A Season of Pausing, Shedding and Returning
If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been lately, the honest answer is this: life asked me to slow all the way down.
This past season brought a challenging semester at school, a stretch of illness that took me out longer than expected, and then the full force of my kids’ busy robotics season followed closely by the holidays. What began as a temporary pause turned into an extended one, and for a while, I felt untethered from myself.
Only recently have I felt my breath deepen again.
Only now do I feel like I’m truly returning to my self.
At first, I was frustrated. I had been doing so much inner work, and I wasn’t seeing the growth or forward movement I thought should be happening. Being forced into stillness felt uncomfortable, even confronting. But that full stop created space. Space to read, to reflect, and to learn things I never would have encountered if I had kept pushing forward.
And in that quiet, something important began to unfold.
Many of you know that 2025 is considered the Year of the Snake. A year of introspection, shedding old skins, and subtle but powerful transformation. Looking back, that symbolism feels uncannily accurate.
During that time, my yoga and journaling practices centered on letting go. Letting go of beliefs, patterns, relationships, and inner narratives that no longer served me. The process was slow. It was often uncomfortable. And for long stretches, it felt like nothing was happening at all.
But beneath the surface, things were shifting.
Old habits were loosening.
Hidden truths were surfacing.
Clarity was forming—quietly, patiently.
Growth, I’m learning again and again, is rarely linear.
We often want it to look like steady upward progress, but real transformation is more like climbing a mountain. There are steep inclines where your legs burn and your self-talk gets loud. There are long switchbacks where it feels like you’re moving sideways instead of up. It’s only when you pause at the summit that you can look back and see how far you’ve actually come.
And suddenly, every deep breath, every moment of doubt, every step taken in discomfort makes sense.
As we step into this new cycle, often referred to as the Year of the Fire Horse, the energy shifts. Where the Snake had invited inward reflection and Yin energy, the Horse brings Yang: movement, expression, courage, and momentum. Not force. Not strain. But inspired, aligned action.
The Fire Horse invites us to live our truth outwardly after a season of inner work.
To move forward from clarity, not urgency.
From devotion, not pressure.
This has been especially meaningful for me because I’ve spent so many years believing that efforting was the only way. Pushing. Striving. Holding it all together through willpower alone. These last months of unexpected rest showed me how often I was getting in my own way.
I’ve begun paying close attention to my self-talk.
Listening more carefully to my body.
Asking myself what thoughts I would need if I were already living the life I desire.
We are also closing out a nine-year cycle. When I reflect on the last nine years of my life, I feel both humbled and deeply grateful.
Those years were filled with hustle, people-pleasing, and placing others’ needs ahead of my own because I believed that was where my worth lived. They also included the painful but necessary unraveling of a relationship that kept me tethered to an older version of myself.
And yet, those same years led me here.
To becoming a certified life coach.
To building Traci Romeo Coaching.
To creating workshops, holding space for myself and others, writing, and trusting myself in ways I never imagined.
Most importantly, they brought me back into relationship with myself.
I’ve learned how to listen to my body.
How to regulate my nervous system.
How to soften instead of push.
How to choose authenticity over approval.
I’m still shedding beliefs, habits, and expectations that no longer fit.
I’m learning to slow down.
To create white space and actually honor it.
To resist filling every quiet moment with productivity.
Hustle culture no longer has a seat at my table. I am no longer willing to abandon myself for perfection. And I am choosing to let my light shine,even if it makes others uncomfortable.
As I step into this new cycle, my focus is simple and intentional: my well-being, my relationships, and a life that feels aligned in my body, not just impressive on paper.
I trust that my work and offerings will continue to grow from that place—organically, authentically, without force.
This season of deep personal work has also sparked new creative ideas and workshop concepts. I’m allowing them to unfold slowly, checking in with how I want to feel before deciding what comes next.
If you find yourself at a similar crossroads—seeking clarity that honors both where you are and where you’re going—I currently offer a small, intentional clarity package. It includes supported self-reflection tools and embodied practices curated specifically for your nervous system and needs. Click HERE to book a session.
And before you rush ahead, I invite you to pause with me for a moment.
You might reflect on these questions in your journal, during a quiet walk, or simply with a few conscious breaths:
What have the last nine years taught me about who I am?
What beliefs, habits, or relationships am I ready to release?
What have I outgrown—even if it once mattered deeply?
What do I want to protect and nurture in this next season of my life?
If I trusted myself fully, what would I lean into more?
There are no right answers.
This isn’t about fixing or striving.
It’s about listening and remembering.
If any of this stirred something in you, I would truly love to hear from you, a word, a sentence, a reflection, whatever feels true.
As we continue this journey together, my hope is that you keep leaning inward.
Listening deeply.
Exploring your life’s purpose from curiosity and devotion—not fear.
This next cycle feels quieter.
Deeper.
More aligned.
And I’m honored to walk it alongside you.
With much love,
Traci
