Proper hygge season.

The lights of Christmas have been stripped and boxed away, mostly. The rich colours of red, gold and green are replaced by pink, yellow and pastel green in preparation for Easter (!), and the weather seems determined to make cold, grey, chilling and lowering clouds the order of the month.

Excellent. Bring it on.

I found hygge as an antidote to Seasonal Affective Disorder, a way to chivvy and positive-think myself though bad winters. Touch wood, with a few exceedingly hard years, it’s worked. I no longer dread the days of January and February. I know it’s a moment not a lifetime, that the cold will pass (and, indeed, that the cold also has a purpose in life. Without the nip of frost, how would we appreciate the caress of sunshine quite so much?) and that I can legitimately point at my evolutionary self to say “I do feel tired and want to hibernate, because I’m human and we were created to pull back in winter and emerge, refreshed and energetic, in spring”. I think we very easily forget that electrical lights that shortcircuit our circadian rhythms are really only a very recent invention. For thousands of years we have been adapted to day lengths that shorten in winter and lengthen in summer. Going home, closing the door, picking up inside crafts not outside activities and eating to boost heat have been innate actions designed for self-preservation.

Some parts of hygge are totally about taking that natural rhythm and living by it: winter hygge, especially, is about maximising life in the cold. It’s about good clothes, good heating, good food and good friends. It’s about subtle changes to life that make the most of where we are. And it’s about creating opportunity, not chasing an impossible dream that summer living and winter living are the same. In the same way that we could not and would not light fires in the hearth on a blazing hot summers day, we should not and could not expect to sit for hours in the weeping sadness of the Winter’s sun. Where summer’s outdoor activities can be lazy, slow and sloth-like, winter’s are fast, active and as stationary as a sabre-tooth squirrel. We walk, we build snow men, we skate or ski or travel.

Contemplation, sitting happy in our skin, appreciating time and space and our place in it…. that’s an indoor activity during wintertime. We find a nook, make it cosy and appreciate the world around us without too much venturing forth. I call it hibernating: a conscious withdrawal for the first five to six weeks of the year, a chance to rebalance my inner workings, to create a base of love, confidence and (dare I say it!) boredom which, when February’s snowdrops nod in their role as harbinger of Spring, means I am ready to come out and reenter life again. Without actually giving up everything, I try to cut back on external activities, to embrace time spent at home or to find activities outside the home that also boost my hyggeliness, I find places and activities that fit in with my aim, to live a quiet life. I can understand people who run to seek out the sun during wintertime, but I don’t think I would ever rush to join them. I like the speed difference between summer and winter. I like the change of pace, and I like using this part of the year to reset my happiness level.

This month I’ll be looking at what we really need to hygge: the stuff of hygge, if you will. It’s not necessarily things, either, and it definitely doesn’t come with a price tag. Just a heart ready to realign with values and visions that it’s easy to lose without taking time and space to contemplate.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters. Every book I review has been bought and read by me, unless stated otherwise.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. It always feels good if you get a book back in return for some money. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better. The book has small and easy ways to make your life flow with grace and happiness, which lead to more hygge.

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little things in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human. And it’s always the little things.

My Christmas books are always available: Have Yourself a Happy Hygge Christmas is a good place to start, on how to make the season cosier, happier but Enjoying a Self-Care Christmas may be a faster and more seasonally appropriate read.

I’m currently working on two book projects: I have a hankering to rewrite 50 Ways to Hygge the British Way, so it’s not available at the moment, but even dearer to my heart and my next stated aim is to finish and publish my next book, Simple Plus Cosy = Hygge. It will be about homemaking and how the home we create shapes the hygge we have. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer 2025.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to share it or save it so others can enjoy reading, thinking about and living hygge as well.

The photo between post and promotions is one I took in the snow last week… one of only a few. It’s tomato soup, cheese on toast and a background of all the books, magazines and detritus I keep near to hand, including my downstairs comfort basket. This is what my hibernation nook looks like for most of the winter.