The clocks went back last weekend and my grandmother’s phrase of “the nights are drawing in” always comes to mind. The expression always gave me a sense of winter behaving like a circle wrapping around us until spring found its way to burst back in as it always does.
Then, as now, the darker nights and colder temperatures would make me want to reach for tried and tested cosiness – the hot chocolate in the Christmas mug, the blanket with the fur trim to snuggle under, changing straight into comfy clothes as soon as I got home from school.
In Denmark, this concept is called “hygge” (pronounced “hoo-ga”) which actively encourages us to embrace the prioritisation of comfort, warmth and cosiness to a create a sense of wellbeing and self-preservation through the wintertime.
I always envied the animals of hibernation who would tuck up and hunker down from winter through to spring, lowering their body-temperature, slowing their breathing and heart rate, and lowering their metabolic rate to get them through the challenges of winter… but then I would never experience the pleasure of a warm blanket on a chilly night tucked up with a book and a feeling a sense of safety from the winter world outside.
So, while wintertime can be challenging, aim to embrace the chance to get comfortable, get cosy and enjoy the snug indoors togetherness that these darker months can offer.
