About the Halswell Website

I’ve recently read some comments on the website and realise that many people don’t know how it developed and where it came from, so here is a little run down of its beginnings and how it runs now.

The photo is Hugh Donald. Hugh is the current webmaster for our website (www.halswellcommunity.net.nz), and he does all that work completely voluntarily.

The Halswell website was initially launched in March 2012 and was built to supplement the newsletter. This newsletter got started in mid 2010 and back then, Halswell had a tiny presence on Facebook (unlike now!), so it was much harder to get the word out to Halswell people. 

Building the website was a mission for someone who had no background in Web Development (me) but without the considerable money it takes to get professional developers to do it, there wasn’t much choice.  

The website was built using Joomla which is free software, and we installed free templates and other free components etc.  

 The Halswell Residents Association paid for the first two years of webhosting and our domain name and these costs were taken over by the Halswell Community Project which was set up in 2013.  These expenses are now covered by some of the business advertising that appears on the site.

Hugh came on board in December 2015.  He noticed that much of the information on the website was out of date and emailed, offering to assist. Since that time he has been the main man on our website and he has been incredibly generous with his time.  On a completely voluntary basis, he has learned his way through the programme that the website uses and then took on rebuilding the site in 2017.  He has continued to update and manage the site with a little help from a few of us at the Halswell Community Project.  If that is not enough, he has branched out to help other community groups with their websites, and does a number of other community focused activities.

Development of the website is ongoing and we're keen to get other people involved in maintaining and possibly even developing it.   We've recently changed the template that we use to try and make the site more cell phone friendly.  The upgrade has helped, but it looks like some more work is needed to make it work better

We would love to have one or two other people help out with the website.  Hugh has developed a great set of instructions and “how-to”s, and most of the work updating the site is quite simple.

Please check any information that is up there for your community group or business and make sure it is up to date.  If it is not, then let us know what has changed so we can update it.

The best way to get in touch is via the contact form on the website at www.halswellcommunity.net.nz

Chrys Horn (HCP)

What Is "Hygee" and How might we benefit from it?

Hygee (pronounced Hoo-gah) is a Danish word and lifestyle concept that has taken the world by storm in the last 2-3 years. It is influencing current décor and fashion trends and book best-seller lists. How did this happen? Really, it all began because international surveys frequently named Denmark to be  the happiest country on the planet  and people HAD to know why. Researchers believe   that Danish social customs collectively  called Hygee  are the reason for their overall contentment and happiness.

Graphic Source: The Little Book Of Hygee by Meik Wiking (2016)


10 BENEFITS OF A HYGEE LIFESTYLE

1. Better Coping Skills. This lifestyle is really a  form of dedicated self care. With an emphasis on rest, relaxation, walking, bowls of hot soup, cups of coffee, stronger social connections, and general well being, people are able  develop an inner strength and resilience with which to face life's challenges.

2.  A Happier Soul. The Danish people are less focused on outward goals, and more on what makes the soul feel good.  Think open fires, hot chocolates, warm blankets, snugly socks, blankets, cushions, coffee and cake with your family and friends, twinkle-lights, long walks,  and time for creativity.  It is all those things that make you feel happier, create atmosphere  and build deeper connections with the people near you.

3.  Less Stress. Hygee is about living  in the moment, and far less about having   stress-filled jobs that lead employees to dream about collapsing on a beach in foreign country at the end of the year to recover from it all and then to get back and return to same treadmill. The Danish culture is more about being happy everyday, and creating a life that you perhaps do not even need a holiday from. A slower lifestyle also allows  great sensitivity to our consciences and to inner nudges or prompting and discernment of what is really a good idea or a bad idea.  This leads to better decision making which in turn eliminates the consequences of poor decisions in our lives. When we are too busy, we can find wisdom harder to find.

4.  Stronger Relationships. Hygee is the  deliberate intention of creating special moments with your loved ones. Sharing hot drinks board game nights, movie nights, going biking or walking together, camping or just hanging out are all considered Hygee activities  and are quite achievable because they are inexpensive.

5. More Contentment and Gratitude. Always striving for goals can lead to unhappiness for two reasons: disappointment arises if targets aren't reached and happiness is postponed  as you overlook the here and now. While  having a direction and goals are arguably important for success, Hygee argues  that this needs to  in balance with  with living and being.

6. A Less Selfish Attitude.  Hygee is "we over me." It is the group over the individual.  A leading cause of unhappiness can  be focusing on  self-interest too much and failing to contribute to those around us. Thinking about and serving others makes us happier.  It has been said that the most selfish thing you can do is give to others simply because it feels so good.

7. Better Health. The Danish love affair with  being in nature,  a slower pace of life,  walking, biking  and quality  relationships are all   well documented as  being beneficial for physical and mental health.

8. More Joy.  A slower pace of life allows us to discern the natural rhythms that create balance in our bodies and and to find the happy place of having not too little and not too much. Furthermore, we can discern what makes our heart beat faster which  is what we love to do.  It may be gardening, cooking, crafting, journalling, drawing, or painting or something completely different.  Having time to think and create is one of the loveliest gifts of simple living.

9. A Deeper Sense of Connection. One important aim of Hygee is to cultivate opportunities where great conversation, laughter and connection can occur. It might over a cup of tea, at the dinner table, around a board game, at a picnic, or around a bonfire on the beach.  Chatting on social media does not qualify.

10. More Money. Adopting  a simpler lifestyle  means that purchases you  deemed as necessary in the past may now begin to seem unnecessary and perhaps even wasteful or worse still, greedy. Outwardly,  a slower  lifestyle  has sometimes been mistaken for deprivation, but the Danes argue it is in fact the opposite.   It's  about filling your life with what  is most important in life. Over-scheduling and over-consumption actually prevents our souls, minds and bodies from getting what they need. And what is wonderful about all this, is that what we actually need for happiness, fulfilment and contentment  doesn't cost the earth.
Deb Harding Browne
No Boundaries Furniture

Interview with a member of the Oaklands Toastmasters Club

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I am husband of over 12 years and a father of a four year girl. I was born in Aranui, Christchurch and have lived in South Africa and Sydney, Australia. I have done the whole tri-nations tour. I work in IT doing computer security for Datacom and their customers.

Josh giving a speech at the Oaklands Toastmasters Club

Why did you join Toastmasters?

I noticed that when I was job hunting, even in IT, being able to speak smoothly is more important than the technical skills and experience in computers that I have. I appreciate how Toastmasters has encouraged me to grow and has taught me many things about speaking both in theory and in practise. When I was recently asked to speak at a school expo to parents and students, I could call upon my Toastmaster skills to explain and present topics and idea competently.

What would you say to someone who is interested in Toastmasters?

Everyone should consider it. “No man is an island “. Good communication is the foundation to good relationships. Toastmasters gives you a safe playground to test and learn communication skills and you will be better for it.

What surprised you about Toastmasters?

Toastmasters is extremely supportive and there is a strong give-it-a-go attitude. Every meeting is highly respectful and no one laughs at mistakes and everyone encourages each other to grow in their skills. Even after I froze when speaking, I was commended for getting up and I was given constructive tips how to improve for the next time.

What do you think Toastmasters brings to Halswell community?

Toastmasters are an established and proven learning ground for communication.

With every meeting, Oaklands Toastmasters builds confidence, social connections and skills, which is, what every community needs.

What is the Funniest / best speech you have done or heard?

There are many funny speeches and everyone gets an opportunity to speak each week. One of the stand out speeches for me was about global warming delivered by Darryl Gibson, it was backed up with a projector and slides. It was a very thought provoking and moving topic and was delivered with skill and intention.

The Posture Pandemic

We are living the digital revolution which may go down in history as the worst influence to date, on the posture and structural health of the human body. In the past “normal posture” was a beneficial, positive expression of the human bipedal upright physique but as technology dominates our spare time, work and study environments, there is a rapid decline. Unless we do something fast, to re-educate our minds, re-train our body and re-integrate the correct neural pathways which influence our posture, the number of people presenting with problems which can be related back to postural issues, will grow exponentially. We have a major health issue on our hands. Do we wait to see the long-term impact or do we act now?

Ideal posture is standing tall, upright, rib cage lifted from the navel, pelvis half way i.e. not tucked under or sticking out and standing evenly on both legs. If a plum line was hung from the ceiling as a guideline, from a side view, it should run through our ear, the mid aspect of our shoulder, the middle of our hip joint and to the outer ankle bone. Holding our body in the ideal posture should require the least amount of muscle effort to maintain and minimises stress placed on our joints and supportive soft tissue structures such as ligaments and tendons.

Abnormal and potentially damaging stresses and strains are put through our body when we adopt poor posture, the effect of which becomes more significant the longer we stay in these poses or the more repetitively we adopt them. Long-term damage can be done and we lose the ability to use and move our body correctly, potentially leading to further problems or making us prone to injury during sport or a simple daily movement. It makes sense that the more our posture deviates from correct alignment, the greater the impact and the harder our body must work to keep us in balance.

We all know what good posture looks like. Don’t we? Yet TODAYS’s normal is far from the optimal, biomechanical design. A significant percentage, perhaps even much of the population, display examples of postural dysfunction. When normal no longer equals ideal, we have a problem; not just an in the home problem, or an at school problem, no longer a within the confines of an office space problem. We have an everywhere problem; driving in the car, waiting in a queue, walking down the road, even sitting in the waiting rooms of practitioners, like myself, who are dedicated to helping halt this metamorphic postural catastrophe. It is happening everywhere and the impact is a concern.

In times gone by younger generations could look to their elders for examples of good habits who had postural education taught through schools or handed down through speech the “stand up properly”, “sit up straight” delivered with varying tones of authority and degrees of nagging frequency. Let’s look at the elder members of today’s society; a far high occurrence of physical, dynamic body movements within their daily work and lives and questionably greater respect and value placed on what may now be considered old fashion values for “proper” body carriage. What example do we set for our children now? I have seen adults with aches and pains from postural issues for years in practise. Then it became teenagers which concerned me but when it now regularly becomes little kids, I’ll be frank, I start to panic!

When I start needing to adapt spinal rehabilitation techniques for kids so that they are a bit more fun to do and start going down the “sticker reward chart” avenue to encourage my young patients to help me get them out of pain by doing their home exercises, I say STOP. We have a major issue here and it is our responsibility as adults to recognise and acknowledge this NOW. Admit it, the problem of bad posture is not going away and there is no indication of its dilution. The clear majority of adults with chronic issues now did not have problems in their childhood. SO when the adult problems start appearing in childhood, what are we to assume THEIR adulthood will look like? We need to wake up and realise we as adults are helping create these postural habits so let’s shape up, get determined, lead by example and help create new habits.  

It is the responsibility of practitioners with training in this field and passion to create change, to get out there and share our knowledge. Let’s open doors to create opportunity to educate, motivate and inspire our young people. If you’re in, I’m in too. Let’s make a change. Let’s change the postures of the future one family at a time. It is easy to do.

If you know a posture that needs our help call us at Little Spines, Longhurst Chiropractic on

03 595 0050. Dr Maybelle Heng or myself, Dr Andrea Dawson can help you make a change.

Halswell Community Garden

Do you love to garden? Do you like company? Come and share with like-minded people at the Halswell Community Garden.

Don’t let lack of space or knowledge of growing things stop you from being involved in gardening. The Halswell Community Garden welcomes people with all levels of knowledge. The garden works on a communal basis. If you help in the garden, at any level, you can share in the bounty it provides.

 Tucked in behind the Vicarage restaurant and accessed via the domain or St Mary’s church, the community garden is a thriving food producing area. We meet regularly on Saturday mornings from 10.30 when we do our weekly harvest, and people are welcome to work in the garden any day they want to. It is spring and there is lots of work to do for a summer harvest.

Even with the wet weather there’s a lot of work already done. We have moved the two ‘spare’ beds over, one has been sprayed and filled with compost and the gooseberry bushes that were taking up space elsewhere have been moved over into it. 

Some early potatoes have been planted, the asparagus are a bit slow in their new bed but it can take a few years for them to come away. We have moved two of the Feijoas to better conditions and the bed that the Kindy had last year has been moved as we want to put a hard surface there to put the two bbq tables on. That will be a big job as we need to have the area framed, some dirt dug out then some hard fill put in. We’ll need people power for that.

We have blueberries and blackcurrants to put in a bed but these will have to wait now as they are already in flower. The irrigation is yet to be installed for the beds, again we’ll need some more hands. The boundary needs weeding again.  The green crop has been dug in but it needs digging over again. That will make a good bed for root crops. Our new greenhouse is ready for any cucumbers/tomatoes that come our way.

Are you growing the New World “My Little Garden”? Don’t know what to do with the seedlings when they come up? Bring them down to the community garden to grow on. Come and help – weed, plant, chop, fill, anything you can do and you’ll get to share, not just the results of your little part, but everything that the garden produces over the season.

For more information, contact Ellen: loadersande@xtra.co.nz, or pop down to the garden on Saturday morning.