Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting

01/09/2025

Te Waipounamu / South Island events for the Women's Day of Action on September 20th.

Head along to your local action- together we rise for PAY EQUITY and celebrate the wāhine who inspire us every day. 💜💚

Visit https://www.together.org.nz/women_s_day_of_action for events near you.

31/08/2025

✨ Monday | Spring | September✨

A season shift, a gentle reminder.

🌱 Reset.
🌸 Refocus.
💛 Move with gentleness.

Spring brings space to notice the small changes, the quiet growth, and the fresh beginnings waiting for us.

How are you choosing gentleness with yourself today?

24/08/2025

✨ Today’s effort = 10km forest run ✅ Goal smashed 👏

Rocking my shirt from sparked some awesome kōrero about heart health and us as New Zealanders ❤️🫀 Big thanks to everyone who stopped for a chat along the track – perfect excuse to catch my breath too 😅🌿

Moving, connecting, raising awareness. Every step counts.

Forest fest run every year at bottle lake forest!

❤️

22/08/2025

🌅 Morning Moments – August Reflections🌅

This month has been filled with small but powerful reminders:
✨ Sunrises at the beach – grounding with Papatūānuku and Tangaroa
✨ Conversations that deepen connection and understanding
✨ Pauses that remind us of the importance of presence

I hold to the social work values of whakawhanaungatanga (relationships), manaakitanga (care), and aroha (compassion).

These morning moments remind us that wellbeing is nurtured through connection — with the land, with others, and with ourselves. 🌿

🤎 May we keep choosing connection, reflection, and gentle starts.

🧡Abby

21/08/2025

🧡 Small Habits, Big Change🧡

In social work, we know it’s the everyday actions, the steady steps, and the quiet moments that create the biggest shifts.

✨ Why moments matter:

🌱 Small steps build trust and resilience
🌱 Consistency strengthens *mana* and self-determination
🌱 Collective care grows through simple, repeated acts of kindness

In my mahi, I honour the value of *manaakitanga* — showing care in ways both big and small. Over time, these habits restore balance, uplift whānau, and create lasting change.

🤎 Remember: progress doesn’t need to be fast to be powerful. Every step counts.

19/08/2025

✨ Comfort in Your Own Skin✨

In social work we honour the value of 'self-determination '— the right to know yourself, make choices, and trust your own path.

💡 Being comfortable in your own skin means:

🌿 Knowing yourself deeply
🌿 Trusting your gut knowing (*puku* wisdom)
🌿 Making decisions that align with your values
🌿 Feeling okay with who you are, even in uncertainty

When we lean into this, we strengthen mana, build resilience, and create space for clearer, kinder decision-making.

🤎 Social work reminds us: everyone has the right to be seen, heard, and supported as their authentic selves.

✨ Today’s reminder: You are allowed to trust yourself. You are allowed to feel okay, just as you are. ✨

🧡Abby

17/08/2025

17/08/2025

🌿 Regulating Our Nervous System🌿

In social work, we walk alongside people navigating stress, trauma, and change. In Aotearoa, we also hold the values of manaakitanga (care), whakawhanaungatanga (connection), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination).

Regulating our nervous system isn’t just about calming down — it’s about restoring balance, protecting *mana*, and supporting wellbeing.

🌀 Quick Regulation Reminders:

✨ Deep breathing – reconnect with your ha (breath of life)
✨ Grounding – notice your surroundings, anchor yourself to Papatūānuku
✨ Social connection – share kōrero with whānau, lean into collective care

As kaimahi, we can’t pour from an empty cup. By regulating our nervous system, we honour ourselves *and* those we serve.

🤎 What small practice grounds you today?

14/08/2025

✨ Thankful for winning this little getaway close to home ✨
📍 Kaikōura – .retreat

💛 Grateful for winning this two-night stay
🏡 Luxurious. Comfortable. Just for me.

🎶 Stone beach, ocean sounds, autumn gem colours inside🍂
Perfect for slowing down & breathing in the moment.

🌊 Sometimes the best reset is right on our doorstep.

14/08/2025

✨ Thankful for winning this little getaway close to home ✨
📍 Kaikōura – .retreat

💛 Grateful for winning this two-night stay
🏡 Luxurious. Comfortable. Just for me.

🎶 Stone beach, ocean sounds, autumn gem colours inside🍂
Perfect for slowing down & breathing in the moment.

🌊 Sometimes the best reset is right on our doorstep.

13/08/2025

🌀 Trust what your puku tells you 🌀

Image and Prompt from 👏🙌👏🙌👏🙌

In social work, we hold many ways of knowing — academic knowledge, cultural wisdom, and the deep, quiet voice of instinct.

That *gut knowing* isn’t random. It’s awareness built over time, shaped by experience, listening, observing, and connecting.

Sometimes, your puku knows before your head catches up.

✨ Pause. Listen. Trust it. ✨

💬 Kōrero mai - When has your gut instinct guided you in your mahi or life?

23/07/2025

🌅 Rewiring Your Narrative 🌱

Every sunrise is a quiet invitation to choose again.
To *rewrite the story*, even just one sentence at a time.
To gently reframe the way we see ourselves, our communities, and our worth.

In social work, we walk beside people rewriting some of the toughest narratives. And sometimes, we need to pause and rewrite our own.

✨ What if the story starts with:
“I am not what happened to me… I am what I choose to become.”

Today, be grateful for the sunrise.
Be proud of the work you do.
And if the old narrative doesn’t serve you anymore—rewrite it.