Living the Hygge life #1

Now this is new and something that I have thought a lot about over the summer. I want to introduce something to you, something that could change your perceptions on how you live your life and something that is so perfect for our winter time that I just couldn't go through this season and not share information and inspiration on this eye opening way of life. 

Hygge. Have you heard of it? Well, it is actually pronounced "hue-ugh" (but for pun reasons, in my head I pronounce it high-g; I am sure you get it) and it is a Danish ethos into how one should live. It's closest translation into English is 'cosiness' but it refers to living with less and having so much more, living the cosy and content life and generally believing that warming food and candle lit dinners should be a daily essential and not a one off. It is about changing your perceptions to speed, what you think and need and converting your home and life into something more filling. I am not just talking about physically filling; it is a mental and spiritual act too, filling your heart with warmth and love, filling your mind with things that can be achieved and filling your life with things that bring cosiness and support. Hygge offers so much more than just actually having a warm cosy house, it is how the Danes choose to live and my interest into it is great at the moment as these people and other Scandinavian countries surrounding them are classed as the happiest people in the world. Why is that? Can it all be to do with living the Hygge life?

We can all agree that as the darker months draw in, we love to get the blankets out, light candles and have much more warming foods like stews to 'fill' ourselves. Us Brits and the cold weather have such a funny relationship. If you are like me and embrace it, then good on you. I always have time for blanket cuddles but I am one to just layer up and still get outside. I love lighting candles and having the fairy lights on, but a week can go by and I have done neither. One thing that I think corresponds with both our way of life and Hygge is that home is where the heart is, and a cosy home is a happy home. Cosy in warmth and love is what feeds our cosiness inside and we can all create this feeling for ourselves.

This first article I wanted to just introduce the idea of Hygge, the idea that there is a way of life that simply revolves around being cosy and from this I will be sharing my learning, understanding, and how I am trying to live more Hygge in my life. It excites me, this idea of simplicity mixed with love being all you need, which we kind of all know to be true, we just let materialism step in the way. So if you want to learn with me I am reading The Little Book Of Hygge and Hygge: The Danish Art Of Happiness as a starting place and look to learn more as I go.

Emily