Hygge
“Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom. Hygge is about giving your responsible, stressed-out achiever adult a break. Relax. Hygge is humble and slow."
-Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Hygge
This morning as I laid out the snow pants, boots, gloves and hats, I knew my kids would be less than thrilled with the snow. It’s not the snow they don’t like as much as the change. The change in routine and change in clothing needed. It got me thinking about resistance to change and how it affects us. I began thinking about how I could use my yoga practice to embrace the changes in the weather. I thought to myself, how can I help my kids (and myself) find contentment this winter amidst the cold and amidst the changes that we can not control? I kept coming back to the concept of “getting my hygge on”. Hygge, pronounced hoo-ga, is a danish concept that means coziness, comfort, and contentment.
An article in Country Living says, “This national obsession with all things cozy is credited as one of the reasons why Denmark is always at the top of the list of the world's happiest countries, despite their infamously miserable winters.” This struck me today as the snow is falling and my kids fought going to school all bundled up. Hygge is all about finding well-being through enjoying simple things in life. Just like our yoga practice, how can we stop resisting change, take things one day/one pose at a time, and find contentment.
In our practice this week, we’ll slow things down a bit and go back to the basics. Move through our basic yoga poses with more awareness on being content in our body today. We’ll end each practice with some cozy yoga blankets and restorative poses.
Throughout your week and throughout these winter months, how will you get your hygge on? Living a hygge live is all about things like cozy reading nooks, warm coffee or tea, throw blankets, sweatpants, and comfort food. My wish for you this week is that you find some pockets of time for quietness, coziness and comfort. I'm hoping to set aside some time with my kids this week to do puzzles, play games, drink hot cocoa and watch movies. Embracing the hygge with my kids this week will look like scheduling in downtime as I would schedule in sports and activities. If you need me, I’ll be planning my yoga classes on the couch under a cozy blanket, tea in hand!
Love and Light,
Molly