Twixmas is the time to get out, not hibernate

Pale skin, covered in pimples and occasionally slathered in goose fat. I speak not of the turkey most of us enjoyed this week – and are probably still enjoying, if like my mother you buy a bird that will feed 15 when serving only eight – but about the cold-water swimmers who are becoming as much of a tradition as the roast itself.

There they are, on the news every year, wading into the sea, throwing themselves through sheets of ice into lidos and splashing around in the sub-arctic Serpentine.

I’ve always thought them mad. Twixmas – the period between Christmas and the New Year – is traditionally when the nation hibernates like overfed dormice. I can usually be found buried beneath blankets and dressing gowns, and wearing whatever new pyjamas I’ve just been given.

Yet, according to reports, more of us are actually venturing outside during this period in pursuit of wholesome activities (and no, a sweep of the Zara sale doesn’t count). Think walking, swimming, running and birdwatching. Which would explain how I found myself hiking through a flooded field in Oxfordshire, shimmying along a barbed-wire fence, and trudging along in soggy boots for three hours until a pub came into view. The most surprising thing, and despite what I told my husband, was that I found it more exhilarating than an afternoon of Netflix.

A study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology earlier this year found that just five minutes a day immersed in nature, even in an urban setting, can boost your mood. I reckon they were on to something. For me, Twixmas will no longer be a time for hunkering down, my heartbeat only raised when reaching for the leftover Brie. So grab your new hat, gloves or scarf and make for the front door. Swimsuit optional.