Preparing for a Pivotal Year
As we move deeper into the Ox month, the energy shifts in a way that asks for something very specific from us: preparation without urgency.
The year ahead — the year of the Yang Fire Horse — is not a gentle one.
It is decisive, catalytic, and fast-moving.
Fire at that level does not wait for us to catch up. It amplifies whatever foundation already exists.
This is why the Ox month matters.
Before speed comes weight.
Before ignition comes structure.
Before movement comes the question: what am I actually standing on?
Recently, that question became impossible for me to ignore.
Climbing Table Mountain in South Africa had been on my bucket list for more than twenty years.
Not as a hike — but as a meeting with something far older and larger than myself.
In Feng Shui, it is one of the first land formations you learn about: a place of power that anchors, protects, and reveals.
The climb took 7.5 hours.
Gruelling, slow, and utterly uncompromising.
There were two moments on that mountain where something deep released — primal, physical, and undeniable.
Not emotional processing.
Not insight…
Something older, something powerful moved through my body.
A letting go that came from staying present long after comfort had disappeared and pain set in.
It was cathartic in the truest sense of the word — raw, grounding, and irreversible.
By the time I came down, one thing was clear.
Offering beautiful spa rituals, and working at the sensory level of wellbeing, is still true. It remains meaningful, grounding, and an important element in my journey.
It is simply no longer enough on its own.
Not after what had been asked of my body.
Not after being shown so clearly what real transformation requires.
The Ox month does this.
It strips away performance and asks for commitment that can carry weight.
And that is the preparation required for the Yang Fire Horse year ahead.
Fire doesn’t create change on its own.
It reveals what has been built well — and what hasn’t.
It strips away that which no longer serves us and creates fertile ground for transformation.
During this period, I’ll be holding a very small, private immersion for people who feel they are standing at a similar threshold — a moment where the old ways we have been holding onto no longer fit, and the next steps need to be chosen with care.
It’s not public, and it’s intentionally limited in participation.
If this resonates, you’re welcome to reach out and know more.
For now, my invitation for this Ox month is simple:
Don’t rush the foundation.
Let steadiness do its work.
Prepare not by doing more — but by aligning more honestlyfrom deep within.
With love and gratitude,
D