121. If 2025 Broke You Open, This Episode Is for You
I shared with my community a love note the other day, stating that 2025 had radically shifted what I thought were my values (copied, and reposted below for you to read, if you so desire.) In this episode of the It’s Karmic podcast I take you deeper into what have been my biggest discoveries this year and how we’re all being called to rise as we move into 2026 in a new way of living.
This final episode for the year explores how 2025 exposed what we thought our values were vs what they actually are, the rebirth and importance of community, the cost of constant consumption, and why 2026 is asking us to live slower, more embodied, and more relational lives.
You’ve likely felt it… but 2026 asks something completely different of us from what we’ve been living. From the way we use media, to how we exist in the world.
What you'll discover in this episode:
Why 2025 felt so heavy, messy, and initiatory… personally and collectively
The difference between what we thought our values were and what actually matters now
Grieving old versions of yourself instead of dragging them into the future
How community, chosen family, and being held are non-negotiable in this new era
Phones, dopamine, distraction, and how we’re outsourcing our lives without realizing it
“Speeding up to slow down” and what the next energetic phase is asking of us
Why 2026 isn’t about doing more, but about living differently
How to meet this transition with less self-judgement and more compassion
What to remember if you still don’t have clarity yet (and why that’s okay)
This episode is for you if:
If this year humbled you
If your body forced you to listen
If your identity cracked
If you’re tired of scrolling your life away
If you’re craving depth, slowness, and real connection
If you know something is ending, but the new hasn’t fully landed yet
Nothing was wrong this year, you’re just being cosmically re-aligned.
f you know someone who you think really needs to hear this episode, please share it with them. And don’t forget to leave your thoughts (if you’re using Spotify), I love to hear from you!
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The love note that started it all:
2025 shifted my values (or what I thought were my values)
Going into this year I was (and still am) moving through an intense health crisis. You might already know this… but you might not know that moving into this year all I could think about was my career. Not my health, not the quality of my life.
No, I was focused on how this health crisis was going to impact my dream of being a world renown astrologer (what even is that?)
I was worried about how it was going to impact my bank account (naturally), and I was worried about the traction I would lose if I laid down and for lack of a better word, died, in my bed.
These fears are all valid, I'm human. But I guess I had other plans for in this life.
I knew all about how Saturn transiting the 6th house could force one to end up in bed convalescing. I knew all about how Pluto transiting such tender parts of my life would rip my foundations out from underneath me. I knew that Chiron square Chiron was a massive start to the midlife breakthrough (or crisis, depending on how you look at it) transits that start in our mid thirties.
I thought I was prepared.
I was prepared to unearth my visibility wound, and yet I coiled into myself and began to hide.
I didn’t want you to see how inflammed my face and body was.
I didn’t want you to see that my life wasn’t as pretty as I’d hoped it would be by this time in my life.
I didn’t want you to see how much I was drowning in grief.
I've cried, a lot.
I was prepared (or so I thought) to lose my 12 year old pup Henry. In fact, I knew he would go at a pivotal moment in these transits. And yet the grief held me captive for months, sinking into how much more I would have to let go of during this time.
I was prepared for a lot.
But I wasn’t prepared for this…
My body of work has always been my main focus. Whether it was back in my trance days when I was singing and writing with some pretty cool producers. Or when I was deeply devoted to my yoga teaching career. Or even the amount of heart and soul I put in during my serving/bartending days.
The external working grind always felt easy for me.
What never felt easy in my youth? Relationships, community, and my health.
2025 stripped away literally everything and left me with the most important things.
Real family.
I thought I wanted success, but what I found is that success actually lived inside of my partnerships, my friendships, and what I am building as a citizen of the amazing community that has been cultivated in my life over the last 5 years. This has been more healing than anything I thought possible.
I guess, if I am being honest, I thought it was all about me. My success, my accolades, my wins. (I know, I know... how selfish)
But what I found out was that “me” doesn’t make me happy at all.
As I close out this year I’ve realized a lot of big things but these are the three on my heart as I write you this love note.
There is no wealth without your health. Literally… nothing matters if you’re not vital, alive, strong and well. Mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Your people will be the ones who carry you through the underworld. Not your career, your work, or your success.
The way you spend your time with your loved ones will be the thing you remember in the end.
This entire year has stacked the odds against me, or at least it felt like it, to bring me to these finally moments when the dominoes fall and I can finally see the pattern for what it is.
I see the truth finally.
None of what I thought mattered was ever going to make me feel complete.
What matters is this foundation I’ve been building, completely unaware.
When I write down my values I always state freedom as number one. Things like passion, play, love and others follow. But what does freedom really mean?
2025 broke it down for me. Freedom means Relationships, Health, and Community.
Which all comes from love, not success.
My Leo ego has been stripped down bare to the bones. I am leading from the heart.
It’s no longer about me, but the intense love I build my community, my family, and my life from moving forward.
I see now, it was never actually about me.
There might be an area of your life where you are getting clarity right now, and there might not be.
I invite you not to make yourself wrong if you're still in a fog. Your transits and chart are different than my own.
But either way, I invite you to slow down, and take some time to reflect. Journal, explore, and ask yourself what 2025 has taught you.
As we move deeper into December and get closer to the Winter Solstice, may the light of the new day shine on the shadows you are ready to see.
May you integrate the lessons into your life and choose to live differently, day after day.
If you want to start journaling, but don't know where to start, ask yourself...
1. If my actions this year could talk, what would they say my real values are?
2. What did this year teach me about what actually matters to me, not what I was conditioned to prioritize, perform, or prove?
Lots of love,
Vika
