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How to beat the winter blues with this Danish custom

(Photo: Thinkstock)

In North America, we see autumn as the beginning of football season, Pumpkin Spice Latte’s invading every coffee shop and the best fall fashion.

But we have a lot to learn about preparing the short days, colder nights and months of blustery snow around the corner, and it’s been suggested that we should look to the Danes.

Morley College in the UK is trying to teach it’s students about the Danish idea of hygge. Pronounced Hoo-Ga, the word translates to coziness, and is a principle idea to the Nordic country’s way of life.

So what is hygge?

“Hygge could be families and friends getting together for a meal, with the lighting dimmed, or it could be time spent on your own reading a good book,“ Susan Nilsson, a lecturer at Morley College said. "It works best when there’s not too large an empty space around the person or people."

"Hygge seems to me to be about being kind to yourself - indulging, having a nice time, not punishing or denying yourself anything,” explained Helen Russell, author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly.’

"It’s a pretty hard thing to describe because it’s so abstract, but I think it resonates with a lot of people.” explained Kaleigh Tanner, creator of the blog HelloHygge.

The word hygge itself is thought to have Norweigan origin for “well being.”

While the concept is hard to describe, you don’t need to worry too much about the definition, as hygge is not meant to translated, but simply felt.

“In essence hygge is about a group of slightly gloomy friends huddling under the duvet on a cold winter’s night,” said Patrick Kingsley, author of the book How To Be Danish.