"A few years ago, I became obsessed with the Danish concept of hygge—so much so that I devoured Meik Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well and spent way more money than I should have on candles and sweaters. For those who are unfamiliar, hygge is a lifestyle that brings a quality of coziness and comfort through connection with others, living a slower lifestyle, and cultivating a warm atmosphere. It’s something that you can incorporate into your life with home decor and wellness practices, but hygge is also simply a feeling of being relaxed and comforted. In other words, you can evoke hygge by romanticizing your life—and since hygge originated because of long, cold Scandinavian winters, there’s no better season to bring some coziness and comfort into your life than the wintertime.
Genuinely enjoying the chillier months can be a challenge, so taking extra care to romanticize our daily lives during this time of year is especially important. Whether you lean into hygge and coziness, upgrading your wellness routine to adapt to the chillier weather, or throwing yourself wholeheartedly into the winter holidays, winter gives us an underrated chance to slow down and reflect. Here are 32 ways to romanticize your life for winter and embrace every second of hygge season.
- Sit down and take the time to do a life edit. Spending hours indoors during this time of year means you have a little extra time to reflect, so grab your journal and prepare for the warmer months ahead by doing a life edit.
- Start a meditation routine. Speaking of having extra time to think, winter is a season when it can be easy to overthink. Now might just be the time to kickstart your meditation practice, whether you do it in the morning right when you wake up or in the evening before bed.
- Tell your friends how thankful you are to have them in your life. ‘Tis the season of gratitude, and there’s nothing quite like spending quality time with friends to warm your heart during the colder months—so express how grateful you are to have them in your life this season.
- Take time to reflect on the past year. Winter inevitably means transitioning into a new year, which can bring up so much emotionally and mentally. As you hunker in for the cold season, take some time to reflect on the past year—whether that looks like journaling, meditating, or talking it through.
- Write and send some letters to family and friends. There’s nothing quite like writing and sending a physical note to someone. Whether this takes the form of a thank you note after the holidays, a love letter around Valentine’s Day, or a note just because—there are so many reasons to send physical mail during the wintertime.
- Make yourself a holiday main character playlist. The holiday season can be a difficult time, so if you’re feeling a little blue this year, make yourself a playlist that the main character in a holiday rom-com would love. We promise this will lift your spirits.
- Set some resolutions (or pre-resolutions). Whether you’re a huge New Year’s resolutions gal or don’t consider yourself a fan of the practice, there are so many ways to bring in new, vibrant energy as we transition into the new year, so do what works best for you.
- Make daily social interaction a goal. As a Seasonal Affective Disorder girlie, I’ve made it a goal to always have an in-person social interaction every morning before I clock into work, and it makes a world of difference. Make sure that the colder weather doesn’t stop you from being your social self.
- Channel “Lucky Girl Syndrome.” Spend the coldest season focusing on abundance and manifestation of good things to come (in preparation for the luckiest month of the year, March).
- Stock your cupboard with hot chocolate and tea. Having a warm beverage right before bed when it’s cold out is an underrated luxury of the chillier seasons (and it’s something your body is craving for a reason). Anticipate those cravings that will inevitably hit for a late-night hot chocolate by stocking up early.
- Treat yourself to a new vibrator. Extra time inside means extra time for spicy activities, so what better time to purchase a new vibrator than at the beginning of winter? If you’re not sure where to start, we have a few suggestions.
- Get sunlight as early as possible—or biohack with a light therapy lamp. Shorter days mean romanticizing the hell out of getting some good ol’ vitamin D, so make a ritual out of getting your daily sunlight.
- Go for a hot girl walk (yes, even when it’s chilly). Even when the weather is cold, getting outside and going for a long walk can bring so much joy to your day. Stop and chat with strangers, take pictures when the light hits that tree just right, or just bundle up and trudge against the cold. Whatever your hot girl walk style, getting outside is still worth it in the wintertime.
- Send a text to that friend you’ve been thinking about. You know the one, that friend whose text you missed a month or two ago and feel terrible for not responding? Better late than never to reach out and check in on them—chances are, you’ll both be glad that you did.
- Take intentional time away from your electronics. It’s easy to hole up with nothing but your laptop when it’s cold out, but doing so isn’t exactly romanticizing life. Whenever you can, mindfully step away from your devices and take some screen-free time, so that when you emerge in the springtime, the real world doesn’t exactly feel jarring.
- Fill your home with candles and flowers. No one really enjoys looking outside and seeing no leaves on the trees, but winter gives us an excuse to bring liveliness indoors. Fill your space with things that evoke life, like flowers and candles, in order to bring some of that comfort during the winter months.
- Manifest good things for yourself and the world in the new year. There’s no time quite like January to test out a new manifestation technique or try a life audit. Picture every amazing thing that could possibly happen for you (and the world) in 2024, and get it down on paper.
- Honor your circadian rhythm and go to bed early. Listening to your internal clock becomes infinitely more important in the wintertime when our bodies need more rest, so curl up in bed early whenever you can.
- Have a “wellness week” and knock out all of your yearly doctor’s appointments. Dedicate a week in January or February to taking charge of your health and setting up your most important yearly doctor’s appointments. Your future self will thank you.
- Pay it forward at your local coffee shop. If you’ve ever experienced the emotional warm-and-fuzzy feeling that comes from having someone pay it forward for you, then you know that this one is one of the kindest ways to romanticize both your own day and someone else’s.
- Add some extra blankets and pillows to your decor. Sometimes, you just need all of the throw blankets in your house piled on top of you at the end of a long, cold winter day—now is the time to make sure those throw blankets bring you joy.
- Go to a heated workout class. The feeling of stepping out of a hot yoga studio into cold, dry winter air is absolutely unmatched, so book a heated workout class (solo or with friends) and relish the intense temperature shift.
- Take an extra-long hot shower once a week. You know those days when you just can’t shake the feeling of a perpetual chill? Those are the perfect days to honor your body and treat yourself to an extra-hot everything shower.
- Try out a new wellness ritual. From acupressure to hot and cold therapy to a more thorough oral care routine, there are so many wellness rituals to try out. You don’t have to do all of them at once—just pick one to tackle this winter and boost your well-being.
- Boost your immunity. Getting sick during cold and flu season is very unromantic, and means less time that you could be spending out doing things that bring you joy. Romanticize getting your yearly vaccines, taking vitamin C, or improving your immunity with bee propolis.
- Take yourself on a money date. With the extra motivation that many of us feel in the new year to tackle our finances comes the dread of actually tackling our finances. Instead, make a date out of facing your budget—light a candle, pour yourself a glass of wine, and get to work.
- Spend a little extra time with the people you care about. Disconnection is a common feeling in the wintertime, so take extra care to make plans with friends and family during this time. Plan a game night, relish together time with family during the holidays, or have a movie marathon with friends.
- Write a love letter to yourself. February is the month of love, so show yourself a little extra self-love in that final month of winter by journaling out a love letter to your past or future self.
- Stay hydrated throughout the day. Winter dryness can be combatted with moisturizers and creams, but it’s much more effective to start at the source. If you get chilly consuming cold water in the winter, don’t be afraid to heat yours up to romanticize the colder months.
- Take a step outside of your regular dating routine. Without the pressure of a hot girl summer, it can be easy to fall into a rut with dating in the winter. Whether you switch up your regular dates with a partner or try something new on the dating scene, winter is a fantastic time to change up your dating life.