Harnessing the Power of 9 (Iwa) for Daily Harmony and Balance

Te Poutama o te Ora: Climbing Toward Wholeness

There’s a moment many of us experience when we realize that self-help advice, productivity hacks, and wellness trends aren’t quite cutting it anymore. We’ve tried the morning routines, the goal-setting frameworks, the apps that promise to organize our lives. We’ve read the books about habits, listened to the podcasts about purpose, followed the influencers who seem to have it all figured out.

And yet, something still feels fragmented. We’re managing pieces of ourselves rather than experiencing genuine wholeness. We might be crushing it at work while our relationships suffer. We’re physically fit but spiritually depleted. We’ve optimized our schedules but lost touch with our sense of meaning. We’re achieving goals but feeling increasingly disconnected from who we actually are.

The exhaustion isn’t from lack of effort. If anything, we’re trying too hard, juggling too many systems, measuring too many metrics, and wondering why all this self-improvement isn’t translating into feeling more whole, more grounded, more alive.

What if the issue isn’t that we need more tools, but that we need a different kind of map altogether?

A Different Kind of Framework

Te Poutama o te Ora offers that map. Rooted in Māori wisdom and structured around the sacred number nine (Iwa), this framework isn’t about adding another layer to your already-overwhelming to-do list. It’s about understanding the natural architecture of human flourishing and learning to work with it rather than against it.

The name itself holds meaning worth pausing over. “Te Poutama” refers to the stepped pattern found in traditional Māori tukutuku panels—those intricately woven wall panels that adorn meeting houses. The geometric design shows a series of ascending steps, each one building upon the last. It’s a visual representation of progression, growth, and ascent that has guided Māori understanding of personal and collective development for generations.

“Te Ora” speaks to life, health, and wellbeing in its fullest sense—not merely the absence of illness, but the presence of vitality, connection, and purpose. Together, Te Poutama o te Ora translates roughly as “the stairway to wellbeing” or “the ascending pattern of life force.”

But here’s what makes this framework fundamentally different: this isn’t a stairway you climb once, and you’re done. It’s not a twelve-week program or a transformation challenge with a finish line. It’s a living framework that acknowledges the cyclical nature of growth, the importance of rhythm, and the reality that genuine wellness touches every dimension of who we are.

This is not a program to graduate from. You spiral through Te Poutama o te Ora, returning to familiar territory with new awareness, finding depth in elements you thought you’d already mastered, discovering how everything connects in ways you couldn’t see before.

Beyond Fragmentation

Western approaches to personal development often fragment us into categories: physical health over here, mental health over there, career goals in another box entirely, spiritual life (if it’s acknowledged at all) somewhere else completely. We’re told to work on one area at a time, to focus, to isolate variables as if we’re conducting experiments on ourselves.

Te Poutama o te Ora works differently. It recognizes that we are whole beings living in relationship—to ourselves, to our ancestors (whakapapa), to our communities (whānau, hapū, iwi), to the natural world, and to something larger than ourselves. When one element is out of balance, it affects all the others. When we strengthen one dimension, we create ripples of wellbeing throughout the entire system.

The framework consists of nine interconnected elements, each one essential, each one informing the others. These aren’t random categories someone invented at a wellness retreat or corporate training session. They emerge from generations of Māori understanding about what makes life worth living and what enables human beings—and communities—to thrive.

The number nine (Power of Iwa) itself holds significance. In many wisdom traditions, Iwa represents completion, fulfillment, and the bringing together of all elements into a harmonious whole. It’s three times three—triads within triads, cycles within cycles. This mathematical and spiritual harmony isn’t coincidental; it reflects natural patterns that show up everywhere from human gestation periods to phases of the moon to the rhythms of transformation itself.

Working With Natural Rhythms

One of the most powerful aspects of Te Poutama o te Ora is how it aligns with natural cycles. While modern life tries to convince us that we should be the same every day—same energy, same productivity, same capacity—ancient wisdom tells us otherwise. We are tidal beings living on a spinning planet orbiting a star while being pulled by the moon. Expecting ourselves to be constant is like expecting the ocean not to have tides.

This is where the integration with maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar) becomes so relevant. Rather than fighting against our natural rhythms or feeling guilty when our energy and focus shift, we can learn to recognize these patterns and work with them. Some days are for bold action and outward movement. Other days are for reflection, consolidation, and turning inward. Both are essential. Both are productive in the truest sense.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be unpacking each of these nine elements, exploring how they work together, and sharing practical ways to integrate this framework into your daily life. We’ll look at how Te Poutama o te Ora creates a structure for genuine transformation—not the kind that happens through force and willpower alone, but the kind that emerges when we align ourselves with deeper patterns of how growth actually works.

We’ll explore questions like: How do you honor your whakapapa (ancestry) in a disconnected modern world? What does it mean to tend to your wairua (spirit) when you’re not religious? How can understanding your hinengaro (mind and emotions) help you navigate challenging times with more skill? What role does tuakiri (identity) play in living authentically?

An Invitation

But for now, I want to leave you with a question:

That’s the invitation of Te Poutama o te Ora. Not another system to master, but a pathway home to yourself. Not another set of external metrics to meet, but an internal compass that helps you recognize when you’re moving toward greater wholeness and when you’re drifting away from it.

This ancient wisdom made accessible for modern lives. It’s a framework sophisticated enough to honor the complexity of who you are, yet practical enough to guide your daily choices. It’s both deeply rooted in a natural worldview and universally applicable to anyone seeking a more integrated way of being.

Ready to begin the climb?

In the next post, we’ll explore the foundational elements of Te Poutama o te Ora and why the number nine holds such significance in this framework of transformation.