Intro by Meg Olsen, quoted contributions & practices from the Balanced Rock team:

Heather Sullivan, Meg Olsen, Paula Wild, Darcy Blackburn, & Makaya Mackie

December 31, 2025

There is something primordial about standing at a threshold.

Something aching and deeply human, the mind searching for understanding and latching onto the potency of standing between worlds.

This liminal stretch of time we are afforded each year—the space between what has been and what has yet to arrive—carries a quiet, unassuming power. The days behind us are still close enough to brush with our fingertips, while the days ahead linger just beyond our grasp—full of possibility, uncertainty, and fledgling promise.

This present moment and all that exists in between invites us to gently fold inward. Like the petals of a poppy performing their nightly nyctinastic ritual, we too are called to honor our internal rhythms. To pause. To soften. To listen. To hold both remembrance and hope, woven together with gratitude.

As we collectively turn toward the new year, we can do so with that same embodied sense of reverence. Gratitude for what has shaped us, and for what has fallen away to lighten our load. For the lessons learned and the relationships held, for the griefs honored and the joys that surprised us. With intention, we can move forward as we hope to continue: with care, presence, community, and a deep respect for the natural rhythms that sustain us.

May this new year and next chapter meet you with steadiness, curiosity, and a deep sense of belonging.

A Collective Offering for a New Year

At Balanced Rock, we honor transitions as special opportunities for reflection. We believe in listening closely to our bodies, to the land, and to one another. In honoring cycles rather than rushing through them. As the wheel of the year turns, the members of our team have gathered a few simple offerings: reflections, practices, and affirmations that are supporting us— shared in the spirit of connection and community.

What follows is a small sampling of what we’re tending as we step into the year ahead. ✨

starry night and mountains in Yosemite National Park

Honoring Winter’s Call to Rest

“Embrace the seasonality of winter, which begs us to rest, relax, go inward, and be still. Delight in a ‘long winter nap’ or more sleep during this dark time of year. It is totally ok to go to bed at 6:00pm! An easy practice I really enjoy is stepping outside first thing in the morning and just before going to bed and feeling the cool winter air on my face, noticing the stars and moon phase. Often the urge to express gratitude follows.”

~ Practice & words shared by Heather Sullivan

Winter asks for less, not as a failure of productivity but as a wise recalibration. Embracing practices that celebrate rest and relaxation allow this season to feel more easeful. Delight in the long nights, take naps without apology. Give your body permission to go to bed at early if that’s what it wants. This is not laziness; it is deep attunement.

Exploring This Practice: “An easy practice I really enjoy is stepping outside first thing in the morning and just before going to bed and feeling the cool winter air on my face, noticing the stars and moon phase. Often the urge to express gratitude follows.”

Dancing Through the Dark

“This time of year can feel dense and heavy—especially in the northern hemisphere—when our instincts tell us to hibernate and seek stillness. While there is deep wisdom in honoring that impulse, I’ve also found it incredibly balancing to cultivate space for joy and liberation through embodied movement.”
When days are shorter and the air carries a biting chill, movement will probably feel counterintuitive. But even in moments of stillness, the body still moves: the beating heart, the autonomic breath, the neural firings. I find inspiration in that quiet duality, and one of my favorite winter rituals is joyful, uninhibited movement. Nothing performative or structured, just letting the soft creature of my body move how she wants.
**Exploring This Practice:** put on a favorite playlist (here is a feel-good playlist of mine that I love). Turn off the overhead lights (dreamy, moody lighting is key!). No mirrors. No choreography. No judgment. Just sensation, wild expression, and whatever wants to shake loose.
Beginning the year in embodied, joyful movement can be a gentle way to release what you’ve been carrying and clear space for all the goodness that is to come!
*~ Practice & words shared by* *Meg Olsen*

Sitting with Stillness: Reishi Tea Ritual

“If you find yourself awake in the wee hours of the morning, while it’s still quiet and dark; brew up a cup of Reishi mushroom tea and sit with it in silence. Let yourself venture down into the underworld of dark, fertile soil and roots, and be embraced by the support of the forest.”

Winter invites us into a different kind of productivity; one that happens quietly and out of sight. While the landscape above appears bare, essential work is unfolding below the surface: roots strengthening, soil replenishing, systems preparing for what comes next. Human bodies follow similar rhythms, often asking for more rest, warmth, and support during darker months.

In choosing stillness rather than effort, we enter a deeper layer of participation—one where unseen processes are allowed to do their work without our interference. Reishi is often called the “mushroom of immortality” and has long been used to support rest, resilience, and the nervous system, aligning naturally with this season of unseen renewal.

This practice is less about doing and more about trusting what unfolds in the dark. As you sit with the warmth of the tea, allow yourself to rest in the silence, and know that something is quietly forming beneath the surface. The stillness you cultivate now becomes the ground from which unexpected clarity, creativity, and growth will emerge when the light returns.

Exploring this Practice: a Simple Reishi Tea Recipe

Simmer ½ tablespoon of sliced Reishi mushroom in ½ quart (16 oz) of water for 15 minutes.(If using Reishi powder, use about ¼ teaspoon.)
Strain, sip slowly, and receive

~ Practice & words shared by Paula Wild. Credit for the practice: School of the Sacred Wild

Starting Your Day with Self-Care
“This new year, I invite you to welcome more self care into your mornings. Begin by sipping warm lemon water and offering yourself a gentle face massage using a face oil, moving lymph and softening pressure points. Pause to reflect on the present, practice gratitude, and journal your dreams into being.”
**Exploring this Practice:** Before the rush of the day begins, start slowly. Sip warm lemon water. Offer yourself a gentle face massage with a nourishing oil—moving lymph, softening pressure points, and waking the tissues with care rather than force.
Pause here and notice your breath. Reflect on the present moment. Invite in a sense of gratitude. And if it feels right, take a few minutes to journal—name intentions, dreams, or simply what you’re noticing as this new chapter begins.
**Affirmation:**
*I begin from softness, and my life blooms from there.*
*~ Practice & words shared by* *Darcy Blackburn*

Creating Space for Creativity

“Creating space for creativity by making art as a way to explore, reflect, and express what I’m feeling.”

~ Words shared by Makaya Mackie

Exploring This Practice: Set aside intentional time with no expectations attached. Gather simple materials in the artistic medium that you feel called to: paper, paint, pens, clay, whatever you have on hand, and let yourself begin without a plan. This isn’t about making something “good” or finished. It’s about showing up and seeing what wants to come through.

Let your hands lead. Follow colors, shapes, or textures that feel interesting in the moment. Notice what emotions or thoughts surface as you create, without needing to name or fix them. Allow the process itself to be the point. A space for reflection, curiosity, and expression.

When you’re done, take a moment to sit with what you’ve made. Notice how it feels to give your inner world a place to land in the tangible plane.

These powerful thresholds of transition don’t end with the new year; they continue to unfold across the turning seasons.

As winter gives way to spring, we’ll be gathering in Ojai Valley this March for a retreat centered on spring awakening—a time of balance, renewal, and creating space for the seeds of intention we set to begin their bloom. Together, we’ll explore practices that support emergence, clarity, and reconnection through movement, reflection, and time in nature.

If these offerings resonate, we warmly welcome you to join us in Ojai this March!

Soulful Sojourn: Spring Awakening Retreat in Ojai, CA