The word Hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is usually translated as “cosiness”, but it’s not just about warm lighting and candles. … Hygge promotes the idea of enjoying and indulging in the small good things in life – whether sitting round a table with friends and family or drinking a hot mug of tea by candlelight. Nurturing one’s close relationships over mulled wine, a picnic, a board game, or a movie is perhaps the most hygge thing of all. If you’ve ever spent time with friends and left feeling like you’re still wrapped in a hug, that’s hygge.

10 routes to Hygge living:

1. Candles and open fires
2. Sheepskin rugs
3. Wool socks
4. Armchairs
5. Danish pastries
6. Dinner with friends
7. Cycling
8. Turning your phone off
9. Hot drinks (preferably served from a china set)
10. Watching a boxset under a duvet

In the process of creating a serene life more hygge, there is no wrong way when creating happiness in your own realm of reality. Spending quality time with friends and family is a sure way to welcome the abundance of hygge in your life. Your love ones are some of the most important people in your life and are crucial to your happiness. Even if you are sitting by a roaring log fire or its a cozy Netflix night with a warm blanket that’s hygge. Most importantly keep things simple, nothing should be complex about happiness and comfort. When you are enjoying the comforts of home with your family or significant other, dim the lights and use candles. Candlelight inhances the mood and scenery in which creates a delightfully pleasant atmosphere. Decorate the inside of your home or apartment to mimic the outdoors, the great outdoors is a sure way to invite peace tranquility and serenity.

The four elements of the outdoors are water, earth, air and fire. Invite those elements into your living space to replicate the great outdoors. I myself sometimes like to bake vegan banana bread and play my favorite tunes. Baking and music gives me sense of serenity and happiness in my own world. I like relaxing with a cup of organic tea, most will prefer coffee or cocoa. Having some simple you time with a cup of brew is more uplifting than it may seem. You should not deprive yourself but simply indulge in your true essence of grandeur. Going outside and enjoying the fresh air and scenery, helps ground and reconnect you back to the nucleus.

Hygge is dropping your phone and picking up a great book. The miniature things in life, we don’t cherish are actually the keys to happiness. The things that are priceless and not tangible in this realm are the most valuable. Living life on your own terms doing things that makes you happy or bring joy into your life, is the ultimate goal. Living life with no limits placing tunnel vision on your happiness should be everyone’s priority. We are responsible for our own happiness and your happiness may differ that from the commoners. Eliminate yourself from the equation of a redundant life, your joy is your pain unmasked. The illusion of what life should be, ruins the allure of a blessed reality!

Gregory Standley