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Shine The Light In The Dark Places, Invercargill (2026)

06/02/2026

How people treat you is their karma. How you respond is yours! 🙏🏽💫

04/12/2025

"Have you ever felt like you’re falling behind in life, wishing you were somewhere else, being upset that NOTHING is working out for you?

I get it. I sometimes catch myself entering that space of resistance—a space of deep frustration. Wondering if there’s something deeply wrong with me. Or if the universe has a vendetta against me. Or if some karma is catching up to me from a past life. Or, my favorite, if someone is working “black magic” on me 🤣

But notice how, in these moments of resistance, is where we are most susceptible to give our power away...

We begin to look outside of ourselves, to someone or something to blame, in order for this mess to somehow make sense.

Here is a spiritual law that I go back to in these moments:

What you give your attention to, you give your devotion to. Our attention creates altars to anything that has it.

In the most basic language: the more you focus on the problem, the more you water it. And the more you water something, the more it grows.

Sometimes we become so devoted to our problems that, if our problems were made manifest in the material world, they would look like temples of worship—where the way to pray is by worrying. And feeling stress becomes the way we bond with the object of our devotion.

Here’s an revelatory question to consider during these times:

If what you think about most often is what you are devoting your energy to… What have you been devoted to this past week?

Listen, I don’t blame you. There is no shame here in these words. If we speak about these things is to bring them out in the open—to make the unconscious, conscious—so that we can see them more clearly.

Many times we get caught up in the “only if, then” trap.

Only if I had more time, then I’d do more of what I wanted.
Only if I had more money, then I’d have more time.
Only if I had a healthy relationship, then I’d be inspired all the time.
Only if I—you get my point.

This is a trap because it creates the illusion that only if we eliminate every single issue/problem from our lives, then and only then will we finally be content and fulfilled being who we are. Not a moment before.

What we resist internally will persist externally."
—Jovanny Varela

Excerpt from Gentle Reminder No 117: You Cannot Micromanage Miracles

To read the whole piece 👉🏽 https://open.substack.com/pub/jovannyvarela/p/you-cannot-micromanage-miracles

Artwork by instagram.com/twillostory

04/12/2025

FULL MOON IN GEMINI 5 DECEMBER 2025:

Hello to all my beauties! I hope you are all well, feeling energised and loved! If not, may it all be so with you forthwith. At the time of writing we are entering the Full Moon gateway, which is a point of release, of shifts, of transformations- so if you are NOT feeling amazing, roll with it because it may just be working its way out of your system. Nothing is ever fixed, and at this time- a mutable Full Moon square the Nodes- things are even less fixed than usual!

So what of this Moon? Well, it is indeed square the Nodes- indicating a destined turning point, a point where we have the opportunity to either be scared as hell or brave as hell- or both! With Mercury, the ruler of the Moon, in a grand water trine to Neptune (stationing direct) and Jupiter we can feel inspired to lean deeply into our dreams, or otherwise deeply into our fears. Which will it be? As I've always said, pessimism and optimism are equally valid choices- we are free to choose whichever will contribute most to that vision we are hoping to build. If you want a fear-filled future filled with limitations and conflict that is up to you and you can make that choice! But maybe, just maybe you want to get a little beyond all that, maybe you want to taste a little madness and stardust in your time here on Earth!

I want to add a caveat- of course. Optimism doesn't mean we operate at the expense of common sense. Look well to the foundations of your desires, your beliefs, your actions- and always take a pause if you can before you leap into engagement with any of these things. We can act like a bitch to someone because we feel hurt by them, for example- and then we may try and not worry about the fact that we've done that- but it is actually going to be far better and less damaging for one's own peace of mind if we instead question our impulses.

In short- just because we want to do something, that doesn't mean that that want comes from a place that supports our future vision and future growth. The pause is needed to make sure that this action, whatever it is, is in line with whatever we're wanting to cultivate.

I do see at this time that we will have ample opportunity to perhaps act out of impulse, and ample opportunity to actually redirect and cultivate a different action according to the wisdom we have gathered. But remember! Wisdom and established wisdom can sometimes be different things. Don't go by what I or someone else are saying, but go by the wisdom YOU YOURSELF have actually managed to cultivate through your spiritual practice. ###x

The Full Moon in Gemini will be taking place on 5 December 2025 at 12:13PM (NZST) ###

27/09/2025

I had the privilege once more to sit in the Wairua Space at Rangatahi Zone, on the Marae. For two days, in the embrace of Tahupōtiki, I offered Wairua Readings while the vibration of mirimiri and sound therapy filled the space around us. Ataahua wahine practionars with their tables set up ready with healing hands to offer.

The rangatahi came, some were light and curious and wanted to explore while the ones that were a little older, carryed stories and silent burdens within them. They sat before me with open hearts, willing, vulnerable, ready to receive.

I was reminded again, our youth walk heavy paths, woven with social, physical, emotional, and spiritual weights. Yet when given space to pause, they lean into the healing that waits for them.

These moments plant seeds. Seeds of knowing that healing exists. Seeds of courage to reach out. Seeds of self-care and wairua practices that can carry them through life on life’s terms.

May those seeds grow with them as they rise, reminding them they are never without tools, never without guidance, never without a way back to their own light.

Grateful for the many hands, funders, kaimahi and passionate people that contribute to Rangatahi Zone that has allowed it to take place every year. For some Rangatahi this is more then just a fun couple of days out. It is an opportunity to connect, to their peers, to the community to themselves.

25/09/2025

Ko Ngahere te au, Ko au te Ngahere 🌳🍂🌱🌲🌿🍃

21/09/2025

Our greatest growth does not always come in stillness, but in the storms of life. Meditation, karakia, and yoga are like tools that prepare us, but the real test of our wairua is when we are faced with conflict, fear, or anger. It is in those heated moments that the true lessons reveal themselves.

Spirit is reminding us that the path of growth is not about escaping discomfort, but choosing differently when discomfort arises. Each time we break an old cycle, we reclaim more of our mana. Each time we pause, breathe, and choose aroha instead of reacting from pain, we lift our vibration and honour our wairua.

Conflict is not here to destroy us it is here to shape us. The fire is the forge, and we are the pounamu being polished!!

The message for us is this, “Our freedom lies in the moment we realize we always have a choice!”

~ Arohatinonui Sez 💫

19/09/2025

Wairua Reflection for this week, 8 days in bed sick…. A Lesson in Surrender 🙏

This past week, sickness became my unexpected teacher.

When the body is weak, the mind often grows loud. It whispers fears, stirs insecurities, and reopens old wounds. Childhood echoes of feeling unloved or uncared for can rise to the surface, especially for those of us who are so used to being the ones who hold and care for others.

At first, I resisted. The weight of finances, expectations, and not wanting to let anyone down pressed heavily on me. But resistance only created suffering. It was only when my body fully surrendered, curling into rest, surrendering to fever, to sleep, to the healing work within, that peace began to return.

Illness, uncomfortable as it is, carries hidden medicine. It teaches patience. It reminds us how to ask for help. It softens us into acceptance. It shows us the gift of gratitude, for health when it returns, for medicine, for fresh sheets, for a warm bed, and for the kindness of others.

This experience reminded me that surrender is not defeat. It is trust. It is letting life move through us, even when it feels messy or painful. And in that surrender, we remember, we are always being cared for, even when we forget.

A gentle reminder for you too: where in your life are you being called to soften, to release resistance, and to trust the healing process?

Everything we live through is teaching us something. We just have to make the time to reflect on it and it will teach us something.

-Arohatinonui Sez -

14/09/2025

- Our tinana doesn’t lie~

E te whānau, your body is not separate from your spirit, your tinana is the antenna of your soul. It is always listening, always receiving, always alerting you to what is true and what is harmful.

When someone does not fully choose you, when their energy is uncertain, heavy, or unsafe, your tinana knows before your mind accepts it. At first, the signals are gentle, a tightness in your chest, a heaviness in your back, an unsettled stomach, restless nights. These are the whispers of your wairua, speaking through your body.

But when you do not listen, the whispers grow louder. Illness arises, injuries appear, the very organs that keep you alive begin to cry out. This is not weakness. This is wisdom. Your tinana is sounding the alarm “This path is not safe. This connection is not right. Pay attention. Let go.”

This was the lesson I had to live through. My back gave way, the foundation of my life breaking under the strain of carrying what was no longer mine to carry. For months I was forced to stop, to rest, to acknowledge what I had been ignoring. My heart stuttered and murmured, machines tried to find the cause but wairua already knew, I was out of alignment, bound to someone who was hurting me…again.

Every time I resisted, the pain grew. Every time I ignored, my body shouted louder. It was only when I finally surrendered, when I cut the energetic cords and chose myself, that my body softened. The pain lifted, my heart steadied, my energy returned. My tinana became well again.

I learnt that our tinana is our sacred compass, it will never mislead us!That pain is not a curse, it is a call to awaken. That Illness is not always random, sometimes it is your soul speaking through your flesh. And that resistance creates suffering, surrender creates freedom!!

When you release what is not aligned, you do not lose, you return. You return to your balance, your mauri, your true flow of energy.

So going forward I learnt to remain conscious. Remain attuned. Each signal from my tinana is a message from wairua. Pause when I feel pain or unease, and ask, What truth am I avoiding? What is my body trying to protect me from? Then trust the answer. Trust yourself 🙏 because your tinana and your wairua are always walking together, leading you away from harm and back toward your own light, your own healing, your own freedom.

-Arohatinonui Sez 💫

13/09/2025

~Avoidance ~

Avoidance can feel like a cloak of protection keeping us safe from mamae, from facing what lies heavy in the heart. Yet, like the slowest poison, it eats away at our wairua over time. Each time we turn away, each time we distract ourselves, we push a little further from our own manawa ora.

In te ao Māori, we are reminded that all things must be acknowledged. The maramataka teaches us there are nights of light and nights of darkness and that none are ignored, all are part of the cycle. When we avoid the darkness, we break the balance of the natural order.

What we fear most is often what holds the key to our healing. Pain, when faced, becomes a teacher. Avoidance only prolongs the lesson, man I know this so well! I have definitely found that the pain was in the resistance and avoidance of either making a choice, decision, action or change. I would just borrow down like the ostrich or distract and deny what was happening. But every pattern of distraction was another banishment from my own essence, from the fullness of who I was.

I learnt that the path to freedom is not in running but in turning, facing the mamae, breathing into it, and letting it flow through rather than fester within. This is the courage of wairua, to sit in the storm, trusting that it will pass, and that you will rise stronger, lighter, clearer. I calling in my spirit team to hold me through it.

Remember, te whare tapa whā teaches us that all parts of the self need care, tinana, hinengaro, wairua and whānau. When we avoid, one wall of the whare weakens. When we face, the whare strengthens.

Your wairua calls you back not to avoid, but to embrace to meet what you fear, to bring it into te ao mārama, and to discover that it was never as powerful as the aroha and mana that live within you.

-Arohatinonui Sez 💫

12/09/2025

-The Power of Words-

Words carry vibration. Each word we speak plants a seed in our hinengaro and wairua. Where our attention goes, energy flows, so when you speak defeat, we call more heaviness into our path. But when we speak strength, growth, and possibility, we call in light, guidance, and momentum. Gosh I wish stuff like this was taught in schools! My self talk and my words to others would have been very different.

If we listen to our wairua it will remind us that we are the kaitiaki of our own frequency. And too choose words that lift, words that heal, words that create. Every “I am” we say is a karakia shaping our future.

Speak a life of abundance and you will feel a life of abundance. Speak a life of lack and you will feel a life of lack. Speak power, and you will rise in that power. Speak negative and you will feel negative. Speak flow, and you will move with ease. It’s sounds simple but I guess it takes a good conscious, intention effort to be mindful of what words we are speaking out and living out

So just for today, let’s be conscious of our kupu for they are spells, weaving our reality. And eventually hope that it becomes a grounded, conscious practice and we are speaking into reality all of our wildest dreams!!

~Arohatinonui Sez 💫

10/09/2025

~Fear~

Fear is a powerful trickster. It whispers false evidence, weaving shadows that look real but dissolve when met with the light of truth. Wairua teaches us that fear is often not the enemy, it is the signpost, pointing to where our healing and growth await. Doesn’t feel like that at the time though aye!! See trickery lol

Too often, we let fear drive us into panic, into running, to F**k Everything And Run. In those moments, we abandon our own centre, giving power to illusions. It’s almost comes as second nature, an instant natural reaction. But wairua calls us back, to pause, to breathe, to remember that what looks like danger may only be the echo of old stories, old mamae, not the reality of now. I have been pulled in by fears trickery many times only to discover that it was from an old narrative I thought I had dealt with from long ago.

Fear can either be the chain that binds us or the fire that fuels us. So good to have a choice here! When we face it, with aroha and clarity, fear shifts its meaning, from F**k everything and run to Face Everything And Rise! In that rising, we reclaim mana. We come back to ourselves and back to reality.

The body may tremble, the mind may race, but the heart, the manawa, it knows the truth! You are never alone, never without guidance, especially when the trickery of fear rears its ugly head. Your tūpuna stand with you. Your wairua holds you. Fear loses its grip when you choose to stay present, grounded, and open to the idea that your “Fear” is simply False Evidence Appearing Real.

So let fear be your teacher, not your master. When we are open we can learn so much. Let it remind you where courage is waiting to be born. A wise beautiful wahine told me once that “courage is fear that has said its prayers”, I love that! So for every time you walk through fear instead of running from it, stop, pray, ask your spirit whānau for guidance. Hand your fear over and your spirit will grow lighter, stronger and freer.

~Arohatinonui Sez 💫

10/09/2025

~Detachment~

Detachment has been coming up alot lately, how hard it can be to apply in ones life or even how to do it with love for self and others. It sent me into deep wananga with myself.

Detachment is not a rejection of aroha, it is a return to your own sense of rangimārie, your inner peace. To release what no longer serves you is to free yourself from the chains of struggle and mamae. When we keep chasing or forcing, we hold on to what was never truly ours.

True mana is quiet. It is the choice to loosen your grip and allow space for what is meant to flow your way. Detachment is trust, knowing that what is tika for you will arrive in its own time and in its own way.

This strength is not coldness but clarity. It lightens the wairua, helping us step forward unburdened, leaving behind illusions that were never meant to stay.

When we stop clinging to the wrong doors, we find the right ones open naturally, guided by te ao marama and the gentle hand of wairua.

Detachment is often misunderstood. Some think it means cutting away like an amputation, cold and final. But true detachment, in the wairua sense, is an act of aroha. It is not about rejection, it is about release.

When we detach with love, we are saying “I honour what has been. I acknowledge the connection. And I free us both to move in the ways that are tika.” It is a letting go that carries warmth, not bitterness. It creates space, not scars.

Detachment with aroha is like the falling of a leaf. The tree does not rip it away it simply allows it to drop when the season calls. The bond remains in memory, in whakapapa, in the nourishment it gave, but the time of holding has passed.

This kind of detachment protects our wairua. It stops us from clinging to what drains or binds us, while still respecting the mana of the people, places, or experiences we once held close. In this way, we walk forward lighter, carrying gratitude instead of resentment.

Your wairua is telling you that you can let go with open hands. You can step away without shutting down your heart. True detachment is not absence of love, it is love that knows when to release.

~ Arohatinonui Sez💫

Shine The Light In The Dark Places

06/02/2026

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