How to Have a Hygge Day

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How to Have a Hygge Day

As with most things I am late to become aware of different trends, usually a year or two after they have become popular.

Hygge (pronounced ‘Hue-gah’) is a Danish term for finding pleasure and comfort in simple and everyday things, with an emphasis on comfort and coziness. I only discovered the term towards the end of last year, when The Bloke bought a Hygge book for his sister at Christmas and it was something that I immediately connected with.

After having a particularly stressful few days during the week and being low (partially due to the constant rain and dull weather we seem to have experienced over what seems like months), I decided to devote today to having a full Hygge experience in my own home. The Bloke was going to be out for most of the day as he was visiting his family, so it was the perfect chance for me and the cat to indulge in a relaxing day…

I prepared for it the day before by tidying up my living room – the place where I planned to spend the day – bought an unsliced crusty brown loaf of bread, French onion soup and prepped a sausage casserole (one of my favourite dishes) for my evening dinner.

First thing this morning, I went for a leisurely walk to the park to try and get some nice pictures. It had lightly snowed and was freezing, but I wanted to get some fresh air as a positive start to the day.

When I got home, I put on a pair of freshly washed, clean flannel pyjamas, a comfy, oversized cardigan and a pair of thermal, fluffy socks. I turned the heating on and opened the curtains as wide as possible to allow as much light as I could into the room.

I then created a little ‘nook’ on the couch filled with cushions, pillows and fluffy blankets (which the cat loved as much as I did), and lit some scented candles.

I climbed into the blankets and spent fifteen minutes meditating and practicing deep breathing – my bloggy friend Lucy swears by this and has often recommended that I try the Insight Timer app, which I downloaded a few weeks ago.

Instead of turning the television on, I picked up one of the many books that I have been meaning to read for a while, and read until I felt I’d had enough.

I cooked the French onion soup, topped with cheesy brown bread croutons, did a little bit of social media and decided to watch a film. I didn’t want anything that would cause levels of stress, so I put on ‘Valley Girl’ – a ridiculously cheesy-but-feel-good 80’s film (and Nicolas Cage’s first film) – and smiled all the way through it. The cat had nestled himself amongst all of the cushions near my head by this point and was busy snoring into my ear.

As it started to get dark, I put the casserole into the oven and ran a hot bubble bath, turning the lights off and lighting candles all around the bathroom. I put in my favourite relaxing playlist and practiced more deep breathing while I lay in the bath.

By the time The Bloke got home I had got out of the bath, changed back into my pyjamas, cardigan and socks and the casserole was ready. We talked and laughed, and he had a little snooze.

And as I sit here, writing this post, I feel more relaxed than I have done in a while – cosy, warm and happy.

Bliss.

How to Have a Hygge Day

What to bring more Hygge into your life?

  • Create a relaxing space filled with cushions and fluffy blankets.
  • Snuggle up in knitted clothing.
  • If you have one, light the fire in your living room.
  • Candles, candles, candles!
  • Do something creative that makes you happy – knit, sew, write, read, colour, draw, paint…
  • Have technology free hours. Turn off the electronics and be mindful of your surroundings.
  • Make comfort food that requires slow cooking.
  • Treat yourself with hot and comforting drinks. I’m not a fan of things like tea and coffee, but I did see a recipe for cinnamon hot chocolate with marshmallows that I’m desperate to try!
  • Be aware of and take comfort with your surroundings…

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103 thoughts on “How to Have a Hygge Day”

  3. I love this!! It’s amazing how therapeutic it can be to switch off for a day. I had planned to get loads done today, but after dropping my son at work I ended up snuggling with the cat and watched a couple of films!! It was great! Great post, Suzie. Hope the rest of your weekend is just as chilled and full of laughter (& kitty cuddles) xx

  7. my sister was the first person who spoke to me about Hygge. it sounds to me a very interesting philosophy, so I would like to try 🙂 thanks for sharing some tips!! wish you a relaxed weekend 🙂 PedroL

  8. I only recently found out that there was such a thing as the Hygge movement. But once I read about it I found out I had been a part of it since birthday. I guess it’s a Scandinavian thing.

  9. Fantastic to hear how relaxed your day was! I’m so happy for you 🙂 I read a great book about this very subject called ‘The year of living Danishly’ by Helen Russell, and I absolutely loved it! As we have friends in Denmark and have visited many times, I got the whole Hygge thing. She also looks into other reasons why Danes are among the happiest people but one of the main reasons was hygge.

  10. I think that the new fad for hygge just tells us that we’ve forgotten how to relax. We’re always ‘on’ and we’re always inside under artificial lighting. If hygge encourages people to spend more time outside, even in winter, I’m all for it.

  16. I love the idea of mindful relaxation, and I feel cozy just reading this! I’ll have to brainstorm some ideas to do something myself, whilst working around the three kidlets (16, 19, and 22) and hubby. Thanks for the inspiration!

  19. This is surely a learning experience for me. It is the first time hearing about this Theory. Sometimes I spend too much of my free time engrossed in social media and hardly ever make time to catch up on a good movie or just enjoy the ambience of my apartment. This method seems very relaxing and worth a try.

  22. This sounds delightful. Sooo needed right now. 💖 Glad it worked so well for you. I’ve heard this term but never fully embraced all this. (Also, what’s the Insight Timer app? I’ve been trying different apps for a few months but haven’t heard of this one.)

  23. Ahhh… We should all practice such self-care more often. This is timely as my husband and children are off skiing today. I will definitely bring some Hygge into my day. Thank you!

  24. Amazing way to spend a day! I’m a big fan of these kinds of days, but calling it a Hygge day makes it sound even fancier, and to the uninitiated it wont receive one of those judgemental eyebrow raises from people who hate to relax… Lovely post, Suzie 🙂

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  27. Oh my gosh, this sounds utterly delightful. Thank you for sharing- and also can I get the sausage casserole recipe? Sounds amazing!

  31. Living in Wisconsin, you need to practice TLC in the winter! I’ve definitely done hygge-ish things, but I love your idea of creating a day around it. I swear by baths and candles. Add an audiobook, I’m in heaven! My sister also gifted me with an oil diffuser and I’ve liked that for focusing my mood. And since we keep our thermostat at a very chilly (and drafty) 62 degrees, I live underneath blankets b/t November – February. Happy hygge!

  34. Ahhhh this sounds lovely! ❤ Funny enough I love the simple things so much I named my blog around it. I think being able to enjoy the simple things helps us appreciate life and reminds us to slow down. Glad you had such a wonderful day ❤

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  43. Sounds like a lovely day! I definitely want to create more space for screen free time.Being housebound, I practically live in my cosy pjs and am always covered in blankets with support cushions, but I still don’t make much time for the slow and simple things offline… I will make some time in my schedule!

  44. Mmmmm sounds divine! I didn’t know the name for it, but I naturally did a lot of that before marriage & motherhood threw chaos, Carp fishing (tackle) and Lego onto the mix!

    Space to breath is good for the soul x

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