Before you can implement hygge into your life in a serious way, you need to understand what the concept constitutes.
Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is a Danish concept that, according to hygge and consumer culture expert, Jeppe Trolle Linnet, reflects 'a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow'
Breaking this down, hygge requires the ability to not just be in the present moment, but to recognise it and enjoy each element of that moment – the people you are with, or the pure pleasure of being on your own; the taste of the food you are eating or the scent of the flowers you are smelling.
Whether you are outdoors on a ski slope or at home curled up on the sofa, experiencing something familiar or fantastic, anything that gives you comfort, and a feeling of cosy specialness, is hygge.
To be truly hyggelig is to be modest, to recognise simplicity in your surroundings but also in yourself. It is about relishing the small and familiar - your family, community, and to the Danes, Denmark itself, which historically was a small, rural society of deeply connected families and communities.
Hygge is about creating quality, not quantity in life. It is not about having more – but rather understanding the importance of appreciating what you already have. Hygge requires consciousness, a certain slowness, and the ability to not just be present but to enjoy the present.
Comments