Collective Wellbeing

What Indigenous Healing Can Teach Us About Collective Wellbeing

In today’s world, conversations about wellbeing often focus on the individual: your stress, your diet, your exercise routine. Yet our tūpuna understood something deeper — that true wellbeing can never be separated from whānau, whenua, or wairua (people, place and something greater than ourselves).

Rongoā Māori, the traditional healing system of Aotearoa, New Zealand teaches us that health is not a personal achievement but a collective responsibility. It is not just about the absence of sickness, but about nurturing mauri — the vital life force that binds physical, spiritual and environment individually and collectively.

As societies everywhere grapple with burnout, loneliness, and disconnection, these indigenous lessons are more relevant than ever.

From “Me” to “We” Wellness

In te ao Māori (a Māori worldview), wellness is not an individual pursuit. If one member of the whānau (family) is unwell, everyone feels the effects. Healing must involve the collective, not just the individual.

Our tupuna (ancestors) practised this during times of epidemic and hardship. The sick were cared for with aroha (compassion), food, warmth, and medicines, and at times they were kept tapu (separate) to protect the wider community. Carers worked collectively to ensure safety, nourishment, and dignity.

This stands in contrast to much of today’s wellness culture, which can be highly individualistic and disease focussed. We’re encouraged to “fix ourselves” in isolation. Rongoā Māori reminds us instead: we heal together.

The Role of Connection in Healing

Disconnection — from nature, from whānau, from ourselves — is one of the most common sources of imbalance today. Research tells us that loneliness and isolation are as damaging to health as smoking or poor diet.

Our tūpuna knew this without scientific studies. They sought healing in the ngahere (forest), by the moana (ocean), or at the foot of their maunga (ancestral mountain). These were not simply places to gather medicine, but living spaces that restored wairua, our connections to a higher realm.

Modern psychology now echoes this: time in nature lowers stress, boosts immunity, and improves mental health. Indigenous healing has always understood that connection to the environment is inseparable from connection to self.

Lessons for Today’s Workplaces

In the corporate and government sectors, conversations around wellbeing often revolve around resilience training or stress management workshops. These approaches, while valuable, can overlook something fundamental: the mauri of the workplace itself.

If the organisational culture is disconnected, competitive, or lacking purpose, individual employees will struggle to thrive — no matter how many mindfulness apps they download.

Rongoā Māori offers another perspective: just as a body cannot be well when its whānau is unwell, a team cannot thrive if the collective mauri is weakened. Restoring balance at work means fostering connection, purpose, and reciprocity.

Imagine if workplaces measured success not only in productivity, but in the strength of relationships, the health of people, and the vitality of the environment they impact.

Universal Truths, Indigenous Roots

While rongoā is unique to Aotearoa, its principles are echoed in many indigenous cultures around the world: health as balance, nature as healer, and community as medicine. These are universal truths, deeply relevant in a time of global anxiety, burnout, and environmental crisis.

Toitū te whenua, toitū te iwi — sustain the land, sustain the people. This proverb reminds us that collective wellbeing is not optional. It is essential.

A Final Word

Indigenous healing systems like rongoā Māori do not ask us to abandon modern medicine or science. Instead, they invite us to expand our understanding of what it means to be well.

Whether you are a parent caring for whānau, a health professional seeking holistic tools, or a leader in an organisation, the lessons of rongoā are clear: healing begins with connection.

Want to learn more? 

• Explore more kōrero from me on my YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@DonnaKerridge 

• If you’d like to learn with me directly, I have an online training programme you can access from anywhere in the world https://www.oraonline.nz/ 

• If you are a business interested in cultural wellbeing training or keynote speaking, get in touch with me here https://oranewzealand.com/pages/about-us 

Ngā manaakitanga,

Donna & the Ora team