Kōkiri Learn

Background reading · Health and Physical Education

Te Whare Tapa Whā: the four walls of hauora

A model of wellbeing from Aotearoa: four walls, the land beneath, and why a small change in one wall can strengthen the whole house.

Te Whare Tapa Whā is a model of hauora (health and wellbeing) developed by Sir Mason Durie, a Māori psychiatrist and professor, in 1984. It pictures your wellbeing as a wharenui, a meeting house, with four walls. If one wall is weak, the whole house is less stable, even if the other three are strong.

The four walls

  • Taha tinana: physical wellbeing. Your body and how you look after it: sleep, food, water, movement and rest.
  • Taha hinengaro: mental and emotional wellbeing. Your thoughts and feelings, how you cope with stress, and how you talk to yourself.
  • Taha whānau: family and social wellbeing. The people you belong to, who care for you and who you care for, including friends and your wider community.
  • Taha wairua: spiritual wellbeing. What gives your life meaning and a sense of who you are. For some people that is faith or karakia; for others it is whakapapa, culture, nature, music or art.

    • The land beneath

    The whare stands on the whenua (land). Your connection to place, to where you and your people come from, is the foundation for everything else. Time at the beach, the river or your marae can steady the whole house.

    Walls lean on each other

    The walls are joined. A bad night's sleep (tinana) can make you snappy with friends (whānau) and make worries feel bigger (hinengaro). The good news is that it works the other way too. A walk with your cousin strengthens tinana and whānau. Learning a waiata can strengthen wairua and hinengaro. That is why a small habit in one wall can help the whole whare.

    Using the model for yourself

    Hauora isn't about being perfect in every wall. Every whare needs repairs sometimes. The skill is noticing which wall needs care right now and making small changes you can keep going. And when a wall feels really shaky, asking for help is one of the strongest things you can do.

    Your information is yours

    When you think about your own walls, you choose what to share and with whom. Nobody should compare your whare with anyone else's.

    Sources and further reading

    Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

    Used in: Te Whare Tapa Whā: Building Wellbeing