You don’t have to read every self-help book or listen to every self-improvement podcast to believe that you take care of yourself. According to the danish philosophy of hyggeyour wellness routine should feel like a pampering, not a punishment.

Paradoxically, the wellness culture It can be… overwhelming. Between sleeping 8 hours, meditating for 10 minutes, being grateful for 3 things, doing 2 pages of journaling, eating 3 to 5 healthy dishes, training for 1 hour and completing all your work tasks, it is hardly logical that you end up more stressed than you felt before knowing everything you ‘should’ do for your body to be healthy. And the natural consequence is that you prefer to return to the things that give you pleasure even if they are not the healthiest.

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It is not that all these activities are harmful in themselves, quite the opposite, but as soon as they become another task on your list of obligations, they automatically become cortisol stimulia group that includes tasks such as paying debts or cleaning and all that stuff that you should do but don’t want to.

If you think you have tried everything possible to lead a healthier life, but you still do not feel better in your daily life, the reason may be that you’re trying to do too much at once. The Danes (one of the happiest populations in the world) created a philosophy called ‘hygge’ which translates as ‘do what makes you feel good’, and here we will tell you how it could help you put together a true wellness routine instead of torture disguised as such.

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What does hygge mean?

That feeling of lying on your couch covered by a heavy blanket, drinking a cup of freshly brewed coffee and watching your favorite movie for the thousandth time while it rains lightly, is the graphic description of the Danish philosophy of ‘hygge’. Literally, everything that generates comfort, no matter if it is something material or intangible, as long as it makes you feel security, warmth, tranquility, and relief, belongs to this way of seeing life.

This idea that comes from the Old Norwegian word that literally means ‘well-being’ and is key to emotional and spiritual health of people because it allows them to experience intimate moments in safe spaces. Where else would you be willing to relax one hundred percent than at home? With whom do you trust more than your best friend?