One sister works as a personal trainer, while the other teaches Kura Kaupapa Māori. Te Rina and Erica Ransfield of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tai Torere, and Ngāti Raukawa ki Ōtaki have collaborated on a 30-day exercise programme that follows the maramataka Māori lunar cycle.
Te Rina Ransfield says their inspiration derived from waiata, working with award-winning Māori singer Maisey Rika on one of her songs, Matariki i te pō and instantly became curious about Maramataka Māori.
“My sister started up her own personal training kaupapa and we decided to come together and mesh our two loves, mine being maramataka and hers being fitness and well-being and it covers one of the pillars of the Whare Tapawha, which is the spiritual side to being Māori,” Te Rina says.
Customers can engage in the programme from the convenience of their own homes thanks to an app. Te Rina and her sister Erica Ransfield drew inspiration for their Mana Marama programme from their own personal experiences of living by the moon phrases.
“The first day of the programme starts on the New Moon of Whiro and then ends on the last moon phase, Mutu Whenua," Erica says. "Each workout and each fitness programme has been based on the different energies of the marama, so some workouts will be a bit more intense than others.”
Older sister Te Rina says that one of her biggest inspirations is Māori astronomer Rangi Mātāmua.
Atua influence
“We've been singing about seven stars for such a long time and all of a sudden we had to bring in Hiwa-i-te-rangi and Pōhutukawa and I thought, 'Who is this man?' So I started following him and I've loved it ever since,”
“My sister and I always make sure that we reference him or we go back to him just to make sure what we're doing is tika (correct), to safeguard us, I suppose,” Te Rina says.
Erica says it was important to her that the programme was also inclusive of Atua (God) Māori.
“I wanted to make sure that on certain moons, so Ōike is a moon phase and the Atua for that moon phase is Papatūānuku and the energy of it is quite low. So I wanted to make sure that you go outside and go for a hikoi for 45 minutes. Connect with Papatūānuku.”
“And another one, the Tamatea moon phases, the churning of the puku of Tangaroa so I wanted to do some core circuits … trying to hono (connect) as closely as I could my workouts to the moon phase but something that everyone can do anywhere,” she says.
Registrations for Mana Marama are now open at: www.ericaransfieldfitness.com