A new wānanga series in Rotorua is using the healing power of taonga pūoro to support smoking and vaping cessation.
Te Hā o te Ora is a prototype developed through collaboration between Healthy Families Rotorua, Te Arawa Whānau Ora, Manaaki Ora, Tangata Ora (Ranolf Medical Centre), and kaupapa champion Sam Runga. It brings together whānau, hauora providers and cultural practitioners in a series of wānanga that blend pūrākau, maramataka, tikanga and traditional instruments to restore balance and strengthen wellbeing.
The prototype explores taonga pūoro as both a cultural and clinical tool for healing. The sound and discipline of the koauau is being reintroduced as a pathway to help people manage cravings, stress, and emotion through mindful breathing and reconnection with themselves.
Healthy Families Rotorua systems innovator, Teteira Ormsby, says the series offers a te ao Māori alternative to conventional cessation approaches.
“Often, we give things mana through focus. For this kaupapa, we do
n’t want to talk about smoking and vaping. We want to keep the focus on having a healthy respiratory system,” he says.
“Each wānanga is an opportunity to slow down, to reflect, and to experience the relationship between our wairua, our hinengaro, and our tinana. It’s about rediscovering traditional practices that have always supported wellbeing and seeing how they can be applied in today’s world,” says Teteira.
Running from October to November, the six-part wānanga integrates mātauranga Māori with hauora practice. Participants begin with baseline health checks to record their health status before the wānanga series begins, ensuring informed consent and empowering whānau with knowledge of their own hauora.
They will then engage in whakawhanaungatanga and set collective intentions, before learning about the sacredness of taonga pūoro, connecting with the taiao, collecting clay from the awa for koauau making, and reflecting guided by the maramataka, among other activities. Later sessions bring whānau back together to reflect on progress, track health outcomes and share experiences of change.
The series will conclude with a whakanuia to celebrate growth and transformation. Participants will share reflections, plant taonga as living symbols of ongoing oranga, and affirm their commitment to sustaining change.
“This mahi reminds us that innovation isn’t always about creating something new,” says Teteira. “Sometimes it’s about returning to Māori systems that have always worked and letting them guide how we move forward.”
Participants for the Te Hā o te Ora prototype have been selected and are set to complete baseline clinical testing next week.
