“If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.”

Romain Rolland

Winter can be a difficult season for many, but especially hard if you’re affected by the lowering light levels and the cold. I always knew I was susceptible to low moods in winter, especially post-Christmas, but it never had a very evident effect on me until I stopped working as a teacher and lost even the 20 or 30 minutes a day playground duty, time spent stood on cold, wet, freezing playgrounds but spent outside and in the fresh air as much as possible. Wrap up warm, have thermal gloves and socks and turn your face to the sun.

Once I moved over to office work, though, I lost that time outside and became one of the many who travel to and from work in darkness during the mid-winter months.

I could carry my good humour through to Christmas, with the lights and the cameraderie and the business, but once January hit I found my mood dipped, I craved carbs, and I would grow morose to the point that nothing seemed worthwhile. I’m a naturally optimistic and happy person, so being such a grinch was so contra my own nature, it seemed sensible to take steps to prevent it.

For the past few years, then, I have started to follow good advice on warding off the winter blues. From October onwards I have my steps that I set in place, and they have proved sufficient so far:-

• I make sure my four pillars of health are in place: a good sleeping rhythm; eating well with lots of veg and fruit; taking care of my stress levels through timetabling and delegation; getting outside as much as possible and, if I can’t do that, making sure I move, even if it’s only a Kitchen Disco!
• I use a daylight lamp for 30 minutes each morning. It’s worth waking up slightly earlier to get that boost in mood. Currently I use the Lumie Bodyclock, which starts waking me up every morning and takes up to 45 minutes to reach full light. If I need to, I also have a static daylight lamp that I use downstairs while sipping tea, if I need to.
• I boost my vitamin intake. I take a women’s multivitamin and a jointcare supplement anyway, but in the winter I boost them both with an immune boosting mix of elderberry and a Vitamin D spray. I also drink a cup of turmeric tea every morning, and boost the spices and herbs I use in my food.
• If I’m feeling particularly low, I take St Johns Wort, for a month or two, to tide me over. I try and limit this, though, because I know it reacts badly with some other medicines and pills.
• I always have something to look forward to, be it a weekend away, a theatre trip, a craft course or a new book, movie or TV series. I am never more than 3 months away from a new experience to anticipate and countdown to.
• I spend time alone and in company, and I try to make sure I don’t do too much of either. I need a balance of both solitude and society to be happy.
• I limit my time on social media and on the internet as a whole. My mental health is better when I don’t scroll endlessly through complaints, arguments, issues. If I could do one thing to improve the mental health of the world it would be to make curating a safe, supportive and sensible online space easier.

What do you do to boost your winter health? Do you get SAD? Do you get the opposite, and suffer during the summer?

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. Lent is a season of rituals and resets. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

My Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is a good place to start, on how to make the season cosier, happier. Celebrating a Contagious Christmas was written during covid year, but has useful advice on celebrating when times are hard anyway and Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas is a short e-book on keeping Christmas simpler, easier and better for you, your waistline and your budget. It even includes 25+ suggestions for self-care activities over Christmas, as simple as sipping tea, keeping a list journal or lighting a candle. Bigger is not always better for Christmas.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of spring/summer.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash. I’m using it from now until January as a real reminder of the power of light. I loved the simplicity of the shot, the focus on the one candle, the reminder that there are many lights out there if we open our hearts to them and the combination of candle and nature in creating a cosy Christmas.