Julia Wikeepa – Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto
Hā Habit launched in January 2022 by Julia Wikeepa to provide user-friendly solutions aimed at disrupting the patterns of stress, fear, and anxiety. Rooted in both Western and Indigenous well-being philosophies, their products offer a unique blend of perspectives.
At the heart of it all is “Hā,” meaning breath in Māori, serving as a central element that connects the hinengaro (mind), tinana (body), and wairua (spirit), leading to tranquility. During times of stress, rational thinking often falters.
Through their products, they empower people to recalibrate their responses and embark on a journey toward inner calm and strength. These include:
1) The Hā tool: A breathing aid inspired by the Māori kōauau (flute). This innovative piece functions as both jewellery and a stress-relief tool. It swiftly alleviates the physical impacts of stress and anxiety by simply breathing through the small hole in the pendant.
2) Hā Education/Workshop Facilitation: Their interactive workshops delve into nervous system and emotional regulation through Hā. These sessions empower participants with techniques for stress management and offer tools from Māori and Western perspectives, fostering well-being in workplaces and daily life.
3) Breaking Cycles of Anxiety & Stress E-book: This simple E-book is designed to help customers transform the way they respond to anxiety and fear. The Hā tool and e-book are powerful and effective standalone products. However, when combined, the results are optimal and have the potential to be absolutely life-changing.
4) Transformational Hā Sessions: A transformative Breath-work using rhythmic breathing to shift stuck and stagnant emotions. Accompanied by instrumental waiata (music) to enhance the experience.
5) Junior Hā Tool Packages: These packages are tailored for young people and can be used in schools and hauora (health) organisations. The program covers empowering themes such as embracing one’s identity as a taonga (treasure), celebrating diversity, harnessing the power of affirmations, and cultivating a strong connection to the Hā using the Aroha method.
Julia started the business from her own personal experiences with mental health and also her son’s mental health challenges. She found hā to be a really powerful tool for awareness, calming and connection to taha wairua (spirit).
Her goal is to help more tamariki develop a hā habit from a young age so they can better navigate uncomfortable emotions throughout their lives. She recently co-wrote a journal article that explores hā from multiple perspectives and how we can utilise it more to help navigate anxiety, trauma and PTSD.
Julia has built Hā Habit on Māori principles and is very proud of her Māori heritage. She says, “I didn’t grow up learning much about my Māori heritage other than going to marae for tangi, weddings and special occasions and doing kapa haka at school. However, in the home Te Reo was not spoken, we weren’t taught pūrākau (stories) and tikanga (customs) etc.”
“I was very detached from Te Ao Māori because it hadn’t been encouraged or embraced in our environment. It wasn’t until I had my son and decided I wanted to embrace my taha Māori, so I joined Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and signed up for Te Ara Reo, Te Aupikitanga and Te Putaketanga.”
“This was the start of embracing my culture and I’m still on the journey. Now I weave Māori values and whakaaro (thoughts) as much as I can throughout my mahi.”
Poutama recently supported Hā Habit with prototype development, marketing and attendance at a tradeshow where they promoted their products and tools to the education sector. Julia says, “the funding has allowed me to take bigger steps to hiring people to do jobs that I’m not good at. It will help me to free up some time and build my capacity to reach and serve more people in this area. I feel really grateful.”
For further information and to find out more check out their website, Facebook and Instagram.
