Thank you 2025: Lessons on showing up, falling, and adapting

carolefrey
Dec 31, 2025
2 min read

Dear Friends,

As this year comes to a close, I've found myself reflecting—not just on what I did in 2025, but on who I became along the way.

This year was full. I hosted 7 retreats through my business—Mexico, Peru, Portugal, back-to-back Smoky Mountains, Italy, and Vermont–now having hosted 32 retreats to date.

I taught yoga at my first festival in Vermont, led monthly classes, and shared space through community events at lululemon Birkdale as their yoga ambassador.

I attended my first retreat as a participant–a 5-day life changing silent retreat in Idaho with one of my teachers, Rod Stryker.

I completed a second 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training alongside a 40-hour Tantra training, crossing the 1,000+ hour mark in my yoga education.

I filmed my first TV segment and was featured in USA Today, Woman's World, and LA Weekly.

There were moments of deep joy, pride, connection, and adventure—ones I'll always carry with me forever.

But what doesn't always make it into a highlight reel is the full picture.

This year also brought unexpected challenges, hard decisions, fear, uncertainty, doubt, failures, and losses. It was the year I came closer to quitting everything than I ever have. Not because I didn't love what I was doing—but because growth often asks more of us than we anticipate.

No matter what path we choose in life, there's always a price to pay. And looking back now, with more clarity and compassion, I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way. The obstacles shaped me. They strengthened me. They showed me—again and again—how capable, resilient, and powerful I truly am. And oh my, what a gift it is to feel and know this from within.

My guiding mantra this year was this:

“It's okay to take a few steps back in order to keep moving forward.”

I had to remind myself that things weren't supposed to unfold exactly as planned. That falling and failing are not signs of weakness, but part of the process. And that one of the greatest strengths we can develop—in business and in life—is something yoga teaches so powerfully:

the ability to adapt.

And adapt, I have.

As I look ahead to 2026, I know it will hold some familiar rhythms, along with meaningful changes and shifts. I'm excited to share what's unfolding, but even more so, I'm grateful to walk this path alongside such a thoughtful, supportive community.

If this year stretched you… challenged you… or asked you to keep going when it would have been easier to stop—please know you're not alone. Showing up doesn't always look graceful. Sometimes it looks like pausing, recalibrating, or choosing yourself again and again.

Here's to everyone doing what it takes to live a life they love—and continuing to move forward, one step at a time.

Always cheering you on,

Carole

The Free Spirited Wanderer