Hygge in the Spring
Spring is the time when you feel refreshed, as the temperature gets warmer, you spend more time outdoors, and you can find that energy you were missing during the cold, winter months.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t embrace the practices of Hygge. In fact, this is a wonderful way to practice self-care year-round.
Although the Danish have been utilizing Hygge for centuries, the concept has only reached American shores with great popularity since 2017. During that time, Instagram and Twitter blew up with photos and tips of how to add Hygge into your lifestyle. In the event that you haven't heard about the craze yet, this article will briefly touch on what Hygge actually is and how it can be used in the Spring just as much as it can in the Winter.
What Is Hygge?
At its very heart, Hygge promotes coziness. So, essentially, anything you associate with being cozy fits into the Hygge lifestyle. Do you have a favorite pair of sweatpants? Then lucky for you, they're part of Hygge. Candles, fireplaces, blankets, enclosed spaces, warm temperatures, soft rugs, even softer couches and beds, essentially anything that brings you comfort is part of the Hygge way. Traditionally, the Danish use Hygge as a way to make it through their otherwise miserable winters.
In a country where winter can seem to last forever and be quite harsh, Hygge was developed as a way to cope through those bitter temperatures until Spring and Summer arrived. Those who visited stayed in these little nooks where Hygge was practiced and fell in love with the cozy atmosphere. They decided to bring it back to their own countries, and before you knew it, Hygge was spreading like wildfire.
Although the lifestyle of Hygge is typically utilized in the Winter, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can only be used in Winter. In fact, Hygge is something that should be utilized all year round. The following will go over the reasons and tips for implementing Hygge into your home during the Spring season.
1. Relaxation
When you're feeling cozy and comfortable, you are at your ultimate ability to relax. A cozy atmosphere begets relaxation. While feeling relaxed in the Winter is certainly important--especially with the stress of the holidays and driving on questionable roads--you shouldn't have to do away with this place of relaxation just because the Winter season is over. It's a lifestyle that you should incorporate into your life every day.
The greatest thing about Hygge is that it is customizable. You don't need fireplaces and warm temperatures pumping into your room in order to make your Hygge room authentic. You just need to make it cozy, comfortable and cozy. With those three factors covered, you're successfully bringing in Hygge.
In the Spring, you're likely just as stressed as any other time of the year. Your work is still demanding a great deal from you, the responsibilities you have towards your children or family or friends may take a toll, or perhaps you signed up for a few too many extracurricular activities that you have the time or energy for. Whatever the reason behind your stress is, you need a place where you can just blow off some steam and indulge.
Enter your Hygge room. After a long day at work, you can slip into the most comfortable clothes that you own and just relax on a soft sofa. This is your space to unwind and feel cozy inside in order to rejuvenate. This is something that should be done in the Spring season as well as any season that follows.
2. Entertainment Space
For many people, their coziness usually involves some element of entertainment. Whether you fit your Hygge room with a large TV, a series of bookshelves that are laden with books, or even your own small fishing pool (think about it), your Hygge room should be designed with the entertaining activities that help you relax and feel cozy.
This may be as simple as snuggling up on the sofa and watching cooking shows or reality TV. For others, you may want to have a cozy window seat that overlooks the backyard and have a bookshelf within easy reach. Whatever the activity is that brings you a great deal of love and relaxation, you should incorporate it into your Hygge room.
Once it's there, you don't have to keep it to yourself either. Your friends may enjoy what you've done with your Hygge room just as much as you do. They're also in need of a cozy atmosphere just as badly. Sure inviting friends over to watch a game is the norm, but sometimes, you just need an adult playdate where all anyone does is snuggle up on sofas and relax together.
Your Hygge room can easily become your entertainment space for hosting cozy parties for your friends during the Spring season. Everyone is stressed. Because human beings are social creatures, some of the ways that you can easily relax are just to relax with loved ones and friends. For those who need to do something beforehand with their buddies, then you can break outside and enjoy the Spring season air.
However, by the end of the activity, you should always invite your friends back to your Hygge room for drinks, hot chocolate, comfy socks, or whatever it is that brings everyone a great deal of comfort. Once you invite your friends to your Hygge room, however, you'll likely have a difficult time getting them to leave. However, experienced as you are in the ways of Hygge, you can help them make their very own Hygge room in their own home.
3. Escape Spring Allergies
While you may have made it through the Winter season without falling ill, you're likely going to still fall prey to Spring allergies. Unless you're one of the superhumans who doesn't become allergic to plant pollen or mold, then you'll probably find yourself with the sniffles at some point during the season. This is a time that can be woeful and full of suffering.
Although the room itself may not cure your allergies, it can certainly make you feel better if the room is equipped in the way that Hygge represents. Your head is congested, your nose is running, you may suffer from headaches, nose aches, scratchy throats, and you may even find it more difficult to breathe. This is something that your Hygge room can help with.
For some people, whenever they're suffering from allergies or a cold, they need a nice and warm room to make themselves feel better. Having a warm room can also help to increase your body temperature and do a better job of fighting off the molecules that seek to make you ill or feel like crud. These warm temperatures are easily something that you can incorporate into your Hygge room with a fireplace.
Stoke that fireplace to full life and bask in the warmth that can reach even deep into your bones. Even if you don't particularly want to be warm in the Spring, you should certainly give it a few hours in order to help your body relax. Everyone knows that stress can exacerbate illness and allergies. With this knowledge, it's easy to suggest that by relaxing, you can help your body to heal from the illness or allergies.
Most importantly, however, no matter how much you're suffering, being in a comfortable and cozy room can make you feel at least marginally better. You can wear the most comfortable clothes that you own and just lay out on the couch surrounded by comfortable items and materials.
4. Recuperating After Working Out
With the Spring season comes a need to increase your fitness. The Winter holidays tend to pack on a lot of weight for many individuals. The Spring season is used as a time for transformation. With the roads clear and the temperatures on the rise, more and more people are motivated to hit the gym or run outside in order to return to their healthier and fit bodies. However, exercise takes its toll on even the healthiest athlete.
After a good workout, it's just as important that you let your body relax and recuperate. Otherwise, you risk injuring yourself the next time that you work out. Considering that injuries can sometimes take weeks, if not months, to mend, you don't want to have to sit out while you heal up and miss out on some beautiful weather to exercise in.
To promote that relaxation and recuperation, a Hygge room can do no wrong. This is just another reason why you should continue to use your room as a Hygge room even after Winter is over. Once you've finished up at the gym or you're done running outside, you can strip down into something far more comfortable and just rest and re-hydrate in your Hygge room.
You may also want to consider keeping the fireplace going in order to make the room warm. This is because warmer temperatures work excellently on tired and sore muscles. No doubt you've had a trainer or coach before suggest that you use a heat pack if your muscles are sore. This is because heat can help the body to relax. You can go without the heat pack by just immersing yourself in a warm and cozy room.
Nestle right up next to the fireplace and let the heat from the flames slowly relax your muscles right to the core. For those who don't have space or money for a fireplace, then a space heater will work just as well. Though you may want to have at least two or three situated throughout the room for maximum-level of heat and comfort.
For quite a few owners of Hygge rooms, one of the pieces that they have is a small tub or hot tub situated in a corner of the room. While this may be more expensive than people are willing to spend, you can't argue that it offers a whole new level of being cozy. In regards to athletes, there is nothing better than being able to soak in a warm tub in order to relax their bodies. A hot tub may not seem appropriate for Spring, but for someone who plans to do a lot of working out in the Spring season, you're going to want one of your own in your Hygge room.
5. A Simple Get Away
With the Spring season comes Spring Break, a usual influx of work, and social engagements. You need a place to get away from it all--including your family. You should make your Hygge your own private nook. While others may use it from time-to-time, you should make everyone knows that when you're inside it, you're not to be disturbed save for emergencies.
This room can be your personal haven and escape. In fact, you can have your own little vacation spot right there within your own home. As Spring turns to Summer and the kids are out of school, you're going to need that quiet space even more. You cannot be expected to be your best self if you're not taking care of yourself. A Hygge room can offer a place to indulge, rejuvenate, and make you both mentally and physically prepared to meet the demands that await you outside of the room.
Since vacations aren't typically held until the Summer season, you typically have to feel as though you're struggling to get there during the Spring. As mentioned before, your Hygge room can be used as a vacation within your own home. To help yourself make it through the work week, take a small getaway into your Hygge room and just block the rest of the world out while you focus on relaxing and energizing yourself.
Orginially posted on www.robynarbogast.com
