Our Kaiārahi Borni Te Rongopai Tukiwaho speaks with Tuihana Ohia (Founder, Woo Wellbeing) and Jolene Proffit (Service Development Manager - Mental Health & Addictions, Strategy & Funding - Waikato DHB) for a tangata whenua focused conversation on wellbeing by design. 

With a wahine Māori focus, it's a wide ranging discussion that covers Sir Mason Durie's Te Whare Tapa Whā and how to stay in a place of mauri ora. Our guests also discuss how the arts can help us flourish in the current pandemic environment and how to bring an aroha and growth mindset into our day to day lives. 

Tuihana Ohia

Tuihana comes with a wealth of experience within the wellbeing space and a passion for Hauora (wellbeing). Her expertise spans across all aspects of wellbeing including project management, design, building inhouse capacity, strategy development, relationship liaison, and implementation. She is the founder and director of Woo Wellbeing and Woo Table Kōrero, a community-based initiative that brings people together to hear from wellbeing superstars within the community. A mother of a blended whānau of four boys, Tuihana loves singing around her whare, doing driveway catwalks on Tik Tok and returning home to Mauao and the moana.  Tuihana brings a joyful wairua and vibrancy to kōrero and 'the room’. Tuihana has a Wellbeing Virtual Summit coming up next month on November 18th, Hui Ora: The Magic of Ancestral and Collective Wisdom. Speakers will share their passion for the magic of ancestral and collective wisdom that inspires wellness within communities, whanau (families) and workspaces. If you'd like to learn more about this or buy a ticket, head here.

Jolene Proffit

Born and bred on the East Coast, Jolene is proud of her whakapapa and her upbringing. She relocated to the Waikato, alongside her twin sister to complete her nursing training in the first intake of Tihei Mauri Ora – WINTEC, and complete Post Graduate studies at The University of Waikato in Māori and Pacific Development. Having initially worked within the fields of Haematology, Oncology and Burns & Plastics Jolene then spent almost 20 years working within Mental Health & Addictions in a Kaupapa Māori Service across an array of clinical practice areas, as well as having held varied nursing  and executive positions. Jolene is passionate about the oranga/wellbeing of whānau within all aspects of being. She sees her current position as a vehicle to drive change, eliminate inequities and to help whānau, hapu and iwi to thrive. She loves her whanau, being mumma and step mumma to 4 tamariki, ranging in age from 28 to 6 years of age. She loves being creative, expressing herself through singing and bringing joy to others.

We’d like to acknowledge and thank Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage for funding this mahi and Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi for their support. 

We encourage you to watch, share and comment on this webinar. We'd love to hear any feedback you have. 

Extra: Below are some useful resources and links to websites/information that you may find helpful to support oranga/wellbeing. 

• Sleepio - sleep improvement programme
• Healthy minds programme - education and meditation
• Mentemia - mental wellbeing support
• COVID-19 - Melon - self care and support for New Zealanders
• https://mentalhealth.org.nz/workplaces - workplace wellbeing support
• https://www.allright.org.nz/ - wellbeing and mental health content and resources
• Overcoming fear: https://www.winsborough.co.nz/blog/overcoming-fear
• Gratitude: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/g/gratitude/
• Sleep: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/s/sleep/
• Sleep hygiene: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/media/3766/sleep-healthy-sleep-hygiene-poster.pdf
• 5 Tips to protect your mental health https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I943-gP904
• Your brain and coronavirus: Why are you feeling so tired? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98wZm5nK6s4
• Ease your brain out of survival mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS3egckk6mc
• Sleeping well for health care workers https://vimeo.com/370756074
• Me Time (Mental Health Foundation) https://mentalhealth.org.nz/me-time
• Managing mixed emotions in challenging times https://mentalhealth.org.nz/getting-through-together/having-a-hard-time-getting-through/managing-mixed-emotions-through-the-levels/managing-mixed-emotions-at-level-4
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