From the snake to the horse
A time of renewal and new beginnings (sort of !)
As the year of the snake is soon coming to a close, I’m also arriving at the end of a professional cycle and shifting gears a little. Not a major life change but a recalibration of a few things work-wise.
In Chinese culture, the year of the snake (such as 2025) symbolizes transformation, wisdom, and strategic growth, and a time to shed old habits and embrace new opportunities.
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, on February 17, we’ll be entering the year of the horse, and specifically, the year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years and is associated with vitality, passion and taking action.
A Fire Horse year is synonymous of intensity, energy, and independence and often brings rapid and bold changes rather than slow progress. It’s often considered an auspicious time for taking risks, initiating projects, and following personal passions.
I had never paid too much attention to the Chinese zodiac until now, but this year it truly speaks to me. I’m sensing a shift, for myself but also for many people around me: now is a potent transitional time.
It’s time to let go of what felt misaligned and step into what feels authentic. Time to finalize the shedding and start galloping.
After almost 2 years of developing Voilà Wellness, I am putting it on the back-burner, for now. I did several interesting and impactful projects with local companies and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished considering my limited business network in Lisbon.
I will continue to teach yoga, desk yoga and meditation in offices but I will no longer spend so much time and energy developing this wellness agency and chasing companies. If corporate projects come to me, great, I’m ready and I will happily take them on, but B2B will no longer be my priority.
After 8 months at Casa do Impacto’s coworking space, I have paused my membership; it truly is a special place, home to an inspiring community of entrepreneurs, but it could not bring me what I needed at this stage.
I initially thought corporate wellness was the way to go for my second career; B2B was what I knew best after all, it seemed like a logical next step, after having worked with prestigious international clients for over a decade.
But dealing with Portuguese companies has been challenging. A few people had warned me about it, but of course I thought it’d be different for me. Turns out, it was not ! (Why would it be ? And why are we humans so stubborn and refuse to learn from one another ?!)
There’s little money here, the culture is very risk-averse and everything takes forever. If I’m being honest, it’s been more frustrating than fulfilling.
Some may see this ending as a failure, and it might very well be one, though I choose to see it as a step aside and a great learning opportunity: it was not meant to be.
On the other hand, these past few months, I’ve spent more time developing my yoga classes, and I’ve found great joy, purpose and momentum doing that.
As I’m bringing the Baby & Me class (prenatal & postnatal yoga) to new studios around Lisbon, and expanding my community of students, I have come to realize that my favorite part of what I do is quite literally to connect with women going through transitions.
Between the ages of 30 and 50, women are almost constantly in a transitional state. Although no path is linear, and we all have a different lived-in experience, for a lot of us, those 2 decades often look like this:
matrescence (pregnancy and becoming a mother),
motherhood (new identity & lifestyle to embrace),
career change (especially frequent after kids as priorities shift),
midlife (and the search for meaning)
and then perimenopause (massive hormonal changes)
In some cases, sprinkle on top of that a divorce, a geographical move, or elderly care and you have a pretty explosive midlife bomb.
Transitions are sometimes called the messy middle, the turbulent times between the before, comfortable and predictable, and the after, the scary unknown.
It’s easy to get lost in transitions. I certainly did, several times (and sometimes still struggle to find my way).
I wish I had had someone to walk this path alongside me, to offer support, guidance and tools. To give me insights and ideas on how to best cope with some of the symptoms.
I dream of building something I wish I had for myself, which is why I want to redirect my time and energy into helping women aged 30 to 50 move through transitions, using yoga as a somatic practice, writing as a therapeutic tool and community as a pillar.
It’s still early stages, but I expect it to look like a blend of the following:
weekly yoga classes with a focus on transitional phases of life (similar to my current offering, i.e. prenatal/postnatal, to support the period of matrescence, yin-yang to create pockets of rest, and a strength-alignment class designed for women entering perimenopause),
quarterly events (sound baths for every seasonal transition)
workshops (parents & kids yoga, and more to come)
women’s circles (peer-support groups on the theme of perimenopause)
retreats and 1-day retreats (for moms or for moms & kids), including writing
And eventually 1:1 support, online resources, and programs.
As I’m starting to build an offer around what helping women move through transitions really looks like, I need your help ! I would very grateful if you could answer this short survey, especially if you’re a woman between 30 and 50. It should take you about 5 minutes :)
Answers are collected anonymously. Again, here is the link to share your very precious input. Merci beaucoup for your time and help !!
An avid horse-rider growing up, and a Sagittarius, horses have always held a special place for me (they’re my spirit animal too!), and I’m feeling ready to trot onto this new year of the Fire Horse… moving in a slightly different direction, yet guided by what feels true, right, and deeply aligned. Yeehaw !
Practice Yoga with me, in Lisbon :
Tuesdays 12h - Baby & Me, at Baraza in Santos
Tuesdays 18h15 - Yin-Yang, at Studio Organic Flow in Campo de Ourique
Wednesdays 8h45 - Strength & Alignment for midlife, at Organic Flow
Wednesdays 10h30 - Baby & Me, at Organic Flow
Fridays 10h30 - Baby & Me, at Yogaroom in Saldanha
This February, our theme in class will be Svadhyaya, or Self-Study , a major concept in yoga philosophy. In simple terms, it is the practice of observing oneself with curiosity rather than criticism.
Expect self-hugs, forward bends and binds. Click here for bookings.
