Our
Story
Follow our journey from concept to inception, honouring the land and it's past as our inspiration for creating our retreat center.
Aro Hā Wellness Retreat is an invitation to explore our human spirit.
Nestled in the heart of Ka Tiritiri-o-te-Moana, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, our intention is to support transformation through adventurous experience. We are interested in creating right-relationship with ourselves, our families, and our environment. The local plants inspire our menu. The local stones are built into our walls, and the local mountains are where we reconnect.
The Spirit of Aro Ha
Te Reo Māori (Māori language) is commonly spoken and integrated into daily life in New Zealand. While you are likely to be greeted with Kia Ora, many kiwis are unaware of how closely the language is linked to the spiritual world. Words tend not to stand alone; they are generally woven together creating multiple layers of meaning. Aroha is a great illustration of this. Pronounced ‘ah-roh-ha’, it is often translated as ‘love’, yet its meaning also points toward a deeper state of being.
Let’s dive into Aro Hā…
At Aro Ha, we are deeply inspired by and interconnected with nature.
ARO is thought, life principle, to pay attention, to focus, to concentrate.
RO is inner, within, introspection.
OHA is generosity, prosperity, abundance, wealth.
HA means breath of life, life force, intentional breath.
Aro Hā in depth is the very essence of who we are and may be described as the binding force of the universe. It’s the presence of divine breath – something we feel deep within – a foundational practice of life and we use it as an entry point into the mysticism of the present.
Our Beginning
Friendship became a partnership on May 17th, 2010, when Damian visited Chris, Beth and their boys, Jack, Tommy and Jamie, in Zurich. Over lunch, while considering how we as individuals could help resolve some of humanities challenges, Damian shared a dream of combining cutting edge sustainability with authentic wellness retreats. The result would help attendees return to their highest purpose, and would create resiliency and community while teaching sustainability.
Damian had experienced and co-created programs that focused on physical wellbeing. He had studied several of the worlds spiritual paths and had felt the value of inner wellbeing. And he had connected with the land through permaculture, and learned that the health of the individual cannot exist without the health of the whole. What he hadn’t seen was a modern synthesis of all these building blocks in one experience. A retreat that both nurtures the individual while modelling a more sustainable way forward could play a transformative role in supporting our human family through the transitions ahead.
That day in Zurich held the genesis of Aro Ha. Within a month, Chris was in New Zealand scouting potential locations, and within five months, Damian was committed to the project full time. At first, it seemed like Aro Ha would fit best in the north island due to its milder climate, but the southern alps proved too special to resist. After being guided to the right property, the next three years were dedicated to designing and building the dream. Aro Ha opened to the public on January 12th, 2014.
“In the presence of divine breath.”
Our Name – Aro Hā
Our most influential guide in the naming of Aro Hā Wellness Retreat was most certainly Ruth Makuini Tai. Moved by her incredible writing on aroha, Damian reached out to her in 2010. Gracious with her time and energy, the two enjoyed a long conversation discussing the intention of the project while exploring the use of aroha as a name. At one point in the call Damian voiced a concern around using such a central term in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view). Without hesitation Makuini commented, “Damian, how can there be too much aroha?” Makuini then suggested using two words of equal depth; Aro and Hā.
Years after accepting the name, a conversation with a Te Reo scholar would uncover even more beauty. After a TEDx talk in Queenstown, while speaking with Jeromy van Riel, an unprompted translation came, “I like the way you’ve written that. The way I would translate it is, ‘in the presence of divine breath.’”
This is how Aro Hā became our name, and we feel it represents the beauty of the whenua(land) and the mahi(work) that we do. We are honoured to be guided by Aro Hā, and hold an intention to remain connected to its essence. May we all live in connection to the divine and may we be reminded by the next breath when we forget.
If you’d like to hear more, you might enjoy this podcast with Makuini and Atarangi.
“In the presence of divine breath.”
The Place
Every experience at Aro Hā embodies mindfulness – including the place.
Our purpose-built, luxury space draws on the energy of the vast surrounding landscape. When standing on the whenua (land) here at Aro Hā you can’t help but harness the power and beauty of the mountains. The expansive stillness of the environment helps settle the mind and soul, as guests explore an adventure in wellbeing. The retreat has been designed and built to self-sustain indefinitely, aspiring to carve the path for the future of human and environmental health – With the hope that time spent at Aro Hā will foster the connection between nature, wellness, and humanity’s need for transition to a regenerative existence.
Our Kaupapa
Our kaupapa – our purpose – is to enhance wellbeing, nurturing an understanding of what it means to live a connected, balanced life.
The retreat experience provides discovery, challenge and adventure, building physical, emotional, spiritual, and community health through cultivating new daily habits.
The architectural built form, landscaping and infrastructure embrace and reflect the surrounding natural environment inspiring those who visit, with the hope that time spent at Aro Ha will foster the connection between nature, wellness, and humanity’s need for transition to a regenerative existence.