As the Winter Solstice draws near, we enter the darkest days of the year- a time our ancestors understood as sacred, mysterious, and profoundly creative. But in modern life, December often brings the opposite of slowness: full schedules, family expectations, and for many small businesses, the busiest stretch of the year.
In this powerful episode of The Dancing Willow Podcast, host Elliott Brinkley sits down with herbalist, author, and teacher Marysia Miernowska to explore how we can reconnect with winter’s deeper rhythm, tend our inner flame, and find meaning in a season that holds both darkness and light.
Here is the link for those who would like to listen to the full conversation.
The Winter Solstice as a Portal
To Marysia, the solstice is a moment of magic:
a threshold where we dissolve into the fertile void, dream with the earth, and allow ourselves to be reborn.
Long before modern holidays, people gathered at this point in the year to honor the return of light. They fed the spark of renewal, through ritual, offerings, and community, trusting that the sun would rise again.
Today, even if life doesn’t slow down, we can still embrace the essence of the season: inwardness, reflection, and a gentler rhythm that honors the body’s natural longing for rest.
A Reframe: Let January Be the Deep Winter
Many of us feel frustrated that December doesn’t offer the spaciousness winter seems to promise. Marysia offers a liberating reframe: January is the real month of hibernation.
In her School of the Sacred Wild, which centers its curriculum on the wheel of the year, they root into December as a time for miracles in the darkness and January as the time for rest and dreaming.
Instead of entering the new year feeling behind or burnt out, we can choose to see January as an intentional time to soften, slow down, and listen.
Tending the Inner Flame
Winter’s yin energy can bring stagnation or heaviness. Marysia shares simple ways to stoke inner fire, stay inspired, and grounded:
Keep the body warm
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Incorporate herbs like ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, black pepper
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Warm lemon water in the morning
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Hot tea throughout the day
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Hot yoga, brisk walks, sauna, and baths
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Keeping the kidneys warm with layers
Nourish the heart with joy
Winter invites us to seek:
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laughter
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creativity
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crafting with our hands
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chosen family
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moments of beauty
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shared meals or workshops
Joy itself becomes a flame.
Create space for spirit
Marysia reminds us that prayer- spoken aloud or whispered to the trees- is a potent winter practice. Naming hopes, fears, and dreams invites inspiration into the darkness and helps us reconnect with a sense of belonging.
Plant Allies for the Dark Season
Marysia highlights several plants that help us stay vibrant and connected during winter.
Damiana
A sensual, warming ally that awakens inspiration, creativity, pleasure, and sacral fire.
Shisandra
One of Marysia’s greatest loves- a plant of empowerment, mood lifting, beauty, stamina, and feminine radiance. A steady companion for resilience through dark months.
Digestive spices
Ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, and turmeric support digestion, circulation, and inner warmth- especially helpful when winter foods feel heavy.
Our Fire Elemental Tea at Dancing Willow Herbs features many of these herbs, making it a perfect ally for the winter season. https://dancingwillowherbs.com/products/fire-elemental-tea?_pos=1&_sid=5f311ba5c&_ss=r&variant=44951396516129
The Magic of Plant Spirit Meditation
One of the most transformative themes of the episode is how plant spirit meditations connect us to something larger than ourselves. These practices allow people to feel held, guided, loved and creatively inspired.
Many experience emotional healing that’s hard to access through intellect alone. Marysia calls plants our plantcestors, ancient beings who help us remember our own inner wisdom.
Reclaiming Voice & Power
A deeply human part of the episode centers on courage. Marysia speaks openly about the “witch wound,” the fear of being judged, and the ancestral memories that make speaking out feel dangerous, especially for women.
Her insight: Power grows not from certainty, but from continually stepping beyond the comfort zone.
Groundedness, community, and moral clarity form the root system that allows us to speak our truth. And in a world facing both literal and metaphorical darkness, tending that inner fire becomes a collective responsibility.
Walking Through Winter With Intention
This conversation reminds us that winter is not simply cold and dark- it’s a season of miracles. It invites us to slow down, tend the flame, listen for inspiration, and trust that even in the longest night, light is already returning.
Whether your December is overflowing or tender, whether winter brings joy or heaviness, this episode offers the medicine of perspective, grounding, and plant wisdom as you move through the season.
Connect with Marysia
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The Honey Path: A month-long herbal journey with Shisandra, Nettles & Tulsi
- https://www.schoolofthesacredwild.com/walk-the-honeypath
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Apprenticeship to the Sacred Wild: A 10-month immersion following the Wheel of the Year
- https://www.schoolofthesacredwild.com/coursedetails
Sacred Rituel skincare line (use code sacredwild20 for 20% off)