Integrative Wellbeing Kahurangi

27/09/2024

Late last year in my role as a GBCAC arts worker i spent time connecting with Mohua Nga Toi artist Robin Slow, this article is a summary of aspects of that conversation.
Thank you Robin and Rose for your hospitality and generosity 🙏

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.’I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.’Between December 2023 and April 2024 the Golden Bay Museum | Waka Huia o Mohua curated the exhibition ‘kātoitoi | response’ an invitation to local artists to respond to iconic artworks or art...

08/12/2022

A gentle reminder about why you are utterly exhausted…

No one I know began this year on a full tank. Given the vicious onslaught of the previous two years (let’s just call it what it was) most of us dragged ourselves across the finish line of 2021… frazzled, spent, running on aged adrenaline fumes…

We crawled into 2022 still carrying shock, trauma, grief, heaviness, disbelief… The memories of a surreal existence…

And then it began… The fastest hurricane year we could ever have imagined. Whether we have consciously processed it or not, this has been a year of more pressure, more stress, and a race to “catch up” in all departments… Every. Single. One. Work, school, sports, relationships, life…

Though not intentionally aware, perhaps hopeful that the busier we are, the more readily we will forget… the more easily we will undo the emotional tangle… the more permanently we will wipe away the scarring wounds…

We can’t.

And attempts to re-create some semblance of “normal” on steroids while disregarding that for almost two years our sympathetic nervous systems were on full alert, has left our collective mental health in tatters. Our children and teens are not exempt. The natural byproduct of fighting a hurricane is complete and utter exhaustion…

So before you begin questioning the absolutely depleted and wrung-dry state you are in- Pause. Breathe. Remind yourself of who you are and what you have endured. And then remind yourself of what you have overcome.

Despite it all, you’re still going. (Even on the days you stumble and find yourself face down in a pile of dirt).

Understanding brings compassion…

Most of the world’s citizens are in need of a little extra TLC at the moment. Most are donning invisible “Handle with care” posters around their necks and “Fragile” tattoos on their bodies…

Instead of racing to the finish line of this year, tread gently. Go slowly.

Amidst the chaos, find small pockets of silence. Find compassion. Allow the healing. And most of all… Be kind. There’s no human being on earth who couldn’t use just a little bit more of the healing salve of kindness.

With love ♥️

Powerful and poignant words of insight by
Naomi Holdt - Psychologist and Speaker

15/06/2022

On some level for us all the last few years have been challenging.

Whether it be our own challenges and/or those of significant others, there is a distinct potential beliefs, emotions and stresses associated with navigating these challenges sit within both our physical and energetic bodies.

It is also likely as we move out the other side of these challenges these same beliefs, emotions and stresses no longer serve us...
That moving forward the need is to recognise, release, and reconnect at a deeper level, so we can effectively support ourselves (and those we love) as we:
* rebuild relationships
* recognise and integrate deep learning, and find a positive way to integrate the same into the now of our journey.

Massage and energy based body work are an effective way of supporting this process.

If this perspective resonates I would love to have the opportunity to work alongside you.

For more information on what I offer please visit my fb page:
https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeWellbeingKahurangi

I operate out of two clinic spaces:
* Wednesday @ 354 High Street
* Other times by arrangement @ home clinic in Lower Moutere

You can book a session by messaging me through the 'Integrative Wellbeing Kahurangi' fb page or sending a txt to 02102778363

https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeWellbeingKahurangi

Bless 🙏

15/06/2022

>

Recently I completed a course in Angelic Reiki facilitated by my dear friend Colette ❤️
Over the last while I have found time to reflect on my journey to holding space and found while I was aware there was something else present during sessions the depth of my awareness and hence ability to work with this presence was limited.

Developing understanding around experiences that are subtle, ethereal and can only be 'perceived' as your relationship with the thing you are trying to 'see' deepens is a delicate dance between following a structured interaction, teasing out details from the diversity, describing these details utilising ancient belief systems while refraining from overlaying those same beliefs on 'reality' as they simultaneously aid your work!

I have found my gift (as others have referred to it) is the ability to perceive energy flowing, absent and/or stuck. The gross pulsing flows observed in the beginning as I connected chakra have now become subtle meridians (or channels) of energy I can 'see' flowing throughout a person's energy body as a whole.
While this allows me insight into various aspects of an individuals relationship with themselves, doing the work I do is a constant reminder the understanding I hold is momentary...
It remains always just a suggestion of where to open my awareness in the understanding doing so will create the potential of witnessing something I am yet to understand - a new seed of enquiry.

It is these seeds alongside reading, working with other practitioners and participating in workshops that fuel my personal journey of self knowledge, my personal unfolding, my own spiritual embodiment which in turn becomes the space I hold for those I work with.

Doing the Angelic Reiki course was a deep reminder of the partiality of our conscious awareness - I do not mean this in a negative sense - more in the sense of remembering we can perceive the world around us on so many levels. Our conscious awareness, although partial, is an important component of the whole - it has the ability when asked the right questions to be the catalyst of change, of significant healing, and of a remembering...

Doing the Angelic Reiki course was a profound reminder there is something beyond the physical realm that when invited will work through and with us to effect change.
Further, that our soul journey - in this moment - reaches into other times, other realms, other stories if you wish, when experienced and valued, offer a world of opportunity!

Do I believe in past lives? I cannot comment either way... what I do know is whether what I have experienced are past lives or some Jung like architypes we somehow tap into as a vehicle for shifting past trauma we are unable (or unwilling) to describe directly doesn't matter.
The shear act of allowing those stories to shift from being stored within our subtle energy body (hiding in the shadows where they have an unfettered influence over our life journey) out in to the light creates the opportunity for change, healing, growth ❤️

If you would like to journey with me as I explore and integrate a deepening relationship with the realm of angels please feel free to reach out - I would love to hear from you

29/04/2022

10 Life Changing Tips Inspired By Rumi
****************************

1. Challenge Fear

"Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious."

2. Be Bold

"Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth."

3. Have Gratitude

"Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life."

4. Take Action

"Why should I stay at the bottom of a well, when a strong rope is in my hand?"

5. Have Faith

"As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears."

6. Embrace Setbacks

"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?"

7. Look Inside

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

8. Learn From Suffering

"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."

9. Don't Be Concerned With What Others Think Of You

"I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think."

10. Do What You Love

"Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love."

~ Rumi♡

Rumi

29/04/2022

What can we do when feeling:
* ungrounded
* beside one self
* an imbalance
* lacking energy..or the flow of life is not what you expect?

On some level for us all the last few years have been challenging.

Whether it be our own challenges and/or those of significant others, there is a distinct potential beliefs, emotions and stresses associated with navigating these challenges sit within both our physical and energetic bodies.

It is also likely as we move out the other side of these challenges these same beliefs, emotions and stresses no longer serve us...

That moving forward the need is to recognise, release, and reconnect at a deeper level, so we can effectively support ourselves (and those we love) as we:
* rebuild relationships
* recognise and integrate deep learning, and find a positive way to integrate the same into the now of our journey.

Massage and energy based body work is an effective way of supporting this process.

If this perspective resonates I would love to have the opportunity to work alongside you.

For more information on what I offer please visit my fb page:
https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeWellbeingKahurangi

I operate out of two clinic spaces:
*** If you wish to have a session in Motueka***
I operate out of 354 High Street, you can book a session through the 'Light Within' booking system and selecting Gary Smith as your practitioner:
https://lightwithinwellness.as.me/schedule.php

*** If you wish to have a session in the Lower Moutere area***
I operate a home clinic, you can book a session by messaging me through the 'Integrative Wellbeing Kahurangi' fb page or sending a txt to 02102778363:
https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeWellbeingKahurangi

Bless 🙏

10/09/2021

Integrative Wellbeing Kahurangi will be open for business from Monday 13th September 🙏
The last four weeks have been a journey for us all, whether it has been space for letting go or a time of challenges it has been a time to explore the past and be faced with the change required to move forward.
If you feel a calling I look forward to being of support and service ❤
Please feel free to pm me through this page, utilise the online booking system or txt me to explore options 😊🙏

https://integrativewellbeing.10to8.com

22/08/2021

This is Charlie Chaplin at age 26, photographed 100 years ago. Below is a poem he read on his 70th birthday, written by Kim McMillen.

As I began to love myself
I found that anguish and emotional suffering
are only warning signs that I was living
against my own truth.
Today, I know, this is Authenticity.

As I began to love myself
I understood how much it can offend somebody
if I try to force my desires on this person,
even though I knew the time was not right
and the person was not ready for it,
and even though this person was me.
Today I call this Respect.

As I began to love myself
I stopped craving for a different life,
and I could see that everything
that surrounded me
was inviting me to grow.
Today I call this Maturity.

As I began to love myself
I understood that at any circumstance,
I am in the right place at the right time,
and everything happens at the exactly right moment.
So I could be calm.
Today I call this Self-Confidence.

As I began to love myself
I quit stealing my own time,
and I stopped designing huge projects
for the future.
Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness,
things I love to do and that make my heart cheer,
and I do them in my own way
and in my own rhythm.
Today I call this Simplicity.

As I began to love myself
I freed myself of anything
that is no good for my health –
food, people, things, situations,
and everything that drew me down
and away from myself.
At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.
Today I know it is Love of Oneself.

As I began to love myself
I quit trying to always be right,
and ever since
I was wrong less of the time.
Today I discovered that is Modesty.

As I began to love myself
I refused to go on living in the past
and worrying about the future.
Now, I only live for the moment,
where everything is happening.
Today I live each day,
day by day,
and I call it Fulfillment.

As I began to love myself
I recognized
that my mind can disturb me
and it can make me sick.
But as I connected it to my heart,
my mind became a valuable ally.
Today I call this connection Wisdom of the Heart.

We no longer need to fear arguments,
confrontations or any kind of problems
with ourselves or others.
Even stars collide,
and out of their crashing, new worlds are born.
Today I know: This is Life!