by Briar Brakhage
photo by Briar Brakhage
At the start of the new year, Maria Tyszka (she/they), the proprietor of Lucyja Hygge on Madison Avenue, was quick to clarify that the true new year starts in March with the coming spring. January and February are the start of the calendar year, and Maria finds these months to be a good time for focusing on what we need to release from one year to the next, taking time to focus on healing. To do this requires “digging down into the deep to pull up the roots of things, because during the winter things freeze over and the plants pass away, but there’s still life that’s been beneath the ground.” That life and energy buried deep within ourselves and our lives may or may not serve our highest good, and “we truly do need to pull it up, pull it out—and there are some things that we want to keep, because we want it to grow back.” January and February are a great time of preparation for what is to come in March and for detoxing. Maria says, “Detoxing our spirit energetically, truly letting go of what and who we need to let go of and giving ourselves the okay to do that, to have a fresh start.”
Detoxing spiritually can look much the same as detoxing the body if it is done gently. Working with herbs like ginger root, an anti-inflammatory, soothes inflammation in the body and can also be used with the intention of removing inflaming things in our lives. When you know in your gut that something is wrong for you, ginger root soothes that feeling. What if the inflammation is around something that needs to be removed? Dandelion root flushes out toxins, helping remove inflaming elements in your life. Ashwagandha root is a powerful tool against anxiety and stress. As we dig through the roots of ourselves in these early months of 2026, we can use the roots of the earth to guide our bodies and spirits through the process of removing what does not serve us and healing what we want to retain and nurture.
Working with these herbs can be as simple as drinking tea, Maria says. “Some people feel like chamomile is just to help with sleep, but chamomile is great for digestive health. It’s to clear things up, and a lot of things start with the gut. Just drinking a tea to clear things up, to reset, to release. What do I want to continue with? And being true to myself? What do I not want to continue with? What makes me feel good, excited, and alive? What is my yes? How many times have I said yes when I should have said no due to obligation?” The simple act of being deliberate with the herbs we consume, even in a warming cup of tea, can help guide our intentions and goals in the new year.
How do we know what to prune away, though? When we dig through the roots of ourselves and our lives, what gets culled and what gets nourished? To find that, we must be in touch with our solar plexus chakra, where Maria says we hold our power—and our doubt, anxiety, and depression. She closed her eyes when answering this question, placing her hand just above her navel, and offered the instruction, “Ask ourselves—is this for me? Is this no longer necessary? Is this necessary? Inhale, exhale. Wait on the answer, allowing ourselves to answer the question for ourselves.” She paused for a breath and continued, “Without rushing, you know? We don’t have to. Just because someone asks a question, or just because we feel we need to do something, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give ourselves time and grace to truly answer from the belly, from the gut.”
Here is an opportunity for clarifying breathwork. Breath is inherently an exchange between taking in what we need and releasing what we do not, but it is an exchange that can sometimes grow clumsy and delayed as we hold our breath with tension and anxiety. Maria says, “We need that oxygen. We need that air, right? And we have to release what no longer serves us.” Breathing has the distinction of being both a voluntary and involuntary process in the body, giving us the opportunity to be intentional with it. “Did I hold my breath? Am I inhaling and exhaling? Am I allowing the air to just move and circulate throughout my body? Can I imagine that it’s cleansing those places that need to be cleansed?” By stopping and being more intentional and mindful of the breath, we become aware of receiving what we need and releasing what we do not need.
At the start of a reiki and sound healing session with Maria, she told me, “Your only responsibility is your breath.” Instructing me to inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth, occasionally gently holding the breath for just a moment, allowing it into my headspace. With my body resting on a cushioned table, a pillow under my head and under my knees, Maria placed crystals along the center line of my body and in each palm, telling me to allow any thoughts that come to come and go as they need to. As I relaxed into the space, my attachment to my thoughts faded, and I was able to be present with my breath and body. Maria’s energy was palpable as she worked with me, encouraging my breathing. She placed warm hands over my belly at my solar plexus and found the residue of my anger. “It’s okay to be angry,” she said. My breath caught in my throat for a beat, and she soothingly told me I must also let that anger go. I felt the anger like a stone in my gut and knew I had to uproot it. I exhaled with her and let my anger loosen.
As we let go of the things that do not serve us in the new year, we must also care for the wounds left behind. Maria spoke of the heart chakra, the center, saying, “Once we allow the heart space to heal, we’ll start speaking up more. We start allowing ourselves to see truth and embrace it. We start to know and receive from the spirit realm. We allow ourselves to heal from the hurt, from the disappointment, from the traumas. It doesn’t take long. Sometimes we’re afraid to face it. It’s like, okay, I have trauma in my heart space. I’ve been disappointed. I’ve been hurt. I’ve been talked about. I’ve been wronged. But it’s okay to heal and truly speak to the heart space, to breathe through it. Then everything else begins to balance.”
Different services and practices can help with the work of healing the heart space. Maria spoke of sound healing, using singing bowls and a tuning fork. In my sound healing session, she used seven bowls, one for each of the seven core chakras, but mentioned a focus on my solar plexus. As the sound of the bowls filled the room, I felt buoyant, almost lifted by the vibrations of the bowls’ song. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. It was as though every cell of my body was being gently shaken into place after having been knocked askew by the experience of moving through the world. The healing song of the bowls reached my heart, and tears came to my eyes. I gave my heart permission to heal from the hurt of 2025, but in the same breath, I gave my heart permission to love the joy and growth of 2025.
These practices—using herbs, breathwork, incense, oils, crystals, candles, and even tarot card reading—can all be solitary, but they can also be communal and familial. Lucyja Hygge offers services like crystal sound bowl healing, guided breathwork meditation, intuitive tarot reading, and Akashic records reading, all of which can guide your healing and spiritual journey. The higher goal is always to share the practices with the community. Maria invites you to “come here as often as you want to learn more, to be more comfortable with it, but the goal is to take it out into the community, to take it out to family and friends and loved ones and colleagues and just practice. You can come here to learn, but take it out there to share and do.” Even something as simple as sharing a cup of tea with your family, allowing the world to go quiet and inviting everyone to spend a few moments with their breath, can have powerful and transformative effects.
At the start of the new calendar year, as you dig into your own roots and determine what should be released and what should be nurtured, consider stopping by Lucyja Hygge to learn practices that can help you reach your highest self, your healed self, your powerful self, and your yes.
