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Regional

Flavell inspires wāhine to put health first

Miria Flavell (Te Arawa, Taranaki) is inspiring women nationally and internationally with her very own 'Hine Movement'.

While many see it as an activewear brand, she says it is a tool that is changing the lives of many.

The movement began in her humble abode and has now transformed into an empowering empire.

"It started in my garage, with not many orders in the first year, and now we're on our second year and we've got our own warehouse and one of my absolute dreams. My goal was firstly to do the Hine Movement bootcamps and that happened and secondly to open up our own store."

Flavell says creating her Hine Collection was about creating a brand to help others.

"Starting Hine not only was my goal to make kākāhu (clothes) for women of all body shapes and sizes, it was also to encourage our wāhine to get healthy, to get fit, to start working out and to look after their tinana (body) inside and out."

Flavell has recently teamed up with Tū Tonu Rehabilitation Centre in Hamilton to provide bootcamps to encourage and inspire women to start their own health journey.

"The whole purpose of me doing these Hine Movement bootcamps is to say 'yep I'll give you some kākāhu to get you started but I'm going to support you along the way.'"

The training sessions allow her to get amongst her community and practice what she preaches.

"By doing these boot camps, it's getting them active, it's bringing the community of wāhine together so that we can do it together."

And the constant support of her followers keeps her fire burning.

"We had 60 wāhine in the whare and I have no words. It was inspiring, it was empowering just to see all the wāhine there having fun and seeing them putting their health first as well."

She says this is just the beginning and the second Hine Movement bootcamp will be held on the 10th of December in Hamilton.