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Hygge summer?
Yes! It’s time to keep the hygge going during the warm summer months. Hygge, pronounced hue•gah, is a Scandinavian custom that promotes a lifestyle focused on coziness, comfort and simple pleasures. Often associated with winter time, hygge can actually be practiced throughout the year.
Here are 15 ideas to try out, to enjoy a hygge summer.
Stargaze
Find a quiet place free from city lights and look up. Lie on a quilt on the ground, stretch out in a lounge chair or sit in a pickup truck bed. Watch for shooting stars and make a wish. Check out this website, to find out what’s in the summer sky.
Go Camping
A hygge summer is all about enjoying the outdoors. Make your campsite comfy. Bring lightweight throws and quilts from home. Lay a rug down outside the tent, or inside if the tent is roomy enough. Have fun being outside while enjoying some comforts of home.
Grow a Garden
A flower garden, an herb garden or a veggie garden all provide beauty and/or food and allow a connection with the earth and growing plants. Get your hands dirty. Need garden ideas? Check out a couple of these Backyard Garden Series posts:
Create a Butterfly & Bee Garden
Watch a Sunrise and a Sunset
Bookend the day with the promise of a new day and the satisfaction of a day well spent.
Play in the Water
Cool off at the beach, in a pool, or with a garden hose and sprinkler. Have on hand piles of thick fluffy towels, wide brimmed hats and lightweight cotton cover ups. And don’t forget to drink plenty of water, while playing outdoors! Check out Foods that Hydrate for great tips and the warning signs of dehydration.
Drink Flavored Ice Teas
Swap out hot teas for cold iced tea. Try new flavors of herbal teas. One of my favorites is rose hips tea blended with orange juice and chilled before drinking. Another is this delicious hibiscus lemonade.
Watch Fireworks
Celebrate the 4th of July with your own mini fireworks display or attend a big sponsored event with friends and family. Carry in your own comfy chairs and lightweight blankets and quilts, for coziness.
Travel
Take a day trip, a road trip or a two week vacation. Go somewhere new. Explore different cultures and cities and meet new people. Create a scrapbook capturing your trip.
Build a Fire in the Backyard Fire Pit and Light Candles Throughout the Yard and Garden…the Ultimate Hygge Summer Activity
Candlelight and firelight are important aspects of hygging. Create a cozy evening in your own backyard with a fire and candles. Use safe containers for candles and monitor the fire!
Watch a Movie or Attend a Concert Outdoors
Check local news sources for movies in the park or outdoor concerts. If you are fortunate enough to have a drive in theater nearby, take family and friends to watch a movie on the big screen. Pile lots of cotton throws, blankets and pillows in the car.
Experience a Thunderstorm While Sipping Tea
Appreciate nature’s cleansing through thunderstorms. From a safe place, watch the lightning, listen to the rumble of thunder, catch the scent of rain. A cup of hot chamomile tea is a good choice for a calming drink if thunderstorms make you nervous.
Walk Barefoot in the Grass
Benefit from receiving the earth’s energy as it enters through the soles of the feet. This practice, called Earthing, grounds the body and inspires peace and joy. Plus, it is fun to walk barefoot and reconnect with childhood memories of long summer days.
Create an Outdoor Room
Turn your porch, your patio or deck into an outdoor room. Add comfy seating, waterproof rugs, cushions and pillows, and tables to hold drinks and stacks of books. Include twinkling lights or candles. Eat outside, read, daydream, entertain or simply relax and enjoy the beauty of the space.
Make Your Own Ice Cream
Use an ice cream maker and create your own yummy flavors. For a healthy easy ice cream treat, blend 3 frozen bananas, cut into chunks, in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Top with fresh fruit.
Slow Down
Observe life. Listen. Rest. Breathe. Take naps, in a hammock or on a pile of pillows. Eat lightly. Savor fresh fruits and veggies. Hydrate throughout the day. Stroll slowly through the neighborhood or wander in the woods. Visit with the neighbors. Take your time.
Hygge Summer
Hygge is such a beautiful way to engage in life and care for the self and the soul. Connect with others. But most importantly, connect deeply with yourself.
Happy hygging!
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This post linked on Senior Salon #24
What a neat word! My favorite is definitely enjoying thunderstorms and when I was a child, I remember catching ‘lightening bugs’! That was fun!
I remember doing that too! I saw this summer’s first lightning bugs last nice.
I had never heard of Hygge before your post. Thank you.
It’s such a comforting lifestyle!
I butchered the pronunciation of “hygge” horribly! These look like some amazing activities to do outdoors! I am sincerely grateful that our new apartment has a screened in porch so that we can relax outside with the cats!
I had to look up the pronunciation! A screened in porch is SO nice!
Camping is my thing!
That’s a fun summer activity that can be very cozy with a campfire and lightweight blankets.
This sounds like a perfect summer
I love the coziness of hygge activities!
First let me thank you for teaching me a new word! Hygge. Who knew. I love your ideas especially sipping tea during a thunderstorm and attending an outdoor movie or concert. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Hygge is such a cozy lifestyle! I enjoy practicing it year around
Stargazing is so peaceful! One of my favorite things to do when I stay at my brother’s is to pop outside and look at the stars. Also, listening to storms! I always open my window when it’s raining outside. Love this!
Me too! I love the cozy traditions of hygge.
Love this post, you practically made a list of my favorite things! Just throw in a little hiking and we are set!
Awesome! I love those activities too.
Walking barefoot in freshly cut grass is so amazing!
When I’ll have the time (and space) I will definitely have a small vegetable garden. I’m not really good at taking care of plants, but I really hope they’ll survive.
I love being barefoot on a thick carpet of grass! I stick to basic veggies that are easy to grow like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini.
Those are some great, relaxing ideas, and thank you for showing how to pronounce Hygge, I was totally saying it wrong. Lol. I am with you on the thunderstorms. I LOVE watching for the lightening and hearing the boom of the thunder. Strange as that sounds, it is relaxing.
Yes! Thunderstorms clear the air. I don’t like high winds but I love thunderstorms rolling through.
I love the idea of a hygge summer! It really is such a great opportunity to slow down and be grateful.
Yes I love the cozy aspects of hygge!
These are wonderful ideas, Cindy. I’ve never heard the term hygge before, but I love the idea. I am incorporating as many of these ideas as possible into my summer. Walking barefoot in the grass is supposed to be good for so many things healthwise, and I LOVE thunderstorms! I admit I chose coffee over tea this morning, but I am trying to drink all kinds of tea all day long. Happy summer!
Happy summer to you! Yes earthing brings energy into the body from the earth. I love practicing hygge.
I LOVE this! I am already on my way to having a hygge summer!! Star gazing, fire pit sitting, and making homemade ice cream are my favorite summer activities! I am going to try some of that ice tea. And drink it during the next thunderstorm we are suppose to have in a couple days. Thanks for sharing!!!
Awesome! Enjoy your hygge summer!
Love traveling and star-gazing….and drinking flavored tea! Yum!! What great ways to enjoy the summer!
Perfect summer hygge activities!
I love to drink flavored iced tea, even make it! There were some good lemonade recipe I found recently that I want to try!
Awesome! I love cold flavored teas in the summer.
So many good suggestions! Absolutely love walking barefoot in the grass. Great post
Thank you! I love earthing too.
I LOVE this so much! I have never heard of “hygge” but I am always chasing the cozy! 😉 Playing in water is one of my favorite ways to feel snuggly. Great post!
Thank you! I discovered I’d been practicing hygge long before I knew it had a name.
Ummm we havent stargazed yet! We have an ice cream truck that comes through the neighborhood ever Tuesday. It is a special treat if they are good, but I literally just printed out a recipe to make homemade ice cream. Thought it would be fun. 🙂
Yes it’s a great way to wind down a summer evening, making homemade ice cream.
Amazing! I always associate hygge with winter time! So clever of you to find summery moments that are just as cozy! Thank you xoxo
Thank you for reading! Yes I love to keep the coziness going!
“Play in water”! Funny story. I recently let my 3 year old walk outside in the pouring rain because he wanted to. His reaction was the greatest. He walks out in his tee-shirt, pull-up, and rain boots and is so excited.. until the water starts soaking into his shirt. He slows down and starts stiffening up, and turns around and looks at me with a scrunched up face and says, “Go back inside?” pointing. I laughed my butt off.
Ha ha! Not quite what he expected! It’s funny how we seem to have a built in reaction to getting wet if we are wearing regular clothes.
I always think of Hygge as a winter activity, so it’s nice to continue the Hygge-like self care in the summertime.
However, watch out for bees!! I was walking bare foot in the grass last week and I got stunk on the bottom of my foot. Oooouch. I have to admit, it made me want to keep my shoes firmly on for the rest of the summer! Plus, the poor bee!
Ouch! I do look down usually when I’m walking barefoot but good reminder to always do so!
I love all these hygge ideas and plan to incorporate many, if not most into my summer activities! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Enjoy your hygge summer!