THE BREATH OF LIFE
Julia Wikeepa discovered the calming power of breathwork on her wellness journey, creating a tool to help others fight anxiety in Aotearoa.
Julia Wikeepa was about 12 years old when she started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Like many young people, she grappled with feelings of anxiety and found that using substances helped take away some of that discomfort. By 16, she’d dropped out of high school, had developed an eating disorder and started getting more into the
‘party scene’, eventually running into trouble with the law. “I didn’t have much direction,” she says. “I was at a place where I didn’t know what to do with my life. I didn’t have much going for me.” Everything changed when she gave birth to her son at age 24. “That was a catalyst to change. I knew I didn’t want to keep going down that path. So I decided I was going to start reading personal development books. I just did everything I could to help get me out of this rut I was in.” She quit smoking and drinking. Inspired to create a better life for her and her son, and to help others make that same transformation, Wikeepa sought out work in social organisations, but struggled to find a job because of her criminal history. And so, she went back to her studies, completing a university degree in psychology and human resources, eventually starting her own business teaching mental health education and empowerment to school students.
One of the tools that was pivotal to her own wellbeing journey was breathwork, and she began sharing her knowledge with others. It was here where the idea for Hā Habit began. “Indigenous cultures and Western cultures have always used breathing as a tool to calm themselves. Counsellors and psychologists will sometimes get people to breathe through a straw to help calm them down,” she
explains. “I saw that breathing tools were a thing and I wanted to create my own New Zealand version.” The Hā tool is a stainless steel piece that can be worn as a necklace and used as a breathing tool, helping slow down the breath and serving as a reminder for people to focus on their breathing when they are feeling anxious and overwhelmed. When creating the tool, Wikeepa was inspired by both her Māori and Pākehā roots. Her father’s tribes are Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Te Atihaunui-Ā-Pāpārangi and her mother is Dutch, English and Jewish. The shape and design of the tool is based on taonga pūoro, traditional Māori musical instruments.
Wikeepa has also created an e-book that goes deeper into understanding the root cause of the stress and the biological mechanisms that are at play during breathwork. “This kind of breathing triggers your
“INDIGENOUS CULTURES HAVE ALWAYS USED BREATHING AS A TOOL TO CALM THEMSELVES.” JULIE WIKEEPA
vagus nerve, which is what tells the body to calm down,” she says. “It’s sending a message to your mind and body to calm down. It’s amazing that we have something as simple as breathing that can do that.”
Since launching Hā Habit in January 2022, Wikeepa has been overwhelmed by the response, the first Hā tools selling out in a matter of weeks. “A lot of people say that just having it as a reminder is a comfort for them. It also helps people understand how the nervous system works when they go into fight or flight. They know that it’s purely a biological and chemical response.”
Wikeepa is accepting of the fact that anxiety will always be a part of her life, but now she has the tools to not let it take over her life.
“[My anxiety] is not just going to disappear, because new things will come up in life. Fear will always creep in. And that’s what anxiety is based on, fear of the unknown, fear of the future. I’d be lying if I said I had overcome that, but I now have the tools to navigate it.”
The designs of the Hā tools are in many ways reflections of Wikeepa’s own personal journey.
“The Koru, its symbolism in te ao Māori represents starting new and fresh. That was based on the idea that you can always start again and you can always recreate your life. I feel like it’s symbolic of my life. I’ve had a lot of challenges and setbacks, but when I realised I had the power to actually create life how I wanted it and not live in fear, that’s when I’ve had the most growth.”