Wairarapa’s locally owned community newspaper
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2022
INSIDE: Dreaming of a new theatre P8
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Healing in ngahere A Wairarapa-based charity is helping the community reconnect with the natural world – and transforming mental health. ERIN KAVANAGH-HALL reports. When researching a name for his charitable organisation, Michael Woodcock turned to one of his favourite writers, Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. He settled on Live Like The River Flows, a nod to O’Donohue’s poem “Fluid” – comparing human existence to the flow of a river as it heads out to sea. “Each corner the river turns is different, it doesn’t always see what’s coming up ahead – and it navigates obstacles,” Woodcock said. “If there’s an obstacle in its path, it either moves around it, runs over the top of it, or wears it away. “It’s quite inspirational.” This philosophy is central to Live Like The River Flows: a charitable trust which aims to nourish mental health, aid recovery and resilience, and help protect local ecosystems through engagement with the natural world. Founded by Carterton-based Woodcock in 2020, Live Like The River flows provides guided ngahere (forest) walks, hikes and workshops throughout the Tararua and Remutaka Forest Parks, as well as community nature reserves. On the walks, Woodcock,
A walker stops to take in the view on a walk through Taratahi/Mt Holdsworth, courtesy of Live Like The River Flows. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
alongside a team of volunteers, acts as a guide (with consent from the Department of Conservation) along the forest tracks – offering education on the area’s specific history, as well as on the importance of the ngahere to Wairarapa, and its role in our wellbeing. Woodcock says the core purpose of Live Like The River Flows is to help re-establish a connection with nature: an inherent part of the human experience in the ancient world, which has been disenfranchised by centuries of colonialism and
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capitalist systems. The kaupapa of the trust is based on te ao Maori, the early European principle of an interconnected world, and Te Whare Tapa Whā – Sir Mason Durie’s model of mental health, which includes physical and spiritual health in the four pillars of mental wellbeing. The trust’s work is also heavily informed by scientific research – which has found that even brief exposure to natural settings can Continued on page 3
Walkers relax in Fensham Reserve.
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