In NZ, it's Maori Language Week.
It's the perfect time to write a post I've meant to write for the longest time.
A post on the Maori concept of Hauora.
Hauroa is a totally holistic view of health and well-being. There are four dimensions of Hauora: physical well-being, emotional or mental well-being, social well-being, and spiritual well-being.
A house, or whare, is often used to symbolise the strength that can result from this solid and balance approach to health. As houses have, the Whare Tapa Wha has four walls, each wall representing a different dimension:
Taha Tinana (Physical Wellbeing - health),
Taha Hinengaro (Mental & Emotional Wellbeing - self-confidence),
Taha Whanau (Social Wellbeing - self-esteem) and
Taha Wairua (Spiritual Wellbeing - personal beliefs)
All four dimensions are necessary for strength and stability.
I love the reminder this model gives us to be truly rounded in our approach to health. It can be easy to focus on our physical health, and possibly to our social health. In our Western approach, we may then pay some, but not so much, attention to our emotional well being. Not so often do we value our spiritual health.
If we think about our health and well-being from the perspective of this Maori model of Hauroa, how well would our Whare be standing? Would all our walls be equally strong? Or is there one wall or more wall that is not really up to strength?