From the Norwegian language, where the Danes actually borrowed the word, hygge translates as "well-being." This is quite apt. For Danes, as well as Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, and many other peoples, it is hygge that helps them cope with the swift pace of buzzy daily life. Look for beauty in small domestic joys — then your soul will always be in peace, and your house will be home for you.
Look for senses and learn how to hygge without spending a lot of money
Chances are you have a couple of core memories from your childhood, such as when your mom let you jump in puddles on a rainy day or when your grandma read you that one book while you sat in line for a doctor's appointment. Your loved ones didn't spend a lot of money or come up with some incredible activities. You just looked for happiness among small things, filling the most insignificant things with meaning. That's what hygge is all about. Hygge can't be bought at some special hygge ikea. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how expensive your furniture is.
Still, you can bring the hygge lifestyle into your life by planting flowers on your windowsill and enjoying their beauty (yeah, although many people associate hygge with winter, you can experience it in summer, too). You can drink cocoa with marshmallows during winter days or spend time washing dishes and singing “Baby Shark” with your kids. It’s not about money — it’s about being willing to be happy. But yet there are some things you may buy to make it easier for you to build your coziness. Our summary of The Little Book of Hygge can give you more insights into the hygge lifestyle.
Turn your home into something incredibly comfortable by using the right lightning and finding your hyggekrog
If you don't know where to start, you can try buying candles. Do you know the joke about Scandinavians never using big lights? According to some studies, Danes use a huge amount of candles on a daily basis just for the sake of creating a good atmosphere. You can also try lamps or twinkle lights – the point here hides in calming ambient lightning. You can also think about making your own hyggekrog. That's the name for a comfortable place where you can wrap yourself in a blanket and read a book or watch a TV show with some snacks. It is not only comfortable but also very aesthetically pleasing, so why not give it a try? It will be much easier after reading our summary, The Year of Living Danishly.
Gather all your friends together and make an apple pie
Candles and soft blankets can give you a warm feeling. And when you are warm, your heart is warm, too. However, nothing warms you as much as the companionship of others close to you. Well, as frustrating as it may sound to loners right now, the original essence of hygge is about sharing, warming yourself not only with the lovely walls of your home but also with the feeling of company. So, to experience hygge fully, you should have an occasional get-together with your parents or friends, or maybe even finally find a girlfriend! Once again, sharing quality time isn’t about spending a lot of money. Board games, tarot cards, watching movies, or taking the "What kind of pizza are you" test together — the world has provided a limitless variety of things for you to do with others.
Embrace mindfulness and get all unnecessary stuff out of your head
And yet, what is the core element of hygge? The answer is actually quite simple: mindfulness. It's not some Buddhist term you can achieve by meditating and eating one rice grain daily. No, in fact, it would be quite the opposite of the hygge mindset, which believes that the hygge diet is about eating a lot of tasty food and getting maximum pleasure. Leave meditation for monks as well — your job here is to learn to just enjoy the moment.
It may seem that a hygge lifestyle is truly not for everyone. An ignorant person will not look for meaning in small things in everyday life. In fact, everydayness will seem bad and depressing to them. Anxious thoughts will destroy their minds, and as a result, there will be no time left for joy. So in order to achieve hygge, they must learn to clear their head of negativity. Learn to be at peace with yourself and explore what you enjoy. Only then will you really be able to feel the little joys and live your best hygge lifestyle.
Your life should not be the life lived by a character in some epic book. You should never blame yourself for the fact that after work, you just want to watch a show or hang out with a friend for a cup of coffee. Instead, you can light a candle, grab a couple of plaids, and turn that sit-down into something incredibly comfortable. You can experiment with it. In fact, there are so many different examples of hygge that you won’t be able to count them.
The Danish word hygge has brought a lot of peace to people around the world. Getting joy out of little things, creating a comfortable atmosphere, and finding little things that gladden the heart and soul – doesn't that sound great?
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