THE TIME TO LET GO

It is never easy to let go of what no longer serves us — yet letting go is often what allows us to become our truest selves.

In the Chinese calendar, 2025 was the Year of the Snake. For many of us, it was a year marked by loss, endings, and breakups. Much like a snake shedding its skin, we were asked to release what no longer fit, what had become too tight, too heavy, or too limiting. And just as shedding requires vulnerability, healing requires stillness. After loss, we often need time for quiet… time for nothingness… time to gently go inward at our own pace.

As we enter 2026, many voices tell us to rush into new goals and resolutions. But according to the Chinese calendar, the new year does not truly begin until February 17, when we welcome the Year of the Fire Horse.

Winter invites us to move at nature’s pace. Just as bears hibernate to conserve their energy, we too can allow ourselves to rest, reflect, and restore. This is a season to tend to our wounds from 2025, to honor what we have lost, and to reconnect with what truly matters. It is a time to reevaluate our values, our boundaries, and our non-negotiables as we prepare for new relationships — whether friendships, professional connections, or romantic partnerships.

Like a seed beneath the soil, we are not idle during this season of stillness. We are gathering strength. We are rooting. We are preparing to grow.

As the new Chinese year approaches, we can remain gentle with ourselves — healing, strengthening, and grounding — so that when spring arrives, we are ready to rise and flourish. Not from force or urgency, but from a deep, steady foundation. Through yoga and meditation, journaling, creative expression, dance, or time in nature, we reconnect with our soul and remember who we truly are.

When we are rooted yet flexible, strong yet open, we can meet whatever the new year brings with grace and confidence. A confidence that comes not from control, but from trust — trust in ourselves, trust in our path, and trust in the wisdom of our own becoming.

Self-care is not selfish. It is sacred. When we take time to know ourselves, we learn to love and accept ourselves more fully. And when we allow our light to shine, it becomes a blessing not only for us, but for everyone around us.

When we do our inner work, we rise together — not from ego or power, but from the soul. From a place where we honor one another, where we recognize the light within each other, and where we walk forward rooted, healed, and ready for what’s to come.

If this season is asking you to slow down, to listen, and to care for yourself more deeply, my yoga classes offer a sacred space to do just that.

Come as you are. Rest when you need. Move with intention. Heal at your own pace.

Your mat is waiting for you.