Holistic Hygge

Have you heard the term hygge banded about recently? Hygge (pronounced "hue-gah" or "hoo-guh") is a Danish term that encapsulates the mood of coziness, wellness and contentment but is really about a way of life, a mindset to find peace and comfort in day to day life.

Hygge has been called everything from “the art of creating intimacy,” “coziness of the soul,” and “the absence of annoyance,” to “taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things,” “cozy togetherness,” and my personal favorite, “cocoa by candlelight”.

Like all good things that get taken out of context, western commercialism has made us to feel like we need to completely re-decorate our houses and buy more stuff in order to have a more minimal house (what??) and rolled up the idea of hygge nicely in to a set of products and home decor that we can buy but the essence of hygge comes from within. 

So what tools from our holistic toolkit can aid us in this sense of hygge in our own lives?

Slow down & be intentional

Hygge isn’t about lazy but it is about being intentional with your time and energy. Is there anywhere you can slow down, take a pause?

Who and what do you want to spend your valuable time and energy on?

THere’s a real social aspect to the concept of hygge, spending quality time with loved ones. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it’s all about the feeling of togetherness and really valuing and enjoying the time with one another. 

When I work with clients we talk about energy a lot.

Start to notice who and what makes you feel energised, who and what makes you feel drained.

If we cannot remove things that drain us, we need to be mindful to replenish ourselves. 

If we do have some choice, choose wisely and really savour and enjoy it.

The smell of hygge

Capture the cosy nature of hygge with warming and comforting scents. For me all those seasonally holiday scents like cinnamon and clove that remind you of a pumpkin spice latte are the ones that spark an instant feeling of cosy. Pop on a diffuser and soft lighting to add instant cosiness to your home.

Hygge Diffuser Blend:

• 2 drops Wild Orange
• 2 drops Cinnamon
• 1 drops Vetiver
• 1 drops Frankincense

Grab a mug of hygge

I don’t know about you but, for me, there’s nothing like the feel of a warm mug in my hand and the sensation of a hot drink warming me from the inside out. They feel so much more nurturing than a cold drink. My predominantly vata body preposition (in Ayurvedic terms) means that I’m naturally better with warmth anyway and I feel it more than ever this time of year.

Try these recipes out for a warming and comforting drink with added health benefits too.

Mocha with benefits

Ingredients:

• Good quality expresso coffee
• Whole oat milk
• 2 tsp Chocolate lover

(Chocolate Lover superfood powder is an excellent source of antioxidants and essential omega 3 fatty acids (3158mg). High in vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin E, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Copper and Zinc.)

Directions:

• Heat the milk
• Add the chocolate lover mix to the hot milk and whisk until frothy.
• Add the shot of expresso
• Enjoy!

Spicy-hot-chocolate

Try this delicious spicy hot chocolate with superfood benefits for immune boosting, anti-inflammatory and stress-reduction.

Ingredients:

•  1 tsp Golden Mellow mix
• 1 tsp Magic Mushroom mix
• 1½ cups whole oat milk (or alternative plant based milk)
• Coconut sugar to sweeten to taste 

Directions:

• Heat the milk
• Add the remaining ingredients to the hot milk and whisk until frothy.
• Transfer to a mug and enjoy mindfully (ideally in cosy socks or snuggled under a blanket!)

Appreciate what you have

At the heart of hygge we have the feeling of contentment, if discontentment comes from wishing things were different or that aspiration to aspire to have something so badly that you are not satisfied with where you are now then mindfulness and gratitude are the antidote. 

 Gratitude is about really feeling the sense of being grateful and at peace with what you have in this moment. Too often this idea of gratitude is thrown around so much that it can just become a bit soulless, listing things that we know we “should” feel grateful for or things that we do appreciate but without fully connection to the emotion. A gratitude practice is all about the emotion - really feel what it is to be grateful. If you’re listing that you’re grateful for your family then really feel the love you have for them, the way you feel what you have a warm embrace from someone you love. Cultivate the feeling, not just the words.

Hygge up your yoga practice

Traditionally this time of year is about slowing down, taking more rest. If you do practice yoga at home, this could be the perfect time to bring more restorative practices to your mat. Restorative or yin yoga, yoga nidra and longer meditations. These practices are designed to nourish you down to your very soul but the only downside is that the less physically active the practice the more likely you are to feel cold, especially lying on the floor for yoga nidra or yin yoga. Make sure you have a cosy space, extra layers and a blanket waiting for you for savasana. If you’re doing a yin practice or lying down for yoga nidra, a heated blanket underneath you is the most deliciously indulgent practice. You won’t want to get up!

Embrace Nature

There’s this idea in nordic countries that there is no such thing as bad weather, just poorly dressed for the weather. Now I’m not saying drag the family out in wild winds and pouting rain (although I personally love the feel of rain on my face but we’ll save that for another day), but a walk on a crisp, sunny winter’s day gives the chance to connect with nature, notice all the colours and shapes, the seasonal changes that can slide by unnoticed when we stay inside. 

Wrap up cosy (shivering and having your face frozen in a forced smile is not hygge!), embrace nature and then return home to snuggle in warmth with all of the above and you’ll have the perfect hygge day.

It comes back again to this idea of mindfulness and contentment in the present moment, appreciating all that is right now. 

I hope some of these practices resonate with you, I’d love to hear about what hygge means for you. 

Love & light,

Michelle x