Breathe Magazine

Winter. Out in the streets, people hurry through the cold, turning their collars up against the chill, or dive into cafes to thaw frozen fingertips on mugs of steaming coffee. Inside homes, hail batters against windowpanes, the sound muffled by heavy curtains drawn tight against the dark. Curling up on a warm, comfy sofa for a quick snooze among cushions and throws feels extra special when you can hear the wind howling down your chimney chute. Who doesn’t want to huddle and hibernate when it’s cold and wet outside?
And yet. As the pale watery sun surfaces into the sky, escaping for a few hours to stomp over hills hazy with mist and woodsmoke can’t help but lift the spirits. Mud might squelch and slip underfoot, skeleton trees stand stark and brittle against the horizon but, as nature rests, the hush that lies like a blanket over woods and fields is food for the soul. Emails, arguments, deadlines, all drift away, and the mind is filled instead with that calming sense of perspective that being out in nature brings.
So bundle up in a thick coat, woolly hat, strong boots. Never mind if it’s drizzling, snowing or a bluebird day. Yomp down lanes, crunch through icy puddles and climb ancient paths to soaring views and tumbledown tors. And when you spy an inn up ahead, drop down in a chair by the fire, let go of the world for a while and allow yourself a smile knowing that your sofa is still waiting for you when you get home.