Happy New Year 2026!

I danced my way into the new year, which was absolutely perfect for me because dancing is my favourite thing to do!

Following that, I hosted a fire ceremony for the first full super moon of the year – that uproarious Wolf Moon – with my core tribe around me, and my kids and the friends who were staying with me. We burned labels (I wrote about the importance of that in the last newsletter), and we lit sparklers to celebrate the light we’re each creating for this new year. It felt magical.

Yesterday I was blessed to host my daughter-in-law’s baby shower, and it suddenly occurred to me… it was my first baby shower! It was so beautiful, loving, and emotional. We held a ceremony connecting all of us with red yarn. Red because it symbolises the root chakra – the chakra we are all born through – and the place where our very first imprint is made.

Shenny (my DIL) wrapped the yarn around her left wrist, and each of her friends gave her a little charm with a blessing. Then the yarn was unrolled and wrapped around the next person’s wrist, continuing around the circle until we were all connected. I strung the charms onto the cord for her, and then we each cut the yarn between us and tied it onto our left wrists.

So now we are all wearing a red cord until she goes into labour. When that begins, we’ll cut our cords, form them into little hearts, and send her a photo along with another prayer for birth. She will take her charm cord with her so she knows we’re all with her during her birthing journey.

It was so beautiful, emotional, and heartfelt – not a dry eye in the house!

After that, we made a plaster cast of her boobs and big bump! It was absolutely hilarious, but also very special. When do women truly gather in this way – connecting, bonding, witnessing one another both emotionally and physically? Shenny is a very good sport and a talented artist, so she’ll paint the cast and put the baby’s hand and footprints inside once she arrives.

Giving birth and becoming a mother is a profound rite of passage. Ceremony is important to honour that new becoming, and to bring together the support network of people who will be there for you and have your back. We don’t do this often enough.

We make a big deal over weddings and some birthdays, but what about when a girl has her first period? That’s a rite of passage! What about moving to a new country or a new house? I certainly celebrated when I became a British Citizen and I took the formal ceremony very seriously. And now I am moving into a new phase myself: becoming a grandmother for the first time! You can bet I’ll be bringing that to the fire and celebrating it.

Having had 2 gorgeous sons, I feel so blessed that my daughter-in-law has been so inclusive and has allowed me to share in all of her major experiences, from mediating with her and my son Roam in their early days, to attending her bachelorette party, to writing their ceremony and marrying them in Sri Lanka, and now celebrating my first grandchild.

Family, connection (with everyone), unity, communication, love, and laughter are the most important things to me in the world,  and dancing, of course!

I honestly couldn’t imagine a better way to bring in the New Year than by honouring everything I love most through ritual and ceremony.

And finally, a reminder: if you’re anywhere near Ilkley in West Yorkshire, I host a full moon fire ceremony every month on the full moon, or within three days either side. Look up Conscious Café Skipton on the Meetup platform and you’ll find my events there. People usually donate a fiver. It’s a wholesome night of tea, medicine cards, connection, intention setting and singing around a fire under our beautiful Mama Quilla – Grandmother Moon.

The next one is February 1st — arrive at 6:45 for 7 pm. It’s the last full moon before the Fire Horse energy begins on February 17th. We’ll be burning labels again to shed the last of the Wood Snake energy so we can gallop into 2026 with clarity and motivation.

Happy New Year — may it be full of light, love, and beautiful new beginnings. Book a call if you want help pinpointing exactly what you need to shed! https://bit.ly/SOMindshift