In this Christmas Day episode, Michelle reflects on the past year through the lens of her word for 2025: rhythm. Rather than measuring success by productivity or transformation, she explores what it meant to honor her body’s pace—especially through perimenopause—by healing her relationship with movement, prioritizing nervous system regulation, and letting her lived experience shape both her life and her work. This episode is an invitation to soften self-judgment, rethink “follow-through,” and consider what real progress can look like when we choose rhythm over rigidity.

This episode drops on Christmas Day, and instead of a polished year-end recap, Michelle offers a slow, embodied reflection on the year that was. She shares why she chose rhythm as her guiding word, how that intention reshaped her relationship with movement, rest, and energy, and why perimenopause became an unexpected teacher in listening more closely to her body.

Michelle explores the cultural pressure to “account for” ourselves at the end of the year—and why not following through on a plan is not a moral failure, but often information, wisdom, or a nervous system response asking for care. She reflects on healing a long-complicated relationship with movement through weight-neutral personal training and a renewed yoga practice, and how these shifts supported emotional regulation, presence, and rest.

The episode also traces how these personal insights influenced the evolution of Wayza Health, including the release of Nourish Yourself: Body+Mind, the creation of The Self-Trust Lab, and the development of A Year of Coming Home. Michelle shares why nervous system capacity is foundational to any change work—and how slowing down, rather than hustling, has guided both her business and her deeper training in trauma-informed, somatic practices.

This is a gentle invitation to reflect on your own year with compassion, to question rigid definitions of success, and to consider what it might look like to choose rhythm over pressure as you move into the next season.

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