Wellbeing | A Breath of Fresh Air

Why stepping outside and filling your lungs in winter will always improve your day

There’s no getting away from it. If you reside in the UK, you’re probably not living your best outdoor lifestyle in December. But is that, in fact what makes a blast of winter air so special? When you step outside in summer you may not even bother to shut the door behind you; the garden becomes an extension of the house. You don’t need to change your clothes or add layers. You simply mosey on out and join everyone else, going about their day.

But in winter, stepping outside can be like stepping into Narnia. Moving from a stuffy, centrally heated house full of artificial light into the dark and the fresh, cool air feels like a little adventure, whether you’re off on a hike or just poking your nose outside. And there’s nothing like that first lungful of cold air to calm frazzled nerves, soothe overindulged stomachs and clear your mind. No matter how long you have, a breath of fresh air might be the festive re-set you need this season. Here are a few excuses to help you find it. 

Excuse: A good walk

Whether it’s a nice chat with a parent or sibling, or perhaps a catch-up with an adult child you don’t see so much of these days, a good long walk is an excellent reason to get out of the house when you feel you’re starting to ‘ferment’. Once the excesses of Christmas Day and Boxing Day are over you can declare that you ‘simply must get a bit of exercise’ and commandeer someone to keep you company. 

Enjoy the first slap of cold air on your cheeks as you rediscover the world outside (somehow even two days spent indoors at Christmas always feels like you’ve been locked up for months). Pick somewhere that will allow you to appreciate nature a bit, whether that’s a national park or the gardens of a stately home, or a wilder woodland setting, and you’ll have plenty of conversation starters. However, you often find that the mere act of walking side by side, without the pressure of full eye contact, allows people to open up and you’ll end up chatting about all sorts of things and possibly discovering a new side to someone you thought you knew everything about. And how often do we get the chance to do that? 

Secret benefit: Reconnecting with the important people in your life. 

Excuse: Tidying the garden

If wandering far from home isn’t an option, find a good long job that absolutely must be done in the garden and escape into the fresh air. At this time of year, any dry day is a good enough excuse to abscond to the garden for a few hours. Wrap up warm, with double gloves, and get cutting back, sweeping up and scrubbing out old plant pots ready for spring. Pop a podcast on in your ear phones, or just enjoy hearing the occasional garden bird trilling. 

Secret benefit: Your future self will thank you in February.

Excuse: Child or dog care

Whether you own a child or a dog yourself or not does not matter here. No parent or pet owner will object if you offer to take a scatty lab or over-Christmassed kid out to burn off some energy in the park. You need not admit that you’d much rather spend an hour in the company of someone smaller and/or furrier than yourself than have to make any more adult small talk about the cost of living or when it is acceptable to take the tree down. Take a ball with you, a good book in case the dog/child leaves you to your own devices once there, and maybe a flask of something hot to enjoy with your fresh air and dose of daylight.

Secret benefit: A nice cup of tea and a sit down - en plein air. 

Excuse: Putting the bins out

The thing about Christmas is that if you’re not washing up, you’re probably taking the bins out. Both are excellent ways of finding a little peace and quiet for yourself. But taking out the bins has the added bonus of a few moments of fresh air, too. 

Tie up the bin liner and replace it so that no one comes looking for you asking where the new bin liners are, then trudge through the back door with the air of someone ‘just getting the job done’. Make a slightly larger deal than necessary about rearranging the bins for maximum space efficiency and by the time you’ve sorted it all out, all eyes will be off you. Slope around the corner of the house where you’ll be unseen and then, with only the moon for company, look up at the sky and take in a few deep breaths and enjoy five meditative moments alone with your thoughts. If anyone questions your absence when you go back indoors, claim you thought you saw a rat and went to investigate. That should ensure no one else offers to take the bin out and the job remains yours.

Secret benefit: A bit of peace and quiet. Plus, you’ll be treated like a heroine for doing the dirty jobs.

Excuse: Just airing the house

If the weather foils your plans, as a last resort, find a quiet room, throw open the window, stick your head out and take a few deep lungfuls of winter air. Mentally, block out the rest of the world and all the goings on inside the busy house, close your eyes and imagine yourself out in the great blue yonder… That’s better, isn’t it?

Secret benefit: A mini self-care package (and a fresher feeling room). 

If you’re interested in fresh air winter walks you might enjoy our feature ‘A Wander to Behold’ from our December issue, which is on sale now.

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How To | Make a Living Advent Calendar

Turn your street into a winter wonderland with festive scenes and glittering lights peeking out of windows, and encourage a bit of seasonal neighbourliness, too

Living advent calendars have become increasingly popular, particularly since the pandemic, when many streets started their own WhatsApp groups, which then spawned various charity and community events. If you’ve not had the pleasure of visiting a living advent calendar before, here’s how it works…

What is a living advent calendar?

 A local community, usually a small village or a street (anything works as long as you have at least 24 willing households) gets together to plan an ‘advent calendar’. Households throw their hat in the ring and 24 are chosen to each decorate a window of their house. One window display is ‘opened’ each day in December until Christmas Eve, so visitors to the Advent Calendar can walk past and spot the pretty displays. The calendar usually remains up for the 12 days of Christmas so people can visit and view the whole thing over the festive period. 

How to get started

If you don’t have a street WhatsApp group, set one up so you can organise it from there. Ask for volunteers to take part. If you have more than 24, semi-detached properties, terraces or flats can perhaps share. More of that later! Once you have enough willing windows, allocate everyone a number from one to 24, so they know the date in December on which their window display has to be put up. 

How to decorate an advent window

You’ll need to make a large number to show which day you are (coloured cardboard is best for this) and stick that in one corner of your window. You can decorate a small window or your main one, depending on how ambitious you are, and either upstairs or downstairs. Ideally, everyone should pick a theme for their window and share them with the group in advance so you know you aren’t going to have any duplicates. 

Themes can be religious if you like, such as the three wise men travelling to Bethlehem, or shepherds on the hillside. Or they can simply be festive, perhaps a big fat robin or a Christmas pud. Of course, it’s fine to go off piste too - we’ve seen very Christmassy Star Wars characters bring a lot of festive joy to a street advent calendar, or you might like to picture a local icon.  Whatever you choose to do, keep the design simple so it’s clear what it is from a distance. 

One of the easiest methods is to make a large cardboard ‘collage’ piece and then attach it to the inside of the window, but you could use window paint if you wish, fake snow, or 3D soft sculpture if you’re a dab hand with a sewing machine. Knitted scenes can look truly amazing as long as the window is close enough to the pavement. Think about how you will illuminate it too, so it’s visible at night. You might just leave the light on in that room, or move a couple of lamps close to the window to give the scene a gentle glow. 

Can we share a window?

Sharing is really good fun. You and a neighbour could do two ‘teams’ of snowmen, one in each house’s window, having a snowball fight, with pom-pom snowballs strung up between the houses, flying at each other. If you’re in a block with several residences with windows close together, you could do a ‘cartoon strip’ style that tells a story, perhaps gold, frankincense and myrrh arriving at the crib. Or if you have one window above another you could have a reindeer waiting by a chimney pot and Santa down below, delivering gifts in the fireplace. Have a good look at your properties from the outside and inspiration will usually strike. And what more excuse do you need to get together with the neighbours for a glass or two of mulled wine on the driveway?

Choose a charity, if you wish

A living advent calendar is a great way to raise a few pounds for a local or much bigger charity that’s close to the heart of your community. Pop up a few posters in local shops and advertise it online, perhaps with a suggested small donation for visiting your advent calendar over the festive period, and then create a JustGiving page where people can donate. Or if you have somewhere where it’s easy for people to leave cash donations in envelopes, such as a church or pub on the road, you could do that, too. 

Create a map of the Advent Calendar

This is especially useful if you’re a village or a very long street, and a great way to encourage charitable donations, if you include the charity’s details on the map. Get a neighbour who’s handy with some felt tips or a computer to draw a little map, showing where each of the windows are and their numbers. You can either leave them somewhere sheltered for people to pick up whenever they visit, or just put the map up online for folk to print off themselves and ask community groups to share it. 

Make an event of it

The calendar will be complete by Christmas Eve, and while it’s fun looking out for the new windows each day, you’ll find you get the most visitors once it’s complete, particularly on those slow days between Christmas and New Year when everyone is at home but also in dire need of a bit of fresh air. If you can gather enough volunteers, and particularly if you have a community hub like a hall or cafe on the road, you could throw a small Advent Calendar party. It’s a lovely thing to do on Christmas Eve and selling a few cups of mulled wine and gingerbread men or mince pies is another way to add to the charity pot, while making it into a bit of a day out for visitors to your area. It’s also a great chance for the neighbours to get together and for everyone to admire their handiwork. You could even introduce an element of competition and fun with a prize for the best and most unusual windows! 

Be inspired to find more free and reasonable festive outings with our feature, Finding The Fairytale for Free (ish) in our new December issue. 

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