Helen Paul-Smith (Tapuika, Ngāi Te Rangi)
I grew up in rural Aotearoa New Zealand in a modest 3 bedroom weatherboard home that looked out onto the three central North Island maunga; Ruapehu, Ngarahoue and Tongariro in National Park village. In today’s modern world of technology, internet and social media, I look back in gratitude that I grew up surrounded by New Zealand native forests, swimming in pristine rivers, and with a healthy respect for nature stemming from those all prevailing mountains that dominated the landscape and harsh weather conditions. The closest town was 45km away, Taumarunui, where the saying goes; central to everywhere, close to nowhere and I believe that this was the foundation of my lifetime search for connection.
Certainly, things have changed since my childhood, I've lived in cities; Auckland, London, Edinburgh, worked in Japan and studied in India but at heart I always have been a grassroots New Zealander. I became interested in natural health when I started practising yoga at age 21 and my passion for yoga led me to India where I spent time in various Ashrams and studying Ashtanga Yoga with Sri K Pattabhi Jois. On returning to New Zealand after my OE I went on to study Ayurvedic Medicine at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies in Auckland. This is where I spent 3 years learning the ancient healing system of India, Ayurveda, which is over 5,000 years old. This ancient form of healing the body is still used in its original form and is well documented in ancient texts such as The Charaka Samhita which is believed to have arisen around 400-200 BCE. My Ayurvedic studies gave me a greater understanding of herbal medicine and in-depth knowledge of the sacredness of plants. This is also where I met my husband Scott who was studying Naturopathy & Medical Herbalism in 2001 and was on his own healing journey (see Introducing OKU's Founder Naturopath and Medical Herbalist Scott C opens up about his own personal health and healing journey).
After graduating from Wellpark College, Scott and I moved to Tauranga where I taught yoga and was an Ayurvedic massage therapist. Being in Tauranga gave me the unique opportunity to reconnect with my whanau, hapu and iwi. I was able to enrol our son Noah in Te Kohanga Reo o Opopoti, on the Marae where my koro spent time growing up, Maungatapu on the shores of Tauranga Moana. I always remember my koro recollecting his time growing up there when the fish were so plentiful you could see them jumping out of the water. I had attended some beginner Te Reo Maori classes previously however it wasn't long before Noah was speaking the Reo at home and had I couldn't understand him so this prompted me to further my comprehension of the Reo and I enrolled in a full-time Te Reo Maori course. I lived in Tauranga for 10 years and during that time I was able to form new connections with whanau not only in Tauranga but in Te Puke too and I was able to experience ancient customs and traditions (tikanga) that the kaitiaki of my whanau have to upheld and maintained. The importance of whanau and whakapapa not just in terms of family but in terms of our relationships to everything around us.
It was also in Tauranga where OKU was formed...OKU came about out of a curiosity. At the time Scott was working in a herbal dispensary and seeing clients in clinic, combined Scott and I have knowledge about herbal medicine from Scott's western herbalism training and my Ayurvedic training. Scott was surrounded on a daily basis by many potent and healing herbs however the foundation of both our training taught that the herbs from the land where you are from work best for the people living there as they carry the same vibration. This began what has now been a journey of over 11 years of developing a product range utilising the amazing native healing plants of Aotearoa New Zealand. OKU means ours in the plural form in Maori, the plants of this country are ours to respect and care for (kaitiakitanga) and they are here to help heal us and reconnect us to ourselves.
If I look back on my life being bought up in rural New Zealand close to nature to studing Yoga and Ayurveda to reconnecting to my Maori whakapapa, the creation of OKU is a beautiful combination of all these things.
In daily life we are being pulled out of ourselves all of the time, reconnecting with the nature and plants around us can help to free ourselves of challenging times. At the heart of OKU we strive to make the business about being good kaitiaki, and we do this by always trying to give more than we take. We are constantly planting more natives, harvesting sustainably, and developing our packaging to be compostable or recyclable. These are the ways that we can bring our customers a product that at the very centre is not only local, medicinal but leaves them and us whole and complete. Rongoa to me is about the relationship with the plants I nurture, care for and observe. If we tune into and connect with the plants we can begin to understand their language; they have a lot to teach us.