Whakaaturanga

This weekend was a very interesting. Sadly I lead into the weekend knowing that I wasn't going to be participating in the whakaaturanga. Having had to sit on the side for my rugby grand final I had accepted that the same thing was to happen so I was mentally prepared for that.

My aim was to go into the weekend helping where ever I could and be beside my brothers and sisters along the way for encouragement.

As the night went into day and the day into night I observed everyone learning the final moves, knowing where there places are, perfecting grasps of their rākau, preparing the marae atea, weaving and fitting kākahu, embodying the movements of their rākau, embodying what is looks like to be a certain bird, mastering the footwork, mastering moving as one,  thinking about the best place to stand, remembering lines, battling with egos of others, battling with your own ego, trying not to think about being hungry, working in the heat, sore feet, containing excitement of whānau that are coming to watch, thinking about what whānau will think,  working alongside each other and teaching what you know and have learned, protecting your ariki (if it was me again nope!, battle formations, remembering what side to go to or not, sparring, controlling your ihi,  karo, pao, ngā ahae mezmerized whānau, excited tamrariki, kina, kina, kina!!

The journey leading up to the whakaturanga is always special but I was blown away by the efforts of my brothes and sisters. At one point of the whakaaturanga a whole heap of smoke was blowing over the atea as I looked over one of the kids had pulled a few of the big rākau out of the fire and they created a heap of smoke. I went over to Bon and said "Oi!! you were supposed to be looking after the fire!' he seemed to be in a somewhat trance, he steps out of his trance and says 'nah sis i'm the audience at the moment." At that moment I turned to the all the people watching and every single person was mesmerized with what they were seeing. It was such a cool sight to behold and made me so proud of all whānau.
Ko tō manawa, ko tōku manawa.

Move your body!!

Having read through my reflections I had realized that I was singing the same tune about being time poor and wanting to make a change but not being able to. I also come to realize

This week after stating in our zoom hui that I was going to work harder at making it happen and then one of the bros say we will hold you to your word. I made the intention to get up and go running.

Every morning I park up outside the local laundromat, some days I will dry a load of clothes and sometimes I wont but I have 25 minutes to run to the BP and back again. I have made it to Haruatai Park and back in that time and I am slowly making progress to the college.

I did 4 runs this week I am pretty proud of myself!

Games for learning

Noho was held at Waiopehu College. We started on Saturday morning and finished on Sunday morning. We were together for a 24 hours and by golly it was jam packed with experiences that included games.
Some of the games I thoroughly enjoyed and some of them I dislike with a vengeance!

I love games! I play games with my kids all the time. Whether it be a monopoly, basketball, bull rush tackle or paper scissors rock, my philosophy is "the kids should lose at every cost!!" It is my mission to make sure they lose and I win! Sometimes I may let them win but for the most of it they will lose and I will make sure they know about it!

I believe I am building resilience in my children by making sure they lose. Plus I love to win so I see it as a win, win situation.

 

Work

This week two amazing things happened, let me explain

I work with pretty amazing bunch of people. My team leader is always forthcoming with new ideas and thoughts. She allows space to be creative and will support most ideas we want to run with. Their are 4 members in our team and I think that we are quite the combination.

We went away this week up to Auckland for a Positive Learning for Behavior conference. It was the best time away, we were able to troubleshoot issues we were having with some of our tamariki at school. We problem solved our way through our issues and we were worked really well as a team. We were all re inspired and our working relationship become a lot stronger. I love my job and the challenges its brings, I am grateful for the people I work with.

On route to Auckland we went to the airport early to have dinner at the restaurant my daughter works at. Throughout our time there I observed Kaylah waiting on tables, being jovial with her customers, organizing drinks, settling customers, delivering meals as well as helping her manager with our table. It was a real proud māmā moment! My baby flew the coup years ago and it is so nice to see her so independent. She makes me so proud.

Tōku Reo

I tēnei wiki i haere au ki taku kura reo tuatahi. He miharo rawa taku noho ki ētahi o ngā mātanaga reo. He maha aku akoranga. Ko te mea papai rawa ko ngā kemu ki te taha o Pania Papa. I tākaro mātou i te kemu pērā i te 'breakout.'
He tino toa au ki tērā kemu, na reira i timata pai ēengari i hinga rawa taku roopu na te hē o tētahi o aku hoa ktk.

He rawe ki te whakarongo i ngā taumata o te reo. I tū tētahi tau tohetohe kei runga noa atu ngā kaikōrero. Ko taku tino hiahia kia tū pērā i ngā kaiako, a tōna wā.

Tōku reo, tōku ohooho, tōku reo tōku mapihi maurea.

Karakia - Taha Hinengaro

Friday the 8th 

Today was a day of karakia here are two that I was immersed in today.

Te Mārmataka

Te tapu o te hā, 

Na Mahinārangi Hakaraia, Jalessa Wilson, Kerianna Stirling
Hā ki roto
hā ki waho
hā ki runga
hā ki raro
manahua te tapu o te ha
manahua te tapu o to iho tāngaengae
e whakahono , e whakapiri atu
ki a Ranginui
ki a Papatūānuku e....i
Hā ki roto
Hā ki waho
aro ki te waipungarangi o Hine Ataaru
e rere, kia rere
hā ki runga,
hā ki raro
aro ki ngā hihi rangaranga o Rangi Haeata
e rere kia rere
Hā ki roto
Hā ki waho
tukuna  mai
hei whakaoho
hei whakaora
o te mauri o te ira tāngata
hā ki runga
hā ki raro
ka ea, ka ea
Uhi, wero, tau mai te mauri
tau mai te mahana
Haumie, hui e taiki e. 
Breathe
Breathe in the essence from within, from without, from above from below.
Embrace the sacredness of breath
Embrace the essence of your spiritual umbilical connection that connects +6 with Rangi and Papatūānuku
Breathe
Focus your attention to the sacred light of Hine Atarau and let the essence flow through your connection.
Breathe
Focus your attention to the rays of Rangi Haeata and let it flow through your being
Breathe
Let the light flow to awaken and restore your true spiritual essence
breathe tis complete
Breathe
May the essence and the warmth of your connection ground you.
Haumi e, hui e taiki e

FFB!

May 2017 I was at the pinnacle of my fitness. We had finished our kapahaka campaign and I was happily maintaining my fitness and healthy lifestyle. In July my youngest daughter was struck down with a life threating disease and we relocated to Auckland where I tried really hard to maintain my fitness however, it slowly declined. When we returned to Ōtaki we slowly got back on track but life took over and I found myself back at my undesirable size and unhealthy lifestyle.

Nohi Mā and I calling out Nohi Ja and Nohi Jord

On April 25th 2018 Mahina Hakaraia and I were sitting at my home eating some chocolate and as our conversation progressed we decided we had had enough of the unhealthy predicament we were in. At that moment we decided to form a club! Our club needed a named so we chose FFBC. .(F=Fat F= swear word B= another swear word starting with B C= club)

We called out our two mates Jaleesa Wilson and Jordon Bingham to challenge us in a weight loss challenge to which they accepted.

We were all so excited as we all felt the same and we were sick of being FFB's.
We started off so well, meeting up doing workouts, eating healthy, encouraging each other.  Sadly, life took over and we all got too busy to complete our challenge and we remained FFB's

Why is this always the case? 

What is it that makes us default back to our ways?

Why is living a healthy lifestyle not important to us?

The internal battle of Tumataenga and Rongomatane continues to be my reality.

FFB needs help!

Te Utanga Tutahi

Te Utanga Tautuhi

This weekend we had the honor of listening  and watching Te Utanga Tautuhi talk about his whare Te Ngākau o te Toka.

Te Utanga talked us through many aspects of their processes and tikanga that left me feeling intrigued of wanting to learn more about our art.

When we went onto the marae atea I was totally mezmerized throughout his wero display. He had every little movement perfected. Every little turn of his taiaha was purposeful. Every step he took was done with precision. He embodied every movement with poise. I was in total awe of his display.

Te Utanga's display has made me think about my understanding of our whare and how much I do know and how much I don't know. I have so much to learn.
Watching him has inspired me to take time to perfect my own practice when I pick up the rākau.

The Struggle is REAL! - Taha Hinengaro

Im finding it hard to gather the motivation to get out there and do some exercise. In my life I feel overwhelmed with my workload, family business, selling a house and buying a house, children and their commitments.

Need a boot up the ass to get motivated!!

When that motivation kicks in my memoirs of a FFB will kick in!! Stay tuned to te taha hinengaro when that happens.