A little about me

As I mentioned in my first post, I work full-time as an addictions counsellor which is a rewarding but often exhausting job. On top of that, I’m a full-time student working on my master’s degree in counselling psychology which, thanks to my years of experience as a counsellor, isn’t hard work but is a lot of work (so very time consuming). As of this coming Sunday, I will be completed my first year of school with only about 16 months left to go (not that I’m counting).

I decided to overhaul my “self-care” routine because it wasn’t a self-care routine… it was a sitting on the couch, watching TV while also on my phone, procrastinating homework routine. As a result, I was rapidly approaching burnout. In fact, when I kicked off this self-care/hygge journey that I’ve been on for the past week, I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted that a one-hour haircut drained the last of my energy and left me absolutely depleted; it took en entire 24 hours of intentional and mindful self-care to have even a modicum of energy – which lasted for about an hour before I was tired again (though not exhausted). I continued to intentionally and mindfully practice self-care for the rest of the week and here I am today, happy, productive, and grounded almost done my final assignment for my current class (more than 36hrs before it’s due!!). And I had time for two social outings this week on top of work and homework which never happens and rolled with a family medical concern that would’ve derailed me one week ago. What a difference a week makes.

What I’m really enjoying about my new focus on self-care and balance that hygge has facilitated is my presence in the current moment and the current task. I no longer listen to music/books/podcasts every time I walk my dog as I now realize how overstimulating that is; instead, I listen to the sounds of the environment (birds, squirrels, vehicles, the wind in the trees – beautiful!); when I eat chocolate, I take the time to savour and enjoy it rather than tasting it for a second before swallowing – the same with coffee and tea which I find a lot of comfort in just smelling and feeling its warmth; I take bubble baths with lit candles on the side of the tub; I rewarded my hard work on a essay yesterday with a glass of red wine and a new book both of which I enjoyed in a bubble bath; I’ve been choosing shirts that feel like hugs; and I could go on!

My mindset has changed which I think it one of the key reasons to practice self-care – to create and maintain a healthy mindset. I’m finding myself much less reactive and more patient. I haven’t even read The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking as it is my reward for completing my current class and my first year of grad school; I plan to read it while on holiday in Nashville with my mom and sister next week – I think it’ll be a nice little escape if/when I begin to feel overstimulated and overwhelmed. I’m also taking noise-cancelling headphones, workout clothes to use in the hotel’s fitness centre, and perhaps some bubble bath. Self-care on the road!

So far

I’m practicing little pieces of hygge… I’m particularly enjoying having and enjoying treats. Many times, I’ve heard people talk about eating mindfully by taking the time to savor the food rather than just consume it. I’m a long distance runner and work out at least 4 days a week, so I’ve grown to see food as fuel and and definitely not a foodie; I’ve regularly thought to myself that food doesn’t have to taste great, it just has to be edible and filling. As an athlete, what I need also needs to be nutritious – I don’t eat junk and I count macros to be sure I’m getting the nutrients I need. But, I’m learning to love the 80/20 diet – eat healthy 80% and treat yourself 20%.

So how does hygge apply. Well, many things that I’ve read recently discuss quality – quality fabric, quality time, quality relationships, and quality food – as well as enjoyment of each of these by taking the time to be mindful and grateful. So, today I had a, iced pumpkin cookie which I do love but have never really slowed down and savored until today. It felt weird to be stopping what I was doing to savor my cookie – mostly because I was in a public space – but it was so worth it to feel that soft cookie melt in my mouth. Oh man, so good.

I am really enjoying and benefiting from this mindfulness and gratitude. It’s already changing the way I look at things and how I identify and meet my needs; for instance, to walk my dog tonight, I change out of my work clothes and put on the softest shirt I own and took the time to notice the softness against my skin – lovely. Even a visit to the dentist couldn’t and didn’t ruin it!

Also, I purchased the book: The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking of the Happiness Research Institute, Copenhagen. And I am soooo looking forward to reading it on my holiday next week.

Keep calm and hygge on, folks (I’m going to make this into a sign for my home).

A new interest in hygge (hue-guh)

Hygge is a word and concept that I’ve come across many times in the past year or so but never really paid much attention to; however, as I often tell my clients, things continue until we receive the message.

A little about me: I work full-time as an addictions counsellor and am also a full-time grad student.  Suffice to say life is busy.  I’m a year into my grad school program and I’ve been doing minimal self-care.  Recently, my self-care has gotten even worse as I have been doing self-care without intention by which I mean I’ve been counting sitting on the couch watching TV night after night as self-care.  This last week, it became apparent that this “self-care” practice isn’t cutting it so, like a true grad student, I did some research.

Before I get to that, there’s something important to know about me: I’m a huge introvert.  Socializing exhausts me and I have a very social career so I’m regularly exhausted.  Add the additional stimulation of watching TV and being online for school in addition to increasing amounts of coffee and I’m flirting with burnout.  So, my research revolved around self-care for introverts which told me to do a lot of things I already knew that I should be doing: set boundaries, make time for me, have a regular sleep routine, make healthy food choices, and so on.  I have good boundaries, I rarely make social plans on weeknights (that’s my time for me), I go to bed by 9:30PM and get up by 6:30AM, and I’ve recently focused on healthy and balanced nutrition paired with regular exercise.  Still, I’ve been exhausted.

And I kept coming across this concept of hygge.  Finally, it caught my interest and I started reading the information that I came across – I really like it!  Hygge focuses on so many things that I already value but it does so with intention – hygge prioritizes many of the things that I value rather than my (bad) habit of enjoying them when life allows or when they just seem to happen.

So I’ve decided to change that.  Today, for the first time in too long, I practiced self-care with intention and kept the concept of hygge in mind while doing so: I had a hot bath with lavender bubble bath, a cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer, and a book; I spent a lot of time today reading, listening to music, walking my dog and paying attention to the world around me rather than tuning out, wearing comfortable clothes, drinking tea, and meal prepping for the rest of the week.  I feel amazing! I woke up exhausted and a one-hour haircut used what little social energy I had left (and I barely spoke to the hairdresser); it took until about 7PM to start to feel a bit of energy, but what a day well spent.

Which brings me to the reason behind this blog: I’m challenging myself to 30 days of hygge.  Each day, I’m going to do something that is inline with a hygge lifestyle.  Tomorrow, I plan to begin getting rid of clutter to clear my space (and my mind).  I’ll also post information about hygge as I learn about it, so, if you’re interested, stay posted.

Hygge Lesson #1:

Hygge (hue-gah) is a Scandinavian way of living that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-bring through creating an environment and lifestyle of coziness and comfort; this includes not only physical and environmental coziness and comfort but creating these in interpersonal relationships as well by spending quality time with small groups of close friends/family.