Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep
For Aotearoa New Zealand Māori, sleep and wairua (spirit) are closely intertwined. During sleep the wairua awakens and journeys across multiple dimensions of time and space to attain the tools and knowledge the individual needs to navigate waking life. While this function of sleep is understood with...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Kōtuitui |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2381749 |
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| author | Deanna Haami Rosemary Gibson Nicole Lindsay Natasha Tassell-Matamua |
| author_facet | Deanna Haami Rosemary Gibson Nicole Lindsay Natasha Tassell-Matamua |
| author_sort | Deanna Haami |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For Aotearoa New Zealand Māori, sleep and wairua (spirit) are closely intertwined. During sleep the wairua awakens and journeys across multiple dimensions of time and space to attain the tools and knowledge the individual needs to navigate waking life. While this function of sleep is understood within Mātauranga Māori (bodies of knowledge regarding everything within the universe) (Hikuroa 2017), it has yet to be explored within psychological sleep research. This qualitative study contributes to addressing this gap by exploring nine Māori participants’ personal experiences of wairua during sleep. A whakapapa thematic analysis identified two interconnected layers. The first layer contributed to a spiritual explanatory framework for sleep, developed to encompass participants’ beliefs regarding wairua, which were utilised to interpret their sleep experiences. The second layer describes these interpretations, comprised of three central themes: (1) Tohu/Guidance; (2) Ako/Space and time for learning; and (3) Tau/Attaining a state of stability, peace, and purpose. These findings suggest that the spiritual experience of sleep supported participants in navigating their waking lives safely, purposefully, and meaningfully, contributing to Indigenous and Māori scholarship regarding the spiritual and cultural purpose of sleep, and with important implications for clinical, social, and academic approaches to understanding and supporting sleep. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa192670de0748df9e3ff15c6462c580 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1177-083X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Kōtuitui |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa192670de0748df9e3ff15c6462c5802025-01-28T01:57:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupKōtuitui1177-083X2025-01-0120111613610.1080/1177083X.2024.2381749Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleepDeanna Haami0Rosemary Gibson1Nicole Lindsay2Natasha Tassell-Matamua3Centre for Indigenous Psychologies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New ZealandSchool of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New ZealandCentre for Indigenous Psychologies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New ZealandCentre for Indigenous Psychologies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New ZealandFor Aotearoa New Zealand Māori, sleep and wairua (spirit) are closely intertwined. During sleep the wairua awakens and journeys across multiple dimensions of time and space to attain the tools and knowledge the individual needs to navigate waking life. While this function of sleep is understood within Mātauranga Māori (bodies of knowledge regarding everything within the universe) (Hikuroa 2017), it has yet to be explored within psychological sleep research. This qualitative study contributes to addressing this gap by exploring nine Māori participants’ personal experiences of wairua during sleep. A whakapapa thematic analysis identified two interconnected layers. The first layer contributed to a spiritual explanatory framework for sleep, developed to encompass participants’ beliefs regarding wairua, which were utilised to interpret their sleep experiences. The second layer describes these interpretations, comprised of three central themes: (1) Tohu/Guidance; (2) Ako/Space and time for learning; and (3) Tau/Attaining a state of stability, peace, and purpose. These findings suggest that the spiritual experience of sleep supported participants in navigating their waking lives safely, purposefully, and meaningfully, contributing to Indigenous and Māori scholarship regarding the spiritual and cultural purpose of sleep, and with important implications for clinical, social, and academic approaches to understanding and supporting sleep.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2381749Indigenous psychologiesIndigenous sleepsleep healthMāoriKaupapa Māoriwairua |
| spellingShingle | Deanna Haami Rosemary Gibson Nicole Lindsay Natasha Tassell-Matamua Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep Kōtuitui Indigenous psychologies Indigenous sleep sleep health Māori Kaupapa Māori wairua |
| title | Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep |
| title_full | Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep |
| title_fullStr | Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep |
| title_full_unstemmed | Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep |
| title_short | Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua – As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep |
| title_sort | kei te moe te tinana kei te oho te wairua as the body sleeps the spirit awakens exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary maori associated with sleep |
| topic | Indigenous psychologies Indigenous sleep sleep health Māori Kaupapa Māori wairua |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2381749 |
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