Hello Reader,

It's the last day of 2025, and I just want to name something:

This year was hard.

You know it. I know it. We all felt it — the funding cuts, the organizational chaos, the relentless pressure to do more with less, the global turbulence that won't let up.

And yet: we're still here.

That matters more than we sometimes give ourselves credit for. You kept showing up. You kept leading. You kept trying to create change even when the conditions were impossible.

Your nervous system did everything it knows how to do to keep you going.

Tomorrow, we get to start again.

Not because the world has suddenly gotten easier (it hasn't). Not because all the hard things have resolved (they haven't).

But because time gives us this: the chance to begin from where we actually are, not where we wish we were.

I made something for you 💫

As we close out this year, I want to offer you a tool that might be useful.

I've created a Nervous System Leadership Assessment — a short quiz that helps you understand how your body has been responding to everything 2025 threw at you.

It's free and will take you about 2 minutes.

At the end, you'll discover:

• Your primary nervous system pattern (Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, or Grounded)
• Why you respond the way you do (hint: it's intelligent, not dysfunction)
• What your nervous system actually needs as you move into 2026
• A detailed guide with practices specific to your pattern

It's grounded in years of research and lived experience. And it might give you language for something you've been carrying quietly all year.

As we step into 2026, I'm wishing you:

• Rest that doesn't require you to earn it
• Community that actually understands
• Permission to need what you need
• Clarity about what sustainability might look like for you

We're still here. That's not nothing. That's everything.

Happy New Year,
Maya 🫰

PS. If you take the quiz, I'd love to hear what resonated. Just hit reply - I read every message.

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💛 Hecho con amor en el archipiélago de Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 | 1607 Avenida Ponce de Léon, GM6 PMB165, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00909