20. Wholistic Ecology: Tending to the Whole

In this episode of the Aligned Living Podcast, Iesha deepens into a crucial part of her coaching framework: Wholistic ecology.

This is about recognising that all parts of our lives interact with each other, and they can drain or uplift the whole. Sometimes the journey to living congruently calls for small tweaks, and sometimes it calls for significant renovations and creations, but either way, wholistic ecology matters.

Iesha offers two main lenses for working with this:

Lens 1: Step back and look at the whole

Iesha invites you to look back over your average week, month, or year and ask:

• What is getting your time, energy and focus?

• What is not getting your time, energy and focus?

• Why do you think that is?

She names four common ways people lose alignment when they don’t step back and look at the whole:

1. Focusing only on areas where you feel powerful and confident
   Alignment in one area, no matter how great it gets, won’t automatically create alignment across the board.

2. Focusing only on the most painful area
   Pouring everything into the squeaky wheel isn’t sustainable if the rest of you isn’t being cared for.

3. Giving all attention outwards
   Focusing only on other people can leave you out of alignment with your own inner world.

4. Life gets full, and months or years go by without review
   The doing of daily life can take over, and we lose awareness of how we’re tending to the whole.

Iesha shares an example of a client who came to her for parenting triggers and work frustrations, and when they stepped back and looked at the whole, she realised she hadn’t picked up a paintbrush for two years. Even creating 90 minutes a month for creativity shifted things.

Lens 2: Specific alignment vs wholistic alignment

Iesha names the difference between:

• Specific alignment, choice by choice, task by task

• Wholistic alignment, across the ecology of your whole life

You can be very skilled at moment-to-moment aligned choices, and still have a life that is out of alignment overall, because the whole can have elements of too much or too little.

She uses the example of water and plants: water is aligned for plants, and yet too much or not enough water causes issues. The same is true for us. Something can be aligned, and still be out of balance in proportion and capacity.

What you might find when you review your life

Iesha says when you look back at your month or year, one of two things usually happens:

1. You find misalignment
   You might have normalised it as “this is just how life is”, or used “when-then” thinking. You might have been aware but not feeling like change was possible.

She names some common signals of misalignment: feeling drained, despondent, anxiety and stress, procrastination, resentment, short fuse between event and reaction, dissatisfaction, underutilised, misunderstood, alone, craving time and space.

2. A lot of life is aligned, but the whole has too much or too little
   Life can be too full even if it’s all good, or too empty, where your deeper essence isn’t receiving its minimum requirements.

Iesha references the care label, like the cactus and the tropical plant. Both need water, the amount is different. No one is wrong. This work is about coming home to knowing the deeper you and what you need for your fullest expression.

A practical invitation

If you find misalignment, Iesha invites you to turn the problem into a self-care project. What’s one small step you can take to begin addressing it?

If things are mostly aligned but there’s too much or too little, what’s one supportive next step you can take to bring it into balance?

She reminds you this review is not about judgment or creating a bigger to-do list. It’s about awareness, because once you can see clearly, you’re more able to make kind, congruent changes.

And as always, you don’t have to do this investigation alone.
Iesha is available to support you into Aligned Living.

For more free resources, or to join Iesha's email list visit :
https://ieshadelune.com.au/

To explore 1:1 Wholistic Life Coaching with Iesha visit:

https://ieshadelune.com.au/offerings/wholistic-coaching/