Big Fires Start Small: Sustainable Leadership Energy at Imbolc
Imbolc arrives quietly.
Here in the UK, it often comes with cold, damp days that don’t feel very different from winter at all. The earth still looks dormant. The mornings remain dark. A good farming friend of mine often says, “Ne’er cast a clout till May is out.” In other words: don’t take your vest off till the hawthorn is flowering (end of May, beginning of June)! Or perhpas, don’t rush ahead of the season. Don’t assume things have shifted till they have!
(I personally can confirm that my merino thermals are still very much in use! I work outdoors a lot, and winter hasn’t finished with us yet.)
Imbolc and sustainable leadership energy
This is a useful metaphor for leadership, work, and personal energy at this time of year. Imbolc marks the very beginning of spring it is in fact ‘a transition’. Nature doesn’t change from one thing to another with a hard switch on or off. This is a time when life is stirring beneath the surface, even if little is visible yet.
For leaders and professionals, this often mirrors an internal experience. When ideas come, they are a spark, an inspiration, then the fire is kindled and begins to form. EG, a desire for change, a sense that something wants to emerge and if we want strong, resilient energy later in the year, the inner fire needs to be started small now.
The danger of pushing too soon
Many professional cultures reward urgency: plans, targets, strategies, goals. At Imbolc, that instinct can work against us.
Too much pressure too early, too many initiatives, expectations, or personal demands; can overwhelm emerging energy rather than support it. Just as a spark cannot survive heavy logs, early-stage inspiration cannot thrive under excessive load.
This is where many leaders experience burnout cycles: pushing through winter without pause, only to find energy collapse later in the year.
Imbolc invites a different approach.
Noticing the spark
Rather than asking “What should I be doing?” this season asks a quieter, more powerful question:
What is stirring in my roots? What is beginning to feel alive?
Where is there a small spark of insight, curiosity, or renewed motivation?
What is bringing me a subtle shift in my sense of meaning, relief, or alignment?
This spark might relate to your leadership style, your team culture, your health,your family, or the way you want to work going forward. It does not need to be dramatic or strategic yet. Small does not mean insignificant — it can mean powerful and viable.
Small changes that work and will stick can create way more real change that big ideas that grow too quickly and never really work.
Tending energy, not forcing outcomes
Instead of adding more fuel in the form of goals and action plans, consider what would gently support your nervous system at this time of year as your circadian rhythms re-pattern themsleves and our hormone balances shift. What will bring focus, clarity and capacity. This might include:
Creating intentional pauses in the working day (setting a phone alarm for 3 deep breaths?)
Simple breathing or grounding practices between meetings
Gentle movement that respects our bodies as they emerge from winter
Warmthness, physically and emotionally, as a form of regulation
Simpler meals or routines that reduce cognitive and digestive load
And making time pace for reflection, journalling, or quiet thinking
Five minutes of intentional tending
Once you’ve identified your spark, the question becomes:
How can I tend this consistently, without pressure?
Could you give it five minutes a day?
Could you stay with what feels meaningful just a little longer?
Could you introduce it into your week one more time?
Leadership energy grows through attention, not
Leading in season
Imbolc teach us that sustainable growth honours timing. This is the time to listen more closely you want your leadership energy, creativity, and resilience to be strong by late spring and summer.
The FREE Indigo Brave Firelight Circle is a space for thoughtful leaders and professionals, particularly women in senior roles who want to work with their energy rather than against it. Through seasonal wisdom, embodied practices, and shared reflection, we explore sustainable ways of leading, creating, and navigating change.
If you’re ready to nurture your spark gently now, so it can grow into strength and clarity later in the year, you’re warmly invited to join us.