Makoha (NZ) Spa Menu (450K) PDF format

makoha spa treatments

Massage and healing wisdom from New Zealand

From a pocket coastal village in New Zealand with serene
names and beautiful, ancient healing ways - the
Mornington Peninsula is now home to the sole living
descendant of a great line of wise and gentle healers.
The family story is delightful poesy. There’s a little
spring up high on Mt Taranaki, on the west coast of
New Zealand’s North Island. It’s name is ‘Rautini’. It
flows into another spring, ‘pungareeree’, before the
combined waters gently slide down from the mountain
and into the sea at a small coastal town called
Rahotu.
Elaine Denton’s Maori birth name is taken from the
Pungareeree spring (loosely and variously meaning
‘lush waterfall life’, ‘movement of the stars’, and ‘the
beginning of life’). Her grandmother’s name was taken
from the Rautini spring.
Elaine’s still among springs and the ocean, but living
at Rye, and it’s at Peninsula Hot Springs that she has
launched her newest ‘Makoha’ centre: a place for massage
treatments imbued with the wisdom and richness
of hundreds of years of her Rahotu family culture.
Elaine’s work in creating a centre for Makoha has all
the zeal of someone who is custodian of a rich heritage:
“All the old aunties are dying off, and Maori culture
is so organic, and verbal. My grandmother used
to take me for long walks and just talk to me, that was
my learning. That’s the Maori way, Maori is only just
now becoming a written language.”
“In a language where one word can have many
meanings, ‘miri miri’ means ‘tranquil’, ‘massage’, ‘healing’,
‘wellness’, ‘understanding’, ‘appreciation’ and
‘acceptance’.
“The miri miri I know and practice is Makoha and it
was created out of a need to pass on what our people
have learnt over many generations,” said Elaine.
“I would go to New Zealand spa resorts feeling like a
complete stranger in my own country through having
a Swedish massage; nobody was teaching our ways.”
Ten years ago, at 23 years -old, Elaine wanted more
satisfaction than her work at New Zealand’s Police
College gave her. She completed a massage course in
the usual styles: remedial, sports and various relaxation
massage methods. “It was all very clinical and there
was an emptiness, a missing ingredient to what I had
grown up with”.
Though more spiritual than most ‘massage’ treatments,
Elaine’s Makoha is “not about trying to fix - it’s just trying
to make you feel lighter, helping you tap into your
awareness and your inner peace.”
‘Makoha’ means ‘ocean energy’ - the end journey of
the Mt Taranaki springs.
“Makoha can actually have the power to get you to
look inside yourself and remember that you like what
you see.”
In training therapists for Makoha, Elaine says learning
the techniques and having a certificate on the wall
is not enough: “there’s an exposure, an appreciation
that needs to be gained; learning the mana
(spirit, power) of Makoha.”
“Makoha is a massage dance from the heart. It is a
celebration of life and rejuvenation of the spirit, which
gives one a light floating sensation of free physical
weight. It incorporates basic massage concepts with
flowing therapeutic massage movements, and a journey,
a story. Receiving it is like the cleansing of gentle
ocean waves splashing on coastal rocks.
To best understand the energy and intent involved
with a Makoha dance treatment the story needs to be
understood.
The story of the Makoha Miri Miri – Ocean energy
massage – is about a Maori girl named Waikeringa
Hemi Te Pua.
The little girl Waikeringa left her homelands and followed
her heart across the ocean while voyaging in
her waka (canoe). Finding terribly low times, her spirit
was revived by the ocean energy.
“The moral of the story is that even when you are
lost you are learning and sometimes you have to get
lost before you can find your path. Most people at
some time in their life experience this emotional feeling.
It is from the energy of this story a healing massage
dance was created: ‘a massage dance from the
heart’, a celebration of life, rejuvenation of spirit and
freeing of physical weight,” Elaine said.
“A Makoha treatment is like moving heavy old jackets
from the aura and body, allowing one’s truth to express
itself.”
Elaine is a direct descendent of that little girl, Waikeringa,
“my great great great great Grandmother”.
For spreading her people’s story through touch
in Australia, Elaine recently received a blessing from
Maori elders, in the stream that flows from the little
spring with her grandmother’s name.

Already offering massages such as ‘kodo’,
based on Australian aboriginal techniques, the
inclusion of Maori massage technique is part of
a wider Peninsula Hot Springs’ vision for bringing
a range of international healing wisdom to
the springs: Arabic, Indian and Japanese included.
Peninsula Hot Springs Media Release

Makoha - 'ocean energy' (New Zealand massage)
A 'grounding', cleansing and therapeutic massajourney.

Duration and Prices
 

	Off Peak	Peak
60 minutes	$ 99	$ 110

Wae Wae - 'sacred feet' (New Zealand massage)
In Maori language wae wae means feet. It is a Maori tradition to wash and cleanse the feet before entering into any sacred place. This massage incorporates mud wrap along with neck, head and shoulder massage creating a deep relaxation, clarity of mind and freedom of spirit.

Please note: At present this treatment is only available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Duration and Prices

Packages

Kai Moana - 'food from the ocean' (New Zealand massage)
An exfoliating mud wrap that revitalises, nurtures and nourishes. Pungareeree describes it as a "big hug from Mother Earth . . . . Food from the oceans and the sea are used to scrub, wrap and envelope you in the earth's warmth and natural vibrations to refresh the skin and soul"

Please note: At present this treatment is only available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Duration and Price