What really Hygge means?
After visiting The Netherlands many times, living in Norway for over 3 years, and currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark, I started to realize something very special in these societies, something that they have in common without being completely identical. Each one has a unique word that influences in a very deep way, their lives, their way of thinking and their actions.
The special thing I am talking about is called “Hygge” in Denmark, and it is much more than a thing or a word, and from my view it is a philosophy of how to live well. I will try to explore this in depth because I believe that the philosophies or ways of living that bring well-being and increase happiness needs to be spread around the world.
Before getting deep into Hygge, it is good to know how other societies have called it to a greater or lesser extent meaning, a rough translation into English is “Coziness”. In Norway is called it “Koselig”, in Canada “Hominess”, in the Netherlands “Gezelligheid” and in Germany “Gemutlicchkeit”
Looking to all these words, going back to my memories in these countries and after reading “The Little book of Hygge” by The Happiness Research Institute, Copenhagen, I will quote the following:
“The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis stated that a culture´s language both reflects how people experience their world and affects their actions in it. Would we still feel love if we had no word for it? …. Our words and language shape our hopes and dreams for the future, and our dreams for the future shape how we act today”
Hygge Manifesto
The Hygge has a manifesto that goes around these 10 concepts according to The Happiness Research Institute, and they are:
1. Shelter. Where you are you belong to a tribe where you find peace and security.
2. Atmosphere. You can start getting Hygge just turning down the lights.
3. Presence. Be here, now in the present moment and turn the phones off.
4. Pleasure. Having a hot drink as a cup of coffee or tea with chocolate, cookies or cakes it is not a crime, actually it is essential in our daily lives.
5. Equality. People share the tasks as the Vikings did in the past when at time of war, both men and women went to fight.
6. Gratitude. Always is good to express your gratitude.
7. Harmony. There is not need for a competition, there is no need to show your achievements, there is an appreciation just for being a human being.
8. Comfort. It is important to take a break, to get comfy and relax.
9. Truce. Do not give too much drama to your life.
10. Togetherness. It is about to build good, supportive and vitamin relationships and it does not matter the number of friends we have.
The Hygge in our interior spaces
The Hygge is manifested evidently in Danish interior spaces and that is how their homes became the Hygge Headquarters, where Danes put a lot of energy, effort and money in order to get their homes Higgelige.
Saying that, here are 10 tips or things that can change a place in something more Hyggelig. I have to say that some are easier to implement than others, but for sure we can put in practice some of them without spending too much money:
1. A hyggekrog
Consider to have a “Hyggekrog” and that means to have in your house a special and cozy spot, hopefully next to a window where we can put some cushions with a blanket and a soft lighting, and in that way it would become the best place at home to enjoy a book while having a cup of coffee or tea.
2. A fireplace
To have a fireplace is perhaps the most difficult tip to implement for the majority of people, but if we have the option to have it, take advantage of it as much as you can, watching how the logs burn in the fire can take you to another dimension; and if you share the moment with other people around the fireplace, the feeling of togetherness will intensify.
3. Candles
Use candles and implement all the necessary precautions to avoid an accident. If you manage to do it, your interior immediately becomes cozy, friendly and warm.
4. Things made out of wood
Wood makes us feel closer to nature.
5. Nature
Nature in a Hygge context means more than having a nice object made of wood or having plants, It is like thinking for a moment in a Viking living room bringing it to our days and combining it with the comfort we have nowadays.
6. Books
Think on your most appreciated books that have inspired you, classics literature, great novels, or any book that have shaped your mind in order to become the person you are now, some or all of them placed nicely on a shelf, table or library, combined with some pictures of your loved ones, that would really look lovely!
7. Think tactile
The key of this tip is to give your spaces a variety of textures in order to touch things, and most importantly that each touch can give us a nice feeling. For example to me the bedding made of cotton gives freshness, a carpet on the floor gives a warm feeling, and a wooden dining table gives connection with earth.
8. Blankets and cushions
Think on your main sofa or armchair with and without a blanket and cushions, and I swear that your mind is going to choose what is more warming.
9. Ceramics
Just think that it is not the same to have a coffee in a cup made of ceramic than one made of plastic or a material used for take away shops. Honestly it is not the same and even the taste is different!
10. Vintage
Objects are more than their physical properties; they have the ability to tell stories and generate or transmit emotions.
The influence of Hygge in Danes’ behavior
Now I am going to tell you something that I named as the Hygge behavior based in our experiences – my husband and our dog included – with Danish people.
My husband, our dog and I moved to Copenhagen at the beginning of this year, and immediately we started feeling the Hygge in people´s behavior, things like walking our dog three times a day, I have to say without exaggeration, that almost everyone looks for eye contact and say hi with a genuine smile, others start a conversion on dog matters in Danish and we say “sorry, could you tell me in English?”, then they switch to English candidly. Some of them have genuine curiosity to know where we came from, and when we say, we are from Colombia and our dog Romeo is from Spain, they generally reply something surprising to us: Welcome!, and I say surprising an a very positive way, because in Norway, they say instead, oh! Colombia, that is far away! …can you notice the big difference between the two answers?
The great experiences meeting Danes do not end there. When we started meeting the neighbors in our building, they surprised us as well, introducing themselves with their names. shaking hands and saying “Welcome to our building” with a genuine smile.
I want to finish the Hygge Behavior with the experience we had in our NaboHygge, which means Neighbors -Get together, and seems to be a common tradition, where neighbors gather together and each family shares some food and wine in order to get to know each other better, while eating, talking and laughing. In our case it was the perfect moment to introduce ourselves with some Colombian empanadas and traditional desert, we prepared with joy as a way to bring a piece of our country with our cuisine.
I think that NaboHygge is a great idea to develop empathy and avoid conflicts among neighbors. So, this is the picture of this special day and we hope to have more moments like this:
My Own Hygge
In this article I have the opportunity to say whatever I want because it is my blog, for that reason I will be happy to include into the Hygge philosophy some extra concepts that are very important to me and I did not find them explicit in my research.
1. Keep order and seek the balance
Tidy up your spaces, put things nicely and when things are not being used for a long time, think seriously on sell, give or donate them. The energy has to flow and the great impediment to this is accumulating things without any purpose.
Then we need to check the area (meters) Vs the things and furniture we have, and Vs the space we need to move freely around without tripping. This exercise give us another perspective on how organized our spaces are, in order to find balance and reach a sense of serenity in our mind.
2. Keep your spaces clean
When I think in this important topic, the Japanese came to my mind immediately as a supreme example of that. They have the obsession to keep everything as clean as possible, but specially their restrooms and I have the privilege to experience it myself in visit to Japan in the spring of 2023, and I can say without shame that I could use any bathroom even the public ones, as they were always neat and tidy.
At home for example It is really important to keep the floors, the main surfaces as tables, the kitchen and bathrooms clean, and it is important to do it at least once a week, then is easier to remove dirt and we prevent it from accumulating. Please do not forget washing periodically bed linen, towels, blankets, the cushion covers and curtains.
In a clean interior space, energy does not just flow. You can feel it and almost see it!
3. Natural light
The feeling of being in a dark space during the day or with a few amount of natural lighting is repressive and too much time in that kind of spaces gives the sensation of withering, like a plant when it does not receive the sun light for a long period of time. This is the analogy that came to my mind related to nature and at the end of the day, we are human and depend of nature to secure our very existence.
From my point of view, natural light gives mental clarity and energy, encourage us to get out the bed in order to work, study, read, do something creative or at least it has a positive impact in our minds and behavior.
In my travels I have found out so far that the Dutch are the kings on this matter, and I said it because in my first trip to The Hague in 2019, I was fascinated looking from the street to the interior of most of the houses with wide and high windows, and most of them without curtains, apparently, they do not need privacy. I was not gossiping in their lives, what really matter to me was their really good taste in decorating. In some places I could feel the energy from the outside, unbelievable!
Afterwards, I was told that they have a great influence of Calvinism and for that reason they like to show transparency in the way they live the ordinary days and the pedestrians like me can see it. I brought up my Dutch story because in my case, I really appreciate natural light but I need my privacy too; On Sunday morning instead, I want to keep my pajamas on without a stranger looking from the outside. So, just in order to keep my privacy or when the sun hit my window strongly, I use curtains, otherwise, I love the natural light and if I can enjoy a nice view, all the better.
I hope this article based in my personal experiences and my searching for knowing more about Hygge can be spread on those who are looking to improve their well-being.
