Proposed programme · Dates, duration, group size, itinerary, price, inclusions and availability remain provisional. Enquiring does not reserve a place.
There is a place beneath the noise of everyday life where nothing needs to be added.
A place of stillness, belonging and remembrance.
In te ao Māori, te ūkaipō speaks to the place that nourishes us — the source to which we belong and the place to which we return.
WAI Retreat: Te Ūkaipō is a five-day luxury immersion on Waiheke Island exploring what it means to return to our natural state through the relationship between whenua, wai, ahi, hau and wā — earth, water, fire, air and space.
The retreat begins with pōwhiri and concludes with poroporoaki, creating a journey of arrival, connection, transformation, integration and return.
Photography: Te Wairua Experiences
Proposed programme · Dates, duration, group size, itinerary, price, inclusions and availability remain provisional. Enquiring does not reserve a place.
Five days. One journey home.
An arc of arrival, connection, transformation, integration and return. Open each day to explore the programme.
Day oneWHENUAArrival • Belonging+
Earth • Arrival • Belonging
The retreat begins with pōwhiri, welcoming participants onto the whenua and into the shared kaupapa of Te Ūkaipō.
The day includes:
settling into the retreat
opening pōwhiri
shared kai and introductions
introduction to Te Ūkaipō
introduction to the Five Elements
whakapapa, mauri, tapu and relationship
Five Elements meditation
gentle elemental yoga
walking meditation to the beach
barefoot connection with whenua and Te Wai
cranial and biodynamic treatments
welcome dinner
opening fire circle
Reflection
Where do I belong?
Day twoTE NGAHERELiving World • Ancestral Connection+
Listening to the Living World
Forest • Earth • Ancestral Connection
The second day moves into the ngahere.
We explore stillness, whakapapa, mauri and the intelligence of the living world.
The day includes:
meditation and conscious breathing
Yoga of Earth and Water
guided journey to the Cascades
contemplative native forest walk
mauri within the landscape
indigenous perspectives on the living world
silent walking practice
ancestral reflection beside water
guided meditation
catered lunch in nature
Māori Perspectives on Healing
cranial and biodynamic treatments
evening dinner and optional fire reflection
Reflection
We do not stand outside nature. We belong within it.
Day threeTE WAIOcean • Memory • Cactus Bay+
Ocean • Memory • Cactus Bay
Water • Whakapapa • Ancestral Connection
The third day moves fully into Te Wai.
Water is approached not simply as a resource, but as whakapapa, memory, movement and relationship.
After morning practice, we leave the land and journey by private boat along the Waiheke coastline.
Our destination is Cactus Bay — a secluded coastal sanctuary, reached from the sea and away from the more travelled parts of the island.
Here the pace slows.
There is nowhere else to be.
The day includes:
meditation
Yoga of Water
breakfast
private boat departure
coastal journey and kōrero
whakapapa of Wai
arrival at Cactus Bay
swimming and quiet exploration
meditation beside Te Wai
ancestral reflection
Five Elements practice
luxury catered picnic
unstructured time by the ocean
boat journey home
cranial and biodynamic treatment and integration time
Reflection
Te Wai remembers. What do we remember when we become still?
Day fourAHITransformation • Relationship • Whakamana+
Transformation • Relationship • Whakamana
Fire • Healing • Integration
Day Four turns inward.
Having moved through whenua, ngahere and Te Wai, we explore ahi as transformation, warmth, creative life-force and the capacity to change our relationship with what we carry.
The day includes:
meditation
Yoga of Fire
teaching on ahi and transformation
Māori perspectives on healing
tapu and mauri
clearing energetic imprints
ancestral patterns and ancestral connection
restoring balance
relationship with Papatūānuku
whakamana
the Lundholm Method
guided relational meditation
cranial and biodynamic treatments
periods of private integration
Evening — Ahi Fire Circle
This is the central fire gathering of the retreat.
Around the fire, participants are invited to reflect:
What can be released?
What needs protection?
What requires rekindling?
What do I wish to carry forward?
Space is held for kōrero, contemplation and silence beneath the Waiheke night sky.
Reflection
What are we ready to transform?
Day fiveWĀIntegration • Abundance • Return+
Space • Vineyards • Celebration • Return
Integration • Abundance • Poroporoaki
The final day opens into wā — space.
There is less to learn and more to notice.
The morning begins slowly with meditation and the final Yoga of the Five Elements practice before we journey into Waiheke’s cultivated landscape.
Vineyards offer another expression of the relationship between people and whenua — tending, patience, seasonality, transformation and abundance.
The day includes:
final meditation
Five Elements yoga
breakfast
guided journey through Waiheke’s vineyard landscape
selected vineyard experience
wine tasting
kōrero on whenua, cultivation and reciprocity
gentle vineyard walk
long luxury vineyard lunch
time for conversation, enjoyment and reflection
return to the retreat venue
Closing Integration
The Five Elements are revisited:
Whenua — what grounds me?
Wai — what moves through me?
Ahi — what gives me life?
Hau — what allows me to breathe and move?
Wā — what remains when I become still?
POROPOROAKI
Returning Home
The retreat concludes with poroporoaki.
We acknowledge the whenua.
Te Wai.
Those who have walked before us.
Those who have shared knowledge and experience.
The relationships formed during the retreat.
And the journeys that now continue.
The purpose of Te Ūkaipō is not to hold participants within the retreat.
It is to send them home strengthened.
Back to their whānau.
Back to their work.
Back to their relationships.
Back to the places for which they themselves carry responsibility.
The retreat closes with karakia and farewell.
Nothing has been added. Something has been remembered.
Space to listen. Time to reconnect.
Daily meditation and conscious breathing
Simple practices you can carry home and integrate into everyday life.
The Lundholm Method
An eleven-step guided meditation exploring emotional patterns and blockages within relationships, with the intention of creating greater clarity, compassion and freedom.
Cranial and Biodynamic Treatments
Individual restorative sessions supporting deep relaxation, embodied awareness, stillness and integration.
Fire Circles
Evening gatherings for kōrero, silence and reflection beneath the Waiheke sky.
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Over five days, Te Ūkaipō weaves together:
Daily meditation and conscious breathing
Simple practices you can carry home and integrate into everyday life.
Yoga of the Five Elements
Embodied movement exploring earth, water, fire, air and space.
Whakapapa of the Elements
An introduction to Māori understandings of creation, mauri, whenua, Wai and the interconnected nature of life.
Māori Perspectives on Healing
Kōrero and guided experience exploring:
clearing energetic imprints
ancestral patterns and connection
restoring balance
tapu and mauri
relationship with Papatūānuku
whakamana — strengthening life, dignity and relationship
alignment with self, ancestors and the living world
The Lundholm Method
An eleven-step guided meditation exploring emotional patterns and blockages within relationships, with the intention of creating greater clarity, compassion and freedom.
Cranial and Biodynamic Treatments
Individual restorative sessions supporting deep relaxation, embodied awareness, stillness and integration.
Fire Circles
Evening gatherings for kōrero, silence and reflection beneath the Waiheke sky.
The island becomes part of the retreat.
Waiheke itself becomes part of the teaching.
The rhythm of the retreat moves between inner practice and outward experience.
Between whenua and Te Wai.
Between stillness and movement.
Between whenua and Te Wai.
Your hosts
Paora Te Oti Takarangi
Paora is co-founder of Te Wairua Experiences, a Māori cultural guide, filmmaker and practitioner whose work brings together whakapapa, whenua, wellbeing, storytelling and the relationship between people and the natural world.
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His approach draws upon mātauranga, lived cultural knowledge, contemplative practice, psychology and healing traditions.
Through Te Wairua Experiences, Paora creates journeys that invite people beyond observation and into relationship — with whenua, Te Wai, ancestors, the elements and ultimately themselves.
The Earth Remembers Who You Are.
Ines Backhaus
Ines Backhaus is co-founder of Te Wairua Experiences and an experienced cranial therapist whose work centres on the body’s inherent capacity for balance, regulation and restoration.
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Her approach is gentle, subtle and whole-person focused, supporting deep relaxation, embodied awareness and the body’s natural processes of integration and renewal.
During Te Ūkaipō, Ines offers cranial and biodynamic treatment experiences and contributes to the retreat’s exploration of embodiment, stillness, restoration and our relationship with the natural world.
Together, Paora and Ines bring the cultural, contemplative and embodied dimensions of Te Wairua Experiences into one integrated retreat journey.
Guest facilitators
Selected guest facilitators and practitioners will join Te Ūkaipō at different times throughout the five days.
These may include cultural knowledge holders, bodyworkers, movement practitioners, teachers, artists and other specialists whose work complements the kaupapa of the retreat.
Their involvement allows each Te Ūkaipō experience to remain intimate, alive and responsive.
Proposed programme · Dates, duration, group size, itinerary, price, inclusions and availability remain provisional. Enquiring does not reserve a place.
Come as you are.
Te Ūkaipō is for those who feel the need to slow down, reconnect and listen more deeply.
No previous experience of meditation, yoga or Māori cultural practice is required.
Only openness, curiosity and a willingness to participate.
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You may be seeking renewal after a period of change.
You may want to reconnect with nature, ancestors or yourself.
You may be curious about indigenous perspectives on wellbeing.
Or you may simply feel the need for more space, stillness and meaning in everyday life.
Your home on Waiheke
The retreat will be held at a carefully selected private Waiheke Island venue offering comfort, beautiful natural surroundings and space for meditation, movement, treatments and rest.
The group is limited to 12 participants, allowing intimacy, personal attention and space.
Accommodation and all meals are included.
An all-inclusive retreat
Ferry travel to and from Waiheke Island is not included.
Explore everything included
five-day retreat programme
four nights’ accommodation
all catered breakfasts, lunches and dinners
opening pōwhiri
closing poroporoaki
daily meditation and conscious breathing
Yoga of the Five Elements
Māori perspectives on whakapapa, mauri and wellbeing
Proposed programme · Dates, duration, group size, itinerary, price, inclusions and availability remain provisional. Enquiring does not reserve a place.
A spacious daily rhythm
Approximately 6–7 hours of structured retreat experience each day, leaving generous time for rest, swimming, beach walks, conversation and personal reflection.
Morning
Meditation • Breath • Five Elements Yoga • Breakfast
Late Morning / Afternoon
Forest • Whenua • Te Wai • Cultural Journey • Ocean • Vineyard
Afternoon
Teaching • Cranial and Biodynamic Treatment • Integration
Evening
Dinner • Fire Circle • Rest • Quiet Reflection
