Marama 02 August 2022

Marama Inspiring

Community

Together

Issue 2 August 2022

It Takes a Village to Raise a School!

150 Years of schooling in Mercury Bay

Mushroom Magic Rising Star Alya Jade

A Journey to Motherhood

Editorial

Kia ora dear readers, Firstly, thank you to everyone that has made a point of letting us know how much you enjoyed the first issue of Marama.

Your feedback means a lot and makes it all worthwhile.

This August issue covers a lot of ground and has made me think really deeply about many things. Researching and interviewing for the article celebrating 150 years of formal schooling in the area was a real joy, and a real trip down memory lane. And it made me think a lot about education.

What is the role of education in our society? Is what we are doing serving its purpose? What sort of skills do our children need now? Are we teaching them? Board of Trustee elections are coming up. I encourage any one of you that cares about the answers to those questions to stand. Schools need community support now more than ever.

There are so many wonderful photos that we couldn’t fit in, check out our Facebook page to have a look at some, and see if you can put some names to faces. Feel free to add your own and tag your friends. There’s also an interview with current MBAS principal John Wright on there for some contemporary perspective.

I’m excited to introduce three new features this month.

Firstly, in our Born & Raised section we will meet fascinating ex-locals and see where in the world they are now and what they are up to. Thanks to Ron Morgan who put the idea to me; great minds thinking alike and all that, I had had a very similar idea. So, we have teamed up, and together will be sharing some super diverse, interesting and inspiring lives over the coming issues. If you know anyone we should feature, please get in touch.

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Marama Another newbie is our astrology column. I was outside last night, on a rare clear evening, reveling in the sparkly galactic goodness.

Looking up at the stars always fills me with awe and wonder. It makes me feel teeny tiny, insignificant and vast and infinite all at once. It’s big energy alright, let’s see what the stars have in store for us this month.

As I have said before, becoming Mama to my two tamafreakies, Manaia and Felila, is the single biggest joy of my lifetime and my most important role to date. Being a Mum is the best! Birth reminds us that we are all walking miracles. That’s why I’m so excited to follow along with someone as they walk that magical unpredictable, transformation path. I firmly believe that parenting is the biggest opportunity for personal growth and evolution we are given in this lifetime, if we choose to make it so.

Parenting, education, health, our earth, what do we value and why? Where do we put our energy and attention? What are the core values that we collectively decide on and live by? These are just some of the questions that have come up for me, while putting this issue together. I enjoy pondering these things, I hope you do too.

Inspiring

Community

Together

Issue 2 August 2022

It Takes a Village to Raise a School!

150 Years of schooling in Mercury Bay

Mushroom Magic Rising Star Alya Jade

A Journey to Motherhood

Marama magazine cares about its advertisers. If you would like to advertise with us in the next issue, please have your artwork emailed in by the: Monday the 16th of August to hello@marama.nz Our team is also available to design your advertisements and advertorials

To our health, wealth and wisdom, all of us, together, Lots of love, Lana xx

Sam JuryZimmerman Layout and Design sam@marama.nz ou Br

ght

to you by...

Beer after yoga, Bro? Yoga is associated with men in India, but not so much here.

Until Broga came to town Getting more men, boys, dudes, guys, blokes, whatever your chosen noun, into the yoga studio became a goal of mine because I could see the need for it. I could see it in my husband, the boys who worked for him on the building site, our friends that sat at a desk all day, our mates regularly surfing and the weekend warriors playing sport once a week. I didn’t just see it, I heard about it – the aches and pains, stiffness, lack of mobility and injuries. So I could see the need, but Broga began almost by accident – Hayden (hubby) brought a few of the boys to one of my evening yoga classes and it became a regular thing, with the class being predominantly men. Then, over a few post yoga beers in a West Auckland car park one night, the boys named it Broga.

Broga Tuesdays @6pm 17 Monk St, Whitianga yogawhitianga.co.nz

Since 2013, I have continued to have a men’s only class on the timetable. I understand how intimidating it can be for anyone to step into a yoga studio, especially as yoga classes are often perceived as a room of flexible people (mainly women) in lycra – Broga that is not. Ever since All Black forward Kees Meeuws announced he had a regular pilates practice a few decades ago, modalities like yoga, that work on flexibility of body and mind, have become more and more acceptable and sought after by men. In a Broga class, the focus is on the common things that ail men’s bodies including lower back issues, tight shoulders, muscle imbalances and old injuries that they are working through.

I really try to put the emphasis on yoga being your own journey, there’s no comparing yourself to the person next to you, there’s no ego, you have to leave that at the door. You’re there to create balance in the body, keep strong and mobile and give yourself longevity in whatever other physical activity you may do in life.

With the aid of the rope wall, blocks and straps, every person in the room can access the poses and create alignment regardless of physical restrictions or age. We often observe what is happening breath wise when the poses are challenging, so the students become aware of how they may hold their breath when things become tricky – if it’s happening while doing yoga, it’s more than likely happening out there in everyday life. Teaching people to normalise the breath, especially when things are difficult, is a tool for life as it keeps oxygen circulating through the blood to the muscles and the brain, keeping our parasympathetic nervous system in play, which makes us less reactive. This tool can be used at any time when you just need to create some space in the moment, but especially in times of stress and anxiety. This practice can be for life if you want it to be. It works on the physical, the mental and sometimes by accident without you even knowing it, the spiritual.

There’s a wonderful supportive energy in the Tuesday night Broga classes at Yoga Whitianga; the ages range from late 20s to late 60s, people come from all walks of life and because of the great diversity there is always banter and laughter. My husband and his friends used to call Broga their third space – this I was very curious about.

Apparently the first space is family life, the second space is work and then comes yoga, well, Broga. I have never been more stoked with third place! I’m just happy to have the skills to share with our men so they can reduce pain, increase mobility, have a laugh and create a space just for them.

We omitted the correct attributions for the ‘Beer after yoga, Bro?’ article in the June/ July issue.

It was written

by Stephanie Anderson of Yoga Whitianga and the photos were by Erica Kurth of Erica Kurth Photography.

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Readers' contributions of letters and articles are welcome. Publication of these is at the discretion of the editorial team and may be edited. Contributions will only be considered for the publication with the author’s full name, residential address, and contact number. Opinions expressed in Marama are not necessarily those of the publishers.

Marama magazine is published by Hauraki Media Group Disclaimer: No responsibility is accepted for loss or damage suffered by anyone relying on the information within.

No endorsement of any service or product advertised or featured is implied or assumed.

Contents 11

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Monthly Aroha Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai

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It Takes a Village to Raise a School Reflections on the first 150 years of formal schooling in Mercury Bay

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Phenomenal Fungi Medicinal mushrooms, where nature meets science to heal

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Counting Kiwi In the inaugural regional kiwi call survery

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Sea-Level Rise Whitianga's long-term achilles' heel?

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Ross' Ramblings Non-resistance, is it the way?

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The Pai life What do you think?

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Rising Star Ayla Jade And her Coromandel connection

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Becoming Mama A column about the transistion from maiden to mother and beyond

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Common Ground A place for the community's creations

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Born & Raised Meet Moira Ingeltun

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The "Living Well" Awakened education

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Starlight Guidance What planetary energy shifts are happening this month?

On the cover: Irving Garrett (left) and Ian Clow (right) with Colleen Clow cheering her brother on. There was tarseal for 2 blocks in the centre of town at this stage sometime in the early to mid 1960s. Great place for the finish line.

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Our Contributors

LINDA CHOLMONDELEY SMITH: Having spent the better part of 50 years immersed in the study and sharing of Yoga and inner consciousness, I trust this is reflected in the offering of words in ‘The Living Well’ articles. My passion is helping to create a conscious and more peaceful world.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see”.

ROSS LIGGINS: I have been a resident of Whitianga since 1990.

Now semi-retired, I teach maths on Zoom to teenagers in Japan a few hours a week and do a few odd jobs painting and gardening.

Free time is spent in the garden, surfing, sailing, fishing and hanging out with my partner Sumi, our cat Issa, my 2 daughters Claire and Hanako and 2 energetic grandsons Brock and Benjie.

THOMAS EVERTH was born in Germany where he got a degree in physics. He spent 30 years in the IT industry including 5 years in the USA. Thomas immigrated to New Zealand in 1996 and worked as a high school teacher in Whitianga from 2013 to 2020.

He is currently working towards a PhD at Waikato University.

Want your work in our magazine?

We love your contributions.

Send them through to hello@marama.nz

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Monthly Aroha Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai.

Nurture the seed and it will bloom.

We all need love and care to fully realise our potential.

The vitality so visible in the life of plants was an aspect keenly observed by our old people. I often wonder what it must have been like to walk in te wao tapu nui a Tāne, the sacred forests of Tane when our ancestors first set foot in Aotearoa.

A new climate, novel and unfamiliar plants. The awe in witnessing those seeds falling on the fertile ground, and how across seasons, rain and sun and the shelter of the family of other plants would see the steady growth of tiny sprouting shoots; the recognition of the ecological relationships that nurtured seeds into maturity and then to blossom.

Nurturing people according to nature's inherent instructions was natural for our ancestors. I have been told that back in the day the elders would watch the children and observe their inherent traits.

Some were more confident by the water, with a knack for fishing; others rather quiet, preferring their own company in the dense silence of the forest or sitting beside their grandparents listening to stories; others, with beautiful singing voices and elegant movements.

All the children would be nurtured according to their strengths. The quiet ones perhaps becoming carvers, the ones in tune with the sea being taught more about navigation, fishing and diving, the quick wits and good singers valued for their ability to entertain.

Nurturing ourselves is a struggle. I for one am not used to reaching out and letting people know I am not well, or even tired. Do you find that too? To be honest, I prefer to be the one looking after other people that gives me great pleasure. And yet, lately I have been experimenting with the seed of more honest communication because I have been exhausted. I can feel that I have been running on empty. I need to take some of my own medicine.

What tends to happen more often in our lives is the ""How are you?"

"I'm fine." dance. We all buy into the 'busy' equals 'I am of value' principle of life; and the unspoken code that I'm too busy' to be anything other than fine and you are too busy' to listen, so what's the point in sharing anything real? We are all highly proficient at this.

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It is much simpler when we have visibly healing physical wounds to prove our state of recovery, isn't it? How uncaring our society can be towards people who are healing and recovering without external markings. People going through and healing from mental and emotional pain still remain largely unnoticed. And worse, we stick to our social codes that require silence.

We are a long, long way from building caring communities where people feel safe to talk openly with listeners who are truly hearing. Members of my whānau and my patients have said to me over the years 'I don't want to talk to my friends about this', 'People will think I'm crazy', 'If people think you're crazy you may as well be dead', 'People will think I'm weak', "They won't want to hang out with me anymore', 'I can't face the rejection', 'I need to just buck up', 'I have to keep this a secret'.

We are excellent at teaching ourselves to feel shame around any speaking out with any suggestion of mental health or addiction. Shame is a feeling of humiliation of the self, it is the 'I am bad.' As opposed to guilt, where the focus is on doing something bad. Shame is toxic as hell.

What can we do to unlearn shame in ourselves and unteach it in each other? How can we simply be different from each other and accept these differences? What gets in the way of being honest with ourselves and those we want to be closer to?

I am growing my honesty seeds and practising saying, 'I'm tired', 'I'm a bit overwhelmed, to be honest', 'I'm feeling sad', 'I'm feeling cross' - they seem to be the easier ones for me. My own honesty seeds are recognising there is fear in being vulnerable and allowing others to see when I am feeling life's burdens. And let's get real, life is not all plain sailing, so why perpetuate the idea that this might even come close to being my reality? What am I afraid of? Why the best behaviour'? I am taking more time to listen, to talk with my nearest and dearest and to practise this honesty. It is remarkable, it does get easier.

How we nurture our own seeds of truth is deeply personal. Growth takes time, so make time to enable those tender new shoots in our conversations to flourish.

Be more gentle with yourself because this is unfamiliar territory, but there is so much to be gained from building better and deeper relationships with ourselves and then, through that inner relationship, with the people in our lives.

Reprinted with the kind permission of Dr Hinemoa Elder Aroha is published by Penguin Books and the recommended retail price is $30.00

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It Takes a Village to Raise a School

The Auckland Education Board supplied the following information some years ago when a Jubilee was being planned.

‘Resolution passed at Committee Meeting held on 27 December, 1872:

Reflections on the first 150 years of formal schooling in Mercury Bay

That the Whitianga School District be defined by a circle whose radius shall extend three (3) miles from the schoolhouse.

“At first the school had no clock, so a lady living nearby used to hang a white cloth out the window at 12 o’clock. Then ‘Signal’s out, sir’ was the cry. The lady who assisted in this way also owned a white cat, and at least on occasion, the sight of the white cat basking in the sun on the windowsill was used by the pupils to anticipate the lunch hour.” This extract from the Mercury Bay Schools Centennial publication from 1972 sets the scene pretty well I think. Can we cell phone carrying, smart watch wearing types even conceive of a school without a single time-keeping device? With no books? No inside toilets? A potbelly stove heating the classrooms? Or where children are schooled in a tent because there weren’t enough classrooms?

Okay, the tent was erected to prove a point to the Education Board that more classrooms were needed, but still, you get the picture.

This year marks the sesquicentennial of formal community-wide schooling in Whitianga, Mercury Bay. A sesquicentennial, as I learnt from Bob Scott when interviewing him for this article, celebrates 150 years. Sixty-one years ago, in 1961, Bob started teaching at the Whitianga District High School. Once an educator, always an educator. Wonderful word, sesquicentennial.

Researching this article, I was most struck with – not so much how much education has changed, but how much the world in which we are educated has. It is truly hard for most of us to grasp the scope of change in the last 150 years. In these few pages, there is no way that I can do anything like justice to this monumental milestone, to the wonderful humans it took to get us here. What follows is a very rickety series of snapshots. I only hope to draw attention to the fact that in 2022 it will be 150 years since December 27 1872, when the Whitianga School District was officially defined ‘by a circle whose radius shall extend three (3) miles from the schoolhouse’.

So, when and where, let’s start there. Mr D Hamilton recollected he was a pupil at the first school in 1869. The school at this time would have been a private enterprise. The earliest official record of a school in the district is 1871; by then it was still partly funded by the community, but also receiving a subsidy from the Auckland Provincial Council under the newly formed Board of Education.

The original school was in the vicinity of the Ferry Landing store until the public school was established on Cemetery Hill. The pupils called it ‘Taipo Castle’ and there are tales of catching and riding goats at lunchtime.

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Our schoolhouse is situated on the left hand side of the entrance to Mangrove River, on a portion of the property leased by the Mercury Bay Sawmill Company, and the district will include almost all the settlers, in fact the majority of the children attending the school at present reside within a distance of little more than a mile from the schoolhouse.

There are 28 Householders residing within this area.

(Signed Wm. Meikle Chairman)'

Meikle’s Timber Mill was the centre of Whitianga industry, all those majestic kauri were processed there. The fortunes of the early town followed the mill. As did the school, literally. The mill and the school moved from Ferry Landing to the western side of the river and in 1884 the first room of ‘the old school’ was built by W G Smith for £350. This building remained in service on the School Road site for almost 100 years. That’s pretty great value!

Teachers are essential in a school.

The first teacher was Dr A Agasseiz.

He was a very well-built man and apparently successful in combining his roles of doctor and teacher.

‘Tales are told of small wide-eyed pupils peering through the cracks in the walls of the makeshift surgery which adjoined the classroom, while the finger of a luckless mill hand was being amputated by the doctor.’

That would have been educational.

‘Roughing it in New Zealand’ was the name of an article written by Mr C M Crater in 1881 at the end of his first year as head teacher at Mercury Bay Public School. Mr Carter was born into a missionary family in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka); after managing a tea estate in Ceylon, he travelled to New Zealand and was abruptly disavowed of any illusions of grandeur by taking up the teaching position in the Bay. ‘In early May 1880, we were requested to proceed to an outof-the-way part of the Auckland Province, known as Mercury Bay, to take charge of the Government School there. Mingled feelings were raised when we were advised to take our roughest clothes, nor were they allayed when sympathetic friends assured us that, in those parts, a teacher's life was none of the easiest.

Below: Minutes of a PTA meeting 1960: Bring back Bonfire Night! But maybe we won't spend so much on fireworks for prizes?

Photos above courtesey of the Mercury Bay Museum

See anyone you recognise? The photo is on our Marama Magazine Facebook page if you can put some names to faces.

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‘… Creeping into the diminutive cabin we napped by fits and starts till a more demoniacal shriek put the "drowsy god" to flight.

We were apparently floating up a swamp, on one hand was a low plain backed by low hills ... on the other hand ... under the lofty cliffs, a sawmill and a dozen shanties, or hovels ... "Is this Mercury Bay?" we enquired. "Yes". "What are those houses?" pointing to two buildings at the ends of the jetties.

"Hotels". "Where is the School?"

No-one seemed to know, but at last a gentleman in shirt sleeves informed us "above the mill".

‘On enquiring for lodgings, we were informed that a new house had been built for the schoolmaster, said house proving to be a palatial dwelling of two rooms, each twelve feet by nine, boasting a door, two windows and fireplace with its wooden chimney spacious enough to stable a young elephant … The rooms were handsomely furnished with two rickety tables, a canvas bedstead, a fine dinner service of broken plates and smashed tins; a kitchen range of four bricks, two iron bars, hoop iron poker, two improved patent hoop iron toasters and a leaky tin “billy”. In one corner stood two boxes of well assorted rubbish, while a beautiful carpet of dust and ashes lay over the floor.’ I don’t think there were any servants either.

The senior cup was found at a garage sale in Wellington and kindly returned to the school, so the event was started as a school event - previously it had been run by the community as an event at the annual New Years' Day Regatta.

Back row: Ross Nicol, Guy Small, David Bowers, Harvey Till Front row: Tim Bartleet, Jane Ramsbottham, Jackie Bigland, Mr Bob Scott, Yolanda Smith, Lynn Riddle, Roger Simpson

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Even by 1961, it still seemed like the middle of nowhere apparently. Bob Scott recalls his arrival: ‘January 1961 the ti-tree green beetle forged on, over the top of the gravel road from Thames, over the Tapu hill to Coroglen. (“This must be the end of the world, I really am lost, AND with a degree in geography.”) And still driving over the gravel up to the Whitianga Post Office where there was some tarseal for at least 100 metres. This was where Trevor Hailey and Tom Hooker, the telephone exchange operators, would work their magic finding me or anyone else instantly no matter what party we were attending. I remember them phoning me at the pub one Saturday afternoon suggesting I should go home as the fire brigade had just gone there to attend another oven fire.

The roast beef was the size of a black cornish game hen and the curtains were covered in greasy stinky smoke.

Principal Merv: Hi Bob, I really don’t know about you sharing a flat with the infant teacher.’

By 1961, there were 51 pupils enrolled at the High School which had been established on February 5 1951. On the day the school opened, there were 12 pupils enrolled: Jennifer Smith, Edmund Hughes, Peter Clark, Robin Lee, Ian Ross, Grant Simpson, Margaret Crawford, Hariene Lowe, Gillian Russell, Isabel Simpson and Zoeline Williams. In 2022, there are 67 teachers and around 30 support staff. Students number over 1000 across all the year levels at Mercury Bay Area School.

The area school was officially opened in 1977. In his Principal's Report from the first school magazine Ken Rush reflected: ‘The fact that the school opening on 1 February, 1977 went very smoothly despite massive changes from previous years, reflected great credit on the groundwork set by Mr J O'Sullivan and his staff during 1976 – the last year as a DHS. It was also a just reward for the countless hours at school during the 1976/77 summer vacation by the senior staff of the new Area School. The other factor that helped make the changeover so successful was the work done by the Committee of Management. Members of the committee must have wondered just what they had let themselves in for. To start with, the committee now had a member involved in staff appointments. There were more than 200 applicants for the 21 positions advertised. In those days, all applicants provided three referees to support their applications and many

applicants had applied for more than one position. Harold Abrahamson, Keith Morcom and Joan Gaskell each had turns at fighting the "paper war". A total of six days was spent in Hamilton for appointment meetings and interviews. No wonder returns on pork, beef and wool were down that season!’

Ken Rush is remembered by teacher Helen Scott as a hands-on principal.

‘What fun at the old School road site. The pranks, the nonsense, the hard work, we did it all. One pet day there was to be a demonstration of sheepdogs working. Unfortunately, the sheep got out and were chased round the near environs by principal Ken Rush and Ian Simpson; the sheepdogs did very little!’

There were two sites operating for many years, School Road and South Highway, where the school is now.

One teacher, Barbara Boyd, knows this better than most. She used to cycle from one to the other, finally securing a biking allowance from the Ministry of Education. I wonder if that’s the only allowance of its kind ever granted? ‘I started teaching at Mercury Bay Area School in 1970 when the school was on two sites.

The staff at that time were mainly young people with a few older heads to keep a bit of a rein on things. We taught in mostly old buildings with huge classes, anything up to 40 and not only straight classes, either. I had a standard 3, 4 and form 1 composite at one stage. The town was small, everyone knew everyone and the teachers were considered a friendly bunch on the whole. We had a lot of fun and Ash Cumings, with his dry wit, was the instigator of a lot of practical jokes. Like the time when we had gone to the local after school – a fairly regular occurrence! I was riding a bicycle in those days. Time to go home and I couldn't find my bike.

Ash suggested that I look up – and there it was, tied to the archway with a bar stool tied to it. It took a lot of retrieving. What I really enjoy now is when the children I taught then, who are now adults, come and have a chat.’

If you have ever spent time in front of a group of 30 or so children, I’m sure it’s obvious to you that teaching is a vocation. You don’t go into teaching for the social prestige or the pay. You have to really want to contribute, and really want to teach. It doesn’t mean you like doing paperwork. By all accounts, teacher Ron Morgan, who began teaching in the Bay in 1977, liked paperwork less than most.

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His desk was legendary though, and full of papers, just in no discernable order. Ron tells the story of a group of visiting Japanese teachers, 20 or so. At one point about 18 of them were in his classroom. He thought oh yeah, this is alright, then he noticed they were all madly snapping photos of his desk. He’s sure they had never seen anything like it in orderly Japan! Some other recollections from Ron that may spark some memories: •

When the Minister of Education visited, we urgently needed extra classrooms, so we put up the old school tent and held classes there. The Minister was not impressed so he quickly allocated extra rooms!

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When we set up a photo opportunity showing staff rowing to school after heavy rainfall, to show how ineffective the initial drainpipe was.

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The bartering of seafood for ski discounts at Mt Ruapehu for the annual ski trips.

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The galas and carnivals. Do you remember Malcom Mackie’s idea of the rabbits enticed to eat lettuce to go down one of the many numbered holes, which people wagered on?

Ron was famous for his energy and, morganised or not, played a massive part in creating an incredible amount of opportunities for students. Camps, international exchanges, sailing on the Spirit of Adventure and Spirit of New Zealand, leadership and sporting opportunities abroad and the really high level of sporting achievement the Bay has enjoyed in comparison to its size. I asked Ron what he remembers most fondly of his time at MBAS and his answer is a version of what all the teachers I have spoken to have said. The camaraderie with the other staff and the lifelong friendships forged with students and their families.

I can’t help thinking that a similar answer may have been given by the career teachers of 150 years ago.

No matter how much changes in education, thankfully humans are still at the heart of it.

Words by Lana Garland

Phenomenal Fungi Medicinal mushrooms, where nature meets science to heal An entirely new Kingdom was scientifically categorised in the 1960s. Not quite plant and not quite animal, but something in between: the Fungi Kingdom! Humans, of course, have known about and indeed had a symbiotic relationship with fungi for thousands of years. Baking bread & brewing beer with yeast, religious rituals using psilocybin-containing mushrooms and using fungi such as Penicillium for healing. Penicillium is perhaps the most famous and world changing of fungi, the mother of Penicillin and all subsequent antibiotics.

However, there are many, many more relatively-unknown fungi that have incredible medicinal value.

Human beings, through traditional medicine, especially Oriental and Chinese Medicine, have known of these fungi and their health-giving properties for thousands of years.

Now modern science has caught up, not only confirming the incredible known healing properties of fungi, but also uncovering many previously unknown benefits; and we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the healing potential of phenomenal fungi!

What are "medicinal mushrooms"?

Nope … they don't alter your state of mind and you won’t see funky things – those are slightly different mushrooms. Medicinal mushrooms are fungi that have been found to possess particular chemical compounds that are beneficial to our health. They are currently one of the

biggest trends in natural medicine in the world. You may have heard of some of them? Reishi, Cordyceps, Turkey Tail, Chaga, Maitake and Lion's Mane are some of the most common medicinal mushrooms.

Medicinal mushrooms are fungi that have been found to possess particular chemical compounds that are beneficial to our health.

Traditional Chinese and Oriental medicine includes the use of hundreds of mushrooms, either on their own or in combination with other herbs with time-proven results. In the 1960s, Japanese and Chinese researchers started using modern technology and scientific research to further understand the mechanisms of medicinal fungi and how they affect us.

Since then, a lot of investment has gone into researching and identifying the most effective strands of different fungi. And the development of large scale commercial cultivation has made some of the previously rare mushrooms more readily available.

So, medicinal mushrooms are the result of billions of years of fungi evolution, thousands of years of human wisdom, and a few decades

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of modern scientific research and refinement. Over the past 20 years or so, medicinal mushrooms have made their mark on the Western world; they are now readily available online and in health food stores.

What are the different types of Medicinal Fungi and what do they do?

Fungi live in harsh environments: dark, underground, damp and riddled with bacteria, viruses and other fungi, so they have developed a very strong natural defence mechanism. Humans share a lot of DNA with fungi – yes, that’s right, humans and fungi share common DNA! So, some of the defence mechanisms that work for them also work for us.

Basically, fungi have evolved various bio-active compounds, such as the beta-glucans, that strengthen their immune system. And some of these bio-active compounds can help our immune system too. Thanks, fungi.

But there’s a catch. These bio-active compounds are encased in the fungi's cell walls which are made of chitin, (the super hard substance insect and crustacean shells are made of), and humans cannot digest chitin. So, it is imperative they are extracted by the proper methods in order to be of any use to us humans at all. Whilst all medicinal mushrooms contain the bio-active beta-glucans that support our immune system, different mushrooms have significantly different compounds that can help us in different ways!

Let's look at some of the most common fungi more specifically Lion's Mane – one of the most effective known supplements for brain and cognitive health. Some of the active ingredients from Lion’s Mane induce the production of Nerve Growth Factor, literally helping the brain cells to reproduce, whilst protecting them so they can be healthier. Currently, biochemical science is unable to synthesise the active compounds from Lions Mane. Think of Lions Mane as sauerkraut for your brain!

Turkey Tail – extensively scientifically studied and proven to be highly effective and safe. In Japan, Korea and China, Turkey Tail forms a large proportion of primary cancer therapy as it is a super immune-booster.

Reishi – Once reserved only for emperors, sages and elites due to its rarity and potency, Reishi is known for its longevity-enhancing effects. Reishi translates as “mushroom of the refined spirit”

and is particularly helpful for liver, heart and immune system functions.

Cordyceps – A type of potent Cordyceps fungi which grows high up in the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas and is used by local people. It is found on a summer’s day ... growing out of the heads of moth larvae! Thankfully – for both Cordyceps’ native habitat and us – sophisticated Chinese biotechnology was used to isolate a strain of the Cordyceps mycelium in 1982 (known as CS-4) and so now this mycelium is grown in labs and no insects are harmed! Cordyceps is excellent for lung and kidney health. Often used by athletes and elderly for its energy boosting effect, Cordyceps is also a known aphrodisiac and libido booster.

Maitake – Used for digestive issues, improving gut health, stabilising blood sugar levels, lowering cholesterol, and for pancreatic and spleen health.

So the average consumer, buying the seemingly trusted brand with a friendly face and an enchanting story can end up with rather ineffective mushrooms and possibly a mild dose of heavy metals to boot.

All Medicinal Fungi are adaptogenic immunomodulators, meaning that they help the human body to regulate towards optimal health by reducing stress and enhancing the immune system, adapting to what your body needs to return to homeostasis, to healthy balance. So far so amazing. But there is a dark side to the medicinal mushroom trade, as there often is when there is massive demand for a product and money to be made.

To give an example of some of the questionable practices in the industry, there are vendors who specify the bio-active compound called polysaccharide as a measure of quality. However often the mushroom mycelium is grown on rice, a type of starch – which is also a polysaccharide, but a very different one from the valuable medicinal polysaccharide present in fungi. As the mycelium strands are so tiny, when it is extracted, so too is the starch from the rice. So, the vendor can claim high levels of polysaccharides that are actually largely rice starch! The polysaccharides that mushrooms produce are the trusty Beta-glucans, so this is a much more reliable, measurable quality marker. Beta-glucan levels, yes. Polysaccharide levels, not so much.

The dark side of the mushroom trade There are thousands of companies selling Medicinal Fungi and they all claim to have the best products. The truth is that most of the supplement industry is highly unregulated and thus, forget medicinal quality; most of the supplements on the market are of nutritional quality at best, and toxic at worst – fungi absorb heavy metals very effectively.

In most scientific research, the trials are conducted with a specific dose of pharmaceutical-grade fungi.

This means that the fungi used in the studies have been developed and tested for key bio-active compounds.

For instance, the Turkey Tail PSP-50 strand is proven to be most effective medically, but there are countless variations of Turkey Tail that may or may not be effective at all. Almost no products on the market specify anything other than the generic ‘Turkey Tail’.

Another common, but misleading marketing practice is stating ‘10:1 extracts’ which sounds good, 10 x more power! However, it just means that the mushrooms have been dried and lost 90% of the water content. It says absolutely nothing about the therapeutic potency of the fungi. Also, whilst organic certification is good, it does not indicate the presence of active compounds, nor does it guarantee freedom from heavy metals!

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The Inner Garden

Okay, so what do you look for when buying medicinal mushrooms? The best way to validate the effectiveness of Medicinal Fungi is via testing for the different bio-active compounds present in the various mushrooms. For example, herinocines in Lions Mane or cordycepin in Cordyceps. It would make sense that a company would provide third-party, independent and recent test results for the bio-active compounds present in the fungi; however, you may be surprised to find that almost no vendor offers this information.

Perhaps, because the results may not be noteworthy?

This article was supplied by Inner Gardeners, Henri & Kate Lebedev who, amongst many other things, are the sole-distributors in Australasia of pharmaceutical grade, comprehensively tested medicinal mushroom product ORIVeDA from the Netherlands. To learn more about the magic of mushrooms, please visit www.innergarden.nz/oriveda Kate and Henri are passionate students and practitioners of Oriental and Chinese Medicine, Neuropuncture, Permaculture, QiGong, Martial Arts and Eastern Wisdom Arts (Kate is also a registered Aussie & Kiwi nurse). Kate and Henri have taught various workshops, classes and retreats in Australia & Aotearoa. After slipping into the country just before COVID hit, they explored the South and North islands, and after feeling the magic of the Coromandel peninsula, they decided to grow roots near Tairua.

Additionally, it’s very important that the vendor supplies regular safety-testing data, especially to prove there are no heavy metals present.

Unfortunately, most vendors do not supply this information either. Indeed, to the expert eye, the vast majority of the brands on the market are very questionable indeed. That’s where pharmaceutical grade medicinal mushroom products from ORIVeDA come in. When you buy ORIVeDA products you can rest assured they have been rigorously and regularly tested, results of which are openly shared on the website. All the individual bio-active compounds in each product are clearly listed on the label, so you know you are getting medicinal grade, proveneffective mushrooms, free of contaminants.

Henri and Kate are at a stage where they would like to share some of their knowledge and skills with the community, so they will open day clinics in Whitianga on Mondays and Tairua on Tuesdays, offering a comprehensive holistic health service, based on a variety of life-nourishing therapies and lifestyle practices.

After years of diligent study from many teachers around the world, they will also begin teaching weekly Qigong classes in both Whitianga and Tairua from September onwards.

Inner Garden Clinic Whitianga - Mondays @ Earthstore Tairua - Tuesdays @ Spa Del Sol QiGong Foundation Classes Whitianga Town Hall Mondays 5:30 - 7pm Tairua Town Hall Tuesdays 5:30 - 7pm Bookings and Info at innergarden.nz

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Sea-Level Rise Whitianga’s long-term Achilles’ heel?

Lately sea-level rise has been back in the discussion due to the release of a new online mapping tool by the SeaRise Program, an initiative that is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. SeaRise is based at Victoria University of Wellington and led by Professors Richard Levy and Tim Naish. The new mapping tool unifies predictions of future sea-level rise with those for vertical land movement along the NZ coastline. New Zealand is a geologically active country, and our coastlines are affected by both the sinking and rising of the land and future changes in sea-level, so it makes sense to report on both aspects as their combination is the predictor of the sea level to come.

The rate of change in sea levels has accelerated significantly over the past decades from about 1.4 mm per year averaged over the last century to closer to 3.6 mm per year today. Thermal expansion of ocean waters due to ocean warming contributes about 30% to the observed sea-level rise; the rest is generated by the melting of land-based glaciers. Together, the massive land-based ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctic hold enough water to raise the global sea-level by 70 metres. For scale, the town of Hamilton is about 40 metres above sea-level.

For the Coromandel Peninsula, the land movement is surprisingly differentiated. Unfortunately for us, Whitianga township is on slowly sinking ground with a rate of subsidence of about 1.6 mm per year added to sealevel rise of about 3.6 mm per year currently; this equates to an effective current sea-level rise rate of 5.2 mm per year at present. Due to the expected acceleration of sealevel rise over the next decade, the actual average effective sea-level rise that is expected by 2040 for Whitianga is 14 centimetres or an effective rate (taking into account land movement and sea-level rise) of about 7 mm per year.

Fig 1. Land movement map Map credit: Searise.nz

The near-term future of sea level rise until about 2040 is rather independent of the climate pathways humanity chooses. However, thereafter the pathways due to various emission scenarios diverge significantly. If we remain on our current emissions policy settings (scenario SSP2-4.5) on the graph, we will see about 60 centimetres of sealevel rise by 2100. However, if humanity’s emissions are not brought under control, or we encounter significant feedback cycles and tipping points leading to outgassing of methane and CO2from Arctic permafrost for example, or unexpected instabilities of the polar ice sheets, we could get over 1 metre of sea-level rise by 2100. And the tide will not stand still then either.

Fig 2. Sea-level and land movement predictions.

Map credit: Searise.nz

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We often hear comments from people doubting that the sea-level is actually rising at all. These doubts are mistaken but understandable and it is easy to see how they come about. The sea-level we visually observe changes daily by about 2 metres due to the tides. Further, due to the rhythm of change in the moon's orbit, we experience seasonal amplifications of the tidal range that can make up almost 50 centimetres of difference between king tides and neap tides. Additionally, storms change the state of the ocean.

Tides are predicted in advance based on a ‘standard’ atmospheric pressure of 1015 hectopascal (hPa).

In low pressure systems, for each hectopascal below this, the ocean level is ‘sucked up’ by about 1 centimetre. So a low of 990 hPa is likely going to add 25 centimetres to the sea level. Storm surges due to strong onshore winds can add another 50 centimetres to this. And besides these daily, seasonal, and weather related changes, long-term ocean circulation patterns add or subtract to the observed sea-level on a decadal scale. And past experiences of flooding are inevitably linked to extreme weather events such as Cyclone Bola. These events can set maxima that are not exceeded for decades thereafter, despite the rise in sea-level, and it takes the confluence of a king tide with an extreme weather event to generate new maximum flooding events.

Fig 3. Sea-level observations, Auckland Map credit: stats.govt.nz This graph shows the actual observed sea-level for Auckland since the start of records. It is easy to see how observations on the scale of a decade can lead to the false impression that the sea-level is not rising, while obviously the long-term trend is significant and also rising.

The storms of our future will come.

And for each of them, the added sea-level rise due to climate change will make things worse. And it does not take much imagination to see why this will eventually become problematic. In Whitianga, about three billion dollars are being currently ploughed into the development of upmarket housing on the future flood plains. How long will this development hold, when the sea level is rising and the ground underneath us is sinking?

Ignoring the problem won’t do us any good, so much is certain. It remains to be seen what policies we develop to deal with the significant economic issues that sea-level rise will bring to our coastal communities.

Fig 4. January 2018, Spring tide in the Waterways.

Photo credit: Thomas Everth

Words by Thomas Everth The SeaRise program home page is here: https://www.searise.nz/ The interactive mapping tool of the SeaRise program is available here: https://searise.takiwa.co/map

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Ross' Ramblings Non-resistance, is it the way?

One of my first experiences of accidentally practising non-resistance happened while I was in my early thirties. A friend had given me a book called The Cross and the Switchblade, which was about how Christianity had turned around the life of a young knife-wielding thug in America. The book didn’t convert me, possibly because my only knife was a pocketknife that I only used when I went fishing. However, it did get me to thinking about violence and how to react if I was ever faced with it. Should I fight back, or do as the book’s hero eventually did – following the doctrines of not resisting evil, of loving your enemies – and not react?

Well, as luck would have it, I got a possible answer to my questions sooner than I had expected. One night around 9pm I was meeting my sister in Auckland city’s K’ Road after she had finished her weekly sewing class. As I was walking, I saw a scuffle between a man and a woman in a shop doorway. Suddenly the man rushed at me and gave me a swift right to the jaw. Ouch! I fell on the ground and looked up at a Popeye-muscled young guy wearing an axeman’s singlet. Being rather puny myself and with a distinctly cowardly nature, I knew I could never fight him, so struggling to my feet I said rather pathetically, “Would you

like to talk about this, brother?” (The term bro’ hadn’t been invented in the 1980s.) Whereupon the young woman came and thrust herself between us and yelled at my assailant. He replied with another right punch over her shoulder into my already throbbing face. Something inside told me to do nothing, so I just stood there, and the woman said, “I am so sorry. He’s my brother and he’s been drinking. He doesn’t like my husband and you look a bit like him. Really, he’s just angry with himself.” The guy looked at me and suddenly burst into tears and hugged me, blubbering “I’m sorry mate, are you okay?” His sister joined in and there we were, the three of us hugging in K Rd. You can imagine my sister’s surprise at seeing her bloody-faced brother embracing two strangers on the footpath. Because I was his new ‘mate’, I told him I was okay, and we all wandered off to our respective lives. I still wonder what would have happened if I had fought back. I might not be here writing this, probably wouldn’t have gotten any hugs, and I definitely wouldn’t have felt the exhilaration I felt after we all stopped hugging.

On a slightly lighter note, another different, but valuable experience of the value of non-resistance presented itself in the mid-1970s while I was on my way to India to spend time

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in a yoga ashram. As fate or divine will, depending on which one you hold to, would have it, when I landed in Sri Lanka, at the bottom of the stairs leading down to the runway there was an orange-robed Buddhist monk. ‘He must be a religious rock star’ I remember thinking, as he was surrounded by a big crowd of devoted followers. Without even saying “Gidday mate, how’s it going?”, he looked at me and said with a friendly voice, “Come to our monastery.”

Without any hesitation I found myself saying “Sure, why not?” On arrival I was shown the small hut which was to be my home for the next month, after which I was told what my routine was to be, and a few rules to follow.

The meditation was one of breath awareness and mindfulness during which the chattery old mind was to be observed whenever it barged its way into my concentration on the breath. This was to happen for eighteen hours a day, divided into two sessions of 45 minutes each, sitting, walking, sitting, walking ... One hour was to be devoted to eating and the other 5 hours were for sleeping, showering and shitting, quite a packed schedule when you think about it. There were a few rules like no alcohol, drugs or women, but the hardest one was no killing of any living creature. This was difficult because there was no mosquito net but hundreds of mosquitos. I was told

to just concentrate on the sensation of being bitten without reacting. I must confess to sending several of the little suckers to their well-deserved hell before I was slowly able to not react and after a couple of weeks, I stopped noticing them. The weird thing is that, for 50 years since finishing the course and leaving the monastery, I haven’t been bitten by mosquitos. I guess it worked like a vaccine, only a lot longer lasting than the Pfizer one most of us have had jabbed into us.

Some years later, a rather sinister experience developed on a Monday morning drive to work and to drop my daughter off at school. Driving along Wharekaho Road and approaching the one lane bridge leading up to Harbour Lights, I was forced to brake hard to avoid a car being driven fast across the bridge without giving way.

Unfortunately, the angry part of my brain forced my right hand to administer the middle finger salute as the car sped by. I knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to do and when I looked in my rear vision mirror, I saw the car do a u-turn and proceed to chase me at speed up the hill. We reached the top of the hill with the young driver overtaking us. As luck would have it or through divine intervention, whichever was stronger on the day, nobody was coming over the hill. Otherwise, blood and guts would have decorated the road. I had to calm my panicking daughter as we drove down to Brophy’s Beach, where we found the car parked across both lanes to try and stop us.

I drove onto the reserve without stopping and raced past a glassy-eyed young man who looked ready to kill. We continued into town and parked outside the police station just in case he turned up. He didn’t, but what a lesson. Even symbolic resistance could have had dire consequences.

And just a few weeks ago, I went to see my five-year-old grandson playing soccer. Halfway through the game, one of the opposition players purposely kicked him. My grandson is a tough and fearless young guy. I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go’, expecting him to belt his assailant. But he stood there with his fists tightly clenched by his side, shouted loudly, turned around and walked away. ‘Wow’, I thought.

‘That took real guts.’ I was so proud of him. It made me remember the old All Black games that featured full on punch-ups after similar episodes. If a five-year-old can do it, why can’t adults!

I sometimes wonder whether similar actions of nonresistance and non-retaliation would work on an international scale. During my lifetime there have been multiple wars all entered into for ‘justifiable reasons’, and yet their objectives were never met. The Korean War of the 1950s never actually officially ended and the Vietnam War (or, as the North Vietnamese say, the American War) was lost by the USA and the dreaded ‘commies’, who allegedly wanted to take over the world, still haven’t arrived. In fact, Vietnam has been doing fine thank you very much since Uncle Sam was unceremoniously ousted. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq and the years of occupation of Afghanistan ended in a similar way to the evacuation of Saigon and left the Taliban in power.

And then there were all the secret coups and assassinations carried out in Central and South America by covert assassins and government agencies, one of which was rumoured to be the CIA. Mind you, war is very good for business, and I am sure a lot of wealthy firstworld shareholders made a killing (excuse the pun) from their companies’ nefarious activities. When you consider all these unachieved objectives of so-called ‘civilised’ countries’ military actions, perhaps the religious doctrines of non-resistance and refraining from killing might be a better way to go. We could at least try them and then if they didn’t work, we could always revert to the same old destruction and slaughter. Roll on Armageddon, which many evangelical Christians, especially in America, seem bent on making happen. So much for the teachings of their lord. Amen.

BTW, I hope no-one attacks me or Aotearoa in the twenty or so years I have left, otherwise, I might have to put a non-resistance policy into action to see if it works again.

Alternatively, if I am really old or unlucky, I’ll be gaga enough not to realise it’s happening anyway!

Words by Ross Liggins Photo left by Zdeněk Macháček Photo background right page

by Priyanka Karmakar

Andrew Richardson Certifying Plumber

0274 712 247 matarangiplumbing@gmail.com

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What do you think?

Our thoughts really do shape reality, how can we use that to our advantage?

They are taking so long to get ready.

Did I remember to set up that automatic payment? I’m always forgetting things. I wonder if I’m going to get dementia like Mum did?

Probably, it seems that way. Who left that there? Oh, the sun just came out. What are we going to have for dinner tonight? $6 for a cucumber is ridiculous, even if they are out of season.

Thoughts. We have a lot of them, don’t we? Estimates vary widely on how many thoughts we have per day. Some estimate as few as 6000, some as many as 70,000. Not all of the thoughts above are mine, but I pretended they were, and it took me about 13 seconds to think them all. I timed it. Being an actor is basically thinking someone else's thoughts for a living. So, I’ve had some practice at that strange activity.

Now, I could do the maths, estimating how many hours I am awake most days and working out how many seconds that is, subtracting some time for when I’m maybe not thinking at that rate of knots. Hopefully when I’m listening to someone else, for example. But we have thoughts then too, don’t we? Some arbitrary number of thoughts we have per day seems a ridiculous course of study to me.

There are so many variables, not least how busy or not your mind is and how quickly you move through different thoughts. And why does some arbitrary number matter?

What is clear, and you can prove this for yourself with a little awareness, is that we have a lot of thoughts each day. And most of those thoughts are the same as the ones you had the day before. And the day before that, and the day before that. Makes total sense. ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together’ is a common saying in neuroscience. I like the analogy of

Got to keep an eye on those thoughts! a field of long grass. Every thought makes a path through the grass, every time you think that thought, the path becomes more well worn.

Therefore, that becomes the easiest way through the field, and you end up taking that path again and again. Thinking the same thought over and over.

There’s no inherent problem there.

However, our human mind seems to be wired to remember the traumatic or problematic episodes better than we do the pleasant ones. Presumably so we can learn from them and increase our chances of survival. And difficult or scary experiences purely rooted in our minds or imaginations are as real to the body as ones that are triggered directly from our physical bodily experience. So it’s easy to see why rumination can become a problem for us.

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Going over and over that conversation, wishing you had said something differently. Going over and over the relationship, wishing you had done things differently. Going over and over your financial situation and becoming overwhelmed. Recalling that mistake you made and linking it to all the mistakes you have ever made. Just riffing here, I’ve had a version of all of the above obsessive thoughts before for sure. We all do.

But when those obsessive thoughts and ruminations make up too many of the well-worn paths in our field of thoughts, well, that can become a problem.

And you know what? Just because you think it, doesn’t make it true! If you have never come across that concept before, it can be pretty confronting.

Not least of all because our thoughts feel so true. Because they are so

I recently noticed that when interacting with certain people, as soon as I left their presence, a torrent of thoughts about how I could have said and done things differently completely overtook me. That’s the old classic ‘I’m not good enough’ popping up for some attention. I began to notice it was a real pattern. I created some distance between me and the thought pattern. I noticed how those thoughts were making me feel in my body, and it didn’t feel good. That helped me to get enough distance to realise the obvious.

That interaction was over now, there was nothing I could do to change it and it was actually completely fine. After doing that a few times, I’ve noticed what was a lifelong pattern almost completely disappear. It’s so freeing.

familiar, because we have walked that thought path so many times.

We are usually as unaware of our thoughts as we are of breathing. Constant companions, yet, until you consciously decide to acknowledge them, you hardly notice them there travelling with you. I can say unequivocally that learning to pay attention and to notice the thoughts that I have is the practice that has transformed my life most powerfully. It is a practice. You have to practise to even notice when you are having a thought at first.

Try it. Get a pen and paper, set a timer for a minute and write down or say out loud all the thoughts you have in that minute. First it might be something like, I don’t get this. I’m not even having any thoughts. And then you realise, wait, that is a thought. Keep going. When the time's up, take one of the thoughts you had and put the words ‘I’m having the thought that …’ in front of whatever it is. And then be still for a bit. Can you notice the thought? Can you see it as the thought you are having at that moment? Try again using the phrase, ‘I notice that I’m having the thought …’ The idea is to generate a sense of separation between you and the thought.

Noticing how thoughts make you feel in your body is an amazing tool. But it’s almost impossible to do until you start practising becoming aware of the thoughts you are having. Sometimes, especially when I’m driving, I notice I’m holding my breath, or my shoulders are raised and tense. And it is always as a result of the thoughts I am having. I make an effort to identify the thoughts I am thinking and to take some deep slow breaths – in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 8 is really helpful – and I feel calmer and more relaxed in no time. You will start to notice that almost all your actions and especially your reactions are a result of the thoughts you are thinking and choosing to believe are true.

Separation allows us to look at our thoughts. When we don’t notice our thoughts, we are looking through them.

Like a lens, like glasses that colour our reality. We can then realise that we are a person having a thought. But we are not the thought. I have been practising this consciously for around 25 years and I still have to remind myself, regularly. Especially when things get a bit stressful. And I am still discovering new patterns of unhelpful thinking.

Have a go. I find feeling agitated or stressed is a great prompt to take a deep breath or two and notice what it is that I’m thinking. The more often you do it, the more natural and regular it becomes. The more natural and regular it becomes, the more powerful you feel. You can become the boss of your thoughts, don’t let them be the boss of you!

Once you identify the thoughts, you have some choices.

You can respond to the thought with the question, ‘But is that really true?’ You can acknowledge the thought, ‘Thank you mind, but that’s not a helpful thought right now. I’m going to let that one go.’ A fun trick is to speak the thought out loud in a funny voice. Anything that helps you get a bit of distance between you and the thought and question it helps. Then create a new pathway in the field. Choose a new and better feeling thought. Rinse and repeat.

Words by Lana Garland Photo by Felicity Jean Photography

Try our whole range at the EarthStore Whitianga

artisan herbal products www.waihekeherbs.co.nz 21

Rising star Alya Jade And her Coromandel connection

Ko Mauao te Maunga Ko Tauranga te Moana Ko Mātaatua te Waka Ko Rangiwaea te Marae Ko Ngāi Te Rangi ko Tūhoe ōku Iwi Ko Te Ngare te Hapu Nō Hāmene nō Nōwei nō Aerana nō Kōtirana ōku matua tūpuna Ko Alya Jade ahau

You call Aotea / Great Barrier Island home. How has that shaped you, do you think?

My mum grew up on Aotea and it is where my parents actually met. I've since spent a huge amount of time there over the course of my life with both my mum and dad. I have a deep connection to the taiao, I love the community, I love our home there and I love how I am the best version of myself there. It's a very special place to me.

I hear through the kumara vine that you have some connections to the Coromandel?

I sure do! I have been going to Tairua since I was 6 weeks old and frequently visited as a child. I then moved to Whitianga from Auckland when I was 10 and lived there for 2 years whilst I did intermediate at Mercury Bay Area School. I went to high school in Auckland, before moving back to the Coromandel when I was 16 to live in Tairua for quite a few years. I have made some of my favourite memories in the Coromandel – it's where my daughter was born too so naturally that's my favourite one!

When did you know you wanted to pursue music?

I have always known that music was going to be in my future because it has always been a part of my life.

Whether that would be in the form of an actual music career or not I wasn't really sure, I just knew that I loved to sing. From around the age of 8 I have been singing and performing,

so it has become this sort of second nature, and I'm very grateful for that.

I didn't seriously consider a career in music however until pretty recently, in the last few years where it became an actual possibility. I know when I was younger there was opportunity, but my mum always felt it wasn't the right time for me and looking back now I'm so glad she kept me grounded and didn't push me into things I wasn't ready for just because I was good at them. Now it feels much more aligned as I have more life experience and it's important to me to not be taken advantage of in the industry.

What are some of your musical influences?

I've said this a lot recently, but my dad has been a huge influence for me. He is a musician himself and has really inspired me over the years, never giving up his passion for music.

My mum also has a lovely voice, and the lullabies she sang me every night before I went to sleep are some of my most cherished memories! Both of my parents have been instrumental in nurturing my passion for music. I have so many musical influences at the moment, I wouldn't be able to fit them all in here! But a few of my favourites at the moment are Miakie, Te Kaahu, Maple Glider, Ed Waaka and Mara TK. Who are three musical acts that you love?

Stevie Nicks, Erykah Badu and Bob Marley.

Left and Right photos by Mckenzie Comer, Middle by Orion Scott

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Who is someone that you have recently discovered that you are enjoying?

Te Kaahu! She has the voice of an angel and I love what she is about, her kaupapa. Her whole album 'Te Kaahu o Rangi' is in Te Reo Māori which I have so much respect for.

What made you want to record ‘I Tōnā Wā’, the te reo Māori version of your single ‘Under Her Spell (Boom)’?

When the opportunity came about to translate, record and release ‘Under Her Spell (Boom)' into the te reo Māori version ‘I Tōnā Wā (Boom)', I took it immediately. I whakapapa Māori and have been learning te reo Māori since I was 12 years old, so this felt like a beautiful and natural next step in reclaiming my Māoritanga. It is always an honour to sing in our reo and I'm so proud to have this for my whānau.

When you’re not making music, what do you fill your life with?

I'm a Māmā to my beautiful daughter, Harper, and am currently in my fourth and final year of doing a Bachelor of Health Science (Acupuncture). I live in a barn on a farm in Mangawhai, where you will most likely find me either studying in front of the fire or in the kitchen making kai for my whānau, sometimes both. Or you'll find me on Aotea!

Where can people go to hear your music and get to know you a bit better?

You can find my music on all the usual streaming platforms (spotify, itunes, etc). I'm also on Instagram, Facebook and youtube under alyajade.music

Becoming Mama A column about experiencing the transition from maiden to mother and beyond

Becoming Mama: Volume 1 Now I would be mistaken if I had written about the conception of this tiny human in my womb as the start of my motherhood journey. Because before I had met three special people in my life, I wasn’t actually that fond of children at all. I didn’t have the ‘cluckiness’ of seeing a newborn and instantly wanting to conceive my own. I wasn’t the sort of woman that had grown up with the dreams and the longings to raise children. I even went through the stages of believing that I was going to do my part to help our environment by not adding another human being to it, therefore conserving more of our precious resources and not adding more waste.

But after falling in love with someone with kids and with that, finding love for those kids, it awoke my heart into becoming a mother-like figure.

I don’t know yet if there is any difference between the love for someone else's children and your own.

But I'm curious to find out. I guess in my current situation I have the luxury of not participating in any disciplinelike things or setting schedules. I don’t have to find someone to mind the kids if I want to leave the house. But I get to participate in the good stuff.

Like play, so much play. Creativity

and imagination, listening to endless stories they’ve come up with or drawing and colouring in. Presence – you can’t fake attention, especially with the children I'm involved with.

So this has anchored me into a whole new level of presence and attentive listening that I love. And my favourite of all, the giving and receiving – whether it’s providing acts of service like helping them cut fruit for their lunch, or getting a big snuggle in front of the tv with a sleepy little human.

This is something so new for me, and something I didn’t know I wanted to be such a special part of my life.

I guess what I am trying to articulate is that the love for a child is something different to the love for another adult, whether friend, family or partner. It feels nurturing, homely, and in my case unfiltered. It’s something that's a little harder to hold back, as you know what you’re getting in every interaction. Children are mostly unfiltered, they’ll say what they want, and what they feel. So you know where you stand. And with that, it’s easier to love with an open heart. It’s easier to feel motivated to spend a little extra time listening to what they have to say, even if it’s not that interesting to you but it’s their passion that keeps

'Becoming Mama' Artwork by Ella Kington

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you present. It’s easier to take the time to help them with a task, and pause the to-do lists or the hustle of our culture these days, because they’re so in the moment – and doesn’t that just look so much more joyous?

Even though I'm not technically a mother to a biological child earthside yet, being called a mother-like figure by a sweet-natured, open-hearted 5-year-old this morning lit me up in a way that I haven’t necessarily felt before. Being able to listen to and hold them as they express their hurt feelings, a rough situation, or something so exciting has felt more rewarding than the busiest of shifts I’ve worked. And I, for one, am excited to add one more little human to the mix to care for, to listen to, to love in a way that feels different to what I've experienced in this lifetime so far.

Now that 13 weeks have passed with growing this new little one and feeling like I'm no longer fitting my pants comfortably, I’ve got much, much more to write. I’ll keep you posted!

Lots of love, From your fellow Mama

Common Ground

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Open 9-3 Wednesday to Sunday @eggsentric Sanctity despoiled even in spring in the Coromandel amid the beauty of the puawānanga dangling like strings of pearls through the bush the menace of the mining company looms overshadowing the beauty of emerald hills threatening the grandeur of towering trees and the peace of tiny Archey’s frogs Helen Oliver

O Moehau Mountain (How much can you love?)

Red-haired denizens, so the old ones say bide their time beyond ordinary eyesight belong as mountain dwellers agile as fairies living lives beyond the ordinary Alive are we to snippets of temptation We be blessed to feel their fairy fibrillations

You mist mountain subdued beneath volcanic cloud hidden whitened a daily shroud No one own you like the Great Chief spoke We belong you murmuring mountain Reihana Robinson First published in Ora Nui Maori 3, Literary Journal Going Global 2017 editor: Anton Blank

as they rove the cloud-stricken summit flowing to haunt night dreamers to infiltrate bush scouts What to believe?

Pixies come gentle down your slopes Pixies sleep on your forest pillows Curious guerilla queens and kings compose hymns in your forest element Patupaiarehe faerie floaters Sleepers of mountain Bind us as if with twine Tie skillful sailor-knots And we—the ensorcelled in your tiny hands we lean into enchantment a tender brew humming oriori clusters like lullabies We become big babies listening to your crooning Tendrils creep around our bodies

Made collectively by artists at Te Mana Tangata

We—the befrienders link fingers

Kaiako - Moana Harrison

Bird talk and wind whispers reveal the saga the skald Putorino flutes wrapping spirit music bringing Tranquility

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Moana Harrison and Yvonne Hemara at Te Mana Tangata.

Coromandel Independent Living Trust.

Weaving workshops funded by the Ministry Culture and Heritage CARE fund.

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Born & Raised Born and raised is our inspirational new feature, highlighting home-grown Coromandel Peninsula peeps doing wonderful things out there in the world. To suggest someone you know that we should feature, email us at hello@marama.nz

Name: Moira Ingeltun

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Becoming a mamma to 2

Age: 38

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Making amazing friends in Sweden

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Stockholm, Sweden – I’ve been here 12 years.

Discovering Eckhart Tolle & Dr. Joe Dispenza

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Creating the superfood powder brand KIANO

Where did you grow up?

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Whitianga, from age 11 to 16, on Catherine Crescent close to the estuary.

Studying to become a yoga teacher

How do you spend your days now?

Where do you live?

What are your whānau connections here?

My Dad's brother also lives in Whitianga.

Which school did you attend?

Mercury Bay Area School Highlights since you finished school?

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Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

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Living in NYC and occasional travels to the Caribbean

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Working on a boat based in Monaco and Mediterranean travels

Balancing raising small kids with building a brand. I try to have a moment of rest each day with yoga nidra or meditation to bring myself back to my body & align with spirit.

What do you like the most about Sweden's culture?

Midsummer's Day celebration in late June every year! Celebrating the light, and feminine energy with flower crowns, dance, food and love is one of the highlights of my year.

What are you most proud of?

Becoming more conscious and evolving through this human experience.

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What are your fondest memories of home?

The nature and spirit of the land. I miss our beaches, trees and sand so much! I have so many fond memories of times spent at the beaches on the Coro.

When were you last home?

I haven’t been home since 2019 pre-pandemic. I really look forward to next time!

Who are you looking forward to catching up with next time you are home?

My good friends and their babies!

What advice would you give younger you?

Practice yoga every day! Your body will thank you for it later.

Biggest life lesson so far?

I am the result of my thoughts – it sounds so familiar and easy, but it’s been a challenge to consciously think and feel positive even when the going gets tough.

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Starlight Guidance Welcome to ‘Starlight Guidance’ where we will be bringing you information in regard to planetary energy shifts as they happen.

We have looked to the stars and planets for guidance for eons. Our ancestors knew, indigenous cultures knew, and we know: there is a greater whole which we are a part of that is cosmic and divine in nature.

Understanding energy shifts through astrology, numerology, planetary changes, time gates and seasonal transitions can offer us guidance as we experience these times collectively and personally.

Today we are going to talk about the new sacred galactic year which began on the 26th July and is the beginning of a new 12-month cycle. It is also the opening of the Lion’s gate portal in Leo which peaks on the 8th of August (closing on the 12th August). On this powerful day, a new cycle of time begins for us both as individuals and as a planet.

At this time, the royal star Sirius (also known as the dog star) rises in the morning sky; it is in conjunction with the sun at sunrise in the Northern hemisphere and specifically over Egypt at the time of the rising of the Nile River which represents the return of abundance to the land and the people for another cycle of life. This has been celebrated by the Mayans and ancient Egyptians as a moment when time/space was renewed for another cycle by the divine intelligence.

The Sirians and the royal lion beings were, and remain, the master star teachers who have helped to guide humanity on the path of ascension and evolution.

We are all a part of this time at this sacred portal.

Over the last six months, there have been rapid change and transition on Earth, a time of accelerated frequency and personal ‘expansion’. Also, many of you have had the feeling that you are on the threshold of something wonderful and miraculous.

This is a time to release the past, and any attachment to the future, while creating with a focus on the now or present moment or zero point.

So, if you have been facing your past, just know it has come up to be released and we are being urged to stand up for ourselves and claim our future.

Over the next two weeks, we can expect ‘fireworks’, including sunspots and solar flares, from the sun.

The energy of this new cycle will be that of the divine feminine – serene, peaceful and creative. Things will flow and all we need to do is align with the flow.

The Earth is also returning to her original blueprint as a sacred planet in the galaxy. She is a ball of shining light, and we are connected to her whether we know it or not. Take this opportunity to step forth into this new sacred galactic year. Follow the whispers from the stars and stand in your own light that shines so bright, lifting your frequencies with integrity, love, compassion and understanding. Stay hydrated, sit in the stillness and utilise this powerful portal to start a new year.

Much love and magic Shannon

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