Back to You: Rest, Reset & Rooted Growth for the Last Quarter of 2025

September often feels like a second new year. As the summer winds down and we step into fall, there’s a natural invitation to pause, reflect, and realign. For high-achieving Black and Brown professionals in New York and Massachusetts, this is more than just a seasonal shift — it’s a chance to reclaim balance and set the tone for how we’ll finish 2025.

For many of us, this time of year can feel like a race: quarter-end deadlines at work, family responsibilities piling up, and that subtle pressure of all the goals we still hope to accomplish before December 31st.

But I want to remind you of this truth: we don’t have to arrive at the end of the year depleted. We get to choose a different rhythm. One rooted in rest, balance, and intentional growth.

This September, we invite you to ask: How do I want to arrive at December — depleted or deeply rooted? : How do I want to show up for myself in this last quarter of the year? Not just in what you do, but in how you feel, how you move, and how you honor your needs along the way.

You deserve to finish strong and stay soft. Let’s step into this last quarter aligned, grounded, and liberated.

🌻 Burnout, Boundaries & the Fourth Quarter Push

As professionals of color, we often enter Q4 in survival mode — overworking, over-giving, and overextending ourselves to prove our worth. But the cost is heavy: irritability, fatigue, and the lonely weight of being “the only one” in white-dominant spaces.

Here’s the truth: you don’t have to earn your rest. Success does not require exhaustion.

At Revived Soul Wellness, we honor rest as resistance and therapy as a space to reset. This season is about reclaiming your energy, rewriting your story, and reminding yourself that you are more than your productivity.

🛠️ Strategies to Hold & Honor Boundaries

Boundaries are often the first thing we let go of when life gets busy. Here are evidence-based ways to reset them as we enter the last quarter of the year:

🌬️ Somatic Strategies (Body-Based)

• Grounding through breath: Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly, and take 4-7-8 breaths before responding to requests. Notice what your body says before your mouth does.

• Tension check-ins: Notice where you tighten (shoulders, jaw, stomach) when you want to say no. Release the tension before making a decision.

• Movement reset: Step away and stretch, walk, or shake out your body before agreeing to extra commitments.

🧠 CBT Strategies (Mind-Based)

• Thought reframing: Replace “If I say no, I’ll disappoint them” with “If I say yes to them, I’m saying no to myself.”

• Evidence check: Ask, What proof do I have that setting this boundary will harm the relationship? What proof do I have it may actually strengthen it?

• Decatastrophizing: Instead of assuming the worst (“They’ll be angry forever”), remind yourself that most people adjust after the initial moment of discomfort.

💬 DBT Strategies (Skills-Based)

• DEAR MAN Skill (Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, stay Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate): Use this when directly communicating boundaries at work or home.

• STOP Skill (Stop, Take a step back, Observe, Proceed mindfully): Use this before responding to pressure or guilt-tripping.

• Self-soothe toolkit: Create a ritual (music, candle, tea, prayer) after setting a hard boundary to remind yourself you are safe, whole, and worthy.

  
  

✨ Remember: Boundaries aren’t walls to keep people out. They are doorways that protect your peace and energy as you enter the last quarter of the year.

📝 Journal Prompts for September

• As I enter the last quarter of 2025, what am I carrying that no longer serves me?

• Where in my life do I need to reset boundaries before the year ends?

• What would it look like to finish this year from a place of rooted peace, not hustle?

• How can I honor my body’s need for rest while still pursuing my goals?

• What would “success” mean to me if exhaustion wasn’t part of the equation?

Songs to root you in joy, rest, and gentle momentum

📣 Call to Action

🍂 Don’t wait until January to start fresh.Therapy, coaching, and intentional self-work now can help you enter 2026 with clarity and ease, not burnout.

Revived Soul Wellness is here to support you with culturally affirming therapy and consulting services across New York, Georgia and Massachusetts — virtually.

➡️ Book your session today and let’s step into this last quarter together, rooted and revived.