📚 Unit Plans → 🏠 Te Whare Tapa Whā Mastery Pathway → Mastery Lesson 4

💪 Tinana Mauri Movements

Embodied practices that lift mauri, regulate emotions, and keep the whare walls flexible and strong.

1 Wairua Foundations
2 Whenua Connection
3 Values Architecture
4 Tinana Practices
5 Whānau Integration

💪 Mastery Lesson 4: Embodied Tinana Practices - Movement as Medicine

⏱️ Duration: 70 minutes
👥 Year 8
🎯 Taha Tinana • Taha Hinengaro
🆔 HauOra-p3-u1-l4

🎯 Lesson Overview

Students explore movement practices rooted in mātauranga Māori—such as haka, poi, taiaha-inspired drills, and contemporary fusion sequences—to understand how physical rhythm regulates emotions and nourishes the entire whare.

🌿 Te Ao Māori Approach

Movement is framed as ceremony, not workout. We emphasise tikanga: karakia to open/close, respect for ancestral forms, and reflection on how each action honours whakapapa.

🎯 Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

Learning Intentions

  • Experience how movement shifts mauri and mood
  • Connect traditional actions (haka/poi) with wellbeing science
  • Co-create a micro-routine that supports hauora goals
  • Use reflective language to describe body signals

Success Criteria

  • I can demonstrate a culturally respectful sequence
  • I can explain how my routine supports another whare wall
  • I can monitor heart rate/breath and describe changes
  • I can co-construct safety agreements with my group

🌀 Movement Menu

Students rotate through stations representing different pou:

  • Taha Wairua: Breath-led karakia movement & grounding patterns.
  • Taha Tinana: Strength and balance drills inspired by mau rākau.
  • Taha Hinengaro: Rhythm sticks / poi sequences promoting focus.
  • Taha Whānau: Partner mirroring and call-response haka fragments.

📋 Lesson Activities

Activity 1: Karakia Warm-Up & Safety Kawa

⏱️ 10 min

Collective karakia to centre, followed by co-designed safety agreements (bare feet, spacing, listening to body signals). Quick pulse check before movement.

Activity 2: Station Rotations

⏱️ 30 min

Groups spend ~7 minutes per station, guided by cue cards with tikanga reminders (e.g., how to hold poi respectfully, how to stand during haka). Students log feelings on a mauri dial after each station.

Activity 3: Micro-Routine Design

⏱️ 25 min
  1. Groups choose two movements that lift them up and one that calms.
  2. They script a 45-second routine with Te Reo cue words.
  3. Each group explains which whare wall their routine strengthens.

Activity 4: Cooling the Mauri

⏱️ 5 min

Slow breathing, seated stretches, gratitude whakataukī: “Kia tūpato, kia tika, kia pono.” Students reflect on body sensations returning to calm.

🧭 Assessment & Reflection

  • Peer feedback form focusing on respect, timing, tikanga.
  • Teacher anecdotal notes on participation and hauora language.
  • Journal prompt: “when my mauri lifts, I notice… next time I will…”