Hygge at Home: Autumn & Winter Rituals for Wellness

Hygge at Home: Autumn & Winter Rituals for Wellness

[Before we start, if you’d like to listen to the podcast version of this blog post, you can do that HERE - “Why Hygge isn’t just about candles (and how to really live it”)]

As the mornings get darker, as the evenings lengthen and as the temperature drops, there’s a danger that we start to see the coming months as something to be feared and dreaded.

Sometimes the only good we see in the Autumn and Winter are the short few days that are Christmas and the fact that we can, at last, hide our unshaven legs and un-pedicured toe nails away until Spring. Not only that but yippeeee - we can consign our swimsuits and bikins to the back of a drawer where frankly, we’d prefer that they belong.

Add to that the thought of SAD, coughs, colds and flu and frankly, no wonder everyone feels miserable.

If we then search for a “better” way to approach the Winter we’re transported into a world which doesn’t represent the one in which we live….a beautiful world of Hygge, sparkling snow, log fires, sheepskin blankets, steaming mugs of coffee, twinkling fairy lights, cinammon buns and rosy cheeked children.

All of which are lovely - but which don’t quite translate to a drizzly, miserable day in Birmingham.

This Autumn & Winter I’m taking a new approach. I started it last year after reading the book “How to Winter” and (for once!) I’m really excited about the coming months.

The easiest way to put is that I’m embracing hygge not by changing my décor but through simple rituals, mindful movement, nourishing foods, and restorative practices that support both body and soul.

In essence, I’m adopting hygge as a way of living. Because let’s face it, the colder months are coming whether we like it or not, so we may as well embrace them.

Living Hygge is an attitude and a state of mind. It’s seeing the positive and making the most of things when really, we’d perhaps be somewhere warmer and brighter!

“Living” Hygge

The first thing that I thought about when “living” Hygge was the idea of celebrating and honouring how nature slows down in the winter and how we can too.

We’re not meant to bloom all year round and honestly, by the time the Autumn arrives I’m ready for a little inner reflection time and some hibernation.

Along side that, I decided to focus on how I could “live” Hygge from the comfort of my own home - rather than having to go and find it.

So let’s look at what “living” Hygge at Home might involve.

I’ve come up with some general headings and used bullet points to keep things easy to read. Because let’s face it - we’re all so used to scrolling that we have the attention span of a goldfish these days.

My hope is that you can do some of these from your home and that your home becomes your winter sanctuary, not your winter prison.

Let’s start with…

Living Hygge at Home through a gentle bedtime routine

• Consider taking an evening dip in a cold plunge tub. (I use a lumi pod). Dipping under the stars is truly magical. It takes you outside of yourself and coming back inside to a wood burning stove or a warm shower is unbeatable in terms of how it makes you feel. But if this isn’t for you, skip straight to the next idea!

• Set an alarm on your phone for 9.30pm. Even if you don’t go to bed now, this will signal to you that it’s time to wind things down and you will get ahead of the night before it gets ahead of you;

• Have a warming, frothy almond milk with ginger, turmeric and cinammon;

• Light a candle and do some yin yoga before bed. I love Yoga with Kassandra. It will make you super sleepy!

• Now is the time to work on your skincare routine. I’ve started using “The Ordinary” and I love it.

• Use a pillow spray, a sleep mask (and ear plugs if needed) to help you to sleep well.

Living Hygge at Home through a gentle morning routine

• In the same way that I like to get ahead of the evening before it gets ahead of me, the same is true of the morning. I love to set an early alarm and come downstairs before anyone else. I light a candle, wrap myself in a blanket, do a morning meditation, pull affirmation cards and journal before anyone else is awake. It’s true bliss!

• Whatever the weather, I step outside and say: “good morning, morning”. I check out the sky and the weather and am always amazed at the beauty of the day - whatever it is doing! It’s also a simple way to ground yourself and connect with nature.

• Having done my journaling I start on my sourdough bread. I usually feed my starter the night before so it’s ready to go first thing. The process of weighing out the starter and flour, adding the water and salt is calming and pure mindfulness. Plus cooking the bread at lunchtime the next day fills the house with beautiful bread smells!

Living Hygge at Home through activities at home

Depending on your work commitments, it may be that you only get time to do these activities in the evenings or weekends. But there are so many fun things we can do at home, even if we don’t think we’re creative, artistic or skilled in any way. Dare I say it but “With Love Meghan” on Netflix has some great ideas for things to do at home.

Here are some of my favourites:

• Wreath making

• Sourdough making

• Jigsaws

• Tapestry

• Writing letters

• Board games

• Reading

• Taking long candle lit baths

Living Hygge at Home through your clothes

When I think of “living” Hygge through my clothes, I always have visions of Cameron Diaz in “The Holiday” - pastel cashmere outfits, co-ords, soft blonde tones and healthy glowing skin. Yeah right!

So here are some more accessible ideas…

• Living Hygee through your clothes might mean wearing clogs lined with sheepskin or wearing your favourite snuggly fleeces or paired with cosy soft joggers. Sweaty Betty have some lovely ones at the moment that I’m very tempted by.

• It might mean wearing cashmere socks, soft jeans, or finer knits layered together.

• It might look like a faux fur scarf over your jumpers or something with a velvet trim for a luxe but cosy feel.

• It could look like swapping your summer bedding for something heavier, or your dressing gown for something fluffier.

Living Hygge at Home through your surroundings

Whilst interiors aren’t the main theme of this post, “living” Hygge will definitely involve making your surroundings warm, cosy and comfortable. Use your senses to figure out what matters to you the most. Use it as a way to feel grounded, connected and content.

Some easy ways live Hygge through your surroundings might be:

• Gentle music

• Lighting the fire

• Soft blankets, cosy cushions

• The smell of warming spices and baking bread

• The flicker of candles and fairy lights

Living Hygge at Home through your food

One of the best ways to “live” Hygge is through your food. Again, it might be at the weekends that you embrace this more fully - and batch cooking on a Sunday afternoon (even though it can be a pain in the butt) is the best way to make week nights easier.

Some ways to live Hygge through your food include:

Using seasonal foods that bring you comfort, such as soups, stews and root veg (plus they’re easy to make)

• Adding spices for warmth and wellbeing

• Having healthy treats like frothy milk, spiced apple cake and dark chocolate with nuts (feel free to do a squirrel impression if you like!)

Living Hygge at Home through Bio-hacking

The longer, colder months present the perfect opportunity to try out new things that we may not have tried before.

Some things that I particularly love doing in the winter are:

• Taking a morning (or evening) dip in my plunge pool. Dipping under the stars, or on a frosty morning, is incredibly beautiful and gets the endorphins rushing like nothing else. (If you’re curious to find out more, just grab by free guide below.)

• Going for a sauna warms you to the bones. Just thinking about one as I type makes me want to head to one right now! (Again, see my guide below to find out more).

• Lying on a PEMF mat after a cold dip is probably one of my favourite ways to spend half an hour before bed. PEMF mats are heated mats with electro magnetic waves going through them. They are very grounding and infact astronauts are put on them after arriving from outer space. Here’s a link to the one I have if you would like to take a closer look. Please feel free to ask me any questions if you’ve got them!
  

Bringing it all together

To me “living” Hygge at home isn’t about an unattainable aesthetic, or living an overly curated life. There are still the mundane chores to do - the washing, the cooking, the shopping. AND we’re doing it in the dark and the cold.

But there is also a beauty to be found in slowing down, in resting and in being present. There’s fun in trying new things and creating rituals. It gives us a “get out of jail free” card to go to bed early, to snuggle up with a book, to lie on a heated PEMF mat, to make frothy milk and spiced apple cakes and just, for once to “BE”.

If this post gave you a little inspiration, or food for thought, please feel free to save it to Pinterest or share it with a friend who could use some cosy autumn ideas. And if you’d like any of my free guides on sourdough making, cold water plunging or saunas, you can find them below.

And if you have any questions, please feel free to pop a message below, or come and find me on Instagram at BethGoodrham

Have a super week,

Much love,

Beth x