Hygge

I have recently been reading up on the Danish practise of Hygge. For someone who is constantly busy and doesn’t take time to look after myself, this lifestyle might just help.

When I picked up one of the now many books in the shop, the first page I ended up opening it to was the Emergency Self-Care Kit. This caught my attention straight away, it’s basically a simple self-care list of items, food or drink that are a good thing to have around you when life gets on top of you. Right now as someone who is constantly to and from, being able to take a proper break from everything hardly ever happens. This year has been a bit chaotic, I think this autumn is a good time to incorporate bits of Hygge into my daily routine.

The list that is on this page consist of:

• Candles – Your favourite smell TKMaxx have all of their autumn candles in and I need to find a go to.
• Good Quality Chocolate – okay, this for me is not a good one for the list as I binge and end up worse because I keep gaining weight.
• Favourite Tea – at the moment this is just normal black tea.
• Favourite Book – I’m currently reading The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde – but if you have a book that you can constantly go back to and read it like it’s still the first time choose that one!
• Favourite Film/Boxset – I like any long films, but series of films like Harry Potter, The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings tend to be things I can watch over and over again.
• Jam – on a cold rainy autumn day a good cuppa and jam on toast is sometimes the best medicine but if I’m feeling low blackcurrant jam is a go to because it reminds me of my Grandfather.
• A good pair of Woollen socks – yes warm feet are important, I’m not sure about you guys but when you have cold or wet feet, I tend to feeling cold to the bone. Bed socks are always a godsend.
• A selection of your favourite letters – in all honesty I don’t have anything like this but for me an alternative is looking through old photos and memories, little bits of memorabilia for adventures you’ve had.
• A Photo Album – again the whole point of this kit is to create a positive space for yourself , find the photos that always instantly make you smile.
• A Warm Jumper – my entire wardrobe has been waiting for it to be cold enough to be worn, I’m so ready!
• A Notebook – good common sense but use it, thoughts and feelings, for me I think about what I can write about, I genuinely have lists and lists of things to write about, it’s just getting to a stage where I can write down coherently.
• A Blanket – always have a comfy place to sit, a blanket on stand by for if you’re still cold, curl up with you mug of tea and book.
• Paper and Pen – although a notebook is good for ideas, if you’ve had a bad day write a letter to the person who has upset you, or the person that has made you angry, put your feelings on paper so that you can throw it away at the end of the day.
• Music – make playlists for every mood. I’ve just made a IDGAF playlist because of how my mental health has been at the moment it consists of a lot of rock/pop punk but then I’ve thrown some acoustic stuff in because they’re great to sing along to in the car.

That is a list of things that I really want to keep in my head. You don’t have to have all of these at once, but a combination of these at once is self care, if you’re having a bad day, when you’re hope plan an hour of self-care for yourself. The whole point is that it’s all about you and no-one else. Turn your phone off, remove yourself from the outside world and just be with yourself.

For people who have loud thoughts, make sure you use one of the items on the list that distract you, coming from experience having music on and reading a book stops me from over thinking and spiralling out of control. Each thing of that list has a positive vibe and now as the season starts to get colder and nights get darker, these items are easier to acquire and use. Just remember that you’re worth everything and you should always look after number one. It has taken me 24 years to realise this and I’m still yet to start following this practise but I will get there, I can incorporate most of the list into my daily life which is great and I know that I’m starting to give myself time for just me.

Does anyone have anything that they automatically go to for self care? I was also thinking about body self-care which I’m absolutely rubbish at so anyone have any tips or ideas?