Why cats and candlelight hold the secret to happiness this winter

As the nights draw in and costs keep rising, hygge is back — with quirky and affordable ways to help keep us cosy

FrOM interest rates to the weekly shop, the cost of living is rising faster than it has for decades. But the question is: has the price of happiness gone up as well? and if so, what can we do about it?

let’s set things straight. yes, money matters for happiness. If you’ve ever had to choose between putting food on the table and paying the electricity bill, this is not news to you. While money is not a guarantee of happiness, being without money is a common cause of stress, worry and unhappiness.

I work at the Happiness research Institute in Copenhagen. no, we don’t eat ice cream all

day and stare at puppies. We look at data, studies and evidence to understand why some

people are happier than others and what we can do to improve quality of life. One of our

focus areas is how to decouple wealth from wellbeing. How can we get bang for our buck when it comes to happiness?

This is what hygge is all about. Hygge, a Danish tradition that has recently become a

global phenomenon, is, after all, about living the good life on a tight budget. It is the enjoyment of simple pleasures. It is the art of creating a nice, warm, comforting atmosphere. While inflation is rising, we are all still in pursuit of the good life — and hygge can be

a vital ingredient in this endeavour as it does not require a fat wallet. Far from it. Hygge is not extravagant and wasteful, it’s about making the best of what you have.

Here are eight ideas on how you can implement hygge to make your home a happier one this winter:

MAKE TIME TO ENJOY SPECIAL FAMILY DINNERS

One recent study from the Social Issues

research Centre showed that 47 per cent of Brits said they would like to have more family dinners, either at home or at a family member’s house, and 49 per cent of people in Britain consider family dinners to be the most important way of spending quality time together.

Homemade dinners are cheaper, healthier

and more hygge. For the past decade, I’ve been interested in the question: how can we eat better? not just from a nutritional perspective but from a happiness one as well.

There’s a lot of evidence to support the wellbeing value of family meals, with studies showing dinners with those nearest to you are associated with higher than average grades for teenagers; a stronger sense of belonging; better communication skills; less obesity and fewer depressive symptoms. In other words, the dinner table is the one place where you can have a positive impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of friends and family.

FOLLOW THE SUN LIKE YOUR CAT DOES

FaMOUSly, there are three things that matter in property: location, location,

location. When it comes to the hygge home, however, it is: lighting, lighting, lighting.

according to the World Health Organisation, people who report inadequate natural light in their homes are at greater risk of depression.

Integrating natural light into homes, or arranging our homes to make the most of the

light, will boost your mood and reduce the need for artificial lighting — good for the wallet and the planet. Plan your day by using the path of the sun. My work desk is by the window, where the rays of the rising sun enter the room, whereas we have dinner in a room where the setting sun enters the house. Basically, follow your cat. If there is a strip of light, this is where

you sit. Purring optional.

CANDLES REALLY DO HAVE A SPECIAL MAGIC

SMall changes to your home can

have a big impact on your mood. Switch the lamps around, change the decor or just light a candle.

‘after I read The little Book Of Hygge, I went out and bought two candelabras and we started lighting them at dinner,’ one of my readers told me. He and his wife have three sons: one aged 15 (at the time) and

18-year- old twins. When he first started to light candles for dinner, his boys teased him.

‘What’s with the romance, Dad? Do you want to have dinner alone with Mum?’ But soon he noticed small

changes around the dinner table. Time seemed to slow down. The teenagers became more talkative. The change in atmosphere put the boys in storytelling mood.

‘They don’t just shovel in the food any more, they sip their drinks, they tell us about their day.’ Their family dinners now last 15 to 20 minutes

longer. By making this simple change, dinnertime is no longer just about food — it is about hygge. and now the boys are the ones who light the candles for dinner.

CREATE A SEASONAL SELL-BY-DATE SHELF

Hygge is not about having it all; it’s about enjoying what you have. It

taps into the old virtues of being frugal. It follows the traditions of earlier generations who didn’t throw away things because they were broken, but learned how to fix them, to repair clothes rather than buy new ones, to use the food they had rather than let it go to waste.

There is nothing hygge about wasting food. a recent report showed that UK households waste 4.5 million tonnes of food a year — £14 billion worth: that’s £700 for the average family each year. Creating a ‘retirement shelf’ in your fridge should help

combat this wastage. It’s where you store the foods that need to be eaten

soonest, so that you can easily identify and use up these items rather than losing them at the back of the fridge, then chucking them out.

GET STOCKED UP READY FOR WINTER

a Well- STOCKeD pantry is comforting. If there is something to

eat at home in the fridge or kitchen cupboard, you can hunker down during events beyond your control, be that a storm or a pandemic.

Stocking up and creating a small pantry also means respecting the ebb and flow of seasonality in nature. eating seasonally means eating or

preserving foods that are grown and harvested locally. Hygge is also about enjoying the process of stocking the pantry, appreciating the preparation and looking forward to the delicious results you’ll enjoy tucked up at home on a quiet, wintry evening. So get stewing, pickling and bottling.

THROW EVERYTHING INTO PIZZA NIGHTS

USe what you have — and make the

best of it. Become familiar with catch-all recipes. Do you have some tomatoes, two lumps of cheese, an onion, half a courgette, an almost empty jar of olives and some leftover meat? good news — it’s pizza night! Think soups, risottos, ragouts and casseroles to soak up your leftovers into new meals.

Berries and other fruit that’s going off can be turned into jam or put into cakes. apples, rhubarb or oranges? Melt some sugar in an ovenproof pan, add butter and then the fruit. let it simmer for a few minutes. Take the

pan off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then cover the fruit with some puff pastry and tuck it down the sides (be careful, as the sugar may still be hot).

Prick the pastry with a fork and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200c (400f) for 25 minutes. leave to cool for ten minutes, then put a plate on top of the pan and flip it. your tarte tatin (if you’re using apples) is ready

for an afternoon of pure hygge.

FREEZER LISTS ON YOUR PHONE

WHen you put something in the freezer, you think, ‘I can see this is bolognese and I will know it is bolognese three months from now.’ The thing is, three months from now, you will have added three other containers of brownish leftovers, so it is now

difficult to tell what this frozen lump of brown is and you may well end up eating spaghetti with duck sauce. So make sure you label your leftovers clearly.

In addition to this, I find it useful to have an up-to-date list on my phone of what there is in the freezer. It is good to know on an evening when you get home from work later than expected that you have something in the freezer that can be put in a pot, left on the stove and — voila! — dinner is ready. Lamb casserole, minestrone soup and duck ragout are just some of my go-tos.

FALL OUT OF LOVE WITH YOUR CAR

TranSporT is more hygge on foot or two wheels. oK, it might not be possible to ditch the car, depending on where you live, but with fuel prices so steep, it just doesn’t make sense that more than 60 per cent of short one-to-two mile journeys are made by a car or bus in the UK. Use your bike for these trips if you can. Yes, I am applying my superpowers as a naive Danish guy who thinks most trips can be made on a bike and that you can have groceries in a basket or backpack, but why not?

after all, the British Household panel Survey found that people who change from cars to walking or cycling improved their psychological wellbeing — even if the trip took longer.

Hopefully, these steps ignite an understanding that the good life builds on connection and purpose, and everyday simple pleasures. That our wealth is not measured by the size of our bank accounts, but by the strength of our bonds, the health of our loved ones — and the sound of the ragout simmering on the stove.

My Hygge HoMe: How To Make Home your Happy Place by Meik Wiking (£16.99, Penguin Life) is out now.