Local Focus: Bilingual fitness class Fit Wāhine Aotearoa 'saved my life'

Fit Wāhine Aotearoa started from humble beginnings, but Covid-19 changed everything when the $2 classes moved online during lockdown last year.

People from across the globe now join in weekly to the bilingual hub with a focus on hauora and learning te reo Māori.

It is part of a language revitalisation vision for founder Puawai Winterburn, and she is planning for some classes to soon be reo Māori anake, completely in Māori.

The fitness classes are modelled after Te Whare Tapa Whā and include a holistic approach to an individual's health and wellbeing.

"We value the Māori holistic health view by Dr Mason Durie," Winterburn said. "We really encourage in our classes our wāhine to show up and give aroha to their tinana, their physical health, their taha tinana, their mental health, their taha hinengaro, their emotional health, their spiritual health, te taha wairua and te taha whānau as well, and we do that as a community."

Noataga Meatuai has been a client for over a year and says the classes have not only helped her on her language journey but saved her life.

"From doubting myself every day with negative thoughts that went through my head, Fit Wāhine gave me the push to get up every morning. It's almost like having someone else on the other side that believes in you, encourages you ... and that was me, that was the empowerment I got through Fit Wāhine," she said.

Winterburn has decided to make some of her classes free during lockdown to help people stuck at home, feeling listless and in need of a bilingual blast.

"During these times of Covid-19 we believe that it's so important to keep our taha hinengaro strong. How we do that is we're delivering free classes for wāhine, for tāne, for tamariki as well for whānau to hopefully help them to keep their taha hinengaro strong by strengthening their tinana."

Made with funding from NZ On Air.