Well By Design

21/01/2026

Welcome 2026! 🎉

No matter how we ease ourselves back into the work year, it can sometimes take a while to get into gear - and that’s ok. Transitioning from one thing/season to another often takes time. Particularly if the sun’s still shining!

But there’s nothing like the anticipation of spending time with a group of aspirational young people to get things moving! And it did!

The session with the Mātai Summer Interns was such a great start to 2026. I appreciated so much ….

👌 being invited into a team that are boldly and courageously striving to make a lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of our communities through medical research, education and innovation - Mātai Medical Research Institute

👌 being with the Mātai Interns, young people determined to build lives that are true and strong

👌 standing alongside someone who is incredibly passionate about sharing stories that may help create shifts in others 🧡 Alicia Hoskin

One of my favourite things to talk about is how we, as unique humans, create the environments that allow us to live, love, and lead WELL. Interestingly, I often feel like I walk away with most of the gems when I have these conversations with young people! ✨

📢 Our tomorrows are in good hands people!!!

Go well Mātai Interns, we’re with you - you’ve so got this! 💪

10/12/2025

Final group session for 2025 - and what a way to finish up!

Last week, and I spent time with paddlers and coaches from the Cook Islands and Samoa, coaches from Aussie, and crew from the Oceania Canoe Association exploring easy-to-access superpowers that lift performance on and off the water... uniqueness, mindset, nourishment ✨

I love seeing the joy and stability that comes when we lean into who we are and what we love. Alicia is a storyteller, she’s someone who thrives on challenge and growth, she’s all about team, and she has a contagious enthusiasm for life. When she gets to share this; she wins, we win. I love win-wins!

What we each bring will always look uniquely different - that’s the whole point. The magic happens and the win-wins are created when we figure out:

⭐ what we love to do
⭐ what we’re naturally good at
⭐ what we want to do with that - for ourselves and for others

…. and do more of it!

One of the paddlers nailed it - “I’m curious. I love asking questions so I can understand why things are what they are. It helps us all understand the rules better too.”
That’s such helpful information for any coach!! A win-win wouldn’t you say?

Knowing who we are isn’t just personal insight, it’s fuel for performance! 💥

❓ What’s one thing you’d love to do MORE of in 2026?

24/11/2025

We're wired to move! Here's what happens when we do:

⭐ stress drops
⭐ mood lifts
⭐ brain clears
⭐ body awakens

It could be a stretch, a wander, a walking hui, a dip in the ocean, a jog... ANYTHING!

🌳 And if you move it outside, into nature, that's a double dose of goodness!

No matter how you choose to move, know this, movement has the ability to change the course of your day! It'll set the tone for everything else that follows. 🧡

So, if you're tired of being tired, take yourself off.... step into nature. 🥰

19/11/2025

Hey you guys, have you seen this? What a weekend!!! 👏👏

Tāne Tū, Tāne Ora is coming up this weekend!

The weekend is full of activities that focus on men's well-being, connection, and community, held in collaboration with Whiti Ora Tairāwhiti, Hikitia! Tāne Ora and local providers.

Some activities require registration, while others you can just rock up. All the events are free. The events can be found on our page.

So, check out the calendar, grab your mates, dads, or sons and connect through wellbeing.

14/11/2025

We did it! 🖐️ Five days, five focus areas, and one big reminder:

▶️ wellness doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s built on the simple things we do every day - the things that restore us, grow us, energise us, and keep us connected to the amazing humans we are.

Well By Design’s focus areas sit at the heart of every conversation I have with individuals, groups, or teams — the context may change, but the message stays the same.

✨ Be more of who you already are.
Understanding who we uniquely are and appreciating the value this brings to the world is a wellness and relational hack!

✨ Find movement the matters.
Movement that lifts, fits, and feels good. ANY movement is good movement! But the best? The sort you enjoy that makes you want to move again tomorrow.

✨ Be kind in your mind.
Good talk, real food, quality rest. Our brains and bodies produce really powerful feel-good chemicals when we do this stuff!

✨ Find your people.
Social connection has a huge impact on wellness. It has an immediate and significant impact on our mental and physical health! Every time!

✨ Find your fun.
Fun is a legit wellness tool! It restores, resets, and reminds us of who we are beneath all the adult-doing. Whatever it looks like for you - make space for it.

And remember...

🧡 wellness doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful, it happens in the little things.

Need a nudge? Try 30 DAYS OF WELLNESS! Little moments, just for you .... choose one a day, no rules, no pressure. 🥰

💌 If you'd like a copy of 30 Days of Wellness or want to chat, message me, I'd love to hear from you.

Take great care x

13/11/2025

We made it to Day Five - the fun one!

Why is it that somewhere along the way, fun started to feel like a luxury?

As kids, it came so easily - we laughed, created, and moved just because it felt good. But as adults, we came to believe everything had to be productive, useful, or have a goal attached.

Who said it had to be this way?

Let’s hold tight - fun is fun, but it’s also our fuel. It restores, resets, and reminds us of who we are underneath all the doing.

Play and laughter trigger dopamine and endorphins (more of our feel-good chemicals) which help reduce stress, lift mood, and boost creativity. How amazing are our bodies, they always reward us for the good stuff!

Fun is a legitimate wellness tool!

So whatever fun looks like for you today:
✨ belly-laugh fun
✨ challenging fun
✨ sweaty fun
✨ creative fun
✨ quiet fun
✨ playful fun...

Take a load off and give yourself permission to do more of it. And if today’s fun looks different to tomorrow’s fun, kei te pai! It’s all good. 👌

Today’s Challenge:
Choose one - or more!
🎶 Put on your favourite song and get your groove on.
🌿 Do something you used to love as a kid - draw, skip, build, sing, play.
💬 Message a friend who always makes you laugh.
🌊 Get outside and play - splash, climb, wander, breathe.
💛 Schedule something that’s purely for fun - no goals, no purpose, just joy.

Enjoy x

12/11/2025

Day Four is all about your people. 🧡

We’re not meant to do life alone.

👉 We’re wired for connection - it’s not just emotional, it’s biological!
👉 We’re designed to live in community – we need others, they need us.

The quality of our social connections is one of the strongest predictors of our happiness and our health. Some research even suggests that social connection influences health as much as our exercise routine! 🫢

BUT our connections must be MEANINGFUL.

Spending time and engaging with people who get and value us, triggers the release of Oxytocin, another of our ‘feel good’ hormones. This ‘bonding hormone’
✔️ fosters a sense of belonging,
✔️ reduces stress and anxiety, and
✔️ even helps us to live longer!
It’s our body’s way of saying “You are safe here.” So good!

Connection is one of the most powerful wellness tools we have - free, available, and deeply human. The way we connect is as unique as we are – but what matters is that connection.

So, make time for your people.
Reach out, show up, let them know they matter.

When we find our people, we find our STRENGTH. 💪

Today’s challenge:
Send a message, make a call, plan a catch-up with someone you’re thinking about.

✨ Remember.... Connection doesn’t have to be fancy, loud, or long. It just has to be REAL.

11/11/2025

It’s Day Three of our Wellness Week and this one’s a biggie!

If you’ve ever felt unsure where to start with your wellness - you’re not alone! 🤔
There’s so much advice out there based on some great research across multiple fields, and while this is a good thing, it can be a lot!

BUT wellness doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here are a few simple, science-backed habits that make a real difference to how we feel and how we function. 👇

💬 Good Talk
What we say to ourselves matters. Our brains believe what we repeat - so choose words that build, not break.

✨ “I AM, two of the most powerful words, for whatever you put after them, shapes your reality.” Gary Hensel. ✨

We always find what we’re looking for, so choose what to focus on. When we look for what’s working, what’s growing, what’s good – we’ll start to see more of it.

🍎 Real Food
Our bodies and brains thrive when we fuel them with food that’s close to its natural form.

✔️ choose loads of veges (have you come across the Eat 30 in 7 Challenge?)
✔️ find lots of colour
✔️ go for a heap of variety
✔️ and, love what we eat!

Over 90% of serotonin, one of our ‘feel-good’ hormones, is made in the gut but it needs a healthy gut to do so. What we eat literally feeds our mind and mood!

😴 Quality Rest
Rest is a weapon! Our brain needs downtime to process, restore, and reset.
When we take time in our day to breathe/be in nature, take a break from our screens, and prioritise sleep – we’re dangerous!

I listened to a talk by Rajna Bogdanovich (Clinical Psychologist, amazing speaker!) who said only 1 in 3 of us are getting the recommended 7 – 9 hours of sleep per night! Eeeeek!

Todays Challenge:
Choose ONE way to give your mind some kindness – in what you say, what you eat, or how you rest. 🥰

If you need a few suggestions:
FLIP – turn ‘I should’ to ‘I could’, or ‘I have to’ to ‘I get to’, or ‘I can’t’ to ‘I’m learning to’

ADD one more bit of real colour to your plate.

SCHEDULE 5 minutes of quiet rest, without your phone - notice the trees, the people around you, your breath.

🧡

10/11/2025

✌️ Welcome to Day Two of our Wellness Week.

Today’s focus is movement (I love this one!).

There is no doubt in my mind that movement is our medicine. 100%!

You might think you are only going for a walk, playing with the kids, hitting around a ball, swimming, riding …. but you are doing so much more!

Your body is doing amazing things!!!

🧡 It’s boosting the feel-good chemicals in your brain, supporting your gut biome, lowering stress hormones, charging your immunity, building bone strength, and even producing its own antibiotics via the sweat glands!

But, it's also...

✔️ casting a vote for who you want to be,
✔️ providing evidence to yourself that you are a mover (yeah you are!)
✔️ generating data that your brain will use to inform what it BELIEVES about you and movement in the FUTURE!

In other words, you are giving yourself a massive hand up! 🖐️

So, when we talk wellness, movement is always part of the conversation.

Today’s challenge:
View movement as an opportunity not an inconvenience, and see what HAPPENS. 👌

09/11/2025

Let’s finish ‘25 strong!

Come join me for a Wellness Week. Each day we’ll explore wellness through the lens of Well By Design’s 5 focus areas.

Day One – Become more of who you already are. ✨

What have you noticed you do really well that others tend to struggle with? What are you doing when time seems to fly by, you feel totally energised?

Being aware of what we naturally do well AND what we love doing is where our strength comes from, it’s an important part of wellness.

Gallup research shows that when people get to work and live from their areas of strength, they are 3x more likely to report having an excellent quality of life, and 6x more likely to be engaged in their jobs!

But noticing is just the first step – the power comes when we figure out how to do more of it and leverage it for the good of ourselves and for the good of others. When we learn how to do that, everyone wins!

Today’s Challenge
▶️ notice those things that energise you and you do so well
▶️ choose 2 of them and consider
- when could you do more of them?
- how would that benefit you? Others?

21/10/2025

Ngā mihi nui, , for welcoming me in to explore the wonderful world of strengths with you. ✨

A while ago, I had the privilege of spending the day with this great team, unpacking how our unique strengths shape the way we work, connect, and contribute.

No matter how many times I run these workshops, it still thrills me to witness the appreciation that comes when we begin to see ourselves, and each other, through a strengths lens. It’s powerful. I love it! 🧡

💬 "We appreciated your knowledge, passion, and engaging delivery. Your ability to simplify complex ideas and create a safe space to wānanga was awesome.”

20/10/2025

Supporting Alicia Hoskin to do what she loves is part of what I love to do!
Contributing to the promotion of a fair and safe sporting environment definitely fills her cup - chia seeds and all! 🧡

Two-time Olympic champion canoeist Alicia Hoskin talks about the importance of good nutrition, the risks of supplement taking and how it's every athlete's re...