New Beginnings & the Year of the Fire Horse

I’ve taken this winter to digest and recompose after a big 2025 for me, and to rebuild foundations, both internal and external.

For many men I know, 2025 was a challenging year. A big year. A year of growth, of things falling away or apart, and of new things coming in. For many, it was also a year that, at one point or another, shook them at the core and made them question their own foundations.

Winter, for me nowadays, is a time of digestion and reflection.

Over the last few years, I’ve felt more and more out of sync with the way we mark the New Year in our Gregorian calendar. It simply doesn’t make sense to my system that in the very middle of winter, when everything is dark and moving into slower, more natural rhythms, we have this big celebration. A moment where we try to lift the energy, reflect on the last year before it has fully digested, and decide what the next year will be about before the new energy has actually arrived.

This year, I even chose to do something that felt internally rebellious.

Although I had options and invitations near and far for New Year’s celebrations, I didn’t feel aligned to go. I didn’t feel aligned to enter that energy field. So instead, I spent the day outside in nature, by the ocean, reflecting quietly on the year that had passed. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I took the opportunity for stillness.

Then I had an early dinner. By 10 p.m., I was home. By 11 p.m., I was asleep.

2025 simply felt complete to me. And I needed rest. So I chose rest. I chose to honor what my body and system were asking of me.

Now, after a couple of rainy and stormy months, the spring energy has already begun to arrive here in Portugal.

At the same time, February 17th marked the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese calendar.

You don’t have to be particularly into Chinese astrology to take something from this. Whether we see it as symbolic guidance, a prompt for reflection, or literal truth doesn’t really matter.

Traditionally, the Fire Horse is associated with strong life force, movement, courage, intensity, and transformation. It carries momentum and power. It often brings rapid change, bold action, and new beginnings.

But it also comes with a warning.

When this energy runs unconsciously, it can become restless, impulsive, scattered, and burn itself out.

Fire Horse years are often described in wisdom traditions as times that reward grounded leadership, clarity, and embodiment, and challenge those who move from reactivity, urgency, or ego-driven force.

My own intuition is that this year asks us to stay centered. To stay embodied.

Not to let the horses run wild and carry us away, but to become stewards of our own lives. To find our center, live from it, and harness the energy that is moving without being captured by it.

That requires a certain level of mastery.

As we step into this new cycle, I find myself reflecting on questions like:

Where in my life am I moving from urgency rather than clarity?

What does it look like to truly live from my center this year?

What am I ready to release that no longer fits who I am becoming?

And what would it mean to build this next chapter from embodiment rather than effort?

More than anything, I’m feeling called to live more centered from the heart.

I’m curious what this new beginning is stirring in you.

Wishing you a fruitful, meaningful, and dynamic year ahead, and a powerful Year of the Fire Horse.

All the best,

Sebastian