Hauora

Hauora.

It's a word I was taught at high school.

We were then again taught it in our health classes at university.

I now teach it to my students.

But what does it mean?
What does it mean to me? 
What does it look like in practice?

Hauora is a Māori word, which encompasses health and wellbeing.

There are four dimensions of Hauora;
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).

It covers physical, emotional/mental, social and spiritual caring. 

Hauora is commonly shown through the

Te Whare Tapa Wha model.

The model shows the words in the analogy of a house. If you want a house that is strong, you need all the parts, and you need them all built correctly. Just as you need all the parts of Hauora to live a healthy, balanced life. 


I got thinking about Hauora because of another blog that I saw...

Being a Teacher, I have so much to balance, and seemingly just as many excuses to try and help me keep 'balance'. 

While reading excuses from the blog post, I found myself agreeing with some (or a lot!) of the excuses made.  

So from now my goal is to keep Hauora in my mind, and stop making excuses... it doesn't mean i'm about to take a whole lot of days off work, but I'm going to prioritise the priorities, and work around my life, not have my life around my work.
Lets keep life in balance.

Three Cheers for a happy and healthy 2014.