22/02/2026
First Men’s Wellbeing Retreat for 2026, and it was a powerful one!
Four men with big hearts, travelled to Tairua from Australia, the South Island, Taranaki and Bay of Plenty. To board Provider’s wairua waka for the week, take the paddle, and do the reps.
This isn’t a kick back and chill retreat or holiday, it’s about broadening the mind, opening the heart, moving the body and activating the spirit.
It takes a courageous man to step into the circle, not knowing anyone, and speak deeper and truer than they have ever been before, and I’m
grateful 4 brave men stepped up to be part of this journey. These men were no stranger to courage, some had literally been to war.
When a man has been to war, sometimes he forgets to put his armour down when he comes home. To tell himself it is safe to do so. But sooner or later that armour gets pretty bloody heavy.
To take the armour off, men need to whole heartedly trust the men around them and the environment they are in. To not worry about threats from the external world, calm the nervous system and take the time to go inside and heal.
To be honest we’re not really taught how to do this - and men many battle on in silence.
And so we offer a space where we go through many layers, using the tools of old, our ancestors used, fire, council, water, alchemy, breath, meditation, movement, nature, hunting our own primal food as a group, 4 days of clean eating and drinking, honesty, speaking with conviction, taking responsibility for our actions, learning to speaking kindly to ourselves again.
Speaking to each man’s gifts and being willing to receive these words with an open heart.
Letting the inner child we all have inside heal and remember to play again, so the man on the outside can heal and find joy again.
A journey outside linear time, no phones, no laptops, no distractions, no alcohol, no processed food. A liminal space of growth mindset.
And with the cup full and overflowing, it’s time to return to those they love, ready to be of service again, grounded and with a new found sense of mauri and mana. Armed with tools to come back to every morning, and when the time comes, on each breath. And new brothers to reach out to, and to be kept to account by.
Pumped to be back into retreat mode and doing the reps again.
Thank you men for showing up and reminding me - this is the work! Tihei…Mauri Ora!
