be the first programme using such knowledge but there are also other programmes which provide skills that are HDT like.  These include yoga, tai chi, Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique.  The first two of these are based on ancient tradition and are not explained in terms that fit with modern scientific understanding.  The second two have been developed recently by Europeans, but again independent of mainstream science.

Any training programme, such as for sports, or even academia can be considered HDT in that they increase potential, however in most cases the functional improvements are focused on specific abilities rather than general core functionality.  Yoga has, especially since the 16th century been focused on general health and well-being and is not meant for any specific functional purpose.  Tai chi is similar in that, although it originates from martial arts and is still considered to be one, it has become general purpose fitness and well-being focused.  Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique both seek to improve the general performance of the human body by loosening up and re-engineering movement and configuration in the limbs and torso.  All of these endeavour to achieve their goals by undoing some of what we have learnt, going back in our development to a more infantile or stem state and then providing the opportunity to relearn and redo our functional abilities in a more improved manner.

For a full description of human development technology go here

Following are categories under which we have placed workshops on this site:

• relaxation - learning how to relax the body by taking time out, using visualization and suitable body posture.
• yoga - stretching the body into new positions which stimulate blood flow and body movement, improve posture and mental alertness.
• tai chi - an Eastern discipline focusing on body movement, relaxation and concentration.
• bodywork - exercises which help to regain posture under relaxation.
• Personal Development Programmes - such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming which are designed to improve development by focusing on thinking skills.
• integrated - Comprehensive integrated programmes involving many of the above such as the emotfit emotional fitness programme which combines bodywork, yoga/posture, voice and self-development.

We are keen to hear from anyone with other programmes or types of Development Workshop that we might be able include.