What We’ve Shed and Why It Matters
2025 is the Year of the Snake, and we have all been shedding.
Shedding skins. Shedding rules. Shedding expectations that once made sense but no longer fit.
Just like the snake, we’ve grown out of things that used to feel familiar. Old mentalities. Old “shoulds.” Old have-tos. The ways we learned to survive, keep the peace, or stay acceptable…even when those ways cost us something.
We’ve outgrown them.
We feel it.
We know it.
For some, this year has been disruptive. For others, the changes have been quieter, more internal. But either way, something feels undeniable: who you were this time last year is not who you are now.
December 2024 you doesn’t fit anymore.
And if this season feels like you’ve outgrown more than just habits—maybe entire parts of your life—I explore that experience more deeply here: How to Handle Outgrowing Your Life and Embrace Transformation.
Outgrowing the Old Version of You
There’s often a strange moment when you realize you’ve outgrown a version of yourself.
Not because anything was wrong with her, but because she was built for a different season. Different rules. Different responsibilities. Different expectations.
Sometimes the growth feels obvious. Other times, it’s subtle…an internal tension, a quiet discomfort, a sense that something just doesn’t align the way it used to.
That’s the snake energy at work.
The shedding isn’t dramatic for everyone, but it’s thorough. It removes what’s too tight, too heavy, too outdated. It asks us to loosen our grip on identities, beliefs, and patterns that once felt necessary but no longer serve who we’re becoming.
If you find yourself grieving who you used to be…or who you had to be for a long time…you can find more about that process here: How to Grieve the Version of You That Played It Safe.
Moving Toward the Year of the Horse
As we move toward the Year of the Horse, the energy shifts again.
The horse is about movement. Forward motion. Momentum. Carrying us along a new path.
Until modern times, the horse has been our mode of transportation. Our companion on long journeys. Often our only friend on dark, lonely roads. The horse has carried us across unfamiliar terrain, through uncertainty, through nights where the path ahead wasn’t fully visible.
And one thing we know for sure…when you give the horse its head, it knows where to go.
It takes us where we need to be.
It knows the way home.
That feels especially meaningful right now.
We’re no longer who we used to be, and we’re not fully finished becoming who we’re growing into. The Year of the Horse doesn’t require certainty or a perfectly mapped plan. It asks for trust. For willingness. For movement.
It reminds us that sometimes the wisest thing we can do is loosen our grip, stop micromanaging the journey, and let the part of us that knows….lead.
If trusting that inner knowing feels harder than it sounds, you can learn about what to do when intuition challenges you instead of comforting you here: When Intuition Challenges You: What to Do Next.
But….if we’re going to take a journey on a horse, we can’t carry every single brick we’ve ever picked up.
The Bricks We’ve Been Carrying
Imagine a backpack filled with bricks.
Each brick represents something we’ve been hauling around…roles we’ve outgrown, beliefs we inherited, fears we learned early, responsibilities that were never meant to be ours.
If we’re honest, we’ve been carrying far more than we need.
The Year of the Snake has helped us take those bricks out one by one and set them down. Not because they were useless at the time, but because they no longer belong on this next leg of the journey.
We can’t bring everything with us.
And maybe we don’t want to.
So we choose.
We leave behind what no longer fits our identity or our purpose. We carry only what matters…the things that are priceless, the true joys, the values and experiences that actually hold weight in our lives.
That’s all that goes into the backpack as we step into 2026.
Why Letting Go Is Still Hard
Even when something no longer serves us, letting go isn’t always easy.
Those bricks may be heavy, but they’re familiar. We know how to carry them. We know how to live with them. Familiarity brings comfort…even when it’s uncomfortable.
Letting go can bring up fear, grief, resistance, or anxiety. Not because we want to keep what hurts us, but because change…even good change…can feel unstable.
This is where support matters.
This is also why the nervous system matters so much during times of transition. I shared more about that here: How to Reduce Holiday Overwhelm and Protect Your Nervous System.
How Reiki Supports the Letting Go
Reiki is one of the tools I use to help myself release what’s ready to go.
It helps me let go of the things I don’t even realize I’m carrying. And it helps me release the things I do know are no longer serving me…old thought patterns, beliefs, fears, and energetic residue that lingers simply because it’s been there for so long.
Those things can be some of the hardest to release because they feel familiar. Reiki gently loosens their grip. It doesn’t force anything…it creates space for release to happen naturally.
And with each release, the load becomes lighter.
Moving Forward With Intention
As we move toward 2026, the invitation isn’t to rush forward or push harder.
It’s to move with intention. With clarity. With a lighter load.
If this reflection resonates with you, I currently offer two ways of support:
I offer Reiki sessions for when you feel ready to let go of what they’ve been carrying and move forward with more ease and awareness.
I also offer the Nervous System Reset Kit, which includes a Reiki healing meditation you can return to again and again, whenever you need grounding, release, or support.
These are simply options…ways to help you finish shedding what no longer fits, clear what remains from 2025, and step forward with steadiness, strength, and clarity.
And if the idea of forcing a new version of yourself feels exhausting, you might appreciate this reflection: Why “New Year, New You” Doesn’t Work—and What to Do Instead.