Why Hygge is my new Yoga and cooking my way of meditation
– a plea –
A new year wouldn’t be the same without one’s new year’s resolutions. Whether you are planning to finally declutter your garage, banning sugar from you daily diet or starting a new hobby: at the beginning of the year, the sky is the limit!
I truly appreciate everyone’s decision what hobby to choose: May it be Yoga, collecting stamps, playing golf or horseback riding. There will be no judging from my side what’s hot or not. Also, it’s not that I don’t have any hobbies – but for me, there are some kind of activities that I consider highly stressful for several reasons.
Participating in yoga lessons, for example, is something that is totally stressing me out. Someone telling me when to breathe in and when to breath out has never been much of relaxing moment for me. Also, it may sound childish, but I am always feeling kind of excluded from the group, especially when I am the newbie, being told to follow the ones in the first row (…who are obviously doing everything right and act like “they know it all”), and then there is me on the other side, who simply is not able to keep up with all the bending and correct breathing from the first row eager beavers, ending up feeling kind of stupid and not relaxed at all.
“Hygge (pronounced hue-guh not hoo-gah) is a Danish word used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, ordinary or extraordinary as cosy, charming or special. Hygge (or to be “hyggeligt”) doesn’t require learning “how to”, adopting it as a lifestyle or buying anything. (Source: Definition as found on hyggehouse.com)
Watching the snow flakes falling down outside my window and being all “hyggeligt” whilst taking a sip of my herbal tea, I was wondering: Am I a bad person to abandon Yoga? Am I simply standing in my own way as I just can’t shake of my competitive nature (…which is causing stress and obviously made me sign up for the yoga lessons. What a vicious circle…)?
Well, I came to the conclusion that just because some people are very much into taking whatever sort of Yoga class, it’s not something I have to practice as well. It’s simply not working for me. Cutting vegetables and preparing a spicy meal makes gives me so much more joy at the moment. Bye, Bye Baby Cobra pose!
Based on this revelation, I reconsidered my current situation and felt relieved, that it is OK to feel this way. For whatever reason, I simply love to stay at home right now, fully enjoying the moment when things are slower and at my leisure. Drinking a cup of tea whilst reading a good book, cooking, laughing with my friends while discussing all sorts of things over coffee and spending lots of time listening to music: This is what’s truly brining me down and finally, there is a word for it: Hygge!
Curious to see how to bring more “Hygge” into your life? Well, here comes a little guideline:
- Take a piece of paper and divide it into five categories (Home, Job, Mindset, Hobbies, Flavors)
- Take a moment and think of at least five positive things that make you feel cosy and/or add a positive vibe to your daily routine (e.g. lighting up candles (home), not worrying too much about future events (mindset) etc.)
- Find out what is truly making you feel cosy and try to create rituals, including this behaviour in your daily life (e.g. going for a coffee with your favourite colleague (job), writing poems (hobby)
- Also, getting rid of some old stuff and cleaning up your apartment may be a good start to be “hyggeligt”.
What’s your way of including “Hygge” in your daily life? Let me know and leave a comment!
TwentyNineSomething 