According to the Māori Dictionary hauora is defined as the state of being 'fit, well, healthy, vigorous and in good spirits'. It is the overall health of the individual. Others have broken it down further, with the most common metaphor being Mason Durie's Whare Tapa Wha model. This breaks the individual's health into four areas that all need nurturing - te taha hinengaro or our psychological health, te taha whānau or our family health, te taha tinana or our physical health, and te taha wairua or our spiritual health. Western medicine has been slow to come to grips with the ide of an individual's health needing to have each of these four areas in balance, but examination of other cultures has led me to find similar understandings to that of Māori.
Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/tamaki.ac.nz/health-centre/whare-tapa-wha
So what does this have to do with me? Well I know my whare tapa wha is out of balance and, in some areas, has been for some time.
Te Taha Hinengaro - My Psychological Health
Many who know me would not pick up that there are issues in this area as I am good at putting on the mask that covers it. I should have been diagnosed with depression at least twice in my adult life but managed to fight my way back before it got to that. After a fall that has left me with ongoing concussion symptoms a few months back I am not entirely sure I am not heading back there at the moment. I am my own worst critic and worry about the things I do and say after the fact on a more than regular basis. After my own upbringing I have very low self esteem and often feel I am not good enough or faking my way through situations. Again something those that know me would not necessarily recognise in me either.
Te Taha Whānau - My Family Health
The family I have created as my whānau with my husband is a healthy, tight and loving unit of four. The family I came from was violent and dysfunctional. I know looking from the outside in at my friends families that it still is. The healing that comes from my own children and my immediate family unit now outweighs the negatives that just keep on coming from the family unit in which I grew up.
Te Taha Tinana - My Physical Health
As a child my health was pretty good - the annual cold usually. As a 7 year old I contracted a vaccine failed dose of whooping cough. I can still be frightened if I end up with a cough that feels like my lungs are turning inside out, and thankful that there is not the blood in my hand I remember from that time. Hayfever has also been an issue with the initial allergy being to cats and shifting over time to pollens. I also ended up with glandular fever as an eight year old which, aside from the usual measles, rubella and chicken pox meant I was relatively healthy.
As an adult it has been far less plain sailing - a TIA at 37 due to not looking after myself as I taught and mothered at the same time, surgery on my shoulder following the fall I had with the TIA, pneumonia, constant sinus infections leading to an allergy to sulfa based antibiotics, a range of accidents some involving head injuries. There have been those that have joked about wrapping me in bubble wrap to keep me safe following this latest and biggest fall. The final issue is one I have battled with in one way or another since puberty - Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It has caused issues with acne, hormones, facial hair and most of all my weight.
Putting these four walls together leads to a whare nui in need of some tender loving care. If I do not do something about making all of the aspects of my whare tapa wha a priority I am heading for some fairly major physical health issues. The time off with this head injury has allowed me space to reflect on decisions made, lifestyle choices and where I need to go from here to make it through the next few years which is how long my recovery could actually be.
As a child my health was pretty good - the annual cold usually. As a 7 year old I contracted a vaccine failed dose of whooping cough. I can still be frightened if I end up with a cough that feels like my lungs are turning inside out, and thankful that there is not the blood in my hand I remember from that time. Hayfever has also been an issue with the initial allergy being to cats and shifting over time to pollens. I also ended up with glandular fever as an eight year old which, aside from the usual measles, rubella and chicken pox meant I was relatively healthy.
As an adult it has been far less plain sailing - a TIA at 37 due to not looking after myself as I taught and mothered at the same time, surgery on my shoulder following the fall I had with the TIA, pneumonia, constant sinus infections leading to an allergy to sulfa based antibiotics, a range of accidents some involving head injuries. There have been those that have joked about wrapping me in bubble wrap to keep me safe following this latest and biggest fall. The final issue is one I have battled with in one way or another since puberty - Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It has caused issues with acne, hormones, facial hair and most of all my weight.
Putting these four walls together leads to a whare nui in need of some tender loving care. If I do not do something about making all of the aspects of my whare tapa wha a priority I am heading for some fairly major physical health issues. The time off with this head injury has allowed me space to reflect on decisions made, lifestyle choices and where I need to go from here to make it through the next few years which is how long my recovery could actually be.
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