Have you been outdoors yet today?

Five great reasons to head outside for fresh air and exercise:

1. Boost your mood,

2. Sleep better,

3. Decrease stress,

4. Increase confidence,

5. Boost your brainpower.

Go on, do it!

Do it now!

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Research shows that healthy relationships with others is one of the biggest protective factors against negative life outcomes.

The skills that are vital for building healthy relationships are things like trust, communication, honesty, teamwork, reciprocity, dealing with emotions, and conflict resolution.

Our instructors discuss these skills during our outdoor adventure programmes, either during the facilitated discussions, or simply as situations arise during the outdoor activity or within the group dynamics.

For example, if the activity is rock climbing, then one person climbs and one person belays from the ground. The instructors talk about the importance of trust and communication. Is the climber able to trust the belayer to keep them safe? Is the belayer worthy of that trust? Can they communicate effectively to keep the climber safe going up and coming back down?

Another example is caving. For a lot of people, being in a dark cave and squeezing through a small space can be a very uncomfortable situation. There may be fear or distress or anxiety. So how do you deal with that? Can the group communicate with each other to keep together? Can they encourage anyone that is struggling? And what happens when all the torches, except one, get turned off? How do the participants respond to the emotions that might arise? How do they communicate their needs? How can the torch-holder act, to build trust and calm fears?

The instructors can also ask questions about the positive relationships in the participants’ lives. Even the people from the hardest backgrounds, those who have experienced trauma or violence or crime, those who have maybe been written off by society; they still have their stories to share of the positive relationships in their lives, the relationships that they value and that give them hope and a place to turn when they need support.

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At Adventure Specialties Trust, we use several Māori models of health to guide our Adventure Therapy programmes.

Te Whare Tapa Whā uses the imagery of our health as a house with the four walls: physical health, spiritual health, family health and mental health. If any of the walls are damaged or missing, then the entire house suffers.

During our Adventure Therapy programmes, we discuss a different “wall” each session, and we explore how these impact our lives and our health.

Māori health models – Te Whare Tapa WhĀ

One model for understanding Māori health is the concept of ‘te whare tapa whā’ – the four cornerstones (or sides) of Māori health.

With its strong foundations and four equal sides, the symbol of the wharenui illustrates the four dimensions of Māori well-being.

Should one of the four dimensions be missing or in some way damaged, a person, or a collective may become ‘unbalanced’ and subsequently unwell.

For many Māori modern health services lack recognition of taha wairua (the spiritual dimension). In a traditional Māori approach, the inclusion of the wairua, the role of the whānau (family) and the balance of the hinengaro (mind) are as important as the physical manifestations of illness.

Taha tinana (physical health)

The capacity for physical growth and development.

Good physical health is required for optimal development.

Our physical ‘being’ supports our essence and shelters us from the external environment. For Māori the physical dimension is just one aspect of health and well-being and cannot be separated from the aspect of mind, spirit and family.

Taha wairua (spiritual health)

The capacity for faith and wider communication.

Health is related to unseen and unspoken energies.

The spiritual essence of a person is their life force. This determines us as individuals and as a collective, who and what we are, where we have come from and where we are going.

A traditional Māori analysis of physical manifestations of illness will focus on the wairua or spirit, to determine whether damage here could be a contributing factor.

Taha whānau (family health)

The capacity to belong, to care and to share where individuals are part of wider social systems.

Whānau provides us with the strength to be who we are. This is the link to our ancestors, our ties with the past, the present and the future.

Understanding the importance of whānau and how whānau (family) can contribute to illness and assist in curing illness is fundamental to understanding Māori health issues.

Taha hinengaro (mental health)

The capacity to communicate, to think and to feel mind and body are inseparable.

Thoughts, feelings and emotions are integral components of the body and soul.

This is about how we see ourselves in this universe, our interaction with that which is uniquely Māori and the perception that others have of us.

Source: Ministry of Health website

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