What is Hygge and How Can It Help with Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal depression and anxiety or SAD is something that most of us would rather avoid. Depression or the blues that begin in late fall and continue until spring can leave us feeling drained and defeated. SAD is a type of depression that’s caused by changes in seasons and can sap someone’s mood and energy. Women are especially affected by it and at the root of it is a lack of sunlight and altered hormones. But what if it’s more than that? What if it’s also our negative mindset towards winter that we need to pay attention to. After all, we’re a lot more in control than we realize, and that’s a powerful realization because that means we can actually change things around and feel better by taking deliberate action.
Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. The word hygge comes from a Danish word meaning “to give comfort, joy, and courage.” It’s a word that stems from the Danish word hyggja, which means “to think” in Old Norse. Hygge is built from the Old Norse word huge, which later transformed into a hug, which means the soul, mind, consciousness. Embracing hygge in your life can greatly improve your chances of not experiencing the nasty Seasonal Affective Disorder.
In this blog post I am going to further clarify what hygge means and go into detail on how involving it in your life can help lift you out of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I’m going to explain how hygge can help transform your negative thinking into a more positive one. Then I am going to talk about hygge and how it encourages self-love and self-care which can lessen or even eliminate depression. And finally, I will discuss how hygge implementation will encourage and nurture stronger relationships with family and friends and ease the negative symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorders.
Let’s get into it……..
Hygge Helps You Focus on the Positive
In essence hygge means creating an inviting atmosphere and enjoying the simple things in life with friends and family. Or on your own. Hygge doesn’t need to be done solemnly during the winter — it can also be helpful at any other season. Hygge is smelling beautiful flowers, picking forest mushrooms, gathering fresh apples or any other delicious fruits, enjoying a glorious boat ride with your friends, going on a picnic with delicious goodies in your basket, taking a relaxing bubble bath, watching a funny outdoor movie with family, taking an exhilarating snowboarding/skiing trip to the mountains, grilling delicious veggies/meat barbecue outdoors, decorating your bedroom, eliminating clutter, having your favorite cup of tea by the fire, or simply taking a nice bike ride.
If you pay attention then you will notice the same trend in all of the above. All of the things that I mentioned are positive and fill our emotional tank. And by taking care of our emotional needs and focusing on the positive, we lessen or eliminate the depression that comes with SAD. Depression is a disorder of the mind where our own thoughts become overly negative and in turn we get pulled into the quicksand of our own negative thinking. We allow our thoughts to defeat us and let our negative thoughts spiral out of control. Doing positive things stops this process and invites positive thoughts/experiences into our life.
Encourages Self-Love and Self-Care Which Can Lessen or Eliminate Depression
Embracing the concept of hygge is basically learning how to meet our emotional needs or how to nourish our soul by doing the things that make us feel good and comfortable. A lot of people can let late fall and winter thoughts get the best of them and forget to take care of themselves. “What’s the point?", "It's cold and there is barely any sun”, you think. “I have limited options and because it’s so cold outside I have to be stuck at home.” You start becoming negative, maybe reaching for some junk food, after consuming it your blood sugar climbs and quickly drops, and before you know it, you are feeling even worse. If you haven’t already then please check out another one of my articles on mental health and nutrition. It can be found here. The cycle continues because you believe your thoughts and because you already decided that the situation is helpless. It doesn’t have to be this way as we have the option to see a glass of water as half-full or half-empty. It is our choice.
So how can you help the winter blues in this instance? Stop embracing and believing your negative thoughts and embrace hygge! That is how. Or do something that will help you feel better. Stuck at home because it’s too cold outside? Alright, then, get an interesting book, make some herbal chai, and cozy up under fluffy blankets. Or call your friend over and give yourselves a make-over. Or learn karate or salsa by following an instructor on YouTube. Sometimes it’s easier to dwell on a negative situation than to actually do something about it. The choice is always yours and you have the power to feel better.
Exercising has been proven to have a positive relationship in terms of improved hormone levels and in essence improved mood. What that means is that yes, our actions do make a difference. Showing yourself some self-love and self-care daily will tame your negative thoughts because you’re doing the things that make you feel good instead of forgetting to treat yourself. And that’s what hygge is about — self-love.
Encourages and Nurtures Stronger Relationships with Friends and Family Which Helps Lessen or Eliminate SAD
Being locked inside all winter without having the support and warmth of your family and friends can be brutal. And socializing and being surrounded by people that care about us is an essential aspect of being a happy/healthy human. The late fall and winter seasons can leave us unhappy and unwilling or unable to meet our social needs. And that lack of mental and emotional support can bring on or exacerbate depression. Hygge implementation is essential in this instance and reminds us that we don’t have to be locked away and alone all winter and suffer in silence. Talk therapy is an effective treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder because it helps the individual suffering feel seen, heard, and understood. It also puts things into perspective. That’s why inviting friends over and chatting it up can make a huge positive difference in how you feel and help make that relationship stronger. Sharing and vulnerability builds trust and bond between two or more individuals.
The idea of hygge nurtures and encourages relationship building. By placing our attention on building and nurturing our relationships, we build a stronger support system and that helps us feel like we aren’t alone in this world.
Concluding Thoughts
Being joyful, connections with others, and comfort are the ideas that are embraced by hygge. And positivity is exactly what we need in order to fight and beat the winter SAD blues. SAD isn’t fun, and if we let it, then seasonal depression can leave us beat down, drained, and defeated. It doesn’t have to be this way, and especially if we embrace hygge in our lives. Hygge will help us stay positive, encourage self-love and self-care, and help fight depression and help us build stronger and healthier relationships with others which will keep depression away.
Hygge Ideas to Feel Amazing
Go out for a walk in nature, alone or with friends and family
Repaint your house/apartment in rich browns, warm reds, and glowing golds
Buy some plush blankets, pillows, and carpets
Take a warm bubble bath with natural sea salt and a dash of lavender oil
Make some cacao with cream and play games with your kids or family
Curl-up under a plush blanket and read a book
Listen to Christmas music while sipping some herbal tea
Get some house plants and eliminate junk and clutter from your house/apartment
Go out to a coffee shop alone or with friends
Get a to-go cup of hot tea and go for a walk on the beach
Go apple picking if you have that option, and then bake a fresh apple pie
Sit with your family or friends and watch a classic movie
Listen to some fun/upbeat music like Jazz, Blues, Guitar, etc
Bake some cookies or a cake with your kids, alone, or with your family
Work on your hobbies/ideas with good music in the background and some nice herbal tea by your side
Go to the park or the beach and feed some birds
Use the steam room/sauna and then dive into a river/lake if you have that option or find that in your town and try it out
Visit some hot springs
Make a pizza at home with fresh and natural ingredients and indulge
Do a meni/pedi/facial night with good friends, alone, or with your entire family
Build or buy a bird house and leave some seeds for fall/winter birds and then watch them
Let me know what your thoughts are and if I've forgotten something on this list. After all, hygge is personal, so what makes me feel good won't necessarily please you. I love your perspective and would love to hear from you......