As the days grow shorter, many of us start to feel disheartened. Gone are the long summer evenings when the sun never seems to set, and here again is the season of getting up while it’s still dark out and staying at the office until it’s (ugh) dark again. But don’t get too existential about the impending winter: There are plenty of ways to find bits of brightness — and even joy — amid the dark and cold. And if there’s any group of people who know how to do this, it’s the Scandinavians.
The Scandinavian countries are generally accepted to include Norway, Sweden and Denmark due to their shared linguistic roots, although some argue for the inclusion of fellow Nordic countries Finland and Iceland based on geography. However you look at it, this is one area of the world that is no stranger to long, cold winters with too-brief windows of sunshine. So, how does everyone cope?
Research published by Kari Leibowitz and Joar Vittersø in the International Journal of Wellbeing found that mindset was an overlooked factor in happiness outcomes during dark Nordic winters. The researchers surveyed people from southern Norway, northern Norway and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and found notable correlations between people having a “positive wintertime mindset” and increased general well-being.
It’s little surprise, then, that there are plenty of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish trends that help cultivate that sort of positive mindset during dark and cold seasons. Here’s what this approach means for mental health — and what lessons the rest of us can learn.
Hygge
This one you’ve likely heard of already, as it reached worldwide popularity thanks to 2016’s The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. In Denmark, the concept of hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is a cultural philosophy around coziness and simple pleasures.
“At its core, hygge is about creating a sense of warmth, comfort and presence in the moment,” says Norwegian philosopher and author Anders Indset. “It’s lighting candles on a dark afternoon, gathering friends for a simple meal or sipping hot cocoa under a thick wool blanket.”
But what hygge teaches us is more than just cuddling up: It’s that joy comes from the everyday. Psychotherapist Lauren Farina, who was born and raised in Denmark, agrees. “We are experts at lighting candles … and creating a hygge-steming (a sense of hygge) no matter where we go,” she tells Yahoo Life.
Farina adds that hygge can “help make a mundane or routine task more attractive, or at least more approachable.” One example? Say you have to read a long report for work. Rather than plowing through it as quickly as possible, Farina notes that you might make the task more “hygge-like” by making tea, getting your favorite treats, lighting a candle or two and perhaps turning on some music first. “Creating cozy and comfortable surroundings for a job is just something we do that makes the work go quicker and not be so dreadful,” she explains.
Gökotta
Gökotta (pronounced “zyohh-kot-tah”) is a Swedish word meaning “to rise early in the morning to hear the first birds sing.” It’s about not letting the dark or the cold put a damper on your ability to enjoy nature — which we know is good for the brain and the soul.
Indset visits his parents every year in Røros, Norway, where during the winter, temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. He remembers his mother saying often, “Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær.” It means, he says, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” So wake up, bundle up and enjoy strolling among those early birds.
Koselig
Koselig (pronounced “koosh-lee”) is about finding comfort in the world around you, no matter where you are. “Koselig is about companionship and connection, often outdoors, embracing the winter season with others,” says Indset. “In Norway, winter isn’t a time to hide; it’s a time to bond.”
Nate Axvig says that living in Oslo helped him embrace koselig during the winter months. “We saw koselig as a modified hibernation,” Axvig, who runs a Scandinavian clothing brand, tells Yahoo Life. “You still went about your daily activities (work, school, etc.) but as soon as the sun set (3:45 p.m. or so) you would grab some takeout, hole up in your flat with your family, put on your comfiest outfit, light some candles and do a lot of nothing.”
He adds: “Norwegians in full koselig are completely unplugged from their outer responsibilities.” According to him, no Norwegian is going to answer a work email at night. “The email will be there in the morning — let it koselig in your inbox,” Axvig says.
Fika
Put simply, fika is the Swedish art of taking a coffee break. But, as with all of these terms, it’s much more than that. Taking a fika means having a coffee, usually accompanied by a treat like kanelbullar (Swedish cinnamon buns), and enjoying it alongside family, friends or colleagues. It’s about making time to pause and enjoy togetherness.
This is particularly important during dark and dreary Scandinavian winters. “Rather than retreating into gloom,” Indset says, people “gather, they reflect and they find comfort in the little things.”
Friluftsliv
Friluftsliv (which literally means “open-air life”) reflects the idea of feeling fully alive when immersed in nature. It’s a belief, Axvig says, that you should weave the natural world into your everyday activities. “In the winter,” he explains, “that would find you skiing to work instead of taking the bus,” or spending a weekend afternoon taking the kids fishing or foraging.
Along with the health benefits associated with spending time in nature, short-term exposure to the cold — such as an ice plunge — is thought to aid with stress by stimulating the vagus nerve. “I often tell my clients to implement deliberate cold exposure as a tool to combat anxiety,” Farina says.
Losji
Losji, in a literal sense, means lodging, or a place to stay. But it also refers to finding your own contentment, a metaphorical “place to stay” within the wider world. Think of it as making your home within nature. It’s yet another reason to get outdoors, even when the weather outside is frightful. “Embrace the new adventures that the wintertime offers,” says Farina. “Make a walk in the chilly morning air part of your daily routine, head to the nearest sledding hill with your kids or go for a hike in the newly fallen snow.” The world is your oyster — and your losji.
The bottom line
“In the colder, quieter months of Scandinavia, we’ve learned that happiness is a matter of perspective,” says Indset. “Where others might see a barren, inhospitable landscape, we see opportunity — an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves, with each other and with nature.”
While you may not be able to influence the frigid temperatures or that 4 p.m. sunset, “you can control how you think and act in response to it,” Indset notes. All you need is the right mindset — and some warm layers to wear.
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