Greetings, Reader!

Legend has it that every member of my family will accidentally set at least one mappina (dish towel/rag) on fire in their lifetime.

It became a running joke when I was a kid, because many family gatherings inevitably involved someone yelling, "The mappina's on fire! The mappina's on fire!"

I fulfilled the prophecy over 20 years ago when I used a mappina as a potholder to lift a pot of bubbling soup off the stove. The corner of the mappina grazed the burner and went up in smoke, showering my beautiful butternut squash puree with ash.

My wife was officially initiated into the lineage on New Year's Eve when she dropped a potholder into a 500 degree oven while trying to finesse a homemade pizza off the sizzling hot stone.

Thanks to some quick thinking on the part of a friend, the fire was quickly extinguished and we all had a good chuckle because this ratty old potholder, now charred on one end, was emblazoned with the word believe.

It seemed like a fitting end to 2025; a year in which it felt like putting out one fire after another, and sometimes watching our dreams go up in smoke. A year in which we sometimes lost faith in people and systems. A year in which it was difficult to know who to trust and how to hold on to hope.

The next day, my wife and I were reflecting on the symbolism of the word believe catching on fire, and she said that maybe the universe was highlighting what we need to pay attention to.

Because we actually did hold on to hope, and against all odds, we kept caring for each other and filling in the gaps when our leaders failed. We kept showing up and doing our best, even when things didn't go as planned, and we kept trusting that we were headed in the right direction, even when the path wasn't clear.

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions because winter never feels like the time to take bold action, but rather the time to reflect and pause. But, I do love to choose a word of the year, and I spent some time yesterday connecting with the energy I feel coming into 2026.

There is a lovely baby snake qigong sequence that involves exploring the boundaries of an egg from the inside and eventually gathering the gumption to burst out of the shell. As we come to the end of the year of the snake, I feel this sense of constriction, as if my current skin is just a little bit too tight. I feel the anticipation of being on the verge of shedding those constraints. It feels like something big is just over the horizon, but it will take a little more patience and a little more trust before I reach it.

I don't know what will emerge, but I know I'm being called to trust that the path is unfolding exactly as it is meant to unfold. I feel things in my life aligning, and I have more hope than I have had in a long time that all the groundwork I've been laying, and all of the quiet tending that has been happening at my roots will finally lead to the growth I've been craving.

As I moved through my word-of-the-year practice, the word trust felt too passive, and alignment didn't quite capture the sense of possibility I feel.

I asked my wife what word will be guiding her in 2026, and she said, without missing a beat, that her word is believe. I felt in my bones that this would be my word, too (and she was graciously willing to share).

Belief is an active choice. It calls in a sense of wonder and magic; an audacity to dream about what is possible. But belief isn't delusional because it is firmly rooted in values; in what really matters.

If you watched the show Ted Lasso, you know what I mean. How did an American football coach who didn't know anything about soccer successfully transform a British football team into a powerhouse? It wasn't through hubris or talent, but through a deeply held belief in the power of community, and of each member of the team having the support they needed to unabashedly share their gifts with the world.

This is what I hope for you, Reader. If you felt like you took one step forward and two steps back last year, I hope the year of the horse gives you the momentum you need to keep the faith. I hope you believe in yourself, and that the depth of your values and the height of your magic sustain you through the deepest valleys and the highest peaks, and everywhere your journey takes you.

Don't stop believing,

Rachel Doctor of Physical Therapy & Integrative Pain Specialist Build a resilient nervous system to help you flow through the seasons of your life with courage, wisdom, and compassion.

PS: My Winter Qigong Series begins tomorrow! I'm excited to share practices that tap into the adaptability of the water element, the patience and strength of the bear, and the trust of the tortoise. These practices are nourishing and replenishing. Learn more here, or sign-up below.

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