While many people see winter as a season to endure, it can actually be one of the most grounding, revitalizing times of the year. There’s a particular joy in getting bundled up and heading into the cold. It’s a calm, grounded joy, more intentional and introspective than summer outings. It encourages us to slow down, breathe a little deeper, and pay closer attention. It nudges us to step outside despite the chill, rewarding the effort with a deep beauty that reveals itself with more gradations and nuance than the bold colours of summer. The snowy streets are quieter, glimmers of sunlight feel more magical, and even a short walk can feel like a reset.
The Fresh-Air Effect
There’s something incredibly invigorating about stepping outside and feeling that first hit of crisp air on your cheeks. It wakes you up, slows your thoughts, and creates space for things that tend to get crowded during busy days. With the rush of cool air can come clarity, perspective, a sense of calm.
Experts talk about how winter walks support mental and physical health, but anyone who has stepped out for a stroll on a crisp day already knows the impact it can have. Whether it’s a twenty-minute stroll around the neighbourhood, a waterside walk with a warm drink in hand, or a wander through a snowy forest where each step crunches softly underfoot, winter has a way of rewarding those who step into it.
Of course, enjoying winter starts with feeling warm enough to actually enjoy it. When you’re cold, it’s hard to appreciate the little details. But when you’re properly protected, insulated, dry, and comfortable, you can focus on the beauty around you... Frost tracing the edges of a fence. The soft pink light just before sunset. Snow collecting on tree branches like thick daubs of paint.
Dressing for Joy
A good coat won’t single-handedly make you love winter, but it can absolutely change your relationship with it.
At BEDI, we’ve always believed that winter outerwear should be functional first: warm, weatherproof, and reliable. But it should also be something you feel good wearing day after day. The kind of coat that becomes a companion through the season, making the decision to step outside feel easier (or dare we say, even inviting?)
For women, the ORSOLA Parka fills this role beautifully. Sleek, warm, and quietly elegant, it’s rated to -30 °C and built for real Canadian weather. Its longer length, protective shell, and lightweight insulation make it well suited to everything from forest walks and weekend errands to seaside boardwalk strolls with a matcha latte in hand. It’s the coat you reach for without thinking, one that lets you enjoy winter instead of bracing yourself against it.
For men, the SLAT and IDRIS offer a similar balance of warmth, performance, and understated design. The SLAT has the look of a classic topcoat with the protection of a true winter jacket, while the IDRIS offers full-length coverage for colder, more demanding days. Both are made in small batches in Canada and designed to weather years of winters, because a winter coat should be an investment you feel every day, in the best possible way.
And while coats do most of the work, winter comfort often comes down to the smaller details. Warm hands, warm feet, warm ears all make a difference. Our VAZ Socks, made from soft merino wool, are a simple upgrade that goes a long way, especially for longer walks or days spent moving in and out of the cold. They’re the kind of finishing touch you don’t think much about, until you realize how much more comfortable you feel.
The Ritual of Going Outside
Creating a quiet ritual for winter walking can become especially meaningful as the hustle and bustle of the holidays starts to subside. The point isn’t distance or speed. It’s simply the act of showing up for yourself and letting the outdoors do what it does best. Maybe it starts as a quick jaunt to your local coffee shop and taking the long way back with your favourite warm drink. Maybe it’s popping in your earphones to listen to your current favourite playlist or podcast. Or maybe it’s finding a bit of nature that you enjoy visiting nearby.
Each route has its own bits of beauty. A walk around the neighbourhood offers streetlights reflecting off icy sidewalks, rooftops collecting snow in clean, quiet lines, and chimney smoke curling upward from neighbours homes. A forest walk offers something else entirely. The air smells like wood and cold, with a hint of something earthy and still. If you’re with kids, their version of winter is an easy reminder to slow everything down— with snowballs, snow angels, interesting sticks and frequent stops to investigate some small detail. Children seem to understand winter instinctively; they know it’s meant to be played in.
Rediscovering Wonder
Winter has a way of bringing our attention back to the small things. Snowflakes clinging briefly to your coat sleeve before melting. The hush that settles in during a snowfall. The deep blue light of late afternoon. The little things might be part of what makes it feel so restorative— without the abundance of summer sunlight, flora and fauna, we seek out the smaller details we often overlook during warmer seasons.
And the more time you spend outside, the more winter opens up. It becomes less about inconvenience and more about possibility: the possibility of feeling refreshed, of finding calm, of reconnecting with the outdoors in a season that so often pushes us inside.
A Season Worth Stepping Into
If you’ve been meaning to spend more time outside this winter, consider this your gentle nudge. Grab your favourite coat and your coziest hat, and step into the crisp air. Wander without rushing. Look around without expectation. Let winter be something you meet, rather than something you avoid.
Because once you begin to see winter as an invitation instead of a challenge, you might just find there is joy in the cold.
