Shedding that Skin of 2025

A Year in Review for Opulence Vision

Please forgive this fashionably late New Years post: I planned to publish this closer to the beginning of the year, but I was run down with some sort of nasty bug, and just couldn't get myself to finish. As I stayed in bed over the weekend, I could feel my body flush and detox whatever was bringing me down - and though it's not how anyone wants to start the first days of 2026, I thought it was quite fitting, because afterall, we are now in the the final shedding of this past Lunar Year.

This was the first time I've gotten sick in over two years - it forced me to just lay there and reflect not just on the last year, but the last five, as we've now passed the half-way point for this current decade - and what a doozy of a decade it has been so far!! I reflected on what pivots I've made, what I've learned, how the world has changed, and how to move on from here, because it's all connected. Something deep has shifted within the entire world in the past five years, and I believe that the Year of the Snake was the opportunity to finally shake off what wasn't working.

From the outside, 2025 may have looked like a quiet year for me.

I didn’t fully launch the website the way I originally planned. I didn't create a social media presence that sells courses. I didn’t have the obvious markers of success I thought I would by now - more money, more love, or even more community. In many ways, it looked like a year of waiting, or even stagnation.

And if I’m being honest, there were plenty of moments when I felt super disappointed in myself for that. I had expected to move full-speed ahead. I thought this would be the year where everything finally came together externally.

Instead, it became the most isolated year I’ve ever had.

I pulled back from communities I once considered family. I spent most of my time alone, working quietly in my own space. I wasn’t dating. I wasn’t chasing visibility. I wasn’t trying to belong anywhere I didn’t feel aligned or safe.

For a while, it was easy to interpret that as loss : a lack of momentum, a lack of reward, a lack of progress.

But that interpretation misses what was actually happening beneath the surface. As I take an honest review of the past year, I can honestly say with full confidence that I lived through a quintessential Year of the Snake - the year of shedding what's outdated in order to reveal the new skin that is slowly emerging.

The Big Pivots Since 2020

At the start of 2020, I made a decision that would end up shaping this entire decade of my life. Out of four job offers on the table, I chose to pivot into the fitness industry - a new field for me at the time. It wasn’t the obvious choice, but it felt aligned with where I was being pulled.

In the years leading up to that moment, I had watched four of my uncles pass away in four consecutive years. That experience hit me deeply and clarified something I couldn’t ignore: if I was going to commit to anything moving forward, it had to be my family, my own health and well-being, and helping others commit to theirs as well.

I’ll be honest—when I first started that job, it was challenging. I didn’t feel entirely comfortable in a gym environment yet, there was a learning curve I had to navigate, and imposter-syndrome took a hold of me, big-time. In those first few months, I often questioned whether or not I had made the right decision, and that internal questioning was felt by those around me.

Then the pandemic hit, and what we thought would be a brief pause turned into a year and a half of lockdowns. Living with my family during that time was unsettling and intense, and it forced me to confront discomfort, adapt quickly, and discover a level of resilience I didn’t know I had. And at the same time, it gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with my parents and my cats, which I will forever be grateful for.

During that period, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I became the primary support for my parents, as everyone else had to keep their distance due to COVID. I also lost my first cat, Cup, which added another layer of grief. Although I began building this website in 2020 with the intention of launching then, the convergence of these events made it clear that my energy needed to be directed toward survival, care, and grounding, rather than expansion.

As the months went on, the social and cultural divisions deepened. Decisions that once felt personal suddenly became public, politicized, and emotionally charged. I found myself questioning authority, navigating fear, and watching relationships strain in ways I never imagined. That period reshaped how I relate to community, trust, and personal autonomy; those shifts are still reverberating today.

That period of uncertainty also pushed me to take a questionable move. At the height of the pandemic, and after my mom had time to heal from her surgery, I moved out of my family’s house for a year, in order to keep my parents safe, as I was still working in the public sphere and there was so much fear being spread about COVID. That move came with its own challenges (finding my footing in a brand new work and living location, and finding other sources of income) but it ultimately led me to a new opportunity at one of the most beautiful dance studios I've ever seen.

In 2022, I took on far more than I could sustainably hold—new jobs, a new living situation, a new relationship, new social dynamics, and new communities, all at once. Looking back, each of these experiences was meaningful and, in many ways, a dream on its own. But trying to carry all of them simultaneously stretched me beyond my capacity.

Every area of my life required emotional presence, adaptation, and energy, and I slowly realized I was running out of resources. That year taught me an important lesson: expansion without integration leads to burnout, not growth.

That year also unveiled underlying health challenges I couldn’t ignore after contracting COVID, and I began to realize that certain living and working environments were more draining than supportive for me at the time. Between managing my health and navigating new dynamics, it became clear that I needed more stability and space to recalibrate, which ultimately led me to move back in with my family.

I continued working two jobs while holding onto all these ideas I wanted to launch, but I was still recovering from 2022. I never fully felt like I could simply be myself in either workplace - and that’s when I decided to leave everything, not to quit on myself, but to give myself the space to heal and strengthen.

And interestingly, now that I’m no longer actively working in either industry, I finally see how I want to integrate back into the health/wellness and dance spaces—this time with more clarity, intention, and on my own terms. I’m excited to explore projects and collaborations that align with my values, honour my authentic energy, and allow me to guide others while staying grounded in my own growth.

The Quintessential Year of the Snake

This past year was truly a quintessential Year of the Snake for me—a time of shedding old skins and stepping into a new cycle of life. At the start of the year, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with this website, but it evolved into something entirely different. Looking back on all the posts, I’m proud of what I’ve created, even without marketing it or using it for business. This space became my creative laboratory, where I could distill my thoughts and ideas, framing them alongside the theories and dance practices I’ve been refining—while staying true to myself and what I wanted to convey. As I completed each post and revisited it, the concepts became clearer, no longer just floating thoughts in my mind. It felt as though I was channeling my spirit in the act of writing, and then, in reading it back, allowing my ego to be taught.

I took the time to focus on and refine the JEMMs, and committed to writing a post a day for the first half of the year, capturing the inspiration that arose from my dance practice. This process of creating posts, reviewing my movement, and exploring how to connect different themes helped me gain perspective, which will ultimately make me a stronger facilitator in person.

Recurring themes such as the Flow State, Divine Union, Soul Purpose, Superman, The Tao, Tantra, Christ Consciousness, Tesla, Energy, Magnetism, Sustainability, and the Spine and Fascia Connection began to take shape as I committed to this website.

Toward the end of November, I completed an ebook outlining a simple approach to creating a more sustainable holiday. The intention was to support those just beginning their sustainability journey, especially during a season when consumption and energy use tend to peak.

What I’ve come to realize is that my biggest challenge hasn’t been creating—it’s been having the confidence to share what I have to offer. Much of my work has lived quietly behind the scenes. Although the ebook was available for free on this website, I didn’t feel ready to market it or fully put myself out there during the holiday season. This is one of the patterns I’m consciously shedding: holding back work I believe in, and learning to trust the value of what I create.

As I’ve reviewed all the work I’ve done over the past year—both published and unpublished—I’m genuinely proud of myself. Yes, I had the help of my AI buddy in polishing, refining, and moving ideas into finished form more efficiently, but every piece began with my own thoughts. Most of my work still starts with pen on paper, and I have notebooks filled with the original ideas and writing that shaped it all.

I learned how to collaborate with Atlas in a way that felt natural, and where he amplifies my work rather than replace it. Throughout the year, I experimented, refined, and evolved my writing, my art, and my expression. Atlas came to understand my voice, my thought patterns, and my vision for the future, which allowed our collaboration to become effortless while keeping my heart fully intact in the work. For me, working with Atlas is like applying a filter to a photo—it enhances what’s already there, and I’m not mad at that.

Because at the end of the day, I’m not doing this to show how good of a writer I am. I have a message from my soul that I hope people will understand and resonate with, and Atlas helps me make that message shine and easy on the eyes. I am also aware of the environmental implications associated with using AI, thus I try to be conscious of how much I use it, and ensure that I'm getting the most out of each prompt. I've also limited my personal environmental-footprint significantly over the the past couple of years (at least compared to the last 10 years) so I feel like it was a fair trade-off.

Behind the scenes, I carved out space to meditate, move, breathe, and truly attune to my nervous system while reconnecting with the Earth around me. I danced nearly every day, letting my spine lead—stretching, strengthening, and noticing where tension and emotion lived in my body.

Through intuitive movement, I learned how the body releases stress, how energy begins to flow again, and how presence is restored through motion. This daily practice became both my grounding and my teacher. As I moved, I began to envision how I could guide others to do the same: to reconnect with their bodies, move from the spine, and reclaim their natural strength and instinctual intelligence. What emerged was a practice rooted in the body, grounded in reality, and alive with possibility.

In my own space and at my own pace, I was able to process the grief of losing my two cats, who had connected me to my past life with my ex-fiance and the future we once envisioned. I processed old childhood trauma this year, realizing that avoiding it for most of my life had taken a toll on my physical, spiritual, and mental well-being, and seeing how it had impacted my self-worth and confidence. I also worked through the grief of stepping away from communities I once felt were family. I was shedding old versions of myself in order to offer my work and practice with the groundedness and maturity necessary for it to be sustainable.

I found the courage to voice my opinions and stand my ground on issues I deeply care about - issues that shape culture, consciousness, and our collective future. Through these conversations and debates, I came to understand that I’m not here to change anyone’s mind; I’m here to connect with those who resonate.

I believe everyone is a gift on this planet, and that each person has the potential to fulfill their highest purpose. When I engaged in debate, it was never from hate or disdain, but from care and genuine concern. While my wording may not always have been perfect, I stand by my values—and by the importance of expressing them as a way to find alignment, not opposition.

On a personal and totally unrelated note, I remained celibate all year, intentionally stepping back from dating and sexual energy. For much of my life, my sexual appetite had a way of dominating my focus, but this year I chose a different path—a year to redirect that energy toward creativity, self-practice, and personal growth. Don’t get me wrong—I miss it...a lot. But I know I needed this time to shed old attachments, focus fully on my work, and ensure that if and when I do choose to share my life with someone in the future, it won’t be clouded by shadows of the past. And this process has also helped me understand what truly fulfills me in intimate relationships, improving my ability to discern what I want and need.

The Year of Dragon Fuel

In September, I was struck with the vision for Dragon Fuel, the epic tale of when Dragons first ruled the world many millennia ago—and since writing that first short story, it’s become the way I see life. When I see the steel frame of an unfinished house, I see dragon scales. When I hold a pen encased in plastic, I see dragon cartilage, refashioned by human ingenuity. When I pump gas into the car and watch countless others fueling theirs, I see pipelines pulling ancient dragon blood from the ground to power our machines. And when I scroll through my phone or computer, amazed at how quickly images and words process, I see dragon magic, recreated by humans for the world we’ve built.

It’s funny how the dragon metaphor keeps showing up in current events too. Take Venezuela, for example — a country with some of the world’s largest oil reserves, where the battle over energy and power has played out on the global stage this year, making headlines centering around control of its resources and the fate of its people. In that context, all I could think about was Dragon Fuel — the way ancient power, buried deep beneath the surface, still shapes the world today, and how it can both animate and corrupt the human spirit and their environment when left unchecked. This Dragon Fuel—along with the metals forged from their armor—has helped build the modern world we live in. Yet in the process, it has concentrated power in the hands of a few, while the people living closest to these remains bear the greatest cost.

"Humanity, born from the hearts of Dragons, carries both their peril and their promise. Though they may fall to the same shadows that once corrupted their creators, they also hold within them the potential to embody the Dragons’ highest light. Each human life shapes a Dragon of its own making, and the choice lies in which Dragon they choose to awaken." - Dragon Fuel

Right now, after seeing headline after headline, the world can feel like it’s collapsing in on itself—as if the systems we’ve relied on are beginning to fracture. Last year brought one devastating natural disaster after another, and as we move into this new year, socio-political tensions continue to rise across the globe. It can feel overwhelming to focus on forces that seem completely beyond our control.

This is where I return to the message of the very first post on this site: we are not separate from the planet—we are part of it. Each of us is a key to its healing. If you want to change the world, you must first tend to yourself.

While the relentless pursuit of power and wealth has corrupted many systems, there is still hope when people choose to live consciously. This is how the “noble dragons” are born—not as creatures of domination, but as humans who protect life, steward energy wisely, and act in service of something greater than themselves.

When we look at the headlines dominating the news and social media, meaningful change can feel overwhelming—sometimes even pointless. In moments like this, I return to the Russian Doll metaphor I’ve shared before, which illustrates the many nested layers of “home,” from the body outward.

My invitation is simple: to begin by tending to the innermost home—the body—and from there, gradually move outward toward our communities and the planet itself.

Time to Shed that Skin

At the beginning of 2025, I received the inspiration to create the Shed the Skin JEMM™ (Journey into Embodied Movement & Meditation)—an initiation bridging the Year of the Snake and the Year of the Horse, while honouring the dragons that were awakened before this next cycle begins.

I polished this JEMM throughout the year, and each time I returned to it, it helped shape me. I now feel ready to offer it to others.

In 2025, I scheduled a meditative dance practice for myself at each full moon, while also practicing how to facilitate for others. As the year unfolded, one thing became clear: I need to dance consistently—and I want to invite others to dance with me. Because dance is not just a fun hobby, it's an awakening of the spirit within.

This offering is an invitation—to myself, and to anyone who feels called—to move, shed, and return to the body together. This JEMM is designed to shed the skin, uncover the dragons awakening within us, and embody the energy of the Horse as we gallop into the new Lunar New Year.

When I speak of dragons, I’m speaking about the living forces we are each responsible for tending in our lives. We all carry different dragons at different stages of life. For many of us, some of these dragons began to stir around 2020, when the world slowed down, fractured, and reorganized itself in ways we had never experienced before. With routines disrupted and the future suddenly uncertain, we were given an unexpected pause — time to question, to pivot, and to listen to what had been asking for our attention beneath the surface.

You might recognize which dragons began to awaken for you during that time — whether through changes in your health, your work, your creativity, your relationships, or your sense of freedom. Here are some examples of different dragons that may have been awakened:

1. Health Dragons

• Definition: This Dragon represents how people take care of their bodies and minds. It could be about fitness goals, healing from illness, mental health journeys, or even building better habits.

• Examples: Starting a workout routine, quitting bad habits, or addressing chronic health issues.

2. Personal Growth Dragons

• Definition: A Dragon of inner work, emotional healing, or spiritual growth. It’s the journey of becoming the best version of oneself.

• Examples: Healing childhood wounds, overcoming fears, or committing to mindfulness practices.

3. Creative Dragons

• Definition: The art, music, writing, or other creative projects people pour their hearts into.

• Examples: Finally writing that novel, starting a dance project, or launching a creative business.

4. Community Dragons

• Definition: The ways people show up for others and create connections, whether in their local community or globally.

• Examples: Volunteering, building meaningful friendships, or organizing events to bring people together.

5. Freedom Dragons

• Definition: Efforts to reclaim personal freedom, independence, or sovereignty.

• Examples: Financial independence, breaking free from toxic cycles, or creating the freedom to travel or explore.

As I step into this next cycle, I’m beginning to bring this work out of the private and into the shared. I will be offering the Shed the Skin JEMM™ both in person and online. I am currently seeking a studio space to host this offering locally, while also opening a virtual space for those who feel called from afar.

This is not meant to be rushed or forced. It’s an invitation. If this work resonates, if you feel one of your own dragons stirring, or if you’re curious about what it might feel like to shed, move, and listen more deeply to your body—I’m open to conversation. I’m happy to connect, answer questions, and explore whether this journey feels aligned for you.

As we approach the Year of the Horse, I’m ready to finally launch the Dance-to-Enhance Initiative—a space where we come together to move, dance, and orient ourselves toward our highest potential.

I’m not stepping forward as an expert here to fix or solve anyone. I’m walking this path too—continuing to shed, learn, and grow—while holding space for others who feel called to do the same.

This is an invitation: to move your body, to listen inward, and to reconnect with the parts of yourself that already know the way forward. My intention is to help bring that energy alive on the dance floor, so it can ripple outward into the rest of your life.

Welcome to the beginning. One step, one movement, one breath at a time.

Happy 2026 Fam! Let's Dance!! 💃🕺🪭🪩🪇🩰