Living Connections Team Experience

Take time away from work demands and immerse the team in nature. This well-being investment is essential for replenishing resources so your team can balance home and work demands.

Take time away from work demands and immerse the team in nature. This well-being investment is essential for replenishing resources so your team doesn't feel drained and dispirited when encountering home and work demands.

A Living Connections session can have a specific focus, depending on the company's needs, such as team building, stress management, corporate identity, feedback on how employees perceive the company, creative processes and more.

During your workshop, your experienced guide will offer your team a variety of invitations to notice, reflect and interact with the forest around them. These may include purposeful slow walks, exploring rongoa rakau healing plants, focusing on the senses to take real notice, or the gentle guided movement practice to help relieve stress. All invitations are optional, with some experiences as part of the group and some on their own, and we can devise the right mix of invitations to suit the team's needs. An introduction to rongoa rakau can be included in this workshop.

More and more research demonstrates the benefits of nature-based experiences, including improved memory and cognition, stress reduction, increased creativity, enhanced immunity and heart health. The team will come away invigorated and relaxed.

Workshops can be run on a day that suits your business (dates are available by arrangement). If the date you're interested in isn't available or you prefer to be invoiced please get in contact.

Suggested itinerary

10 am: Arrive at the visitors centre for introductions and walk with your hosts into the Te Tui a Tane southern enclosure

10:30 am-12.30pm: A larger group would divide into smaller groups working with our wellbeing practitioners to experience a series of activities. The groups will rotate through the different experiences on offer.

12:30-1pm: Return to the visitors centre for lunch.

1-1.45pm: Catered lunch (additional charge).

1.45pm: Depart or return to the forest for self-guided walk.

BOOK

We were a group of 8, Sue was our guide. Would so recommend having Sue to guide. We would not have noticed or learnt anything by ourselves, noticed birds and plants with understanding the importance of sanctuary. Will be bringing the grandies next.

Helen Bingham

← 1 / 10 →

The team are still absolutely buzzing about their time at Maungatautari! We all learnt SO much — about Rongoa, about the forest and how different plants can heal our ailments — but also how the forest as a whole can heal our inner-selves too. Everybody took something of great value...

Huka Honey Hive, Taupo

← 2 / 10 →

I wanted to email you and tell you how literally amazing our day was and that we were absolutely blown away by the whole experience. You and your team are fantastic. All of the parents who attended raved about the whole day.

Ohaupo School

← 3 / 10 →

A truly spectacular day for me thank you, and trust me I've done some really cool things before but this was right up there. The passion, the pride, the service beyond self and the truly intergenerational and transformational work you and the team have done and are doing is inspirational...

Simon

← 4 / 10 →

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Because one THANK YOU is not enough! We felt very honoured and privileged to witness the health check and transfer process of two kiwi yesterday. To be so close to our iconic bird was very surreal for many of our team. Many photos were taken and I'm sure...

Nicola Greenwell

← 5 / 10 →

I'm honestly still smiling after my afternoon on the maunga yesterday, so I had to write and thank you SO MUCH. The team is doing extraordinary work with the whole sanctuary, and to see the kiwi team, volunteers, dogs, it was absolutely amazing. It was very moving to see the kiwi close up....

Katy Scoullar

← 6 / 10 →

I've hiked many, many forests around New Zealand, but this one hits differently. You just know you're in as native of an NZ forest as it can get, thanks to the predator-proof fence that takes a lot of work and money to maintain. The forest is alive with the beautiful songs of many...

Meggie Tran

← 7 / 10 →

A beautiful and peaceful place.

Tony Nicholls

← 8 / 10 →

My wife and I live in Miami and visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari during a trip to New Zealand a month ago. Our guide was Jenny. We were very impressed with her sincerity as well as your organization and the success of your work.

Anonymous, Miami, USA

← 9 / 10 →

If you want to see New Zealand's nocturnal animals, go here. Of course, there are day tours as well as night tours. I went on a night tour and it was great. I was happy to see glow worms, go up to the observatory, and see many stars in the night sky! This is not a zoo, but a conservation...