Closing the Year with Gratitude, Compassion & Hope

As we move through December and towards a brand-new year, my heart is filled with deep gratitude for every one of you who has walked alongside me in 2025.

To my clients, thank you for trusting me to guide you in your healing, your vulnerable moments, and your courageous steps forward. Each session has been a reminder of the incredible strength of the human spirit.

To my retreat groups, Reiki students and practitioners, and all who gathered in shared intention, your openness created spaces where healing could unfold in the most beautiful ways. Every circle this year held its own magic.

To my beloved Soulful Journeys online community, thank you for showing up with honesty, humour, and heart. Your willingness to connect, learn, and grow together continues to inspire me.

To everyone who attended the Heart Space Gatherings, thank you for bringing your presence, your energy, and your wisdom. These moments of reflection and connection have woven a thread of unity through the year.

And to my podcast guests and listeners, thank you for your stories, your support, and your curiosity. Each conversation has been a celebration of resilience, and every listen has helped these stories reach the hearts that needed them most.

Honouring Where You Are This December

December carries its own rhythm, quiet reflection for some, emotional heaviness for others, joy and celebration for many. Wherever you find yourself, may you meet that place with compassion rather than expectation.

This month is an invitation to pause…
To soften…
To breathe…
And to honour what this year has asked of you.

You don’t need to be anything other than who you are in this moment.

Meeting Yourself with Kindness, Meeting Others with Patience

As the world speeds up with festivities and obligations, the inner world often needs something slower and gentler.

A few reminders that may help:

• Your energy is precious - protect it.

You are allowed to say no. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to choose where you show up and where you don’t.

• Boundaries are acts of love.

They protect your wellbeing and allow your “yes” to be wholehearted. Choose the engagements, conversations, and spaces that feel aligned.

• Remember that everyone carries their own story.

Patience gives others the space to be human too.

• Pause often. Breathe deeply. Ground yourself.

A moment of presence can shift an entire day.

Caring for Your Wellbeing Over the Holidays

This season can be nourishing, but it can also be overwhelming. Consider these gentle practices:

• Create small rituals of stillness: a morning cup of tea in silence, a mindful walk, a few minutes of stillness or breathwork.

• Stay connected to what supports you: your journaling, your grounding practices, your community.

• Let joy in where it naturally flows not where you feel pressure to perform it.

• Balance giving with receiving: allow others to support you too.

• Choose simplicity whenever possible: you don’t need to do everything for this season to be meaningful.

• Please enjoy a guided meditation I recorded to support you through the holidays

Stepping Into the New Year

As 2026 approaches, I look forward to continuing this work with you, supporting your healing, growth, and inner awakening.

I’m delighted to share some of the upcoming offerings for the new year:

Upcoming Events for 2026

• Reiki Training & Share Circles — deepening your connection to your healing gifts.

• Retreat Days & Soulful Journeys Gatherings — spaces to reset, reconnect, and nourish the spirit.

• Heart Space Community Meet-Ups — continuing to build a compassionate, supportive circle.

• Online Program — to guide you into clarity, alignment, and wellbeing as the year begins.

• New Podcast Conversations — more stories of resilience, healing, and human courage.

I can’t wait to welcome you into whatever calls to your heart.

With Deep Gratitude

Thank you for being part of this beautiful year of healing, learning, and soulful connection. You have touched my life in ways I hold with great appreciation.

May this December bring you gentleness.
May the holidays offer you moments of true rest.
And may the coming year open with hope, intention, and the knowing that you are supported every step of the way.

With love,
Sharon

Why Connection May Be the Antidote to Rising Anxiety

Anxiety is something many of us are feeling more of these days - not just adults, but children too. And while it’s natural to want to “fix” the anxious feelings, more control isn’t always the answer. In fact, as Dr. Mary O’Kane beautifully explores in our latest podcast conversation, the medicine for anxiety may lie in something much simpler, though often harder to access in the moment: Connection

In this episode, Dr. Mary and I explore the delicate dance between anxiety and connection -and how safe, attuned relationships help soothe our nervous systems in ways nothing else can.

Here are some of the key themes we touched on:

The roots of anxiety in children (and how adults can unintentionally add to it).
Sometimes, in our efforts to protect, guide, or control, we unknowingly fuel the very fears we want to ease.

Connection as true medicine.
Whether it’s with a parent, teacher, or peer, the feeling of being seen, understood, and held is what allows anxiety to soften.

What co-regulation looks like in real life.
When we’re able to ground ourselves, even a little, we give children permission to do the same. This isn’t about being perfect, but about being present.

Becoming a safe space, even when you’re struggling too.
It starts with self-compassion. The calmer and kinder we are with ourselves, the more room we create for others to feel safe with us.

But as we talked, another truth emerged: the very systems our children are growing up in often make connection harder.

When Education Becomes Pressure

Our schools, though full of dedicated and compassionate teachers, are largely results-driven. Success is measured in grades, exams, and test scores. For some children this works, but for many, it creates an atmosphere where anxiety thrives. Teachers, too, feel the weight of expectations, caught between nurturing young minds and meeting performance targets.

The truth is, academia is not the only pathway to a meaningful life. Creativity, empathy, imagination, and resilience are just as vital - and yet they’re often undervalued in a system that prizes results over relationships. When children feel they must perform rather than be themselves, their sense of safety and connection suffers.

Imagine instead an education system that celebrates diverse gifts, one that gives space for curiosity, creativity, and connection to flourish. What might it look like if schools placed as much value on emotional well-being and creative expression as they do on exam results? These are the questions worth asking as we consider the future of education.

A Call Back to Connection

This conversation with Dr. Mary O’Kane reminds us that anxiety doesn’t need more control. What it needs - in our families, classrooms, and communities - is more connection.

If you’re a parent, teacher, or someone simply trying to navigate your own nervous system, may this episode be a gentle invitation to pause, breathe, and remember: you don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to show up, as you are, and offer presence.

Tune in to the conversation on The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast with Dr. Mary O’Kane and discover why the path forward isn’t more control, but more connection.

Reflective Questions

Here are a few prompts to sit with after listening:

• As a parent, teacher, or caregiver, when do I notice myself reaching for control instead of offering connection?

• What helps me feel calm and grounded, so I can co-regulate with the children in my care?

• How do I see the current education system affecting the children (or adults) around me? What alternative ways of learning might allow more creativity and well-being to flourish?

• In my own life, where could I allow more space for imagination, play, and curiosity - instead of focusing solely on results?

  Sharon Fitzmaurice

  Holistic Wellness Coach, Author and Podcast Host