When writing in te reo Māori, it’s important to include the line above vowels in some kupu (words), since it changes the pronunciation and even the meaning in some cases. The line is called ‘tohutō’ or ‘pōtae’ (hat) in te reo Māori, and ‘macron’ in English. Many people do not know how to type these, or only know how to do it on a mobile phone but not on a computer.

This handy guide will have you typing tohutō easily!

​If you’re not sure which words have tohutō, or which vowels to put them over, Te Aka Māori Dictionary is very useful! 

Typing tohutō on mobile phones and tablets is usually as easy as tapping and holding your finger on the vowel on the on-screen keyboard, and after a moment a variety of accented characters appears. Slide your finger over to the correct one to choose it and take your finger off the screen to type it.

On both Windows and Apple Mac computers, you first need to change the computer’s keyboard settings to use the Māori keyboard. Once that is done, the procedure to type a vowel with tohutō is simple.
Type the [~`] key at the top-left of your keyboard (just below the ‘Esc’ key) once before you type a vowel, and a tohutō will appear over the vowel: āēīōū
Note: do not hold down the [~`] key, just type it the same as you type other letters.
To get a vowel in uppercase, type the [~`] key, then hold Shift and type the vowel you want: ĀĒĪŌŪ

It is possible to replenish your energy, clear your mind, feel more alert and at peace in only 5-10 minutes using a simple yet powerful relaxation technique that you can use in most situations.

This technique brings you peace and calm by bringing your nervous system back into balance. It is particularly effective at reducing anxiety, stress, worry and tension and improving your wellbeing. When practiced often, it has very positive long-term effects.

The technique is so simple, it would be easy to dismiss it without trying it, yet it is highly effective. It works by bringing your mind into a different state of consciousness where it rests and heals, yet you remain awake throughout the whole process.

​Find a space where are unlikely to be interrupted (though it is perfectly safe if you do get interrupted) and where you can may sit comfortably (or lie down if you prefer), and:

1. Close your eyes
2. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth.
3. Repeat this twice more.
4. In your mind, say each of these lines to yourself–it helps if you use a sleepy, slow, deep inner voice. Continue to breathe deeply, saying each line to yourself as you breathe out.
   breathe in

• “I let go and relax my forehead”
  breathe in
• “I relax my eyes”
  breathe in
• “I relax my cheeks”
  breathe in
• “I relax my jaw”
  breathe in
• “I relax my tongue”
  breathe in
• “I relax my neck”
  breathe in
• “I relax my shoulders”
  breathe in
• “I relax my arms”
  breathe in
• “I relax my hands”
  breathe in
• “I relax my chest”
  breathe in
• “I relax my upper back”
  breathe in
• “I relax my stomach”
  breathe in
• “I let go of any worry”
  breathe in
• “I relax my lower back”
  breathe in
• “I relax my pelvis”
  breathe in
• “I relax my bottom”
  breathe in
• “I relax my thighs”
  breathe in
• “I relax my calves”
  breathe in
• “I relax my feet”
  breathe in
• “I put down any weight I am carrying”
  breathe in
• “And now I relax my soul”

Take three more long, deep breaths in through your nose, and out through your mouth.

If you still feel tense, anxious or stressed, go through the exercise again until you feel more at peace.

Once you feel your mind is calm, bask in this feeling for as long as you like.

When you are ready, gently move your arms and legs, move your head from side to side, slowly open your eyes and you will return to a normal state of consciousness.

Enjoy using this technique often – I recommend using it a few times a day to boost your energy, keep your mind focused and instil a sense of peace, calm and tranquility into your life.

​Thank you for reading.
​I wish you a life of fulfillment.
–John

For each problem that we face in life there is often a small yet important change of behaviour which can make a huge difference in solving it.
There is a guideline in life called the 80-20 rule, which says: for many things that happen, about 80% of the results come out of about 20% of the causes. This means it is really important to identify which causes are within the '20%' to get the outcome you want, far more easily.

I'm here to share with you one very common–yet often overlooked–example of this today, that will help you live a life of fulfillment.

When you:

• Have a headache (or even a migraine)
• Feel tired during the day
• Feel hungry (especially when you've already eaten recently)

what do you normally do?

Do you think these are caused by different things?

Is there one thing you know to try first in all of these cases, rather than perhaps reaching for a snack, a pain relief tablet, or pushing through the tiredness?

Next time, try this:

1. Drink a large glass of water (plain, still water, with nothing added to it)
2. Wait a minute and see if you feel any better
3. If you do not notice a difference, try a second large glass of water (but only if you can do so without 'forcing' it and feeling unpleasant)

Lack of water (dehydration): this one simple thing is very often at the heart of hunger, headaches and tiredness. Your body–especially your brain–is made up largely of water, so even the beginning of dehydration has significant effects on your feelings, health and wellbeing.

Here are some things to consider:

• By the time you feel thirsty, it usually means you are significantly dehydrated already
• It is very common to mistake feelings of thirst as feelings of hunger, because they feel very similar, yet thirst is far more oftenthe cause of these feelings. If you eat because you feel 'hungry' but the real cause is lack of water, you will not feel fully satisfied after eating and will probably continue to eat more than what your body actually wants. This will cause you to feel sluggish as your body pours its energy into digesting too much food at once
• One of the most common causes of a headache is dehydration.
• If you feel tired (especially during the day), it is probably caused by dehydration

An example of this in action: recently, a workmate who gets migraines felt one coming on and I suggested he try drinking two or even three large glasses of water within about 15 minutes. He tried this and said that after half an hour, the migraine went away and stayed away for the rest of the day. Normally, he would have taken pain relief and whilst it would have reduced the pain, he would still put up with a lot of pain for the rest of the day. He was very grateful to see how a simple change of awareness and behaviour to address the real cause was able to relieve his problem, something difficult he has been 'living with' for a long time.

​Fill your glass and drink to live a life of fulfillment

Even better than learning to react to the feelings of tiredness, hunger/thirst or headache is to be proactive about getting enough water.
The amount of water you need may be different than what I need since it varies based on your own body and also the climate/conditions you are in each day.
I find that a good basic level if (like me) you spend most of your day in a fairly sheltered climate (e.g. indoors or at least not out in the hot sun) is to drink a large glass of water (about 500 ml/17 oz) immediately after you wake, then a large glass of water every hour-and-a-half throughout the day.
To do this, I fill my (reusable, aluminium) water bottle before I go to bed and leave it on my bedside table. I have pre-set, repeating alarms on my mobile phone which go off at the following times with the message “Feel alert & alive: drink water” at these times:

• 8am (in case I forgot to have a glass immediately upon awakening)
• 10.30am
• 12pm
• 1.30pm
• 3pm
• 4.30pm
• 6pm
• 7.30pm
• 9pm

I set the alarm so that it does not make a noise, since I found that to be too intrusive (and was discouraging me from drinking rather than encouraging me) – it only displays a message on the screen of my phone, and I have my phone where the screen is visible throughout the day.
Another idea is to identify any habits/routines you are already in which happen several times throughout the day (evenly spaced), and add drinking a glass/bottle of water to the existing routines.
There are also water reminder apps you can get for mobile phones – if you think these may work for you, please try them and see what works (I have not tried any myself, but would be interested to hear of anyone's recommendations – please contact me to let me know.)
As you become in the habit of drinking plenty of water regularly, so many things become easier: it helps with energy levels, alertness, digestion, happiness, strength, health, creative thinking and overall wellbeing.

Thank you for reading.
I wish you a life of fulfillment. Sometimes, filling a glass with water and drinking is all it takes.
–John

The question 'why?' is one of the most powerful basic questions we have, because it's at the heart of our life as human beings, because it is about purpose, one of our most core needs.

The purpose of Technaturally is:

• To make a significant positive difference on a global scale
• To inspire and empower people to grow, uplift and support one another
• To make technology more natural: easier, more reliable and more intuitive

So, why am I writing and sharing this article?
Because there are many useful, powerful, interesting and inspiring ideas that have made a huge positive difference in my life, I want to share them with you in the hope that you will gain something valuable.

You deserve a life of fulfillment.
Sharing good ideas with each other benefits you, me and others we connect with.
Since technology is one of my great passions, many of the ideas I will share here will be about how to make life improvement easier and better by using technology in various ways, whereas other ideas don't involve technology except as a means to share the ideas with you. This article is the first in an ongoing series of sharing positive ideas.

My wish is for you to take from these articles the ideas that resonate with you. To do that, I suggest paying attention to your own reactions to any of the ideas by doing this:

1. 'Check in' with yourself to identify how you are feeling (notice what emotions & body sensations you have)
2. Name (in your head or out loud) your feelings (e.g. “I'm feeling excited”) or describe the physical sensations you are feeling (e.g. “I'm feeling a fluttering in my stomach and I am smiling”)
3. Hold your hand over your heart and yourself the question “Why am I feeling this?”
4. Pay attention to the answer that comes back. Or if no answer comes back, try practicing this technique over time with different situations until you start to hear an answer – the more you pay attention to your inner voice, the more it grows in confidence.

Some ideas may make you feel positive feelings, and you may feel a sense of harmony & resonance. I suggest paying attention to those ideas and over time integrating them into your life – I will talk more in other articles about ways to do this.

In certain cases, an idea may bring you negative feelings. This is when it somehow challenges or threatens your existing values, beliefs and/or personality type, and the negative feelings are trying to protect you in some way from the idea. In this case, I suggest still paying attention to the answer to the question “Why am I feeling this feeling?”, and it may reveal a clearer understanding of your own values/beliefs/personality type, and what you need to feel safe.
Maybe the idea really does not fit with you. Of course, then, please choose not to take that idea on board.
However, you may find in some cases that the negative feelings come about because you have underlying beliefs that are challenged, and the beliefs themselves are unhelpful to you and have been hindering you in your life. This is very common, since we all grow up learning a multitude of different beliefs, and some are helpful, whilst others are unhelpful and get in the way of our success.
If you identify that you have some of these unhelpful beliefs causing resistance to learning a positive new idea, please have the courage to allow that new idea space in your world anyway, gently, bit by bit. Doing this over and over again will gradually make your life easier, happier, more successful (whatever you consider 'success' to mean) and more fulfilling.
In future articles, I will talk about ways to replace unhelpful beliefs with more helpful, more powerful beliefs, since that is key to leading a fulfilling life.

There is a huge amount of power in asking the question 'why?' more often. There is also power in asking 'why?' again to each answer you get until you get to the heart of a matter. Each time you ask, it's like peeling away another layer and it reveals a deeper, more focused meaning behind an answer.
For example:
“I'd really like to own an electric car.”
“Oh, why is that?”

“Well, I would like to reduce the amount of pollution that I am adding to the planet, as well as having a car that feels so nice to drive. Plus, I like technology and would feel good to be an early adopter of a technology I respect so much.”
“Interesting. Why it is important that you reduce pollution?”

“Because I see that as humans we are completely out-of-balance with our world and nature, and it's causing pain and suffering to each other, to animals and it's harming our world.”
“Hmm, so I think you're saying we'd do a lot better to be in balance with our world and nature. Why is that, exactly?”

“Because balance with nature means sustainability, equality and respect for each other as people, for all the animals we share this world with, and for nature as a whole system.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Why do you want that?

“Well, I want to have a future of abundance, connection and harmony. I want to know that my life is important and brings joy to others, and also that I am doing all I can to minimise any harm I cause in the world – directly or indirectly. I want to be treated with respect, so I need to treat our world with respect.”

Do you see how asking 'why?' digs deeper and reveals more about a person's thoughts, feelings, beliefs and values?
More about who they are?
It is a great way to connect and get to know another  person better, which means they are more likely to connect and get to know you better, too.

Simon Sinek's insightful TED talk 'How great leaders inspire action' gives insight into why the question 'why?' is so powerful and why it benefits us to practise putting it at the centre of our thinking process.
​
​Watch it here:

So, as you go about your week, I suggest asking variations of the question 'why?' more often - to yourself and to others - and paying attention to what you discover: it may surprise and fascinate you!

Thank you for reading.
I wish you a life of fulfillment.
-John