Embrace the fog, savour the dawn, light up your home: readers’ top 10 tips for combating winter gloom

It can be hard to retain a sunny disposition when it’s grey and dismal outside. But even when the weather is bleak, there are things you can do to help make your day feel a little brighter. With this in mind, we asked readers to share their tips for combatting the gloom and boosting their mood now the nights have drawn in.

Visit a botanical garden

Go to Kew Gardens or any local botanical garden and wander its greenhouses. They’re toasty warm, bright and colourful, and the perfect place for a walk, read or chat with friends when it’s miserable out. Isabelle, ecologist, London

Get outdoors at dawn

I’d recommend rising at dawn and heading for the nearest beach, seaside, hill, forest or local park – even if it’s misty or inclement. Dress for the day and keep things simple: take a stroll and immerse yourself in the quiet. Even on a dull day, there’s light and hope as the day begins and everything wakes up. Plus, you can enjoy that smug feeling of getting a jump on the day. Claire Graham, lifestyle shop owner, West Cork

Nourish your body

Start your day with a stretch. Photograph: simonapilolla/Getty Images

Spend five minutes gently stretching, in bed or near a window, to connect with whatever light the day offers. Even if the sun is hidden, the ritual of facing the day with intention can help shift your mindset. Afterwards, nourish yourself with a breakfast that feels wholesome and comforting. Choose ingredients that provide sustained energy while honouring what your body craves, striking a balance between nutrition and enjoyment. Gloomy days are also a wonderful time to nurture relationships. Consider reaching out to a friend for a cup of coffee or a shared meal. Human connection can infuse your day with warmth and joy. Lily S Giraud, Nordic walking and yoga instructor, Oxford

Keep it colourful

Be bold with your woolly creations. Photograph: Irina Shamanaeva/Alamy

Wear something bright; craft with bright colours (sew, embroider, knit, spin); fill your house with colour (cushions, walls, tea towels); and take time on dull days to admire the brightness. Lynda, embroiderer, weaver and former teacher, Upton

Romanticise your walks

I’ve started to go for a short walk before work when I’m working from home, and at lunch when I’m in the office. I romanticise the walk: I take a tea with me in my KeepCup or treat myself to a coffee and a pastry along the way. I listen to music or send a voice note to a friend. I try to walk to a spacious area – a park, a wide road, or even an empty car park – so that I feel less claustrophobic. Mared, civil servant, London

Make your home twinkle

Let there be lights … and lots of them. Photograph: Martin Barraud/Getty Images

Hang battery-operated (or solar-powered) fairy lights everywhere possible – the more twinkly the better. Make sure they are set to come on at 5pm every evening so you always return to a twinkly home on a dark depressing evening. Scarlet, calligrapher, Devon

Take foggy photos

Achieving mindfulness through the mist. Photograph: Julian Cartwright

Embrace the gloom by taking pictures of it. As a part-time landscape photographer, I generally yearn for those days of glorious golden light and stunning sunsets/sunrises that show the landscape at its best. However, after one particularly long and depressing stint with no sunlight, I threw caution to the wind and went for a walk in the fog with my camera. Now I wish it was foggy more often! Familiar scenes took on an ethereal, minimalist air and, since I was often the only one daft enough to be out for a walk in such conditions, the silence and singular mission were great for mindfulness. A fine way to while away an afternoon. Julian Cartwright, grounds manager and landscape photographer, Shropshire

Be inspired by plants

While winter can feel gloomy, I take solace in how necessary it is for the plants we look forward to seeing again in spring. Bulbs need to be coaxed into hibernation by cold soil in order to grow and bloom at the right time, while perennials planted in autumn spend the winter months developing robust root systems. And if leafless trees get you down, try to think about how amazing a feat it is that deciduous trees shed their leaves because they simply won’t need them, and because the water cells in the leaves would otherwise freeze. It helps me to think of winter as a time when plants and nature can restock, which encourages me to do the same. Stephen, gardener, Cardiff

A walk in the woods can be magical. Photograph: Jennifer Baker

Go Nordic walking

A group of us go Nordic walking two or three times a week, for seven to 10 miles per walk, in all weather (except if it’s a howling gale). There’s something magical about being outside in the fresh air, walking at a brisk pace, talking with people who’ve become great friends; we put the world to rights and you find you feel so good at the end of the walk. We’ve walked in the countryside and a few routes in London, and the scenery, wildlife and nature you see on foot is just incredible. It makes your heart sing, leaving no room for gloom. Jennifer Baker, executive coach, Bury St Edmunds

Embrace the weather

Try to reframe how you judge the weather. Decide to love the sun, rain, clouds and overcast days. Each has a different quality and encourages different ways of being. The darkness is an opportunity to turn inwards and return to the source of your ideas. Making the most of the gloom could mean learning something new, socialising less, taking time to stay indoors and do art, a craft, read – anything which matches the same energy as the weather. Let it encourage you to sit down and tease something out. Felix Sagar, architectural designer, Brighton