Tanya Harris

Maker · Mother · Human

Always finding
my way
home.

New Zealand born. Shaped by wellness, psychology, movement, marriage, motherhood and nearly two decades of living far from where I started. Looking back, I can see that each chapter has pointed in the same direction.

Right now, I am building Pause.

Maker · Mother · New Zealand · Pause. Ceramics · Amsterdam · Bali · Kintsugi · The Morning Ritual · Pinched by Hand · Maker · Mother · New Zealand · Pause. Ceramics · Amsterdam · Bali · Kintsugi · The Morning Ritual · Pinched by Hand ·

Life, So Far

A life lived
in many
directions.

I danced competitively from the age of five until fifteen — long weekends, competitions, the commitment that kind of dedication requires. That work ethic stayed with me. It just found different things to work on.

None of it was planned. Health science, psychology and nutrigenomics. A camera. Yoga mats across many countries. Seven years of wellness work with people I genuinely cared about. A villa in Bali reshaped into a beautiful family home. Each one left me with something useful.

I left New Zealand in my early twenties and spent nearly two decades living across Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, back to New Zealand, then Bali and now Amsterdam. Each place was different. Some moves were harder than others. I learned something from all of them.

The personal work — looking honestly at my own beliefs, the patterns I had inherited, the ones I wanted to change — was one of the most useful things I have ever done. It changed how I see myself, and it changed how I wanted to mother.

That work is still ongoing. I think most people have a version of this story — the unexpected turns, the plans that changed, the feeling that it was all part of something. At 41, I feel settled in a way I did not always expect to. It has taken a while, and I am glad for all of it.

Through all of it, I kept coming back to the same thing: the importance of a quiet moment before the day begins. That small window of time that is just yours. I spent years helping people protect it. Now I am making something for it.

The chapters

i.

The Foundation Health science, psychology & nutrigenomics. Ten years of competitive dance, from five to fifteen. An early understanding of the body, movement and what consistency looks like.

ii.

The Eye Photographer. Learning to look at the world with precision and care — to slow down and pay attention.

iii.

The Teaching Yoga teacher, nutrigenomics practitioner and mindfulness coach for seven years — designing and delivering wellness programmes across New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Europe.

iv.

The Pacific Years Australia. Papua New Guinea. Vanuatu. Fiji. Back to New Zealand. Years of living across the Pacific, each place adding a new layer.

v.

Tranquil House Bali Renovated and reshaped into a beautiful family home and high-end Airbnb, achieving Superhost and 5-star status. Still ours. Still welcoming people in.

vi.

The Inner Work Yoga teacher training. Sitting honestly with limiting beliefs and inherited stories. One of the most useful things I have ever done — and something I am still learning from.

vii.

The Roles That Stayed Mother. Wife. Sister. Daughter. Friend. The identities that never changed, no matter how many times everything else did.

viii.

Now Project Specialist at Firemane. Maker of Pause. Ceramics. Amsterdam. Clay under my fingernails and a full life around me.

That first quiet moment of the day — before the noise starts, before anyone needs anything — is worth protecting. It belongs to you.

Pause. · The morning ritual · Amsterdam

Life, Now

How I Live

Grounded in
what matters.

Most of my days revolve around my family. I am a mother and wife first — as present as possible, hands-on, and genuinely glad to be so. I do not see it as a sacrifice. It is a choice I make every day, and it shapes everything else.

On a project basis I bring two decades of varied experience to the work in front of me — currently with Firemane B.V. in Amsterdam. But the role I am most enjoying right now is maker. Building Pause. from the ground up, with my hands literally in the clay, is where all those years of experience are coming together.

Making

Pause.
Ceramics.

Handmade, handleless mugs for the morning ritual. Each piece is made for the quiet before the day starts. Each piece is pinched entirely by hand in Amsterdam — no moulds, no wheel. Stamped with a single word before firing. Sold in sets of two and four. Rooted in Kintsugi — the philosophy that what is broken, mended and imperfect is more beautiful for it.

Made by hand, for the quiet before everything else starts.

Visit Pause. Ceramics →