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Holistic New Zealand’s products are specially formulated with the traditional herbalist approach in mind.
The trees, grass and plants of nature have, from times long past, added a richness and colour to our lives. In each of the four seasons, just as there are certain flowers that bloom, certain plants are used in these respective seasons for events and celebrations. Life as we know it would not be the same without these special plants.
Specific plants can have special effects, whether they be for purifying, healing, energizing or relaxation, these special plants can be useful in influencing the balance of good health.
As the world becomes a busier, more complicated place, those traditional things that we once valued seem to disappear. Even so, we might find more herbal remedies hidden in our daily lives than you may think – for example in the teas we drink or the spices we use.
But these herbs are not used just as simple medicines, they have come to be used as cleansers of bad energy; herbs are not only for healing the body, but act as a doorway to the unseen spirit.
In the same way, the native Maori of New Zealand also used this abundance of natural plants to supplement health and wellbeing, allowing them to live as one with nature.
To the traditional Maori, “existence” was the culmination of the body, the heart, the spirit and the environment, and “health” was not viewed only as a matter of internal organs, but as the delicate balance between all of these. In other words, health was something that was achieved in relation to society, nature and the universe in general.
With those values in mind, Maori herbs came to be used both as food and as remedies, permeating deeply into the daily lives of their users. Among these Maori herbs are the bacteria-fighting Manuka, the digestion-aiding Koromiko and Kawakawa, used for nutritional fortification.
The traditional Maori herbalist first showed thanks to the gods with a prayer before receiving the grace of these Maori Herbs, called “Rongoa” in the Maori language.
As Western culture entered New Zealand, these Maori herbs gradually lost their popularity, fading from common knowledge, but the know-how was passed down through the generations.
It is said that during the Second World War, New Zealand soldiers would unlock the power of Koromiko and Kawakawa by chewing on the leaves before battle.
As Western medicine continues to develop, the focus is becoming more and more on healing damaged organs, and less about the balance between heart and body. We seem to have lost that spiritual wellbeing of simpler times.
But the world is now heading back toward treating human health as an accumulation of many factors; taking a more holistic approach. Holistic medicine and herbal remedies have always fit hand-in-hand.
Holistic New Zealand was born through a chance meeting with herbalist and health expert Ms. Debs Chase Paterson in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty in May of 2009.
Debs is now creating extract, Rongoa, using a method derived from the traditional Maori method; before taking the herbs from nature, she offers a polite prayer of thanks. The herbs that she uses are not at all common, even in their native country.
With this prayer and traditional herbalism as a base, we bring you the Holistic New Zealand series, whose products have been created using herbs carefully chosen for their effectiveness. We have chosen those herbs that will alleviate common symptoms that many people suffer from – hay fever, atopy, stiff neck and sore muscles, female hormone problems, anemia, poor blood flow, depression and lack of energy.
In order to heal and restore the heart, mind and body, which so often get deprioritized in our busy lives, why not try a drop of the grace of nature.