Rongoā Māori is Individual: A Conversation with Practitioner and Māori Researcher Bianca Fallon

When Clearhead’s Jo sat down with Rongoā Māori practitioner, hair & makeup artist, and researcher Bianca Fallon, the kōrero quickly revealed two themes that guided everything she shared: 

 
Rongoā Māori is centred on safety, and every practitioner and client is individual. 
Over more than an hour of conversation, Bianca explained her background, training, approach, and the ritual processes she uses to keep clients safe in her kai-rongoā healing space. 

Bianca’s Whakapapa and Early Life 

Bianca began with karakia, takutaku and whenua connection through her pepeha, to Mount Hikurangi, her awa, waka, iwi, hapū, marae, whānau, and tamaiti. She shared that her mother is Māori and Spanish, and her father is Irish and English. She believes this duality has allowed her to straddle both Māori and tau-iwi spaces, honing an ability to enlighten each culture's perspective and positioning. 

Her whānau moved from the East Coast to Auckland when she was 11 years old, a shift she described as a culture shock. During her master’s degree, Bianca recognised the imbalance experienced in her teenage years of whenua, whānau and reo loss, and identity trauma. Her uncle, academic Tania Pohatu, describes the state as “resistant taukumekume” — a concept she later researched and defined as the struggle, the pulling, the throwing, and the indecisiveness. 

After encounters with the police as an underage person, Bianca decided to change the trajectory of her life. 

“The things that we go through in our lives become our purpose, our tacit knowledge and lived experiences.” 

Bianca’s view of privilege also comes from her own upbringing, a roof over her head, food on the table, stability, and parents who loved her, which shaped her sense of responsibility to support whānau who do not have the same starting point. 

From Fashion and Television to Healing Work

Bianca entered the hair and makeup industry through Cut Above Academy, later through contracts with New Zealand Fashion Week, and as the former head of hair and makeup at Māori Television. In those fast-paced environments, she recognised a significant issue: 

“We touch heads for a living, which is tapu. The industry had no tikanga and kawa to keep us safe.” 

This recognition led her to postgraduate study. Her master’s explored “the shape shifting of wairuatanga” in hair and makeup spaces and the loss of ritual practices after the Tohunga Suppression Act of 1907. Two years of formal training in Rongoā Māori followed, and Bianca is now completing a Professional Services PhD at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi as the recipient of Te Rau Ora Māori Leaders Health Scholarship. 

What Rongoā Māori Means to Bianca 

When Jo asked how she would describe Rongoā to someone new, Bianca began: 

“Rongo is the atua of peace.” 

For her, Rongoā Māori includes much more than table work. 

“Everything to me is Rongoā, the music we listen to, the food we eat, the company we keep, the conversations that are had.” 

From a Western lens, people often see Rongoā as a massage on a table; this is not correct. Bianca explained that it can be hands-on or hands-off depending on comfort, trauma history, and trust. She emphasised that communication with the practitioner is essential. 

Most importantly: 

“It is completely different for every practitioner and every client.” 

Each iwi, hapū, whānau, and individual practitioner has their own processes, guided by whakapapa, training, intuition, and the needs of the person in front of them. 

The Central Role of Kawa, Tikanga and Safety 

Safety was the most consistent theme across Bianca’s entire kōrero. 

She explained: 

Tikanga is flexible. Kawa is not. 

Kawa includes karakia, waiata, takutaku (reciting karakia), maramataka (Māori lunar calendar), and other practices that “resonate with the intangible and pull it into the tangible.” 

These ritual processes protect both the practitioner and the client. Bianca described the energetic exchange in Rongoā Māori as significant. She said that this is why preparation, grounding, proper opening and closing of healing sessions are essential, and the time to do this should be acknowledged. 

Jo reflected on how many times Bianca spoke about safety, and Bianca agreed: 

“The safety, the intentions, the safety is priority.” 

What a Healing Session with Bianca Looks Like 

Bianca repeatedly said she cannot speak for other practitioners; each works differently. But she explained her own process clearly. 

1. First session (kanohi ki te kanohi) 

This involves kōrero, teaching systems, grounding tools, and establishing understanding. 

 
Clients do not “trauma dump”; many have already done that through talk therapy counselling. Bianca speaks more than the client in this session and sets the foundations for their restorative work. 

2. Future sessions (intergenerational trauma clearance) 

This focuses on whakapapa and inherited patterns. Clients often fear this session, but she describes it as: 

“The most liberating, freeing space.” 

She uses structured questions to help clients recognise what comes through their bloodlines. 

3. Table work 

Only after the first few sessions does table work take place. 

“By the time I put them on the table, we are shifting any residue.” 

Bianca stressed that some practitioners start with table work immediately and that this also works, but it is simply not her methodology. 

Why People Come to Rongoā Māori 

Bianca receives referrals from psychologists, counsellors, ACC sensitive claims, and people recently out of rehabilitation. These clients may still feel heavy despite years of talk therapy. 

She works with judges, gang leaders, people “up in wairua,” and people from many cultures. Her work is to help people feel: 

• safe 
• balanced 
• empowered 
• sovereign 
• able to heal themselves 

She gives clients daily practices including karakia, grounding, eating routines, sleep, hydration, connection to maramataka and the elements, and free ritual processes accessible to anyone. 

She is direct and holds clients accountable: 

“If you come down this driveway and you haven’t done your homework, I will send you back up.” 

How Bianca Holds Healing Space 

Bianca sees herself as a mirror for clients, reflecting back what she sees with honesty and care. She helps people drop their “masks” to become authentic and reconnect with their divine, spiritual, emotional, and physical selves. 

“Most Rongoā Māori practitioners… we don’t look like our trauma.” 

She emphasised that future practitioners must do their own healing before they can safely support others. 

As Bianca made clear throughout her kōrero, there is no single way to practise Rongoā Māori. Every practitioner works differently. Every client is different. Rongoā must be approached in a way that is intuitive, bespoke, and grounded in safety. Kawa, tikanga, karakia, waiata, takutaku and ritual practices hold that safety in place. Or, as Bianca put it herself: 

“Every iwi and hapū and whānau has their own processes, and each Rongoā Māori practitioner has their own practices because each client is completely different.” 

This individuality is not a limitation; it is the heart of the practice.