What is hygge? A beginner's guide to living cozy.
I can’t actually remember precisely where I first caught wing of this term and concept. I think it was from a magazine, and then I started noticing the word ‘hygge’ pop up all over my world. This fortuitous concept caught wind in my brain, and made sense for me to experiment with it to see if it might be a way for me to reframe the long winter months. It sure did. Hygge changed and improved my winter life.
photo by Mike Kotsch (permission via Squarespace)
So, what is this Hygge thing?
Hygge (hoo-geh) is a Danish word of Norwegian origin, which loosely translates to “comfort”. It first appeared in Danish writing during the late 18th century, and was quickly adopted by the Danes. (reference: https://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/highlights/hygge/what-hygge)
Hygge is a lifestyle practise that essentially means consciously creating a cozy and warm atmosphere.
It involves enjoying the good things in life with good people. It means finding happiness in everyday life. In the video I’ve included below by Vice News, Klaus Meyer describes it as a state of groundedness; to be able to listen to and see people with your heart. If I had to define it on my terms, I’d say it is authentic, connected, grounded living in symbiosis with our environment.
As I understand, this concept evolved in the Scandinavian countries as a method of combatting the seasonal lethargy, darkness, and winter blues. Scandanavian countries are geographically at a very high northern latitude with close proximity to the Arctic circle. This means that several months of the year bring significantly more darkness than light. And if any of you have experienced a long, cold, dark winter, you understand that physically and psychologically takes a toll.
The act of hygge in the winter months can help us connect with our current state of being and our surrounding environment.
What happens in the winter to animals and nature around us? It slows down. Many animals go into hibernation. Plant life dies back or lies dormant, storing energy until the planet starts to rebirth itself in spring. We see animals slow down activity, conserve energy, and some even sleep for months on end. So winter, essentially is a time to slow down, take a lighter pace, conserve your energy and spend this quieter time in reflection and restoration.
It’s easy to run from dawn to dusk in the summer because the sun literally energizes us to do so. The winter is a different beast. I know when the sun goes down, it’s becomes major concerted effort to even leave my home. I am down for the ‘home-hunker’ count. And I don’t fight it anymore. I allow myself to be seasonal because if i don’t, I will live in misery over the winter months (and there’s a lot of those months). It’s taken me years to allow myself this respite. It’s still a learning and growing process to be honest, but truly, allowing myself to slow the pace down feels delicious and honourable.
I feel like I am honouring myself and my needs, and I am not in a constant battle and beating myself up for not being ‘as productive’ or ‘driven’. I go to bed earlier because i need more sleep to function (thank you winter). I make concerted efforts to get outside, even in the unpleasant weather, because once I’m out and moving, it feels good to be outside with the elements. I pull out my cross-country skiis when there’s good enough snow, or put on the skates that I only get to use a few months of the year. I watch the cardinals and squirrels fight for their share of birdseed at the local park (and yes, I’m rooting for the birds), and look for pretty photo ops on my winter hikes or city walks. I look for joy in this hibernation period.
I look for joy in this hibernation period.
It’s interesting, as a society, we don’t acklowledge this slow-down. We just hate how winter makes us feel. Understandable because the expectation , from a work and cultural perspective, is to be just as productive as we are in the summer. But, as I read and understand more recent scientific findings, to ignore the enviornmental contraints we experience in winter is counterproductive to our health and our biology. Things take more time and effort in the winter (hell, even getting dressed or getting out of your driveway is more work), so this extra effort and energy does take up time and mental bandwidth. Most importantly, the lack of sunlight and time spent outside does have a critical impact on our physiological regulation and homeostasis (watch for my upcoming article on SAD and circadian clocks).
Yes, there will always be work bustle and daily demands, but do we need to amp ourselves up constantly to that max level of performance? My TCMP doctor mentioned to me that during the yin season (winter), we should be doing 25% less than in yang season (summer). That made an incredible amount of sense to me. Dial it down a little more in the winter season. There’s an innate biological reason you want to sit in your home and hibernate when the dark comes. We all do. It’s what we’ve evolved to do and be. So downshift. Moderate your tasks and obligations; what isn’t critical can be moved or rescheduled, or goodness forbid, dump.
We feel shitty in winter because we are constantly pushing against our nature.
From my years of classroom teaching, it’s been a constant ramp-up from September to December, where all the concerts, food drives, activities, events, and socials burn the candle at both ends. Then, usually by December 23rd, I get to bring home the ashes of my soul, cart them around for a week while my hubs and I drive for hours on family visits and live in sugar and food comas for the week or two of holidays.. And then I wonder why I feel exhausted and depleted when I return to work in the New Year. I’m sure we’ve all feel this exhaustion….annually. Tis the season to be exhausted! So cut some of that shit out so you can recharge.
Consider eliminating things that you can and take pleasure in a slower pace. It actually feels really good to reduce the expectations on yourself and kin.
Take time to enjoy what is around you— like going for an evening walk to look at the lights, taking the kids and going for a toboggan or snowball fight….make a winter snow scene in the dark.
Just be.
photo by Kate Stone Metheson (permission via Squarespace)
