My sister recently brought up an interesting concept to me that made me ask a question, “Can we live like the Danes in Iowa?”
In Denmark, they live in a way that makes their long winters with minimal sunlight cozy and warm. The word for this in Danish is called Hygge, pronounced Hoo-guh, and there is no direct translation to English.
Hygge is all about not letting the winter blues get ahold of you by creating the spaces that you occupy more personal and inviting and is an integeral part of their society.
It has become very popular in England over the past three years and now it’s making it’s way in the U.S.
Tips for living Hygge
Be low tech at home. Spending time with family is a big deal for the Danes, and family time isn’t TV centered. Learn card games to play as a family or have an evening of reading books in the living room.
Make the rooms in your home feel cozy by having lots of big, cushy blankets and fluffy pillows around so it’s easy to snuggle up. Instead of harsh overhead lighting use lamps, or better, candles in the evening to unwind and enjoy being home.
Make your bathroom feel like a spa. Bring more candles in there and add a plush mat to the floor, get the softest towls you can find and don’t forget to run a bubble bath!
Making Hygge a lifestyle is more than just dragging out fluffly blankets. It’s about creating a space where you feel at ease and others feel welcomed.
When your home is Hygge, bring friends and family into it. Have movie nights with popcorn and hot cocoa, hot tea or hot cider- really any warm beverage will do. Or have dinner and a game night. Have everybody bring a dish and let the potluck of comfort food bring you all closer together.
Hygge isn’t just for your home either. Use it at the office to make the 40 hours or more a week that you spend there comfortable. For the Danes, job satisfaction is a high priority so making their office spaces cozy is a no brainer.
Bring a soft blanket for your chair, play music- either on your computer or in earphones- check on the candle policy, if you can use one, bring one. Have a low light desk lamp near your computer to distract our eyes from the glare of overhead florescents and the blue light from the computer screen. Have a favorite mug from home at your desk and a stash of tea bags so you can take 10 minutes and relax with a hot cup of tea.
For both home and work, have plants around you!
Even if you don’t have a green thumb, there is a plant for you. There are many low-maintenance plants that are suited to office life. Bringing nature inside can help purify the air, give your eyes something to rest on instead of a screen, and can even be a conversation starter, all of which are very Hygge things.
Bringing some green inside, keeping soft cozy blankets and rugs around, sipping on warm, soothing beverages, spending more time in a book or face to face with people than looking at a screen, that’s what Hygge is. Those things keep the Danes from being miserable and miserly during the long, frigid winter months.
So why don’t we try bringing a little bit of Denmark right here to southern Iowa? Anything that encourages hot cocoa and yoga pants can’t be a bad thing. So to get through the rest of this winter, I’m going to try living with a lot more Hygge in my home, office and life. How about you?