NAAVA is coming to Aotearoa New Zealand. NAAVA brings embodied neuroscience tools into schools and youth organisations: breathwork, movement, mindfulness and sound; science-backed, practically delivered, and built to work within the reality of stretched schools and exhausted teams.
We meet children where they are - with warmth, safety and adaptability.
New Zealand's Young People Deserve Better.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS
Nearly 1 in 4 young people aged 15–24 in New Zealand now experience high or very high psychological distress - double the rate of five years ago.
LACK OF SUPPORT
Up to 10,000 fewer young people are accessing mental health services annually. The clinical system is pulling back precisely when schools need more support, not less.
A HEAVY BURDEN
Rangatahi Māori and Pacific young people carry this burden most heavily - with rates of distress and crisis significantly higher than their peers, and rising.
Schools and youth organisations are being asked to hold all of this — often without the tools, time or training to do it well. NAAVA doesn't add to that pressure. It gives you something practical, evidence-based and immediately usable — for your young people and your staff.
Children can become easily overwhelmed because their nervous systems are still developing and they're constantly taking in new information, emotions and stimulation.
Built Around Hauora - Aligned With the New Zealand Curriculum
NAAVA's approach maps directly onto the Hauora framework at the heart of New Zealand's Health and Physical Education curriculum - the holistic model of wellbeing that sees each dimension as inseparable from the others.
TAHA TINANA
Physical
Yoga, movement and body-based regulation
TAHA HINENGARO
Mental and Emotional
Breathwork, mindfulness and emotional mapping
TAHA WHĀNAU
Social
Shared regulation practices for connection and safety
TAHA WAIRUA
Spiritual
Stillness, sound, grounding to restore inner calm
As New Zealand's updated curriculum rolls out from 2027, NAAVA positions your school ahead of the curve — embedding the self-regulation, emotional competency and body-awareness skills the new framework prioritises. This is curriculum-aligned wellbeing. Not an add-on. Not an optional extra.
Every NAAVA programme comes with a full session-by-session plan, statutory curriculum alignment and a written impact report - so you always know what is being delivered, why it works, and what difference it is making.
How Children Develop From Our Practices
EARLY EMOTIONAL AWARENESS
BETTER SETTLING AFTER TRANSITIONS
ABILITY TO RECOGNISE "BIG FEELINGS"
EARLY SELF SOOTHING TOOLS
STRONGER CONNECTIONS WITH PEERS AND ADULTS
Four Ways to Work Together
CALM CLASSROOM RESET
A single session for the children, to settle, regulate and refocus.
For new terms, exam periods, high-anxiety classes, after a difficult incident, PRU and alternative education settings, SEN settings.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
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60–90 minute embodied neuroscience session onsite or virtual
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Breathwork, movement and sound to shift pupils into calm readiness
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Personal Calm Toolkit card for every young person
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Written facilitator observation summary delivered after the session
CALM CLASSROOM CYCLE
Monthly wellbeing embedded into the rhythm of your school
For schools wanting ongoing, consistent wellbeing support across a term or full year without adding to staff workload.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
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One session per month — virtual or onsite, 60–90 minutes
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Each session builds on the last — tools deepen month by month
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2-minute Daily Tool for teachers to use independently every day — no training needed
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Termly Insight Summary Report — suitable for board or SLT reporting
CALM CLASSROOM JOURNEY
Complete structured programmes for any educational setting. The gold standard.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
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6 weekly facilitated sessions per class
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Pre and post wellbeing measurement
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Student voice evidence collected
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Full Impact Report with Data
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Staff Half Day CPD session included.
CALM SCHOOLS STAFF TRAINING
Choose from three tiers to educate staff on the importance of a calm and regulated environment.
For schools, Kaiako, pastoral leads and TAs, to build capacity for co-regulation, calm communication and self-regulation.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
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Three different training tiers to choose from
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Neuroscience of stress and dysregulation in school settings
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Co-regulation skills: voice, posture and presence
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PACE communication framework with practice scripts
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Personal regulation toolkit every staff member leaves with
All NAAVA programmes and sessions are trauma informed, SEN adaptable, age appropriate, designed for high engagement and aligned to school values and behaviour.
For youth organisations and community providers
NAAVA's work doesn't stop at the school gate. For youth organisations, iwi-based services, alternative education providers and community groups — we offer flexible, trauma-informed wellbeing programmes for young people wherever they are: disengaged from school, not in employment or training, navigating complex situations, or simply struggling to feel safe in their own bodies. Our approach is non-clinical and non-diagnostic. Young people don't need a referral or a label. They just need to show up.
Programme design tailored to your population, setting and funding context
Staff training in co-regulation, calm communication and self-regulation
Regular group sessions for young people in any setting
Impact reporting you can use directly in funder applications
Aligned to the curriculum - not an add-on, or an optional extra
Cultural Commitment
NAAVA comes to Aotearoa as a guest, not an authority. This work is delivered with genuine respect for te ao Māori - for whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and the understanding that wellbeing cannot be separated from identity, community and belonging.
We do not claim cultural expertise we haven't earned. But we are here to build it - through relationships, through listening, and through ensuring that rangatahi Māori and Pacific young people are genuinely well-served by this work, not as an afterthought.
If you are a kaupapa Māori school, kura kaupapa, iwi-based organisation or Pacific community provider - we would especially welcome a kōrero.
Always Embodied. Always Evidence Based. Always Measurable.
Become a Founding NAAVA Partner in Aotearoa
I am arriving in New Zealand and looking for a small number of founding school and youth organisation partners to begin this work with — people who believe in what NAAVA offers and want to be part of building it here from the ground up.
A complimentary Calm Classroom Reset session — experience it before committing
Founding partner pricing locked in for 12 months
Direct access to Puravi — not an account manager, not a booking system
Your organisation named on the NAAVA website as a founding Aotearoa partner
Priority scheduling as the NZ calendar is built
You'll get:
In return, I ask only for honest feedback — and if the session lands well, a short testimonial I can share with other schools. I have space for 8 founding partners.
The NAAVA approach is non-clinical and non-diagnostic.
Why I'm Coming to Aotearoa
I'm Puravi Joshi — MSc Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health, King's College London. I've spent years working at the intersection of neuroscience, embodied practice and real-world wellbeing in schools, corporate environments and healthcare settings across the UK.
I am professionally trained in yoga for nervous system regulation, breathwork, sound therapy and mindfulness — not as wellness trends, but as evidence-based tools that change physiology and unlock human potential.
I'm relocating to New Zealand because the need here is real, the appetite for this kind of work is growing, and I want to build something that lasts — rooted in genuine partnerships with the schools and communities I work alongside.
Empower Your Teachers - Practitioner Training
NAAVA also offers The Science of Calm - a three-tier CPD practitioner pathway designed specifically for teachers, school staff and community workers across Aoetearoa who want to bring nervous system regulation tools into their daily practice.
With the 2027 curriculum refresh placing self-regulation, emotional competency and body awareness at the centre of Health and Physical Education, there has never been a better time to build this capacity in your school or kura.
