Hygge Habits: How To Bring Hygge Into Your Daily Life

Taking it at face value, anything the person determines as cozy and comfortable could be considered hygge. Whether that is soft lighting, a roaring fire, walking around naked in your home, cuddling, or even the repetitive movements of shaving… If it is comfortable, it can be defined as hygge.

In the Danish lifestyle, hygge is a way of life. It is what they actively strive for every day in their culture. Just as most Americans strive to pile in all they can before they close their eyes, the Danes strive to make hygge, or comfort, their lifestyle. Whatever that means to them and however that is interpreted internally for them differs from person to person, and it is not only strived for, but it is praised.

Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?

Hygge means different things to different people. Helen Russell, an author and active member within her Denmark community, defines hygge as a total absence or lack of things that might annoy you or cause you to become emotionally overwhelmed.

In other words, surrounding yourself with things and people that whisk away your stress and make you feel comfortable.

I know, it is frustrating to define, but some of the best things this world has to offer, lack definition. But, what hygge lacks in verbal definition, it makes up for in physical and emotional experiences that have positive reactions on the body.

Hygge is such an important part of the Danish culture that they have found a way to acclimate it into their lifestyle without even trying. Those 15-minute hot cocoa sessions we give ourselves to wind down our day are a defining feature in their way of life within their culture. The relaxation and stress-free environment it provides is something common for them, like a quick cup of coffee in a leaking Styrofoam cup is common for Americans.

The beautiful part of living a hygge lifestyle is the fact that there is no price point necessary to live it. This lifestyle lives within the confines of what an individual sees as satisfying, stress relieving, and happiness inducing. For some, a special scent wafting from the soft lighting of a candle is enough to release the required serotonin to induce what we, as humans, define “happiness” and “relaxation.” And, let’s face it, many people in this world could use a little more happiness in their lives.

The principle behind the philosophy stems from the idea of doing too much. Simply put, happiness and stress-relieving environments only exist within the small confines of our existence because we are trying to do too much in our days. So, because the issue is self-induced, the “cure” is also self-induced.