Hearth and Soul NZ

Hearth and Soul NZ Blessings, I'm Natasha Mathis and Hearth and Soul is the culmination of 20+ years of developing yoga, healing, tarot, massage and more.

Now based in Napier in a beautiful garden centred nest, Hearth and Soul is a place is soak and reset by the Hearth. The Circle Gatherings include yoga, rest, journeying, cacao, ceremonies and more. Natasha has run yoga studios in Palmerston North since 2006. In 2023 she moved home to Napier and began to create gatherings. These can be two hours long in a community hall, all the way through to resi

dential retreats. Natasha curates spaces, making them feel like you're in a warm home, with a favourite aunt, sharing a cup of tea. On Wednesday nights, at 6.30NZ time, she transports you live to her dining room for an open online yoga class. You can also catch these in the video section. There's a suggested contribution of $6. Since 199, Natasha has also worked with the tarot, 78 pieces of cardboard she will remind you with equal reverence and mirth. From online readings to in-person, workshops to study courses, she loves to share the wisdom and quirky humour of the cards and their stories. To book, to host, to inquire, drop her a message here.

It was a stitching Sunday night, taking the scrap case(s) out and playing with bits of this and that while listening to ...
07/06/2026

It was a stitching Sunday night, taking the scrap case(s) out and playing with bits of this and that while listening to a podcast. Monty was, of course, snuggled between the heater and me.

While the obvious parts of Hearth and Soul are yoga, massage and Soul Chats, there's also stitching, making and remaking. It's the Hearth crafts; the step away from fast anything to beautiful creations. There's no pressure when it comes to these creations; no production schedule or time frame. In the slow stitching is calmness for my nervous system and, for those who go on to buy a piece, something that holds soulful intention.

Thanks to .bloomers.pod for last night's inspiration. If you've wondered about life as late-diagonsed ADHD and/or autistic, Rich and Rox really help get to grips, and they are hilarious.

It seems like an age since Grumpy's Chair arrived in my life, carried off a beach over Dan's shoulder to live at the doo...
06/06/2026

It seems like an age since Grumpy's Chair arrived in my life, carried off a beach over Dan's shoulder to live at the door of different yoga studios. When I moved to Napier it guarded one of the corners of the sanctuary garden. Now it's back at the entrance, its own altar to growth, renewal and the wonders of the sea.

It's been a porch morning, Monty, a book, neighbourly catch ups over the gate. Slow. Restoring energy. The sun beginning now to break up the clouds.

This week I'm teaching 9 classes so pop over to MindBody to book in for those.

Wednesday and Friday afternoon have massage and Soul Chat spaces available and I've just opened up Saturday for those who struggle to get to weekday appointments. Message me to book, come and enjoy some cacao and recalibration, Monty cuddles, and the yummy warmth of the sanctuary.

Winter sunMusicQuiet coffeeSaturday yoga incomingSoft, slow morning A Soul Chat in early hours reaching all the way to t...
05/06/2026

Winter sun
Music
Quiet coffee
Saturday yoga incoming
Soft, slow morning
A Soul Chat in early hours reaching all the way to the UK to make sense, breathe, laugh, cry
A blessed life

Frequently when I ask someone about their creative life they'll say they're not an artist. Somewhere along the line crea...
04/06/2026

Frequently when I ask someone about their creative life they'll say they're not an artist. Somewhere along the line creativity became associated with galleries and fame, not the simple pleasure of paint on canvas, or a threaded needle, or the way they arrange their room. When life got busy, serious, grown up; the young self that made/painted/sung just because it was innate wasn't integrated into this busy adult self. All that energy went where?

I often encourage people to poke their heads into my craft room when they are here. The ooh, the shoulder drop, the energy that shifts is palpable. I feel that inner curious creative self awaken, even momentarily.

You don't need a room (although it can feel utterly fabulous to have one). You don't need oodles of time. You need to start. Is it a poem? Is it playing with colour on a canvas, or a page? Is it rearranging a room just so, to catch the light? Is it a basket of creative intent to dive into in a quiet evening moment?

Creative energy grows with use. It is a little tiny fire inside everyone that loves being tended, and loves you back. Put away any red pen/assessment/valuation that remains from childhood and welcome back, even a tiny ember of playfulness.

Monty is now 6 years old. Hard to believe really. He arrived into my old yoga studio as a little messed up 16 month old,...
03/06/2026

Monty is now 6 years old. Hard to believe really. He arrived into my old yoga studio as a little messed up 16 month old, took a look around, snuggled into the back of my yoga mat and was home. Right from the start he had a touch of the woo, from sensing the energies of people to moments like this. I was packing up after tarot night and managed to capture this moment.

Some context: At the last Practitioners Night that Clare runs at Be Different, Monty came along. He worked out quite quickly that I wasn't running the show. He sat with Clare 'checking' that she knew all the spirits in the room were there. She, understanding him, talked to him outloud that yes they're all meant to be there and all is well in the world. He settled down happily to snooze his way through the evening.

I watched him, last night, sit like this for a good minute or so communing with one of the spirit guardians of the studio. It was quite beautiful. As was the night where we managed to get through the cards Justice and Temperance with a few (alot of) side quests along the way. Thanks lovely tarot crew and the beautiful Be Different Studio.

I remember apprenticing with Dan, remembering earlier training and ideas, trying to translate them into a way of working...
02/06/2026

I remember apprenticing with Dan, remembering earlier training and ideas, trying to translate them into a way of working that was mine. When I landed in Napier, I didn't expect to be massaging but there I was, working for a spa, and working on bodies from all around the world. It took one particular massage to really put it in perspective: A man in his mid-twenties, super fit and super focused. We're nearing the end of the session - chest and neck - and he says

'How do you do that?'
'How do I do what?'
'I haven't flinched once. Usually I'm flinching the whole massage, but I'm like super relaxed. My muscles feel amazing.'

He'd been pummeled his whole life. Go deeper. Push harder. Yet his body had been telling his massage therapists the whole time that this wasn't what he needed.

Don't get me wrong, the odd ouch spot is still important to work on. It's the how. Pummel, or slow deep, patient work to help the body let go?
He'd had massages around the world. He'd booked for deep tissue work not realizing that it's slow, deep, rhythmic work that listens to the body - a flinch says back off, slow down, not go deeper just yet.

We got talking afterwards. He said he felt like a jelly fish. He looked like he needed a nap. I started to recognize then what I love about massage.

It's the listening. Your body knows what it needs. I just need to follow the signals.

I've been learning some new techniques, reviving some old ones, and I'm loving it more each week. Working with a body is sacred, beautiful work. It's taken years to feel comfortable with it, but it's been worth the work.

Yes, Monty and altars is a whole thing. Here he is 'helping' me set up for tarot night So, what happens on a tarot nigh...
01/06/2026

Yes, Monty and altars is a whole thing. Here he is 'helping' me set up for tarot night

So, what happens on a tarot night?

Cacao! We start with a luscious mug of cacao - or a herbal tea if you're not so into cacao. I welcome the beautiful energies everyone has arrived with and thank the guardians of the studio. Sometimes that's where our tangents begin with questions about how all that works. There's no such thing as a silly question, unless you go home with one you didn't ask. I might play the crystal singing bowls in here somewhere, depending on the night.

This month the 'tarot ramble' is about the cards that talk about balance starting with two big hitters - Temperance and Justice - from the major arcana. The major what, you may ask and please do. Let the discussions begin.

At some point towards the end of the evening I'll shuffle the deck and do a general reading for inspiration for the coming month and to see how the cards chat to each other - yes, that's a thing.

We close with thanks to all the energies that have converged and with Monty cuddles - of course.

6-8pm Wednesday 3 June
above Chantal's in Hastings Street, Napier
Cost $25 for the night.
$50 if you'd like a 20ish minute personal reading dropped in your inbox of choice later in the week.
To book, drop me a message.

My weekend nest (yes, the plush seat is Monty's who was off having cuddles) for Taking Yoga Deeper. I arrive with lunch ...
31/05/2026

My weekend nest (yes, the plush seat is Monty's who was off having cuddles) for Taking Yoga Deeper. I arrive with lunch packed into slow cookers in a car that smells like cacao. Someone usually comes out to get Monty whose been announcing our arrival since the corner, and singing to me since we pulled out of the driveway. The crew set the room up, arriving with cushions, bean bags, slippers, and a teddy bear yet to be named. There is laughter now where the shy silences once lived. Life is shared in stories, tears, questions, tangents, digressions and spirals back to the material for the weekend. It is such a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Monday finds deep yawns and slowness. A gentle day to let it soak in and recharge. To eat left overs and try and make notes on those digressions and tangents.

There's a couple of spaces Friday afternoon for Soul Chats or massages, and Saturday afternoon is open this week crew for those who find it hard to get away during the week.

Tarot night is Wednesday this week so I'll pop a post up tomorrow about the theme. Yay to cacao community and more digressions, spirals and tangents.

The kitchen table you don't see in the videos and yes my neighbours are almost as close as the couch in that way that 19...
29/05/2026

The kitchen table you don't see in the videos and yes my neighbours are almost as close as the couch in that way that 1910 little villas were often built. There's enough room for kawakawa though, so one day it will be a little slither of ngahere/forest.

It's a Taking Yoga Deeper morning and last night I cooked the huge pot of lentil yumminess that forms part of lunch. One of the journeys of the moment is being so, so gentle with the way my brain and nervous system work - in what was feeling like opposing directions. I have a new language for it and while it's a lot to process, I'm loving understanding myself more. So, in the image are pretty pens and notes for today that I once attributed to my Virgo nature. Now I know that my brain loved the shopping trip for those pens, as a gift to my nervous system that needs order and lists. Last night I checked in - quiet night or slow morning? Yeah, let's cook! So this morning here I am, tucked up with Monty and coffee. Does that mean I'll cook tonight? I don't know yet and the part of me that needs to know the plan is much calmer knowing there are two plans and energy levels will dictate tonight.

Monty has begun his morning wake up song - yawns with little stories attached - so we'll walk, enjoy slow, before the day of teaching (11-6) arrives. And yes, Monty is most definitely part of Taking Yoga Deeper.

Between the couch and the kitchen table is where the video recording magic happens for the Lilybit subscribers and the T...
29/05/2026

Between the couch and the kitchen table is where the video recording magic happens for the Lilybit subscribers and the Taking Yoga Deeper crew. It's a simple set up although I have a radio mic now which is a bit exciting. It's here I try and capture the yoga magic.

There's a theme of inhabiting, not trying to get anywhere with our practice externally, instead sinking in to our body, our breath, our strength.

I think I fall in love with yoga a little bit each more each year, and with teaching. Maybe that's because I fall a bit more in love with being me each year too.

Address

143 Wellesley Road
Napier
4110

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