Saying Goodbye to 2025 with Intention

There are only a few days left in 2025, and I’m filled with gratitude: for the beauty, the challenges, and every single person I’ve exchanged energy with through SMUDGED. I know 2026 is going to be a very different year for me. I’m ready for a new chapter, a new level, and a whole rebrand.

But as one of my favorite teachers, Pixie Acia, always says: how we end things is just as important as how we begin them.

So, before we rush into the energy of 2026, let’s close 2025 with intention.

Why is this so important? Because most people don’t properly end a year (or a relationship, a job, a friendship...) We abandon them.

We carry unfinished conversations, unmet expectations, grief we’ve never acknowledged, growth we’ve never honored, and lessons we didn’t fully digest straight into the next thing. Then we wonder why the same patterns repeat.

And that’s why I’m sharing this ritual with you. Let’s close 2025 and leave what we don’t need to carry forward in December. This ritual is not about fixing anything or forcing a better version of yourself. It’s about completion.

Completion creates clarity.
Clarity creates choice.
Choice interrupts patterning.
And then we have space to create something new.

This is an invitation to consciously say goodbye to 2025. Without judgment. Without nostalgia. And with presence.

When:

Choose a quiet evening before the new year.

I like to open sacred space, connect to my Angels, Allies, and Ancestors of 100% light, and ground into the Earth, connecting with the Guardians of the Land where I am.

I always light a candle because that feels supportive to me.

You do you. Begin this ritual in a way that feels special for you.

And the one thing not to skip: turn your phone on airplane mode. Give yourself at least 30 uninterrupted minutes.

You do not need to be calm or focused. You just need to be honest and willing to move through any discomfort that arises.

Step One: Year In Review

Here, we tell the truth.

Take a piece of paper and write at the top:
2025, The Good

Answer these prompts without overthinking. (Use your non-dominant hand if you’re getting stuck in your head. Don’t worry about what it looks like.)

  • What am I genuinely proud of myself for this year?

  • What surprised me in a good way?

  • What beautiful, unexpected things worked in my favor or made me smile?

Next section:
2025, The Meh

  • What felt harder than I expected?

  • What did I tolerate longer than I should have?

  • Where did I dim my truth to make others comfortable?

Next section:
2025, The IDK

  • Where am I still unclear or confused?

  • What feels unsettled?

  • What am I still trying to make sense of?

You don’t have to polish or spiritualize this. Embrace imperfection and let yourself be messy and human.

After each section, take a moment and feel all of your feelings about what you wrote.

Don’t skip this step. Don’t rush through it.
Denial creates residue.
Honesty creates release.

Step Two: Acknowledge What You’re Ready to Leave Behind

We cannot carry everything forward. Nor should we.

Think about wanting a new wardrobe when there’s barely a sliver of space in your closet or drawers. How can you invite in anything new if it's already filled with the old?

Next section:
Things I choose to no longer carry into 2026…

List anything that feels complete, expired, or heavy.

This might include:

  • Roles you’ve outgrown

  • Relationships that required you to sacrifice yourself

  • Habits rooted in urgency or fear

  • Expectations that were never yours to begin with

As you write, notice your body. If something tightens, stay there a moment longer. That sensation is information. Tap a little. Ask what is demanding to be felt. Make the noise. Breathe.

You are somatically processing things you don’t need anymore: old experiences trapped in your emotional, physical, and subtle body. You are creating space.

Step Three: Harvest the Wisdom

Even the hardest years give something back.

Next section:
2025, The Lessons

Ask yourself:

  • What beliefs did I let go of because they no longer felt true?

  • What did I learn about the consequences of not listening to my intuition?

  • Where did I discover that control was costing me peace?

  • What did I learn about timing, patience, or surrender?

  • Where was I humbled, and what did that humility teach me?

  • What illusion or fantasy did I finally see clearly?

We learned a lot this year. Honor those lessons.

This step turns our experiences into integration.
So the change, the growth, isn’t abstract.
It becomes embodied. It becomes yours.

Step Four: A Ritual of Release

If it feels right, read the following aloud or quietly to yourself:

I thank 2025 for everything it revealed.
I release what no longer belongs in my body, my energy, or my future.
I allow this year to be complete.
I honor all the parts and versions of myself. I call all of the pieces of me home to my heart, and I move into this next time period fully embodied.
I trust that what is meant for me cannot be taken from me.
I open to the magic of what’s next, without needing to know how it will unfold.
If you wrote things you’re ready to release, you can safely burn those pages in a fireproof vessel, tear them up, or discard them with intention.

Completion does not need to be big or dramatic. It simply requires our presence.

Step Five: Set a Closing Intention

This is not about goals.
This is about how you want to feel as you cross into the next chapter.
This is about resonance, not resolution.

Ask yourself:

  • What feelings do I want to live inside of in 2026?

  • What energies do I want braided into my daily life?

  • If I were limitless, what would I call into my field?

  • What do I want to feel when I wake up in the morning?

  • What moments of awe or beauty do I want to experience more of?

  • What would it look like to embody both gentleness and strength in equal measure?

Write one sentence. Or a few words.
If it feels good, make a vision board. Or simply take some time to explore your imagination through your five senses.

Set an intention, then let the universe meet you halfway.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. There is no right way.
Just begin moving into resonance with what your heart truly desires.

Final Note

You’ve done what most people never pause to do.
You told the truth. You honored the magic and the mess. You created s p a c e .

Now let it be complete.
You don’t need to do anything else.
Let the ritual settle into your body.
Trust that something has already shifted. Go live your life.
Laugh. Cook something. Go outside. Touch a tree.
Do something that reminds you you're alive. This is your one life. Claim it. Claim it now.

Wishing you adventure, peace, joy, abundance, connection and so SO much love in 2026.

Happy New Year!

xx,

Neelou

P.S. If you’d like to work together either virtually or in person, you can find all of my offerings here.

Neelou Malekpour