The Brutally Honest Annual Review You Need to Read
Your monthly guide to living a truly integrated life: January: BODY Month
Dearest,
Happy New Year! I love that we’re beginning 2026 with the BODY theme—there’s something so grounding about starting the year emBODY’d, fully present in our physical form, honoring the vessel that carries us through this life.
Before we dive into BODY month, I need to share something with you. This newsletter is an opening of the kimono. It feels vulnerable and tender to share this annual review. But my intention and hope is that it inspires you to be honest with yourself about changes that get to happen and dreams that get to be called in and manifested.
So here we go...
The Power of Reflection: Tim Ferriss’s Annual Review
I recently completed Tim Ferriss’s annual review questions, and I can’t recommend this practice enough. It’s not just about looking back—it’s about extracting wisdom, celebrating wins, owning what didn’t work, and setting intentional direction for the year ahead.
Here’s a summary of the framework:
1. What went well this year?
Celebrate your wins—big and small. What brought you joy? What are you proud of?
2. What didn’t go well this year?
Get honest. Where did you struggle? What patterns showed up that you’re ready to shift?
3. What did you learn?
This is where the gold is. What insights emerged from both the wins and the challenges?
4. Integrity Report
What are your core values?
How are you living in integrity with those values?
How can you set a higher standard moving forward?
5. Goals for the New Year
What do you want to create? Who do you want to become?
Your turn: I invite you to do your own annual review and share your reflections in the comments. It’s not too late, we’re only one day into 2026!
TAP INtegration 2025: A Year of Growth
This year was monumental for TAP INtegration. Here are some highlights:
✨ Launched the TAP INtegration app - Making integration tools accessible to practitioners and clients
✨ Facilitator meetups across multiple cities - Including an unforgettable gathering in New Mexico where we deepened community and connection
✨ Women in Psychedelics grew to 500+ members - Creating more unity and support amongst facilitators
✨ 50+ journeys facilitated - Lives changed, marriages saved, hearts opened
✨ Presented at SXSW, ACT 2, and the ACT Conference - Sharing our framework with wider audiences
✨ Financial progress and sustainability - Building a foundation that allows this work to continue and expand
✨ Personal transformation - From spiritual awakening leading to Vipassana, to one of the best birthdays of my life (the first without overwhelming grief), to experiencing what safe, healthy love looks like
✨ Community alignment - Started the Calling in the One book club and Way of INtegrity work that’s rippling through our community
This work is happening because of YOU—the facilitators, practitioners, and seekers who show up with courage and commitment. Thank you.
My Personal Annual Review: The Raw Truth
What went well:
Connection, growth, spiritual awakening, community building, financial progress, harmony with my family, and experiencing safe love for the first time.
What didn’t go well:
I faced my shadow in ways I couldn’t ignore. Fire ant energy emerged at an Aya ceremony. I consumed too much alcohol and too many substances. I didn’t honor my body’s needs during the first half of the year. My dysregulation led to big ruptures in the community with people I care deeply about. I skewed negative/victimy for quite a few months. I lost a partnership. Stress consumed me and anger set in. I didn’t know how to hold it all.
What I learned:
The value of integrity. The power of my morning practices. My patterns in relationship. That I need alignment of values and lifestyle with my life partner. How essential meditation is to my life. How much changes when my nervous system is regulated. That compassion is a continuous practice. That not every partnership is right. How to work better in teamwork (still much to be done here). A renewed desire to be honest. And perhaps most importantly: that people everywhere are choosing me, choosing to work with me, to love me, to be in relationship with me.
My Integrity Report:
Core values: Harmony, attunement, community, connection, relationships, integrity, compassion, kindness.
How I’m living in integrity: Doing my best to be honest, to choose actions in alignment with my life’s path and purpose. To honor my no and my yes. To lean into hard conversations and say the tough, vulnerable thing.
Higher standards I’m setting: Complete honesty with romantic partners. Following through on projects I’ve committed to. Being fiscally responsible to my investors. Compassionate discipline with my schedule, waking at 5:30am to meditate so I have the capacity to finish what I set out to do. Better energy and time management. Taking on fewer projects and focusing on what really matters.
My 2026 Goals
🏡 Move into a beautiful home that feels like sanctuary
💍 Meet my husband and father of my future daughter
🧘♀️ Meditate 5 days a week
🌅 Miracle Morning 6 days a week
💪 Workout 5 days a week
📚 Complete the TAP INtegration course
👥 Set up the team we need to scale our impact
🤝 Leverage our partnership with Lotic to create technology that makes sessions and integration 100x better
🎓 Complete the partnership with Dr. Lida with everyone massively happy and changed for the better
📊 Use data from our technology to write papers that will help us bring our program to Texas
✨ Be worthy of the partnerships I have
😊 Be happy
🍄 Intentional psychedelic use only (details coming soon)
🎉 Maximum 8 social events per month
🧘♀️ Integration Practice for BODY Month: Regulate & Ground
To kick off the year emBODY’d, I’m sharing a powerful two-part practice that regulates your nervous system and anchors you in present-moment safety. This takes less than 10 minutes and will change how you move through your day.
The Practice: Vagal Toning + Orienting
Duration: 8-10 minutes
When: First thing in the morning
Part 1: Voo Breath (5 minutes)
Sit comfortably with one hand on your heart, one on your belly.
Inhale deeply through your nose.
Exhale while making a low “Voooo” sound—feel the vibration in your chest and throat. Keep it low and resonant, not loud.
Continue for 5-10 breaths, feeling the vibration massage your vagus nerve from within.
Sit in silence and notice how your body feels.
Part 2: Orienting (3-5 minutes)
Without moving your head, slowly scan the room with your eyes from left to right.
Notice 5 things you can see (really see them—colors, textures, shapes).
Notice 4 things you can touch (reach out and feel them if possible).
Notice 3 things you can hear.
Notice 2 things you can smell.
Notice 1 thing you can taste or the sensation in your mouth.
Take a full breath and ask: “Am I safe right now, in this moment?” Let your body answer.
Why this works: Voo Breath directly stimulates your vagus nerve, shifting you from fight/flight to rest/digest. Orienting then grounds you in present-moment safety, signaling your nervous system that you’re here, now, and safe. Together, they create a foundation of embodied presence.
This month’s commitment: Practice this combo each morning. Use Orienting alone throughout the day whenever anxiety or overwhelm hits. Notice how your baseline stress shifts over the month.
📸 Share Your Annual Review
I showed you mine, now show me yours!
Drop your annual review reflections in the comments:
What went well?
What didn’t go well?
What did you learn?
What are your 2026 goals?
Let’s create accountability and inspiration together. Integration works better in community.
🎯 What’s Coming This Month
Stay tuned for:
BODY-focused facilitator meetup details
Movement and somatic practices
Guest interviews on embodiment and nervous system regulation
Updates on TAP INtegration’s partnerships
Here’s to a year of being fully emBODY’d—present, grounded, and alive in every moment.
With love and presence,
Olivia Eden MacDonell
Founder, TAP Integration
P.S. The body keeps the score. This year, let’s make sure it’s keeping a record of joy, presence, and deep care.
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