A New Model for a More Interconnected Human Experience
Most of us are familiar with Abraham Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs—a pyramid illustrating the progression of human needs from our most basic physiological survival to safety, love, esteem, and finally, self-actualization. While Maslow’s model has become a cornerstone of modern psychology, it leaves out dimensions of human experience that many spiritual traditions consider essential.
Yuriyah is not a psychologist, but through years of inner work, trauma healing, yogic study, meditation, fasting, prayer, and self-inquiry, they began to see human needs through a different lens—one grounded in ancient wisdom rather than academic theory. From the perspective of the Way of the Ancient Ones, several limitations in Maslow’s model became clear.
Where Maslow’s Pyramid Falls Short
In yogic philosophy, the human being is understood as having multiple koshas, or sheaths:
Spiritual – Mental – Emotional – Energetic – Physical.
Maslow’s pyramid acknowledges the physical, emotional, and mental realms, but the spiritual dimension—arguably the root of human meaning—is absent. Even the highest tier of the pyramid, self-actualization, often feels like a never-ending quest for self-improvement rather than a path to true fulfillment.
The pyramid structure itself is inherently hierarchical and linear. It suggests that life unfolds step-by-step, as if we can only address higher needs after lower ones are fully secured. But reality is not so clean. Human needs overlap, influence one another, and rise or fall depending on life circumstances.
In many ways, the pyramid mirrors the values of the society that created it—individualistic, striving, competitive, and reflective of “survival of the fittest” and capitalist mentalities. But being human is far more complex than climbing a triangle.
Introducing Yuriyah’s Circle of Needs
This is where Yuriyah’s Circle of Needs was born—a model that removes hierarchy altogether and shows our needs layered within one another, just as they function within our lived experience.
Instead of a ladder, it’s a mandala.
Instead of striving upward, it’s about coming inward.
Instead of achievement, the focus is integration.
This circular model includes not only physical, emotional, energetic, and mental needs—but also the needs of the soul. For those who don’t believe in the soul, you can think of it simply as the realm of imagination, intuition, identity, or the deepest layer of self-awareness.
The Soul Need: The Need for Self-Realization
The soul need refers to the primordial aspect of self—the Self beyond the character, beyond the personality we play in this lifetime. It is the need for self-realization: the understanding of who and what we truly are at our core.
During years of spiritual study, Yuriyah noticed something profound: the Bible ends with the Book of Revelation. And revelation—realization—became a central theme of their journey. Questions, confusions, and mysteries would resolve themselves through inner revelation, not external attainment.
Maslow’s “self-actualization” suddenly appeared incomplete.
Actualization depends on realization.
One cannot fulfill their potential without first knowing the truth of who they are.
This led to deeper questions:
- How can one become their fullest self without realizing the capacity to realize?
- How can one become their truest self without knowing the truth about the self?
- How can one create meaning without understanding the power they hold to create meaning at all?
These realizations opened the door to a new, final need.
The Source Need: Reunification
At the center of the Circle of Needs is what Yuriyah calls the Source Need—the need for Unity, or Reunification.
In yogic tradition, yoga literally means to yoke, to bind, or to unite.
The root of the word religion shares the same meaning.
To bind is to become one.
Reunification is the moment we stop striving to become our “best self” and begin accepting our true self. It is the dissolution of the exhausting pursuit of endless improvement. It is peace. Harmony. Wholeness.
It is the realization that the “best” version of oneself is the one you are willing to accept fully and lovingly.
Why the Circle Matters
The Circle of Needs presents a model where:
- Our needs are interconnected, not hierarchical
- Spiritual and mental needs are just as foundational as physical ones
- “Higher needs” influence “lower needs,” not just the other way around
- Self-actualization becomes a by-product of self-realization
- Fulfillment comes from unity, not achievement
- The human being is seen as a layered, living ecosystem—not a ladder to climb
This model better reflects the fluidity of real life and honors all aspects of the human experience, seen and unseen.
In Closing
Thank you for reading.
If this model resonates with you, please share Yuriyah’s Circle of Needs with your community so they too may discover the path of reunification with their inner source.
For deeper study, explore: