The Magic of Dormancy
Discover the magic of Winter's dormancy: how nature and humans regenerate during rest, fostering resilience for the seasons ahead.
The Stillness of Winter
Winter, the season of shorter daylight and longer nights, rolls over the landscapes like a heavy quilt, softening the noise of the world. It’s a quiet season, often overlooked in its magic, yet essential to the rhythm of life.
In this stillness, there’s wisdom. Dormancy is not inactivity. It is nature’s expression of rest and integration, which serves as preparation for the next season of growth and harvest. Below the dry or frozen surface, the earth, the soil regenerates, roots strengthen, and ecosystems recalibrate. For humans, too, Winter is a time to move more slowly, reflect on the season’s abundance, integrate, and reconnect with the opposing energies of the Summer.
Winter’s dormancy contrasts with the increasing busyness many of us experience. This juxtaposition—between nature’s call for rest and the demands of our social and work calendars—is an invitation to intention. Celebrations can become opportunities for true rest and reflection when centered on meaningful activities, such as sharing nourishing meals and reconnecting with loved ones. Let’s consider how to balance these opposing rhythms to honor both.
Winter as Nature’s Pause and Integrative Season
In the landscapes, Winter is not an absence of life or rhythm. Though it is a change of pace. The soil requires a pause from the growth and harvest of previous months. The earth, too, can become depleted and needs to replenish. Farmers practicing regenerative agriculture often plant ‘cover crops’ in this season, a protective layer that prevents soil degradation and regenerates the nutrients. They let the earth breathe, trusting that this period of rest will yield stronger, healthier growth in the next season.
Winter is an integrative season. It is the time when the efforts of the past year settle and transform into fertile ground for what is ahead. There is no rush, no urgency—just a natural rhythm of rest and preparation.
Research from the Rodale Institute, a non-profit that conducts research on organic and regenerative farming, reveals how cover crops, like cereal rye and legumes, protect the soil and improve the recycling of nutrients that were absorbed by the summer’s crops in addition to reducing compaction of the ground through "biological tillage." Planting cover crops during the Winter bolsters soil fertility and structure during dormancy.¹
For the home gardener, Winter is when garden beds lie fallow and compost or mulch is spread to nurture the soil. It is a reminder to respect the cycles of nature and to resist the impulse to always be producing.
Aldo Leopold, in A Sand County Almanac, describes Winter’s quiet power in fostering biodiversity and ecological balance, reminding us of the intricate ways dormancy supports life.²
Lessons from the Land
Nature’s dormancy offers profound lessons for our own lives. In an era of the world where constant productivity is celebrated, Winter is the landscape’s reminder to us of the value of taking rest and metabolizing the medicine of conserving energy. To be dormant is not to be idle, which has a negative value connotation in our culture. To be dormant in a way that reflects nature’s rhythm is to prepare yourself and your community for the cyclic shifts ahead.
Consider the quiet strength of trees in winter. Stripped of their leaves, they stand exposed, their energy focused inward on deepening their roots. This inward focus ensures their stability when the storms of Spring arrive.
What if you allowed yourself a similar pause? To reflect on the past season, to honor your efforts, and to intentionally create space for what’s to come. Winter invites us to root ourselves more deeply in the soil of our values and dreams.
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass emphasizes the importance of cycles, drawing on Indigenous wisdom to illustrate how rest and reciprocity sustain both people and land.³ [We recommend reading her book this Winter as a way to rest!]
Practical Ways to Embrace Dormancy
With Your Landscape:
Observe: Take note of how your landscape changes in Winter. What patterns emerge? What needs might there be to foster the coming Spring?
Clean and sharpen tools: This simple act is a meditation practice of care and readiness. Take stock of and tend to your tools in-between seasons of growth.
Mulch and cover: Protect your landscapes with a layer of mulch or plant a cover crop to nourish it through the cold months.
Even if you don’t have a garden or land to tend, the principles of Winter dormancy can serve as metaphors for other areas of life. In your work or professional life, “sharpening tools” might mean learning a new skill, reviewing past work, or simply taking time to strategize for the year ahead. “Spreading mulch” could represent nurturing relationships or bolstering resources to sustain your goals.
In Your Life:
Mindfulness: Take time to be intentionally present with the quieter pace of the season. Whether it’s through meditation or simply sitting with a cup of tea, embrace moments of stillness and silence.
Journaling: Reflect on the “abundance” of your past season. What successes and lessons can you integrate? Brené Brown, in The Gifts of Imperfection, encourages embracing these reflective moments to expand your self-understanding.
Rest with intention: Give yourself permission to slow down, knowing this pause is laying the groundwork for future vitality. Simply be.
Building a Culture of Rest and Resilience
Dormancy isn’t just personal; it’s communal. When we embrace cycles of rest in our communities, we foster resilience. We create spaces where people can pause, recharge, and come together with renewed energy to face shared challenges and hold shared successes.
The O’odham peoples of the Sonoran Desert have long incorporated rest and dormancy into their agricultural practices, understanding the importance of living in harmony with the arid climate. These practices include allowing fields to lie fallow during dry seasons and relying on adapted crops such as beans, which revive the soil’s composition while offering sustenance during low-yield seasons. These approaches to respecting and supporting the landscape’s cadence also conserve resources like water, fostering sustainability and community resilience.⁴,⁵
By integrating the lessons of dormancy, we build cultures that value connection over exhaustion or production, resilience over burnout, and regeneration over depletion. In doing so, we nurture both the landscapes and all of the people who depend on it.
Conclusion: A Call to Rest, Reflect, and Regenerate
Winter may seem unassuming, yet it carries a quiet energy. It’s a time of rest and regeneration for the land and for ourselves. By embracing the magic of dormancy, we honor the rhythms of nature and create space for growth, resilience, and connection.
As you move through this Winter, ask: How can I rest more deeply? How can I prepare for what is next, though it may be unknown? And how can I nurture the landscapes, both within and around me?
Carry these questions into your life and into your community. Follow our Instagram page @FEARLESSFARMERS for more insights, stories, and tips on regenerative living. Together, we can build a movement rooted in connection and hope for the future.
References:
1.Rodale Institute. (2023). Regenerative Organic Agriculture: Improving Soil Health with Cover Crops. Rodale Institute website.
2. Leopold, A. (1949). A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press.
3. Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions.
4. LaDuke, W. (2005). Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming. Boston: South End Press.
5. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2021). The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Building Resilient Food Systems. FAO website.