Date: May 7th 2007

Nga mihi ki a koutou.

Well whanau it looks like winter time is here to stay.  Getting more makariri every day aye?  We've lit the fire and have made some soups already. We miss the warm Hawkes Bay weather but enjoy the convenience of a city without the congestion of peak time traffic like some of the bigger cities. This month we will check out the digestive system and how to keep it healthy and maintain it. The fight against the flu blues is on again and we'll give you a few hints for preventative measures. Often Maori refuse to rest when they are sick and keep on pushing their bodies until finally they they can't get up. Years ago the motto  was 'work hard and play hard.'  With age and experience, we have learnt to practise 'little and often.' Practising preventative self-care strategies like this will give you far more chances of enjoying better health now and when you get older. Trying to make huge changes after a stroke, for example, is a little too late. Why not start now? In September, we will be offering weekend workshops focusing on Self-Care Workshops. We will also be beginning a series of traditional Maori healing and Rongoa Workshops. Online healing sessions or tuition are the other option if you can't travel which can also be done via telephone. For those of you who are interested in looking at our SexWorks site, read on for more information.  

Have you ever been on marae where your bowels haven't moved for days on end! Sitting down all day and then eating fried bread or white bread with every meal bungs you up even further. The Digestive System is necessary to break down food and it starts in the mouth with saliva then travels down to the stomach where acids break down the food even further. From here it moves down into your intestines and then finally into your colon. The bits that are left are indigestible and the compacting of these bits are where you can get constipated. Lack of water, fibre and exercise further contribute to this as well as some medications. Putting more fibre into your diet can act like a bottlebrush picking up waste along the way then literally taking it to the dump (colon). Soluble fibre (psyllium husks) can make the tutae larger, softer and easier to move through the system. Some prefer to eat all kinds of nuts, vegetables and seeds for daily fibre. An easy alternative is taking 2 tsp Linseed Meal - flax seeds every second day with 2 tsp Psyllium Husk. Tastes good in cereals or in a smoothie with rice/soy milk, yoghurt, fruit and protein powder. Each packet costs about $8 which lasts for about a month. You MUST drink water though after having psyllium husks otherwise you will find your tutae will be hard and dry. In days of old, Maori took Flax root for a good clean out. Although this was very effective, it is a bit rough on the body. In other words, it hurt. The bowels will move effortlessly and often when you keep your digestive system healthy. For more information, check out this web site:  www.gesa.org.au  Next time we will look at cleaning your colon and colonics for a deeper cleansing.

Fighting the flu blues already. One of my kuia used to say colds and flu were a good cleansing on all levels and to welcome it. Louise Hay, author of a wonderful book You Can Heal Your Life, believes that colds are bought on by mental confusion where too much is going on at once. It is a good reminder to take time out for yourself and return to your maunga.

'Hoki ki nga maunga ki a purea koe e nga hau o Tawhirimatea''
Return to the mountains, so you will be cleansed by the winds of Tawhirimatea'

Hot pools and the sauna sweat the poisons out through the pores. Remember to rub 'Vicks' on your throat and chest too as it works wonders and is so cheap. Some Vicks in a bowl of boiling hot water with a towel over the top of your head will open and clear your sinuses so you can breathe better. Liquid Echinacea is available from the health shop for around $10 - $20. There is a strong one available that has 3 different varieties of echinacea to boost the immune system and build resistance to coughs and colds while reducing the severity and duration of it. It does taste a bit yuuuuck on its own though so we put it in a little orange juice to lessen the taste of the echinacea. Try the 1000 mg Vitamin C tablets too. These are much stronger. You'd have to eat a hell of a lot of oranges to get that much Vitamin C in one mouthful. I quite like the old wives tale of a little straight whiskey and bitters before bed for killing germs and it seems to put a warm smile on my face before I go to sleep. Remember your body is your biggest asset. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

Register your interest with us if you would like more information on our Maori Healing & Rongoa Workshops. We plan on starting monthly workshops in September and would like to group tauira with those who have similar needs. Some may be a little more advanced in the healing arts while some are just beginning to learn. Some may have learnt healing techniques from other cultures but not had the opportunity to learn kauapapa Maori healing. Then there are those who may be standing at a crossroads in their life contemplating a huge lifestyle change by coming to these workshops. Ka rawe. Healing is often about healing yourself first. Some of you will be wanting to understand your Maoritanga more fully and your inherited spiritual gifts. Kaua e whakama if your knowledge of the Maori culture and Te Reo is limited. You will learn only what it is you need to learn for that time. Other Tauira and Tohunga who are destined to wananga with you will enhance the journey you are about to embark upon. He whakatauki : Nau te rourou, Naku te rourou, ka ora te manuhiri.' These workshops will include accommodation, meals, rongoa tuition, traditional maori healing tuition, bodywork sessions and Maori art sessions @ $400 twin share or marae style accommodation and single room accommodation @ $450. There are only 10 places available per workshop so apply for funding now if you want to come. Pub Charities accept Maori workshops for self-development and cultural education as do the lotteries funding. To view testimonials from some of our other Maori healing wananga held  in Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Te Wairoa and Mahia Peninsula please click on this link: Testimonials and Success Stories.

Self-Care Workshops will include massage sessions, naturopathic sessions, spiritual healing sessions, art sessions and detoxing through diet and nutrition. In these workshops, you will learn to recognise boundaries of self-preservation and find new ways of loving and honouring yourself holistically. This will be a safe environment in which to release a lifetime of old emotional baggage and all you have to do is let go. Many have made life changing shifts in just one workshop. Accommodation, meals and individual healing sessions are included in the costings of $400 twin share or marae style and single room accommodation @ $450.

If you are whakama and prefer to learn or receive Maori healing online or by telephone then sessions are by koha $30 for 30 - 60 mins. Nau Mai he koha nui, he koha iti ranei. Korero mai ki a matou mo enei mea. Our tauira are learning how to develop their clairaudience, clairvoyance, empathic or prophetic abilities. In other words, learning how to discover and develop their spiritual gifts using vibrations, sound, colours, intuitive feelings, visions and premonitions. Mostly these gifts lay dormant until we are ready to recognise them but sometimes you are just not aware of what they are. Many discover that they were using them all along and had never been able to identify what they were.  When the time is right then you may wish to join us in the weekend workshops where we will also go into more of the physical bodywork techniques. 'Self-preservation' when healing is about knowing the disciplines and ethics involved and then 'walking the talk' to maintain wellness for yourself and others and as a consequence your work will be based on a strong spiritual foundation.

Our new SexWorks website www.sexworks.org has some interesting resources for learning about your sexuality. Our facilitators can work online with you in complete confidentiality to explore the core experiences which can cause blockages in the expression of your sexuality. Often times there are experiences that have resulted in literally turning the tap off to giving or receiving sexual fulfilment. Sexual energy is very similar to spiritual energy. Transforming sexual energy into spiritual energy can generate powerful healing energy. Buddhist monks are masters at this. Those who suppress their sexuality may have much difficulty trying to turn it back on again later on in life. Our facilitators are not trained psychologists who work with the mind or theoretical psychoanalysis. Rather, they use the third eye - spiritual vision to bring about personal realizations which in turn leads to lasting change. Only YOU can effect change in your life. Sessions are $30 for 30 mins. If you prefer, an organisation called Sex Therapy New Zealand offer online consultations at http://sextherapy.co.nz/

Feel free to email any questions to cmildon@aiohealing.com and allow 2 - 3 days for an answer. There are no hidden costs in any of our services or workshops, unlike some we have experienced. Once we emailed an herbalist asking for advice to purchase some products and in her reply (poto email) was a bill for $20. We are well known for trading our services for other services, goods, artwork, food...all sorts. Why not? If you don't ask you don't get. I remember one kuia asking me how I managed to get a room to mirimiri in at the hospital and I simply stated 'I asked.' What's the worse thing that could happen? Someone says 'No.' Negotiate a solution. Our people were champion international traders in the old days so it is no wonder that Maori hold the highest rate of entrepreneurism in the world. Anyway, stay warm and keep well.