Nature

Oh the Hygge!

Blog, Nature

“Hygge (/ˈhjuːɡə/ HEW-gə) is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.”

In a merciful turn of events, the weather has gone from 95 degrees with 96% humidity here on the East Coast, to a dreary and WONDERFUL 55 degrees! I’m wearing socks. And a cozy sweatshirt. I haven’t sweat the makeup off my face once today. It. Is. Amazing.

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Not that I’m wishing summer away, but the coziness of a sweatshirt and lack of blazing heat is making us all want to slooooow down and rest this weekend and I for one, am loving every minute.

Rewind to a week ago…So it’s obviously been quite a while since I attended any form of school. And therefore quite a while since my whole life revolved around the seasons (now it’s work in the summer, work in the spring, and oh! work in the fall and winter too…sweet). But a crazy thing happened this week with my oldest starting kindergarten… all of a sudden we’re thrown back into this school year rhythm.

We enjoyed the last licks of summer with a sweltering visit to a local, historical farm and general wandering about town. I took a vacation day from work and it ended up being a perfectly summer vacation-esque mom and son day (we failed to coordinate daycare for the couple of the days in September before school started and it worked out awesomely). We wandered around the farm, met a one-eyed horse named Hobbes, sweat our asses off in the 97 degree heat, wondered how hot the animals must be with all their fur, ate ice cream cones, ducked into the happily air-conditioned library to read a quick book and just generally hung out.

Having that day of pure, unplanned wandering in the blistering heat makes me feel even less bad about sitting around basking in this wonderful feeling of hygge today. Lanterns are flickering in the living room and the soft sound of rain outside is making me irrationally & excessively grateful for the simple blessing of having a sturdy little house to hang out in.

Welcome to hygge season. Welcome to Kindergarten, dear boy. Change is constant and fantastic.

Forest Bathing

3 minute read, Blog, Healthy Habits, Nature

“The Earth has music for those who listen” – Shakespeare

St. Mary’s Glacier

Oh man, Colorado! We went early for a wedding and forest-bathed our asses off (it’s hard not to, really) for 4 days. It was one of the most rejuvenating trips I’ve taken in a while and I know I need to incorporate more of that in my everyday life. And oh! The pictures!! Snapped a super-wide angle lens on my trusty little Canon Rebel and away we went.

Loveland Pass

Forest Bathing is a Japanese concept from the 80’s. It’s more or less taking a mindful stroll through the woods and soaking in all that nature-y goodness. Or as I helpfully described to a friend who brought up this concept on this trip…”Oh! I think it has to do with some sort of compound the trees secrete.” Uh, yeah. Something like that.

Reservoir Trail Indian Peaks Wilderness

Anyway, the benefits have been proven again and again. Being in nature reduces anxiety, calms the mind and generally makes you feel like less of a hamster on a wheel. Also, that “secretion?” Apparently that’s phytoncides and it turns out, I pretty much nailed it. They’re released into the air by trees and when inhaled, are thought to reduce stress hormones and increase white blood cell function. I mean…hell yeah?

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Loveland Pass

The other forest bath ingredient, present in ESPECIALLY high quantities in mountains (and beaches, waterfalls and thunderstorms), are negative ions. These little puppies “create positive vibes” as WebMD puts it.

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Copper Mountain Alpine Coaster

So yeah…that, combined with the ~1,260ft of elevation we hiked over the course of 2 days, plus picking excellent traveling companions and approaching every day with the spirit of adventure, meant we came home from Colorado feeling pretty damn refreshed.

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Lake Dillon